WIRELESS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING A DRILLING RIG OPERATION

• US 20120080227A1
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Oilwell Varco LP (NOV, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: National Oilwell Varco LP (NOV, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cardellini, David A., Becker, Matthew D., Murray, Richard Lee Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,133,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 175/40
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 17/003 with electrically conducting or insulating means E21B17/028 and E21B17/023 take precedence
• 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 47/13 by electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency

Abstract

A system for monitoring a drilling rig operation includes a drilling rig assembly and at least one sensor coupled to a member of the drilling rig assembly to sense a parameter related to operation of the drilling rig assembly. A client device coupled to the at least one sensor includes a data acquisition device for receiving data from the at least one sensor. The client device also includes a first radio, which is coupled to the data acquisition device. A base station located a distance from the client device comprises a second radio that communicates wirelessly with the first radio in order to transfer data between the data acquisition device and the base station.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a drilling rig operation, comprising:

a drilling rig assembly;

at least one sensor coupled to a member to sense a parameter related to operation of the drilling rig assembly;

a client device coupled to the at least one sensor, the client device comprising a data acquisition device for receiving data from the at least one sensor and a first radio coupled to the data acquisition device; and

a base station located a distance from the client device and comprising a second radio that communicates wirelessly with the first radio in order to transfer data between the data acquisition device and the base station.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first radio is a micro-power radio.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the client device further comprises a gyroscope and is configured to change its power state based on an output of the gyroscope.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a control and acquisition system in communication with the base station.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device further comprises at least one accelerometer.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the member of the drilling rig assembly is a top drive link tilt, and the data acquisition device is configured to receive data from the at least one accelerometer.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the data acquisition device is configured to extract inclination angle and rotational angle of the top drive link tilt from the data received from the at least one accelerometer.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device has a plurality of configurable channels, each configurable channel being assigned to monitor data from a sensor.

9. A wireless transmission system, comprising:

a client device comprising a data acquisition device for receiving data from at least one sensor and a first radio coupled to the data acquisition device; and

a base station comprising a second radio that communicates wirelessly with the first radio in order to transfer data between the data acquisition device and the base station.

10. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the first radio and the second radio communicate using the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

11. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the first radio is a micro-power radio.

12. The wireless transmission system of claim 11, wherein the client device is powered by a battery.

13. The wireless transmission system of claim 11, wherein the client device is powered by harvested energy.

14. The wireless transmission system of claim 11, wherein the client device further comprises a gyroscope to detect a rotational speed of the client device.

15. The wireless transmission system of claim 14, wherein the client device is configured to change its power state based on an output of the gyroscope.

16. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the data acquisition device is configured to receive data selected from top drive shaft bending moment, top drive shaft torque data, top drive shaft tension data, drilling rig hoist load data, weight-on-bit data, drilling data, and tool rotational alignment data.

17. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the data acquisition device is configured to receive data from at least one auxiliary tool measuring at least one parameter selected from torque, tension, bending moment, rotational velocity, rotational position, and acceleration.

18. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the client device further comprises at least one accelerometer.

19. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, further comprising a control and acquisition system in communication with the base station.

20. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, further comprising a repeater radio for relaying data between the first radio and the second radio.

21. The wireless transmission system of claim 9, wherein the client device has a plurality of configurable channels, each configurable channel being assigned to monitor data from a sensor.

22. A method of monitoring a drilling rig operation, comprising:

sensing a parameter related to the drilling rig operation using at least one sensor coupled to a member of a drilling rig assembly;

collecting data from the at least one sensor using a data acquisition device of a client device coupled to the at least one sensor; and

transmitting the data collected by the data acquisition device wirelessly to a base station located at a distance from the data acquisition device using a first radio coupled to the data acquisition device and a second radio coupled to the base station.