System for drill string tallying, tracking and service factor measurement

• US 5,202,680 A
• Filed: 11/18/1991
• Issued: 04/13/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: George M. Savage Revocable Trust, Paul C. Koomey, Tom L. Mcdaniel
• Original Assignee: Paul C. Koomey, Tom L. Mcdaniel
• Inventors: Savage, George M.
• Primary Examiner(s): ELDRED, JOHN W
• Application Number:
  US07/795,943
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• Field of Search: 340/853.1, 340/853.3, 175/40, 342/42, 342/44, 342/51
• US Class Current: 340/853.1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 17/006 Accessories for drilling pipes, e.g. cleaners wear protectors E21B17/10; handling drilling pipes E21B19/00; thread protectors B65D59/00
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 19/20 Combined feeding from rack and connecting, e.g. automatically
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 44/00 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 Class Codes: E21B 47/017 Protecting measuring instruments
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/13 by electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs

Abstract

A system for the automatic tallying of uniquely serialized drill string components from which well depth is determined, in hole component inventories are maintained, individual components are tracked through the well bore, component diameters are identified with respect to blowout preventer seal elevations and the determination and measurement of individual component down hole service factors with cumulative totalization in a computerized data base management system for these service factors for the purpose of better equalizing wear in order to obtain optimum life from drill strings.

Claims

1. An identifying apparatus for use in drilling operations utilizing a drill bit and drill string comprising:

said drill string having a wall with a recess therein, opening to the exterior thereof;

an electronic identification tag;

an electromagnetically conductive material secured within and substantially filling said recess for holding said tag in place within said recess.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the tag has a frequency of about 27.1 megahertz.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said electromagnetically conductive material is a plastic material.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 in which said electromagnetically conductive material'"'"'s exterior surface is flush with exterior of said wall.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 for ascertaining drill pipe fatigue damage resulting from rotating in a well bore dog leg causing tension-coupled bending stresses σ

_b in which ##EQU11## in which c=hole curvature, degrees per 100 feet

E=modulus of elasticity

D=drill pipe OD, inches

T_s ="effective tension" in the drill string at the dog leg, pounds

I=moment of inertia of the drill pipe, in⁴

L=half the distance between tool joints, inches

and which comprises;

(a) means for combining the axial tension with said tension-coupled bending stress σ

_b to provide effective bending stress Tσ

_b where ##EQU12## in which t=ultimate tensile strength of the drill pipe, psi

σ

_t =tensile stress, in psi, imposed on the drill pipe in the dog leg

T_tb =weight suspended by the traveling block, pounds

M_a =tallied component lengths above the dog leg, feet

W_a =weights in air of tallied components above the dog leg, pounds/foot

A=cross sectional area of a components in the dog leg, in²

(b) means for obtaining "c", T_tb, K_b, nd data bank recall of component physical data for the computer solutions to the above equations,

(c) means to combine the rotation cycle count of claim 14 of said drill pipe in said dog leg with the effective bending stress to obtain fatigue damage amount, and

(d) means to determine the fraction of fatigue life expended by said fatigue damage as represented by the ratio of the number of cycles at said effective bending stress level to the total number of cycles to failure at said effective bending stress level as obtained in a fatique curve for said component rotating in said dog leg.

5. An apparatus for minimizing electronic identification tag communication signal attenuation including:

an electronic identification tag in a drill string component protective recess;

an electromagnetically conductive type material securing said tag in said recess, said material having an external surface flush with the component outside surface and having wearing characteristics similar as that of the material of said component.

6. An apparatus for determining well drilling parameters in the drilling of bore holes in the earth using drill string components comprising:

a uniquely coded electronic tag carried by each of selected individual drill string components which are moved up and down with respect to a bore hole, said tag positioned in a recess in the wall of said component and held in place by an electromagnetically conductive material substantially filling said recess and providing a sacrificial wear surface remaining smooth with the outside of the drill string component as it wears in the hole;

a reader located at a known elevation adjacent said drill string component and capable of detecting he presence of each said tag and transmitting an output signal identifying said detected tag;

a computer capable of receiving the output signal from said reader for each signal detected for each tag.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 including means to detect the rotation of a said drill string component and record same for each component in said well bore during such rotation.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 including means to detect the suspended weight of said drill string components in the welland record same.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 including sensor means to sense the vertical movement of a drill string component and record same.

10. A system for drilling of offshore wells in water from a floating vessel of locating off-size portions of drill pipe tool joints or other drill string components having diameters with respect to a reference datum for which sub-sea blowout preventer seal and pack-off elements at the sea floor located at a certain elevations are not suitable to close around for proper seal and pressure containment comprising:

(a) uniquely coded electronic tags recessed in individual drill string components,

(b) a reader system for detecting each said individual tagged component as it passes through the rig floor,

(c) computer means to provide a tally and tracking of said detected components within the well and sub-sea blowout preventer bore,

(d) keyboard input into said computer means of information concerning said sub-sea blowout preventer seal and pack-off elevations with respect to a datum,

(e) interface means for correcting any variances in said elevation of said pack-off and seal elevations from said datum elevation,

(f) means for detecting the amount of drill string stretch between the derrick floor datum and said sub sea blowout preventer stack,

(g) means to enter said drill string stretch amount into said computer for determining the true elevation of said off-size portions at any time, and

(h) display means showing elevation position of said off-size portions with respect to the position of each said drill string component as it passes through said sub-sea blowout preventer stack.

11. An apparatus for measuring an providing drill string service life factors utilizing automatic drill string identification and tracking of components in the well bore by means of a system comprised of:

(a) uniquely coded electronic identification tag positioned in a recess in each individual drill string components and held in place by an electromagnetically conductive material filling said recess and providing a sacrificial wear surface remaining smooth with the outside of the drill string as it wears,

(b) reading means for detecting and identifying each tag as each said tagged component pass through the rig floor,

(c) computer means connected to said reader means to provide a tally of said individual components in the well bore, and including means to record the footage drilled during the interval each said tallied component is engaged in drilling hole to obtain total cumulative footage drilled for each component,

(d) means to provide rotation count for each component during the interval each said tallied component is engaged in drilling to record total cumulative rotations for each such component, and

(e) display and print-out means of the data recorded.

13. An apparatus for providing a tally of drill string components supported by a traveling block in the well bore below a rig floor by means of an automatic tracking system comprising:

(a) uniquely coded electronic identification tag recessed in each individual drill string components,

(b) a reader system to read said tagged components as each pass through the rig floor,

(c) computer means connected to said reader system to provide a tally of said identified drill string components,

(d) means to sense the movement of said block and the load carried thereby and to record same in said computer means,

(e) display and printout means of said tally.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 including means to tally the cumulative rotation count of each drill string component.