System for drilling a directional well

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12078063-B2
Application number	US-202017754485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2020
Priority date	Oct 2, 2019
Publication date	Sep 3, 2024
Grant date	Sep 3, 2024

Abstract

Methods, drilling systems, and computer-readable media for evaluating candidate correctional trajectories for a directional drilling well. If the user wishes to investigate alternatives trajectories or trajectories to get a BHA back to a planned trajectory, the computing system allows the user to enter one or more intermediate targets. The computing system generates drilling parameters for the alternative targets and displays them to the user. The user can adjust parameters and intermediate targets, as well as drilling parameters, to investigate a range of possible solutions before selecting an update to the planned trajectory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drilling system comprising:
a drillstring comprising a bottom hole assembly at one end of the drillstring for drilling a well;
a computing system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory unit, the computing system configured to:
prior to commencing drilling, receive a directional drilling well plan for the well, the well plan comprising:
a set of instructions to reach a target location for the well using the drilling system; and
a planned trajectory to reach the target location;

receive bottom hole assembly position data from one or more sensors during construction of the well, the bottom hole assembly position data comprising one or more of survey data for the bottom hole assembly and continuous position data for the bottom hole assembly;
determine a current position of the bottom hole assembly using the bottom hole assembly position data;
compare the current position of the bottom hole assembly to the planned trajectory;
in response to determining that the current position of the bottom hole assembly is off the planned trajectory by a threshold amount:
receiving, from a user, an intermediate target;
creating a candidate correctional trajectory that passes through the intermediate target specified by the user, the candidate correctional trajectory further comprising one or more drilling parameters to reach the intermediate target;
presenting the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory to the user in editable format;
in response to receiving one or more edits to the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory, calculating an updated position for the intermediate target using the edited drilling parameters and displaying the updated position to the user;
providing the user an option to select the candidate correctional trajectory; and
updating the well plan using the selected candidate correctional trajectory.

2. The drilling system of claim 1 , the computing system further configured to, in response to determining that the current position of the bottom hole assembly is off the planned trajectory by the threshold amount:
automatically create a generated correctional trajectory to move the bottom hole assembly from the current position to the planned trajectory; and
present the generated correctional trajectory to the user.

3. The drilling system of claim 1 , further comprising notifying the user in response to identifying no drilling parameters that can be used to reach the intermediate target.

4. The drilling system of claim 1 , wherein receiving the intermediate target comprises receiving one or more positional values for the intermediate target from the user.

5. The drilling system of claim 1 , wherein receiving the intermediate target comprises:
identifying a position selected by the user on a graphical user interface;
associating the position selected by the user with a plurality of position values;
displaying the position values for the intermediate target in editable format; and
updating the position of the intermediate target in response to receiving edited position values.

6. The drilling system of claim 1 , the computing system further configured to:
receive one or more additional intermediate targets at a same hierarchical level; and
create a candidate correctional trajectory for each of the one or more additional intermediate targets at the same hierarchical level.

7. The drilling system of claim 1 , the computing system further configured to:
receive one or more child intermediate targets for the candidate correctional trajectory; and
create a candidate correctional trajectory for each of the one or more additional child intermediate targets.

8. The drilling system of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is separate from and communicatively connected to a rig control system through a physical connection.

9. The drilling system of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is at a separate, remote location from the rig control system and communicatively connected to the rig control system through a wireless connection.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving a well plan for a well to be directionally drilled, the well plan including one or more target locations;
receiving positional data for a bottom hole assembly during construction of the well;
receiving, from a user, an intermediate target;
creating a candidate correctional trajectory that passes through the intermediate target specified by the user, the candidate correctional trajectory further comprising one or more drilling parameters to reach the intermediate target;
presenting the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory to the user in editable format;
in response to receiving one or more edits to the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory, calculating an updated position for the intermediate target using the edited drilling parameters and displaying the updated position to the user;
providing the user an option to select the candidate correctional trajectory; and
updating the well plan using the selected candidate correctional trajectory.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , the operations further comprising:
determining a current position of the bottom hole assembly using the bottom hole assembly positional data;
comparing the current position of the bottom hole assembly to an expected position of the bottom hole assembly, wherein the expected position is determined from the well plan; and
determining whether the current position of the bottom hole assembly is off a planned trajectory by a threshold amount.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:
automatically creating a generated correctional trajectory to move the bottom hole assembly from the current position to the planned trajectory; and
presenting the generated correctional trajectory to the user.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , the operations further comprising notifying the user in response to identifying no drilling parameters that can be used to reach the intermediate target.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , the operations further comprising receiving from the user a starting point for the candidate correctional trajectory, wherein the starting point is one of:
a last survey position; and
a last continuous position value.

15. A method for updating a well plan for a directional well, the method comprising:
receiving a well plan for a well to be directionally drilled, the well plan including one or more target locations;
receiving positional data for a bottom hole assembly during construction of the well;
receiving, from a user, an intermediate target;
creating a candidate correctional trajectory that passes through the intermediate target specified by the user, the candidate correctional trajectory further comprising one or more drilling parameters to reach the intermediate target;
presenting the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory to the user in editable format;
in response to receiving one or more edits to the one or more drilling parameters for the candidate correctional trajectory, calculating an updated position for the intermediate target using the edited drilling parameters and displaying the updated position to the user;
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Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Reagan Olivia
• Chassard Adrien
• Pena Cesar
• Kim Jinsoo
• Ewing Rodney
• Foley James
• Chiock Conie
• Hildebrand Ginger
• Bryant Jason
• Coffman Chunling Gu

Classifications

• E21B47/13

  by electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency · CPC title

• 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

• E21B47/02

  Determining slope or direction · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• G05B2219/25067

  Graphic configuration control system · CPC title