System and method for downhole tool system development

• US 20070038376A1
• Filed: 08/09/2005
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Original Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Inventors: Schwendemann, Kenneth, Towers, Darrin, Larimore, David, Beaver, Brandon, Beck, Harold, Krasovsky, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 8,818,776 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/17 Mechanical parametric or variational design

Abstract

A disclosed method of downhole tool system development comprises: receiving specifications of a downhole tool system that comprises multiple strings, each string having one or more components; and checking for interference between the multiple strings in an initial position. A disclosed system comprises: a memory that stores software; and a processor coupled to the memory to execute the software. The software causes the processor to provide a graphical user interface that enables a user to specify a downhole tool system having multiple strings, and to test the strings for diametrical overlap attributable to relative motion of the strings.

Claims

1. A method of downhole tool system development that comprises:

receiving specifications of a downhole tool system that comprises multiple strings, each string having one or more components; and

checking for interference between the multiple strings in an initial position.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing for operation-induced collisions between the multiple strings.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the operation is insertion or removal of an innermost string.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the specifications include basic dimensions for each component, said basic dimensions comprising a minimum inner diameter, a maximum outer diameter, and a length.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said checking and said testing comprise:

determining a relative string position;

using component lengths to determine radially adjacent components; and

comparing the maximum outer diameters of components of an inner string to the minimum inner diameters of radially adjacent components of an outer string.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

soliciting user input to resolve any detected interference or collision.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining whether the user input indicates a change in a component'"'"'s configuration, and if so, changing the component'"'"'s configuration in response to the user input; and

determining whether the configuration change resolves the detected interference or collision, and if so, proceeding to a subsequent interference or collision.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

recording resolution events as a function of a string'"'"'s position; and

generating a report of resolution events as a function of a string'"'"'s position.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving images for said components;

constructing a downhole tool system image by assembling component images; and

displaying the downhole tool system image.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said retrieving includes:

retrieving images of said components if images are available; and

for each component not having an available image,

retrieving an image of another component in a product class containing the component not having an available image; and

scaling the image to match basic dimensions of the component not having an available image.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving labels and dimensions associated with the downhole tool system; and

displaying the downhole tool system image with said labels and dimensions.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

checking connection compatibility between axially adjacent components of each string; and

displaying an indication of whether axially adjacent components have compatible connections.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a separate image of a component in the downhole tool system; and

displaying a list of materials that make up the component.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the image comprises images of the individual materials that make up the component, and wherein the images of the individual materials can be individually repositioned by a user to disassemble the component.

15. A system for downhole tool system development that comprises:

memory that stores software; and

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the software, wherein the software causes the processor to;

provide a graphical user interface that enables a user to specify a downhole tool system having multiple strings, each string having one or more tools; and

test for diametrical overlap between said tools attributable to relative motion of the strings.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the relative motion represents removal of an innermost string from a borehole.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor determines basic dimensions associated with each tool, said basic dimensions including an inner diameter, an outer diameter, and a length.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the software further causes the processor to notify the user of any detected diametrical overlap and to solicit a user action that obviates the diametrical overlap.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the user action is a change in tool state that alters a basic dimensions of a tool.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the software further causes the processor to compile a report of user actions.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the software further causes the processor to check connection compatibility of said tools.

22. A method of downhole system design that comprises:

selecting multiple downhole tools, each downhole tool having an associated tessellated image;

specifying a relative position for each of the multiple downhole tools, thereby visually assembling a downhole system from the tessellated images; and

exporting a text file describing the downhole system; and

automatically combining CAD (computer aided design) files in an engineering CAD environment in accordance with the text file, each CAD file corresponding to at least one of said multiple tools.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

retrieving connection information for each of the multiple downhole tools; and

verifying connection compatibility of adjacent downhole tools.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

selecting points on a tessellated image of the downhole system to display automatically calculated dimension information.