Patent ID: 7780147

Claim:
A drawworks apparatus comprising: a frame having a working area within inner surfaces thereof; a drum spool for raising and lowering items down a well bore via a length of cable wound thereon, the drum spool extending through and rotatably supported by the frame outside the working area thereof; a drum shaft concentrically supported by the drum spool in a manner in which the drum shaft is isolated from wireline pull from the drum spool; a seal spacer mounted concentrically on the drum shaft to provide a hermetic seal at an interface between the seal spacer and the drum shaft; an annulus rotating union provided at each distal end of the drum spool to permit the drum spool to rotate independently relative to the drum shaft; a brake assembly operatively connected to the drum spool and located outside of the working area; a brake assembly cooling system including a cooling fluid line in fluidic communication with a cooling fluid supply and extending continuously through the drawworks apparatus including the drum spool, the drum shaft, the brake assembly and the annulus rotating union for reducing the operating temperature of the brake assembly during operation of the drawworks apparatus; and a cooling fluid manifold extending axially in a spatial gap between the drum spool and the drum shaft and continuously through the working area, the cooling fluid manifold being in fluidic communication with the drum shaft, the drum spool and the brake assembly, wherein the cooling fluid line comprises a drum shaft cooling fluid passage extending through the drum shaft and includes a first end in fluidic communication with the annulus rotating union and a second end in fluidic communication with the brake assembly, the cooling fluid manifold, and a seal spacer groove permitting a flow of cooling fluid through the seal spacer.