Drilling methods and systems with automated waypoint or borehole path updates based on survey data corrections

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11180984-B2
Application number	US-201414910587-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2014
Priority date	Aug 22, 2013
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

A drilling method includes collecting survey data at a drilling site, and determining a waypoint or borehole path based on the survey data. The drilling method also includes sending the survey data to a remote monitoring facility that applies corrections to the survey data. The drilling method also includes receiving the corrected survey data, and automatically updating the waypoint or borehole path based on the corrected survey data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drilling method that comprises:
collecting survey data at a drilling site using a survey tool;
determining a waypoint or borehole path based on the survey data;
upon said collecting, automatically sending the survey data to a remote monitoring facility that automatically applies a correction to the survey data if the survey data is within a predetermined tolerance, and generates a first alert to a survey analyst if the survey data is outside of the predetermined tolerance;
receiving from the remote monitoring facility the corrected survey data or a related correction message;
upon said receiving the corrected survey data or the related correction message, automatically updating the waypoint or borehole path based on the corrected survey data or the related correction message; and
automatically adjusting a drilling trajectory based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying an update acceptance prompt or alert notification related to the updated waypoint or borehole path.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the survey data is not corrected within a threshold amount of time after the first alert has been generated, a subsequent alert is generated to a survey manager.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the update acceptance prompt or alert notification includes a plurality of response options.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the updated waypoint or borehole path.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein an operator of the drilling site modifies the automatically adjusted drilling trajectory.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusting includes manually adjusting the drilling trajectory based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the survey data comprises time, depth, inclination, and azimuth data, magnetic field components, and gravitational field components.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the survey data comprises passive ranging data.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the correction to the survey data is based further on observatory data or multi-station analysis.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a survey tool replacement indicator is automatically included to the related correction message when a quality of the survey data is below a threshold.

12. A drilling system that comprises:
a survey tool that collects survey data at a drilling site; and
at least one drilling site computer that:
receives the survey data from the survey tool, to determine a waypoint or borehole path based on the survey data;
upon receiving the survey data, automatically sends the survey data to a remote monitoring facility that automatically applies a correction to the survey data if the survey data is within a predetermined tolerance and generates a first alert to a survey analyst if the survey data is outside of the predetermined tolerance; and
automatically updates, upon receiving corrected survey data or a related correction message from the remote monitoring facility, the waypoint or borehole path based on the corrected survey data or the related correction message;

wherein the at least one drilling site computer provides a drilling control interface that enables a drilling trajectory to be adjusted based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one drilling site computer displays an update acceptance prompt or alert notification related to the updated waypoint or borehole path.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one drilling site computer allows an operator of the drilling site to modify the automatically adjusted drilling trajectory.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein if the survey data is not corrected within a threshold amount of time after the first alert has been generated, a subsequent alert is generated to a survey manager.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the drilling trajectory is automatically adjusted based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the drilling trajectory is manually adjusted based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the survey data comprises magnetic field components and gravitational field components.

19. The system of claim 12 , further comprising at least one computer at the remote monitoring facility that applies at least one of a BGGM correction, an IFR correction or an IIFR correction to the survey data.

20. The system of claim 12 , further comprising at least one computer at the remote monitoring facility that applies the correction to the survey data.

21. A system that comprises:
a first computer that determines a waypoint or borehole path based on survey data collected by a survey tool; and
a second computer of a remote monitoring facility in communication with the first computer, wherein the second computer automatically applies a correction to the survey data if the survey data is within a predetermined tolerance and generates a first alert to a survey analyst if the corrected survey data is outside of the predetermined tolerance;
wherein the first computer automatically sends the survey data to the remote monitoring facility, automatically updates the waypoint or borehole path based on the corrected survey data or a related correction message received from the remote monitoring facility, and enables a drilling trajectory to be adjusted based at least in part on the updated waypoint or borehole path.

22. The system of claim 21 , further comprising a third computer in communication with the second computer, wherein the third computer receives alerts related to the corrected survey data.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the third computer comprises a mobile computing device.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Dirksen Ronald Johannes
• Mitchell Ian David Campbell
• Gosney Jon Troy

Classifications

• G01C7/06

  of cavities, e.g. tunnels · CPC title

• E21B47/022

  of the borehole, e.g. using geomagnetism · CPC title

• E21B7/04 Primary

  Directional drilling · CPC title

• E21B7/10 Primary

  Correction of deflected boreholes · CPC title

• E21B47/09 Primary

  Locating or determining the position of objects in boreholes or wells {, e.g. the position of an extending arm}; Identifying the free or blocked portions of pipes · CPC title