Well protection systems and methods

• US 10,138,722 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2016
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nabors Drillling Technologies USA, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nabors Drillling Technologies USA, Inc.
• Inventors: Magnuson, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Bemko, Taras P
• Application Number:
  US15/248,220
• Publication Number:
  US 20180058187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• Field of Search: 175 27
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 19/20 Combined feeding from rack and connecting, e.g. automatically
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 21/082 Dual gradient systems, i.e. using two hydrostatic gradients or drilling fluid densities
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 44/02 Automatic control of the tool feed E21B44/005, E21B44/10 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/06 Measuring temperature or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/09 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

Abstract

The systems, devices, and methods described herein describe a control system that automatically determines a trip speed for a surge operation or a swab operation. The control system is used to automatically adjust the trip speed during the respective surge or swab operation in order to optimize the trip speed according to the changing environment of the wellbore that the bottom hole assembly traverses without exceeding the fracture gradient in the wellbore location. A well plan identifies formations along the wellbore route, dynamic real-time tracking of the tubulars added to the drill string and removed therefrom identifies the current location of the BHA in the wellbore, and pressure and fractional gradient at the location of the BHA, and in some embodiments a real-time pressure measurement from the BHA, together are used to automatically determine the maximum tripping speed possible for the formation that the BHA is traversing.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

tracking, automatically by a controller of a drilling rig, a position of a bit at a distal end of a bottom hole assembly coupled to a drill string of the drilling rig during a surge or swab operation through a wellbore environment of a wellbore;

determining, automatically by the controller at a first time during the surge or swab operation, the wellbore environment comprises a first wellbore environment from the tracked position of the bit based on at least one received drilling parameter relating to the drill string in the wellbore;

adjusting, dynamically by the controller during the surge or swab operation, a trip speed of the drill string to a first trip speed based on the determined first wellbore environment;

determining, automatically by the controller at a second time during the surge or swab operation, the wellbore environment comprises a second wellbore environment from the tracked position of the bit based on the at least one received drilling parameter relating to the drill string in the wellbore; and

adjusting, dynamically by the controller during the surge or swab operation, the trip speed of the drill string to a second trip speed based on the determined second wellbore environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the wellbore environment comprises a geological formation, and

the trip speed comprises a maximum speed of the drill string during the surge or swab operation in the wellbore environment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the first trip speed comprises an increase in speed in response to determining that the geological formation comprises at least one of a casing in the wellbore and a stable geological formation in the wellbore, and

the second trip speed comprises a decrease in speed in response to determining that the geological formation comprises an unstable geological formation in the wellbore.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the drill string comprises at least one tubular, the tracking further comprising:

receiving, by the controller, a tracked location of each tubular in the drill string as the drill string extends into the wellbore or is extracted out of the wellbore during the surge or swab operation, respectively,

wherein the at least one drilling parameter comprises a depth of the bit at the distal end of the drill string determined by the controller based on the tracked location of each tubular in the drill string.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the receiving further comprises receiving, by the controller, a well plan of the wellbore, the well plan comprising geological formation information, casing information, and depth information, and

the adjusting further comprises comparing one or more of the geological formation information, casing information, and depth information with the depth of the bit at the distal end of the drill string and computing the trip speed based on the comparison.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one drilling parameter comprises a pressure sensed by a pressure sensor at the bit at the distal end of the drill string,

the method further comprises determining a friction gradient caused by the drill string in the wellbore during the surge or swab operation based on the sensed pressure, and

the adjusting to the first or the second trip speed is based on the determined friction gradient.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

validating, by an x-ray sensor, geological formation information provided in a well plan during drilling operations; and

setting, automatically by the controller, respective trip speeds and corresponding depth ranges associated with each validated geological formation,

wherein the adjusting to the first or the second trip speed further comprises changing the first or the second trip speed to the respective trip speeds based on the tracked position of the bit reaching the corresponding depth ranges.

8. A drilling rig apparatus comprising:

a drill string comprising at least one tubular and a bottom hole assembly in a wellbore;

a hoisting/lowering mechanism configured to lower the drill string into the wellbore in a surge operation and hoist the drill string out of the wellbore in a swab operation; and

a well protection controller in communication with the hoisting/lowering mechanism and configured to;

receive, during the surge or the swab operation, at least one drilling parameter relating to the drill string in the wellbore,

determine, at a first time during the surge or the swab operation, a first trip speed of the drill string based on the at least one drilling parameter in a first wellbore environment of the wellbore,

send, at the first time during the surge or the swab operation, the determined first trip speed to the hoisting/lowering mechanism,

determine, at a second time during the surge or the swab operation, a second trip speed of the drill string based on the at least one drilling parameter in a second wellbore environment of the wellbore, and

send, at the second time during the surge or the swab operation, the determined second trip speed to the hoisting/lowering mechanism.

9. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 8, wherein

the first wellbore environment comprises a first geological formation and the second wellbore environment comprises a second geological formation, and

the first or the second trip speed comprises a maximum speed of the drill string during the surge or swab operation in the wellbore.

10. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the first trip speed comprises an increase in speed in response to determining that the first geological formation comprises at least one of a casing in the wellbore and a stable geological formation in the wellbore, and

the second trip speed comprises a decrease in speed in response to determining that the second geological formation comprises a weak geological formation in the wellbore.

11. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 8, wherein the well protection controller is further configured to:

receive a tracked location of each tubular in the drill string as the drill string surges into the wellbore or is swabbed out of the wellbore during the surge or swab operation, respectively,

wherein the at least one drilling parameter comprises a depth of a distal end of the drill string determined by the well protection controller based on the tracked location of each tubular in the drill string.

12. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 11, wherein the well protection controller is further configured to:

receive a well plan of the wellbore, the well plan comprising geological formation information, casing information, and depth information;

receive formation information from an x-ray sensor coupled to the distal end of the drill string;

validate the geological formation information with the received formation information from the x-ray sensor; and

compare, as part of the determining the first trip speed and the second trip speed, one or more of the validated geological formation information, casing information, and depth information with the depth of the distal end of the drill string.

13. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 12, wherein the well protection controller is further configured to:

set a first trip speed value for a first geological formation identified by the well plan and validated by the geological formation information for an identified first depth range;

set a second trip speed value for a second geological formation identified by the well plan and validated by the geological formation information for an identified second depth range;

adjust, during the surge or the swab operation, the first trip speed to the first trip speed value in response to the depth of the distal end of the drill string being within the first depth range for the first wellbore environment; and

adjust during the surge or the swab operation the second trip speed to the second trip speed value in response to the depth of the distal end of the drill string being within the second depth range for the second wellbore environment.

14. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the at least one drilling parameter comprises a pressure sensed by a pressure sensor at a distal end of the drill string and a depth of the distal end,

the well protection controller is further configured to determine a friction gradient of the drill string in the wellbore during the surge or swab operation based on the sensed pressure, and

the first trip speed or the second trip speed is based on the determined friction gradient.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving, automatically during a swab operation, at least one drilling parameter relating to a wellbore and a drill string of a drilling rig in the wellbore;

determining, automatically at a first time during the swab operation, a first swab speed of the drill string in the wellbore based on a first position in a wellbore environment determined from the at least one drilling parameter;

updating, automatically at the first time during the swab operation, a rate of operation of a drilling rig component that hoists the drill string in the wellbore based on the first determined swab speed;

determining, automatically at a second time during the swab operation, a second swab speed of the drill string in the wellbore based on a second position in the wellbore environment determined from the at least one drilling parameter; and

updating, automatically at the second time during the swab operation, the rate of operation of the drilling rig component that hoists the drill string in the wellbore based on the second determined swab speed.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:

the first swab speed comprises an increase in the rate of operation in response to determining that the first wellbore environment in which a distal end of the drill string is located comprises a first wellbore condition; and

the second swab speed comprises a decrease in the rate of operation in response to determining that the second wellbore environment in which the distal end of the drill string is located comprises a second wellbore condition that is different from the first wellbore condition.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein:

the first wellbore condition comprises at least one of a casing in the wellbore and a stable geological formation in the wellbore, and

the second wellbore condition comprises a weak geological formation in the wellbore.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving, automatically during a surge operation, the at least one drilling parameter relating to the wellbore;

determining, automatically at a first time during the surge operation, a first surge speed of the drill string in the wellbore based on the first position in the first wellbore environment determined from the at least one drilling parameter;

updating, automatically at the first time during the surge operation, a rate of operation of the drilling rig component based on the first determined surge speed;

determining, automatically at a second time during the surge operation, a second surge speed of the drill string in the wellbore based on the second position in the second wellbore environment determined from the at least one drilling parameter; and

updating, automatically at the second time during the surge operation, the rate of operation of the drilling rig component that lowers the drill string in the wellbore based on the second determined surge speed.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the drill string comprises at least one tubular, the operations further comprising:

receiving a tracked location of each tubular in the drill string as the drill string is hoisted out of the wellbore during the swab operation,

wherein the at least one drilling parameter comprises a depth of a distal end of the drill string determined by the machine based on the tracked location of each tubular in the drill string.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving a well plan of the wellbore, the well plan comprising geological formation information, casing information, and depth information;

comparing one or more of the geological formation information, casing information, and depth information with the depth of a distal end of the drill string; and

using a result of the comparison in determining a swab speed.