Optimization visualization using normalized achievement variables

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10175385-B2
Application number	US-201213478316-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2012
Priority date	May 23, 2012
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

The present disclosure describes various systems and methods for creating and presenting optimization visualizations that use normalized achievement variables. At least one illustrative method includes defining achievement functions that each operates on at least one of several achievement variables (each of the achievement variables representing a characteristic of a physical object or process), and transforming value ranges for at least two achievement variables into corresponding achievement level ranges by applying at least one of the achievement functions to the value ranges of the achievement variables (the achievement variables being a function of at least one common control variable). The method further includes combining the corresponding achievement level ranges to produce a combined achievement level range, and presenting a visual representation of the combined achievement level range to a user, enabling the user to select value ranges for the common control variable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optimization visualization method that comprises:
obtaining a plurality of first achievement values for a first achievement variable representing characteristics of a first physical object or first process, the obtaining comprising measuring at least one of the plurality of first achievement values during drilling of the well, and wherein each first achievement value corresponds to one or more first control variables comprising measured parameters associated with the drilling of the well including at least one common control variable;
obtaining a plurality of second achievement values for a second achievement variable representing characteristics of a second physical object or second process, the obtaining comprising measuring at least one of the plurality of second achievement values during drilling of the well, and wherein each second achievement value corresponds to one or more second control variables comprising measured parameters associated with the drilling of the well including the at least one common control variable;
defining a plurality of achievement functions such that each achievement function generates a normalized achievement level for an input achievement value based on at least:
a determination of whether the input achievement value maintained within a predetermined acceptable range defined by said each achievement function, and
a quantification of a proximity of the input achievement value to a threshold between the acceptable range and an unacceptable range defined by said each achievement function;
generating a first set of first achievement levels by applying at least one of the plurality of achievement functions to the plurality of first achievement values, each first achievement level corresponding to the same the one or more first control variables including the at least one common control variable;
generating a second set of second achievement levels by applying at least one of the plurality of achievement functions to the plurality of second achievement values, each second achievement level corresponding to the same the one or more second control variables including the at least one common control variable;
combining the first set of the first achievement levels and the second set of the second achievement levels to produce a set of combined achievement levels, each combined achievement level corresponding to the at least one common control variable;
presenting a visual representation of the set of the combined achievement levels to a user, enabling the user to select value ranges for the at least one common control variable and modifying the visual representation in response to the selected value ranges; and
presenting a status of the drilling of the well at least in part by updating the visual representation such that the set of the combined achievement levels comprises actual combined achievement levels of the drilling of the well.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first set of the first achievement levels and the second set of the second achievement levels comprise a normalized range of values between a lower normalization value and an upper normalization value.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining comprises performing one or more weighted summations of the first set of the first set achievement levels and the second set of the second achievement levels ranges.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
superimposing in real-time a visualization of the actual combined achievement levels of the drilling of the well over the visualization of modeled combined achievement levels of the drilling of the well;
comparing the actual combined achievement levels to the modeled combined achievement levels; and
adjusting one or more modeling parameters in response to determining that a difference between the actual combined achievement levels and the modeled combined achievement levels exceeds a threshold value.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining values for at least the first control variables and the second control variables;
configuring a drilling modeling program with at least the obtained values for the first and second control variables;
calculating, using the configured drilling modeling program, at least one of the plurality of first achievement values and the plurality of second achievement values; and
presenting drilling modeling results at least in part by updating the visual representation such that the set of the combined achievement levels comprises modeled combined achievement levels of the drilling modeling program.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
superimposing in real-time a visualization of the actual combined achievement levels of a drilling of a well over the visual representation of the modeled combined achievement levels of the drilling modeling program;
comparing the actual combined achievement levels to the modeled combined achievement levels; and
adjusting the at least one common control variable based upon the results of the comparing.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one common control variable is selected from the group consisting of, drilling fluid flow rate, drillstring revolutions per minute, rate of penetration and weight on bit.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
combining an additional set of achievement levels, corresponding to a plurality of additional achievement values for an additional achievement variable, with the set of the combined achievement levels to thereby produce a set of second combined achievement levels; and
presenting the visual representation of the set of the second combined achievement levels to the user.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
combining a set of second combined achievement levels, resulting from a combination of two or more additional corresponding sets of achievement levels, with the set of the combined achievement levels to thereby produce a set of third combined achievement levels; and
presenting the visual representation of the set of the third combined achievement levels to the user.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring achievement values for at least the first and second achievement variables; and
evaluating said each of the plurality of achievement functions in real-time for each acquired achievement value.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring and storing achievement values for at least the first and second achievement variables; and
evaluating said each of the plurality of achievement functions at a later time for each stored achievement value.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting visualizations of at least one range of achievement variable values and of a corresponding set of achievement levels range; and
presenting the visual representation of a relationship between the at least one range achievement variable values and the corresponding set of the achievement levels comprising projection lines between at least one achievement variable value range visualization and a corresponding achievement level range visualization.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting a three-dimensional visual representation of a relationship between at least the first and second achievement variables, each of the first and second achievement variables derived from the at least one common control variable, by:
superimposing a first visualization of the first achievement variable and a second visualization of the second achievement variable by aligning respective axes of the first and second visualizations which correspond to the at least one

Assignees

• Jamison Dale E
• Williams Robert L
• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Jamison Dale E
• Williams Robert L

Classifications

• E21B44/00

  Automatic control systems specially adapted for drilling operations, i.e. self-operating systems which function to carry out or modify a drilling operation without intervention of a human operator, e.g. computer-controlled drilling systems; Systems specially adapted for monitoring a plurality of drilling variables or conditions · CPC title

• G01V99/00 Primary

  Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass · CPC title