System and method for remotely controlled surface steerable drilling

• US 9,157,309 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2015
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motive Drilling Technologies Inc. (Helmerich & Payne Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Hunt Advanced Drilling Technologies, L.L.C.
• Inventors: Benson, Todd W., Chen, Teddy
• Primary Examiner(s): MICHENER, BLAKE E
• Application Number:
  US14/734,384
• Publication Number:
  US 20150275646A1
• Time in Patent Office: 126 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 44/02 Automatic control of the tool feed E21B44/005, E21B44/10 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/024 of devices in the borehole determining slope or direction of the borehole E21B47/022
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 7/04 Directional drilling
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 7/10 Correction of deflected boreholes
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

A system and method for surface steerable drilling are provided. In one example, the system receives feedback information from a drilling rig and calculates an estimated position of a drill bit in a formation based on the feedback information. The system compares the estimated position to a desired position along a planned path of a borehole. The system calculates multiple solutions if the comparison indicates that the estimated position is outside a defined margin of error relative to the desired position. Each solution defines a path from the estimated position to the planned path. The system calculates a cost of each solution and selects one of the solutions based at least partly on the cost. The system produces control information representing the selected solution and outputs the control information for the drilling rig.

Claims

1. A method for drilling comprising:

receiving, by a surface steerable system located remotely at a location separate from a drilling rig, a plurality of inputs including a planned path for a borehole, formation information for the borehole, drilling rig equipment information for the drilling rig, bottom hole assembly (BHA) equipment information for a BHA coupled to the drilling rig, a set of financial cost parameters, and a set of reliability parameters;

processing, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, the planned path, the formation information, the drilling rig equipment information, the BHA equipment information, the set of financial cost parameters, and the set of reliability parameters to produce a set of control parameters for the drilling rig, wherein the control parameters define a plurality of drilling operations to be executed by the drilling rig to form the borehole;

outputting, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, the set of control parameters for the drilling rig;

processing, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, feedback information received from the drilling rig to determine whether an estimated position of a drill bit coupled to the drilling rig is within a defined margin of error of a desired point along the planned path;

calculating, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a first plurality of convergence plans if the estimated position of the drill bit is not within the margin of error, wherein each of the first plurality of convergence plans defines a first solution vector to realign the drill bit with the planned path from the estimated position based on the feedback information and the formation information;

calculating, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a second plurality of convergence plans if the estimated position of the drill bit is not within the margin of error, wherein each of the second plurality of convergence plans defines a second solution vector to realign the drill bit with the planned path from a projected position based on the feedback information and the formation information, wherein the projected position is determined by extending a current trajectory of the bit from the estimated position;

selecting, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a convergence plan that best satisfies a set of target parameters from the first and second plurality of convergence plans;

producing, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a set of revised control parameters representing the selected convergence plan;

outputting, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, the set of revised control parameters for the drilling rig; and

drilling, by the drilling rig, at least a portion of the borehole based on the revised control parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating each of the first plurality of convergence plans includes calculating a drift of the drill bit based on at least one of the formation information and the feedback information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of financial cost parameters includes a financial cost parameter range and a time parameter range, and wherein calculating each of the first and second plurality of convergence plans includes identifying an optimal value of financial cost versus time.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein one of the financial cost and the time is weighted more heavily than the other.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the optimal value has an upper bound defined by a maximum convergence delay.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the optimal value has a lower bound defined by a most aggressive possible correction.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the most aggressive possible correction is limited by a maximum radius of curvature possible in a path to realign the drill bit with the planned path defined by one of the first or second solution vectors representing the most aggressive correction.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising drilling, by the drilling rig, at least a portion of the borehole based on the control parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein outputting the set of control parameters for the drilling rig includes directly manipulating, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling rig control system.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the at least one drilling rig control system is one of a differential pressure control system, a positional control system, and a fluid circulation control system.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of target parameters includes a maximum radius of curvature possible in a path defined by a solution vector.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of target parameters includes a financial cost bounded by the set of financial cost parameters, and a reliability cost bounded by the set of reliability parameters.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating the second plurality of convergence plans includes calculating a delay that defines a period of time during which the drill bit is allowed to continue along the current trajectory from the estimated position prior to the trajectory being altered by the convergence plan.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating the second plurality of convergence plans includes calculating a delay that defines a period of time during which the drill bit is allowed to continue along a straight line path after the trajectory is altered by the convergence plan.

