Methods and Systems for Pipe Management on a Drilling Rig

• US 20150232272A1
• Filed: 02/20/2014
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nabors Drillling Technologies USA, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nabors Industries Incorporated (Nabors Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Magnuson, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,354,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 19/14 Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole E21B19/20, E21B19/22 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

Apparatus and methods include a racker device for moving tubular stands on a drilling rig, a fingerboard cooperatively disposed to receive tubular stands from the racker device and to support the tubular stands in a vertical arrangement, and a racking control system in communication with the racker device and configured to control the racker device. The racking control system may include a tubular management system that receives data relating to a well plan and driller settings, assesses the well plan and driller settings, and based on the well plan and driller settings, develops a racking plan setting out proposed racking locations for the tubular stands to be used in a drilling procedure.

Claims

1. A drilling rig apparatus comprising:

a racker device for moving tubular stands on a drilling rig;

a fingerboard cooperatively disposed to receive tubular stands from the racker device and to support the tubular stands in a vertical arrangement; and

a racking control system in communication with the racker device and configured to control the racker device, the racking control system comprising a tubular management system that receives data relating to a well plan and driller settings, assesses the well plan and driller settings, and based on the well plan and driller settings, develops a racking plan setting out proposed racking locations for the tubular stands to be used in a drilling procedure.

2. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tubular management system is configured to receive driller preferences for a drilling rig, and wherein the racking control system is based in part on the driller preferences as the racking plan is developed.

3. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tubular management system is configured to determine the number of tubular stands required to make up a drilling section of the well plan and allocate locations in the fingerboard for each of the tubular stands.

4. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driller settings include at least one of tubular arrangement, location in fingerboard for bottom hole assembly, and drill pipe size, the racking control system configured to take the driller settings into account when developing the racking plan.

5. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the well plan specifies BHA and hole size by casing section, the racking control system being configured to take the BHA and hole size into account when developing the racking plan.

6. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tubular management system is configured to allocate a racking location for a tubular stand based on historical data for one or more tubulars or tubular stands.

7. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 1, wherein the racking control system comprises an asset management system configured to track information relating to specific tubulars or tubular stands.

8. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 7, wherein the information includes historical loading information including an amount of stresses applied to a tubular or tubular stand.

9. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 7, wherein the information includes specification of particular tubular of a tubular stand including at least one of a length, a diameter, and a manufacturer.

10. The drilling rig apparatus of claim 7, wherein the asset management system shares a memory, a processor, or both, with the tubular management system.

11. A method of developing a racking plan for a drilling rig, which comprises:

receiving information for a well plan in a racking control system for drilling a wellbore with a drilling rig;

receiving driller setting information in a racking control system; and

determining a fingerboard plan with the racking control system that assesses the received well plan information and the received driller setting information and, based on the assessment, allocates tubular stand locations within a fingerboard for tubular stands to carry out the well plan.

12. The method of claim 11, which further comprises:

generating control signals with the racking control system to control a racker device to make up tubular stands and rack the tubular stands in the allocated locations in the fingerboard.

13. The method of claim 11, which further comprises determining the number of tubular stands required to make up a drilling section of the well plan and allocating locations in the fingerboard for the stands based on the number of tubular stands required to make the drilling section.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the driller settings comprises receiving at least one of a tubular arrangement in a fingerboard, a location in the fingerboard for a bottom hole assembly (BHA), and a drill pipe size.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the well plan includes receiving at least one of BHA and hole size by casing section, a mud depth, or a total vertical depth from the drilling rig.

16. The method of claim 11, which further comprises taking into account historical data relating to one or more specific tubular to be used to make up one or more of the tubular stands, with the historical data being used to allocate a position in the fingerboard for a tubular stand comprising each specific tubulars.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein taking into account historical data comprises taking into account historical loading information including the amount of stresses applied to a tubular or tubular stand.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein taking into account historical data comprises taking into account at least one of a length, a diameter, and a manufacturer.

19. The method of claim 16, comprising an automated rig control system and wherein the racking control system is integrated into the automated rig control system resulting in the automated rig control system having autonomous control capability for controlling all functions of the rig including drawworks, top drive, mud pumps, roughneck, racking, hydraulic elevators, slips, solids control, power systems, and anti-collision.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium with computer executable instructions stored thereon for determining racking locations in a fingerboard for tubulars and tubular stands, the computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving information regarding a well plan in a racking control system for drilling a wellbore with a drilling rig;

receiving driller setting information in a racking control system; and

determining a fingerboard plan with the racking control system that assesses the received well plan information and the received driller setting information and, based on the assessment, allocates tubular stand locations within a fingerboard for tubular stands to carry out the well plan.