Directional drilling control apparatus and methods

• US 8,360,171 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2010
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nabors Drillling Technologies USA, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Canrig Drilling Technology Limited (Nabors Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Boone, Scott, Ellis, Brian, Scarborough, John Thomas, Papouras, Chris, Kttel, Beat
• Primary Examiner(s): Stephenson, Daniel P
• Application Number:
  US12/905,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20110024187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 837 Days
• Field of Search: 175/26, 175/61, 175/73, 175/27
• US Class Current: 175/26
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 7/04 Directional drilling
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 7/068 drilled by a down-hole drilling motor down-hole drives per se E21B4/00, E21B7/067 takes precedence

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for using a quill to steer a hydraulic motor when elongating a wellbore in a direction having a horizontal component, wherein the quill and the hydraulic motor are coupled to opposing ends of a drill string, by monitoring an actual toolface orientation of a tool driven by the hydraulic motor via monitoring a drilling operation parameter indicative of a difference between the actual toolface orientation and a desired toolface orientation, and then adjusting a position of the quill by an amount that is dependent upon the monitored drilling operation parameter.

Claims

1. An apparatus to steer a hydraulic motor when elongating a wellbore having a non-vertical component, comprising:

a quill that can transfer torque between a rotary drive assembly and a drillstring;

a bottom hole assembly (BHA) including a toolface orientation detector and at least one measurement while drilling (MWD) instrument, or wireline-conveyed instrument;

a controller configured to transmit operational control signals to minimize friction between a drillstring and a wellbore; and

a downhole annular pressure sensor configured to detect pressure between the external surface of the BHA and the internal diameter of the wellbore.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a drillstring handler selected from a drawworks, a rack and pinion hoisting system, a hydraulic ram, or an injector head, and where in the quill is attached between the drive assembly and the drillstring.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to transmit operational control signals to at least one of the drillstring handler, the drive assembly, or the BHA or a pump.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a saver sub, wherein the saver sub is disposed between the quill and the drillstring.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a shock or vibration sensor, a torque sensor, a toolface sensor, a weight on bit sensor, and a mud motor pressure differential sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the BHA is configured for wireless transmission of a downhole parameter to the controller, where the downhole parameter comprises at least one of pressure, temperature, torque, weight-on-bit, vibration, inclination, or azimuth.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one downhole parameter is stored to be retrieved when the BHA is tripped out of the wellbore.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the downhole parameters are transmitted to the surface via electronic or electromagnetic means.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a user-interface adapted to receive user-input from one or more toolface operational control signals.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of user inputs and at least one processor.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement-while-drilling or the wireline conveyed instruments are configured to evaluate at least one of pressure, temperature, torque, weight-on-bit, vibration, inclination, azimuth, or toolface orientation in three-dimensional space.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the toolface orientation detector comprises a magnetic toolface sensor, a gravity toolface sensor, or a combination thereof.

13. A method of elongating a wellbore in a direction having a horizontal component comprising:

detecting a current toolface orientation with respect to vertical;

comparing the current toolface orientation to a desired toolface orientation based on operating parameters;

employing at least one controller to analyze whether one or more comparable operating parameter has been previously recorded;

generating drilling control signals to oscillate a quill based on any of the previously recorded drilling operation parameter to redirect the toolface to a corrected drilling path; and

rotating a tubular along the corrected drilling path.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising calculating and automatically increasing the amount of quill rotation necessary to rotate a tubular directed axially along the corrected drilling path within predetermined limits.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising setting operational parameter limits within a controller so that the actual quill oscillation does not result in a condition exceeding those limits.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more comparable operating parameters are toolface set point values or ranges.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein set point values or ranges are a positive or negative limit, or neutral set point, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the detecting is from a plurality of sensors.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the operating parameters comprises at least one of torque, speed, or orientation of a quill or toolface.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the comparing occurs once, continuously, periodically, or at random intervals, or a combination thereof.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the drilling control signals are automatically generated upon the completion of the connection of a tubular to a toolface.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the quill rotates the drillstring in both a clockwise and a counter-clockwise direction to compensate for a deviation from a current toolface orientation and a desired toolface orientation.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the rotation occurs in one direction and then in the other direction sequentially.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the amount of rotation in one direction is unequal to the amount of rotation in the other direction.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the amplitude of the oscillation of the quill is asymmetrically altered according to the relationship between a current drilling operation parameter and a desired drilling operation parameter.

26. The method of claim 13, wherein oscillating the quill comprises rotating the quill with a predetermined torque past a neutral position in clockwise and counterclockwise directions.