15. A method for drilling a borehole comprising:

receiving, by a surface steerable system located remotely at a location separate from a drilling rig, feedback information from the drilling rig engaged in using a drill bit to drill a borehole in a formation;

calculating, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, an estimated position of the drill bit in the formation based on the feedback information;

comparing, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, the estimated position of the drill bit to a desired position of the drill bit along a planned path of the borehole;

calculating, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a plurality of solutions if the comparison indicates that the estimated position is outside a defined margin of error relative to the desired position, wherein each of the plurality of solutions defines a path from the estimated position to the planned path;

calculating, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a cost of each of the plurality of solutions;

selecting, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, a first solution from the plurality of solutions based at least partly on the cost of the first solution;

producing, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, control information representing the first solution;

outputting, by the surface steerable system located remotely at the location separate from the drilling rig, the control information for the drilling rig; and

drilling, by the drilling rig, at least a portion of the borehole based on the control information.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein calculating the cost of each of the plurality of solutions includes identifying a plurality of cost elements applicable to each solution, and applying a weight factor to at least one of the cost elements.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein selecting the first solution includes identifying the cost of the first solution as a minimum of the costs of the plurality of solutions.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein one of the plurality of cost elements is time and another of the plurality of cost elements is a financial cost.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein calculating the plurality of solutions includes calculating a drift of the drill bit based on information about the formation.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein calculating the plurality of solutions includes calculating a slide start time and slide end time for each of the solutions.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein calculating the plurality of solutions further includes calculating a start time and an end time for pumping lubricants into the borehole prior to the slide start time for each of the solutions.

22. The method of claim 15 further comprising calculating, by the surface steerable system, a second plurality of solutions if the comparison indicates that the estimated position is outside a defined margin of error relative to the desired position, wherein each of the plurality of solutions defines a path from a projected position to the planned path, and wherein each projected position is determined by extending a current trajectory of the bit from the estimated position.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein calculating the second plurality of solutions includes calculating a delay that defines a period of time during which the drill bit is allowed to continue along the current trajectory from the estimated position prior to the trajectory being altered according to the first solution.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein calculating the second plurality of solutions includes calculating a delay that defines a period of time during which the drill bit is allowed to continue along a straight line path after the trajectory is altered by the first solution.

25. A surface steerable system in a central control facility remotely located from a drilling rig for use in controlling the drilling rig comprising:

a network interface for communicating from the remote location to one or more drilling rigs;

a processor coupled to the network interface; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions for execution by the processor, the plurality of instructions including;

instructions for receiving a plurality of inputs including a planned path for a borehole, formation information for the borehole, drilling rig equipment information for the drilling rig, bottom hole assembly (BHA) equipment information for a BHA coupled to the drilling rig, a set of financial cost parameters, and a set of reliability parameters;

instructions for processing the planned path, the formation information, the drilling rig equipment information, the BHA equipment information, the set of financial cost parameters, and the set of reliability parameters to produce a set of control parameters for the drilling rig, wherein the control parameters define a plurality of drilling operations to be executed by the drilling rig to form the borehole;

instructions for outputting the set of control parameters for the drilling rig;

instructions for processing feedback information received from the drilling rig to determine whether an estimated position of a drill bit coupled to the drilling rig is within a defined margin of error of a desired point along the planned path;

instructions for calculating a plurality of convergence plans if the estimated position of the drill bit does not match the desired point, wherein each of the plurality of convergence plans defines a solution vector to realign the drill bit with the planned path based on the feedback information and a set of target parameters;

instructions for selecting one of the plurality of convergence plans;

instructions for producing a set of revised control parameters representing the convergence plan;

instructions for outputting the set of revised control parameters for the drilling rig; and

instructions for providing a local database configured to store data representing the planned path, the formation information, the drilling rig equipment information, the BHA equipment information, the set of financial cost parameters, and the set of reliability parameters.

26. The surface steerable system of claim 25 further comprising a regional database coupled to the network interface, wherein the regional database includes data representing a plurality of planned paths, formation information for a plurality of geographic regions, drilling rig equipment information for a plurality of drilling rigs, BHA equipment information for a plurality of BHAs, the set of financial cost parameters, and the set of reliability parameters.

27. The surface steerable system of claim 26 further comprising instructions for a guidance control loop and an autonomous control loop, wherein the guidance control loop calculates the plurality of convergence plans and the autonomous control loop outputs the set of revised control parameters for the drilling rig.

28. The surface steerable system of claim 25 further comprising instructions for optimizing the control parameters.

29. The surface steerable system of claim 28 wherein the instructions for optimizing the control parameters include instructions for iteratively modifying the control parameters while maintaining a target parameter.