Systems and methods of drilling control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9988880-B2
Application number	US-201214403119-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2012
Priority date	Jul 12, 2012
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A system to optimize a drilling parameter of a drill string includes a drill string control subsystem. The system includes an optimization controller to coordinate operations of the drill string control subsystem during a drilling process at least in part by: determining a first optimized rate of penetration based on a drilling parameter model and a first drilling parameter estimate; providing a first set of commands to the drill string control subsystem based on the first optimized rate of penetration; determining a second drilling parameter estimate during the drilling process based, at least in part, on the drilling parameter model and feedback corresponding to the drill string control subsystem; determining a second optimized rate of penetration during the drilling process based on the second drilling parameter estimate; and providing a second set of commands to the drill string control subsystem based on the second optimized rate of penetration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system to optimize a drilling parameter of a drill string, the system comprising:
a drill string control subsystem; and
an optimization controller to coordinate operations of the drill string control subsystem during a drilling process by:
determining a first optimized rate of penetration based at least on a drilling parameter model and a first drilling parameter estimate, wherein the drilling parameter model is based, at least in part, on a wear model, and wherein the wear model is a function of at least weight on bit (WOB), torque on bit, and revolutions per minute of a drill bit, wherein the drilling parameter model includes a bit model;
updating the bit model, based on a comparison of a first torque on bit estimate received from a rotational motion model and a second torque on bit estimate from the drilling parameter model, to force the bit model to converge on the first torque on bit estimate;
providing a first set of commands to the drill string control subsystem based, at least in part, on the first optimized rate of penetration;
determining a second drilling parameter estimate during the drilling process based at least on the drilling parameter model and feedback corresponding to the drill string control subsystem;
determining a second optimized rate of penetration during the drilling process based, at least in part, on the second drilling parameter estimate;
providing a second set of commands to the drill string control subsystem based, at least in part, on the second optimized rate of penetration, wherein the determining of at least one of the first optimized rate of penetration and the second optimized rate of penetration is based, at least in part, on a constraint set, wherein the constraint set comprises one or more drill string parameters, wherein the one or more drill string parameters comprise at least one of the WOB and the revolutions per minute of the drill bit, and wherein the constraint set defines a region where stick-slip at a drill bit of the drill string may occur; and

controlling the drill string control subsystem based on the second set of commands.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the first optimized rate of penetration and the second optimized rate of penetration are based at least on one or more of a rock characteristic, a bit type, a target time, a depth, and a cost determination.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an axial motion model to receive feedback corresponding to a draws works and a hook position, wherein the hook position is updated based on a comparison of a hook position estimate from the axial motion model and a hook position feedback;
wherein the second drilling parameter estimate is based, at least in part, on the axial motion model.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
wherein, the rotational motion model receives feedback corresponding to a top drive and at least one of an angular velocity and an angular position, wherein the rotational motion model determines an angular estimate, and wherein the at least one of the angular velocity and the angular position are updated based on the angular estimate;
wherein the second drilling parameter estimate is based, at least in part, on the rotational motion model.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the drilling parameter model is based, at least in part, on feedback corresponding to a pump.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the optimization controller is further to coordinate operations of the drill string control subsystem during a drilling process by: making a cost determination based at least on minimization of costs corresponding to one or more of a drilling time, a trip time, and a bit cost, wherein the bit cost is based at least on one or more of a bit type and a number of bits.

7. The drilling control system of claim 1 , wherein the drill string control subsystem comprises one or more of a draws works control subsystem to control a draw works, a top drive control subsystem to control a top drive, and a pump control subsystem to control a pump.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon to optimize a drilling parameter of a drill string, the computer program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:
determine a first optimized rate of penetration based at least on a drilling parameter model and a first drilling parameter estimate, wherein the drilling parameter model is based, at least in part, on a wear model, and wherein the wear model is a function of at least weight on bit (WOB), torque on bit, and revolutions per minute of a drill bit, wherein the drilling parameter model includes a drill bit model;
update the drill bit model, based on a comparison of a first torque on bit estimate received from a rotational motion model and a second torque on bit estimate from the drilling parameter model, to force the drill bit model to converge on the first torque on bit estimate;
provide a first set of commands for a drill string control subsystem based, at least in part, on the first optimized rate of penetration;
determine a second drilling parameter estimate during a drilling process based at least on the drilling parameter model and feedback corresponding to the drill string control subsystem;
determine a second optimized rate of penetration during the drilling process based, at least in part, on the second drilling parameter estimate;
provide a second set of commands for the drill string control subsystem based, at least in part, on the second optimized rate of penetration, wherein the determination of at least one of the first optimized rate of penetration and the second optimized rate of penetration is based, at least in part, on a constraint set, wherein the constraint set comprises one or more drill string parameters, wherein the one or more drill string parameters comprise at least one of the WOB and the revolutions per minute of the drill bit, and wherein the constraint set defines a region where stick-slip at a drill bit of the drill string may occur; and
control the drill string control subsystem based on the second set of commands.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein one or both of the first optimized rate of penetration and the second optimized rate of penetration are based at least on one or more of a rock characteristic, a bit type, a target time, a depth, and a cost determination.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the second drilling parameter estimate is based, at least in part, on an axial motion model, wherein the axial motion model receives as inputs a feedback corresponding to a draws works and a feedback corresponding to a hook position, wherein the hook position is updated based on a comparison of a hook position estimate from the axial motion model and the hook position.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the second drilling parameter estimate is based at least on the rotational motion model and feedback corresponding to a top drive and at least one of an angular velocity and an angular position, wherein the rotational motion model determines an angular estimate, and wherein the at least one of the angular velocity and the angular position are updated based on the angular estimate.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the drilling parameter model is based, at least in part, on feedback corresponding to a pump.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the computer program further comprises executable instructions that cause a computer to:
make a cost

Assignees

• Dykstra Jason D
• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Dykstra Jason D

Classifications

• E21B45/00

  Measuring the drilling time or rate of penetration · CPC title

• E21B44/00 Primary

  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

• E21B41/0092 Primary

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E21B47/00

  Survey of boreholes or wells (monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid E21B21/08) · CPC title

• E21B41/00 Primary

  Equipment or details not covered by groups E21B15/00 - E21B40/00 · CPC title