System and method for determining incremental progression between survey points while drilling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10196889-B2
Application number	US-201615161637-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2016
Priority date	Dec 22, 2011
Publication date	Feb 5, 2019
Grant date	Feb 5, 2019

Abstract

A system and method for surface steerable drilling are provided. In one example, the system receives toolface information for a bottom hole assembly (BHA) and non-survey sensor information corresponding to a location of the BHA in a borehole. The system calculates an amount of incremental progress made by the BHA based on the non-survey sensor information and calculates an estimate of the location based on the toolface information and the amount of incremental progress. The system repeats the steps of receiving toolface information and non-survey sensor information and calculating an amount of incremental progress to calculate an estimate of a plurality of locations representing a path of the BHA from a first survey point towards a second sequential survey point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A surface steerable system for use with a drilling rig, comprising:
a network interface;
a processor coupled to the network interface; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions for execution by the processor, the plurality of instructions including:
instructions for receiving, by a surface steerable system, toolface information from a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in a borehole, wherein the toolface information comprises toolface orientation of the BHA, and wherein the toolface information is received between a first survey point along the borehole and a second survey point along the borehole;
instructions for receiving, by the surface steerable system, first non-survey sensor information obtained while drilling, wherein the first non-survey sensor information is received between the first survey point and the second survey point;
instructions for calculating, responsive to at least the first non-survey sensor information, a first amount of incremental progress made by the BHA along the borehole from the first survey point;
instructions for estimating, responsive to at least the toolface information and the first amount of incremental progress, a first location of the BHA, wherein the first location of the BHA specifies at least one of a current borehole position, a drill bit position along the borehole, and a trajectory of the borehole;
instructions for calculating, by the surface steerable system, responsive to at least the first location of the BHA, a first build rate of the BHA between the first survey point and the first location; and
instructions for determining, by the surface steerable system, whether survey data has been received for the second survey point, and, if so, using the survey data for the second survey point to update the estimated first location of the BHA, and if survey data for the second survey point has not been received, then receiving second non-survey sensor information obtained while drilling, wherein the second non-survey information is received between the first survey point and the second survey point, calculating, responsive to at least the second non-survey information, a second amount of incremental progress made by the BHA along the borehole from the first estimated position, and estimating, responsive to at least the toolface information and the second amount of incremental progress, a second location of the BHA, wherein the second location of the BHA specifies at least one of a current borehole position, a drill bit position along the borehole, and a trajectory of the borehole.

2. The surface steerable system of claim 1 , further comprising:
instructions for calibrating, by the surface steerable system, the first location of the BHA and the first build rate based on the survey data obtained for the second survey point.

3. The surface steerable system of claim 1 , further comprising:
instructions for modifying, by the surface steerable system, a drilling parameter to cause the surface steerable system to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the first location of the BHA and the first build rate.

4. The surface steerable system of claim 3 , wherein the drilling parameter comprises at least one of a weight on bit (WOB), a flow rate of mud, a toolface orientation, and an equipment selection.

5. The surface steerable system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for estimating the first location of the BHA include instructions for estimating a vector specifying a three-dimensional first location and a three-dimensional orientation of the drill bit.

6. The surface steerable system of claim 1 , wherein the toolface information is obtained at a plurality of pre-defined time intervals.

7. The surface steerable system of claim 1 , wherein the second amount of incremental progress indicates a distance that the drill bit has drilled since the first survey point.

8. A system for drilling a borehole, comprising:
a network interface;
a processor coupled to the network interface; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions for execution by the processor, the plurality of instructions including:
instructions for receiving toolface information from a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in a borehole, wherein the toolface information comprises toolface orientation of the BHA, and wherein the toolface information is received between a first survey point along the borehole and a second survey point along the borehole;
instructions for receiving first non-survey sensor information obtained while drilling, wherein the first non-survey sensor information is received between the first survey point and the second survey point;
instructions for calculating, responsive to at least the first non-survey sensor information, a first amount of incremental progress made by the BHA along the borehole from the first survey point;
instructions for estimating, responsive to at least the toolface information and the first amount of incremental progress, a first location of the BHA, wherein the first location of the BHA specifies at least one of a current borehole position, a drill bit position along the borehole, and a trajectory of the borehole;
instructions for calculating, responsive to at least the first location of the BHA, a first build rate of the BHA between the first survey point and the first location;
instructions for determining whether survey data has been received for the second survey point, and, if so, using the survey data for the second survey point to update the estimated first location of the BHA, and if survey data for the second survey point has not been received, then receiving second non-survey sensor information obtained while drilling, wherein the second non-survey information is received between the first survey point and the second survey point, calculating, responsive to at least the second non-survey information, a second amount of incremental progress made by the BHA along the borehole from the first estimated position, and estimating, responsive to at least the toolface information and the second amount of incremental progress, a second location of the BHA, wherein the second location of the BHA specifies at least one of a current borehole position, a drill bit position along the borehole, and a trajectory of the borehole;
instructions for modifying a drilling parameter to alter a direction of the BHA based on the first location or the second location of the BHA and based on at least one of the first build rate and the second build rate; and
instructions for transmitting the modified drilling parameter to a control system for a drilling rig coupled to the BHA.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising instructions for determining a second build rate of the BHA between the first survey point or the first location and the second location.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising instructions for determining an effective build rate of the BHA.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions for determining a build rate prediction for a portion of the borehole to be drilled based on one or more of the first build rate, the second build rate, and the effective build rate.

12. A method for drilling a borehole, comprising:
receiving, by a computer system, toolface information from a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in a borehole, wherein the toolface information comprises toolface orientation of the BHA, and wherein the toolface information is received between a first survey point along the borehole and a second survey point along the borehole;
receiving, by the computer system, first non-sur

Assignees

• Motive Drilling Tech Inc

Inventors

• Benson Todd W
• Chen Teddy

Classifications

• E21B45/00

  Measuring the drilling time or rate of penetration · CPC title

• E21B47/04

  Measuring depth or liquid level · CPC title

• E21B47/026

  of penetrated ground layers · CPC title

• E21B47/024

  of devices in the borehole (determining slope or direction of the borehole E21B47/022) · CPC title

• E21B7/04 Primary

  Directional drilling · CPC title