Systems and methods for controlling a drilling path based on drift estimates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12297736-B2
Application number	US-202217651750-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 18, 2022
Priority date	Dec 22, 2011
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

In a drilling system, a control system coupled to a drilling rig controls a bottom hole assembly (BHA) to drill a borehole through a geological formation along a drilling path. The control system determines a present position of the BHA and calculates a toolface vector to create a convergence path from the present position of the BHA to a desired target path. The control system also receives geological information and compensates the toolface vector to account for an estimated geologic formation drift. The control system causes at least one control parameter to be modified in order to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the calculated toolface vector and transmits the at least one control parameter to the drilling rig to target the BHA in accordance with the calculated toolface vector. The control system iteratively performs this process until convergence with the desired target path is achieved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for controlling drilling operations during drilling of a wellbore, the system comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for:
(a) determining a real-time location of a bottom hole assembly (BHA) in a wellbore during drilling and a target path for the wellbore;
(b) determining a plurality of toolface vectors associated with slide drilling of the BHA, each toolface vector comprising a direction of drilling and an amplitude comprising information representing a progress of a drill bit;
(c) calculating an estimated amount of formation drift, and generating a formation drift vector that compensates for the estimated amount of formation drift;
(d) adjusting each of the toolface vectors based on the formation drift vector to bring the BHA in line with the target path;
(e) generating, based on costs associated with each of the adjusted toolface vectors, a convergence path for drilling the wellbore from the real-time location of the BHA to the target path, wherein the convergence path comprises a slide drilling portion and a rotary drilling portion, and wherein the slide drilling portion of the convergence path compensates for the formation drift of a formation to be drilled with the rotary drilling portion;
(f) sending the adjusted toolface vector to a control system to implement a slide drilling operation for the slide drilling portion of the convergence path; and
(g) repeating steps (a)-(f) until the wellbore converges with the target path.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for:
determining an estimated amount of formation drift for the rotary drilling portion, wherein the formation drift is the estimated amount of formation drift.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for orienting the BHA for drilling the slide drilling portion.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated amount of formation drift is determined responsive to drift information from a previously drilled well.

5. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated amount of formation drift is determined responsive to drift information from a previously drilled portion of the wellbore.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the slide drilling portion occurs prior to the rotary drilling portion.

7. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the generation of the convergence path comprises:
determining a plurality of convergence paths from the real-time location of the BHA to the target path based on the plurality of adjusted toolface vectors;
selecting one of the plurality of convergence paths as an optimal path, the selected optimal path being assigned as the convergence path; and
sending one or more signals to control the BHA during drilling of the wellbore in accordance with the selected convergence path.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the selecting one of the plurality of convergence path comprises:
determining the cost associated with each of the plurality of convergence paths, wherein the determined cost is responsive to the slide drilling portion and the rotary drilling portion, and wherein the one of the plurality of convergence paths selected as optimal is associated with a lowest cost of the plurality of convergence paths.

9. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the toolface vector is further associated with rotation drilling of the BHA.

10. A method for drilling a wellbore, the method comprising:
(a) determining, by a computer system, a real-time location of a bottom hole assembly (BHA) in a wellbore during drilling and a target path for the wellbore;
(b) determining a plurality of toolface vectors associated with slide drilling and rotary drilling of the BHA, each toolface vector comprising a direction of drilling and an amplitude information representing a progress toward a reference point along the target path;
(c) calculating, by the computer system, an estimated amount of expected geological drift, and generating, by the computer system, a geological drift vector that compensates for the estimated amount of geological drift;
(d) adjusting each of the toolface vectors based on the geological drift vector to bring the BHA in line with the target path;
(e) determining, by the computer system based on costs associated with each of the adjusted toolface vectors, a planned convergence path from the real-time location of the BHA to a target path for the wellbore, wherein the planned convergence path comprises a first portion comprising a slide drilling operation and a second portion comprising a rotary drilling operation, and wherein the planned convergence path compensates for the geological drift expected during drilling of the planned convergence path;
(f) orienting the BHA responsive to the adjusted tool factor associated with the convergence path; and
(g) drilling at least a portion of the planned convergence path; and
(h) repeating steps (a)-(g) until the wellbore converges with the target path.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein
determining the estimated amount of expected geological drift is responsive to drift information obtained from at least one of a previously drilled offset well and a previously drilled portion of the wellbore, wherein the geological drift is the estimated amount of the expected geological drift.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the drift information comprises information from a rotary drilled portion of the previously drilled offset well or the previously drilled portion of the wellbore.

13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first portion of the convergence path compensates for the geological drift expected during drilling of the second portion of the convergence path.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the first portion of the convergence path is drilled prior to the second portion of the convergence path.

15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein generation of the convergence path comprises:
determining, by the computer system, a plurality of convergence paths from the real-time location of the BHA to the target path for the wellbore based on the plurality of adjusted toolface vectors; and
selecting, by the computer system, one of the plurality of convergence paths as an optimal path, the selected optimal path being assigned as the convergence path; and
drilling a part of the wellbore in accordance with the selected convergence path.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein determining the cost associated with each of the plurality of convergence paths comprises determining, by the computer system, a first cost associated with the first portion and determining, by the computer system, a second cost associated with the second portion.

17. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the convergence path further comprises a third portion, wherein the third portion comprises either a slide drilling operation or a rotary drilling operation.

18. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the steps of:
determining, by the computer system, whether the wellbore has converged with the target path; and
responsive to a determination that the wellbore has not converged with the target path, repeating, by the computer system, the steps of (a)-(h).

Assignees

• Motive Drilling Tech Inc
• Univ Texas

Inventors

• Benson Todd W
• Chen Teddy
• Bhaduri Sashmit

Classifications

• G05B13/042

  in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance · CPC title

• E21B47/18

  through the well fluid {, e.g. mud pressure pulse telemetry} · CPC title

• E21B47/12

  Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling · CPC title

• E21B47/09

  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

• E21B47/06

  Measuring temperature or pressure · CPC title