New mud pump increases capacity, minimizes vibration. (Drilling).

As oil and gas fields mature, operators must drill wells with large offsets, long laterals, and extended reach applications using rotary steerable systems, mud motors, and bottomhole assemblies that require higher mud pump pressures and flow rates.

To meet this demand, drilling contractors are building and renovating rigs with increased mud pumping capacity, giving drilling engineers greater flexibility with bottomhole assemblies, without having to carefully budget around hydraulic system limitations.

LeTourneau Ellis Williams Co. Inc. (LEWCO) has developed its new W-3000 mud pump model for oil field drilling service. Described by LEWCO as the world's largest mud pump, the W-3000 can handle power input of up to 3,000 hp (Fig. 1).

The pump provides a maximum working pressure of …