Automation of Mud-Pump Management: Application to Drilling Operations in the North Sea

The oil-and-gas industry has become increasingly interested in drilling dynamics and vibration as causes of drilling inefficiency and reduced drilling performance. Generally, drillstring vibration is measured with shock-and-vibration sensors installed in measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tools, logging-while-drilling (LWD) tools, and rotary steerable systems (RSS). Although these tools provide valuable real-time and recorded-mode information on the dynamic conditions, they are not generally designed to capture continuous high-frequency (HF) mechanics and dynamics data, and burst data may miss important information about the evolution of the system response and state.A downhole mechanics measurement tool has been developed that makes a comprehensive suite of measurements of the drilling process, including forces, accelerations, rotational speed, pressures, and temperatures. In addition to providing information in real time, the tool has the capability to capture long durations of continuous data at frequencies between 50 and 2,000 Hz. The recorded-mode information obtained has provided significant insight into the response of the drilling system to starting rotation; drilling procedures and parameter modifications; and exposure to excitation from sources including, but not limited to, rig heave, bottomhole-assembly (BHA) component imbalance, and bit/rock interaction. A wide range of occurrences has been captured in which the drilling system switches from a dominant vibration mode, typically torsional (downhole rotation-velocity oscillations or stick/slip) into a different mode, such as axial (bit bounce) or lateral (whirl). Transitions between different types of whirl have also been recorded.Several cases were studied to investigate the evolution and response of drilling-system behavior on the basis of in-depth interpretation of relatively long durations (minutes to hours) of HF data sets in the operational context. The findings verify the value of using continuous HF vibration data to understand the drilling system and to increase drilling performance.

“…RSS BHA Example). Rig heave is a common excitation source on offshore floating rigs (Cayeux et al 2011a). Axial string movements are induced by the movement of the rig.…”

Section: Case 4 Transition From Torsional Oscillations Into Bitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case 4 Transition From Torsional Oscillations Into Bitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous High-Frequency Measurements of the Drilling Process Provide New Insights Into Drilling-System Response and Transitions Between Vibration Modes

Bowler

Harmer

Logesparan

et al. 2016

“…A drill-by-wire system is an enhancement of the drilling-control system to account for the side effects of the drillstring and drilling-fluid movements on the drilling process (Iversen et al 2009;Cayeux et al 2011aCayeux et al , 2011b. It implements safeguards to maneuver the drilling machines in a way that reduces the risk for drilling incidents such as formation-fluid influx, hole collapse, formation fracturing, and cuttings accumula-tion.…”

Section: Drilling-automation Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Drilling Automation: On the Necessity of Using Sensors That Relate to Physical Models

Cayeux

Daireaux

Dvergsnes

et al. 2014

Current topside and downhole instrumentation at the wellsite has been developed to manually conduct drilling operations. The emergence of automatic drilling-analysis software shows the limitations of today's measurement capabilities. It is therefore time to analyze the requirements for on-site instrumentation to implement new, efficient drilling-automation technologies.On one hand, drilling is facing more and more difficult conditions with narrow geopressure windows, deepwater, or high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) conditions. On the other hand, unconventional hydrocarbon reserves may require a considerable amount of wells to be profitable. Drilling automation, by means of smart safeguards, automatic safety triggers, managed-pressure drilling (MPD), and ultimately complete or semiautonomous drilling rigs, can provide the solution to safely construct wells in these challenging settings.The common denominator for the vast majority of drilling-automation solutions is the use of physical models of the drilling process in the form of heat-transfer, mechanical, and hydraulic models. By analyzing the requirements of those models for necessary boundary conditions, it is possible to derive which measurements should be made both at surface and downhole to obtain stable and accurate calculations. This analysis also provides a way to estimate the necessary accuracy of the boundary conditions to ensure reaching the target control tolerance.By use of the boundary-condition analysis, it is possible to derive precisely which measurements should be performed and where they should be performed. As a result, a typical organization of sensors that is compatible with the implementation of drilling-automation solutions is derived.

“…Before the Automated Drilling Pilot (ADP) on Statfjord C (Larsen et al 2010), where the Drilltronics (Cayeux et al 2011a, b), drilling operations tracking system (DOTS), and the continuous measurement of fluid parameters (CMFP) systems should be tested together, a training session for the Statfjord C's drilling crews was carried out in the virtual rig. Before the Automated Drilling Pilot (ADP) on Statfjord C (Larsen et al 2010), where the Drilltronics (Cayeux et al 2011a, b), drilling operations tracking system (DOTS), and the continuous measurement of fluid parameters (CMFP) systems should be tested together, a training session for the Statfjord C's drilling crews was carried out in the virtual rig.…”

Section: Some Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Drilling Simulation Environment for Testing New Drilling Automation Techniques and Practices

Cayeux

Daireaux

Dvergsnes

et al. 2012

Self Cite

Newly developed drilling automation systems locate a computer interface between commands issued by the driller and instructions transmitted to the drilling machinery. Such functions are capable of faster and more precise control than can be achieved by an unaided operator and thus can help drilling within narrow margins. To ensure that these systems work properly in all circumstances, an advanced drilling simulator has been developed to enable testing under a wide range of simulated conditions.The environment described in this paper uses hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation to verify that the automation techniques being tested respond correctly in real time. Rigorously validated physical models of the drilling process simulate the response of the well to the commands given to the drilling machines. Abnormal drilling conditions (e.g., packoffs, kicks) and equipment or machine-related problems (e.g., plugged nozzles, power shortage) are convincingly recreated.The drilling simulator models the behavior of surface equipment such as the activation of gate valves to line up different pits or the flow in the mud return. It simulates changes in the drilling fluid properties when mixing additives to the mud. It is therefore possible to focus training sessions on cooperation between different groups at the wellsite. This is particularly useful when planning the introduction of drilling automation that involves new work procedures as a result of automation and adaptation of the drilling team to a new operational environment.Drilling operations are becoming more and more complex. Automation has the potential to provide large improvements in efficiency and safety, but automation technologies must be implemented correctly at the workplace. Just as the aviation industry has used simulated environments for decades, drilling simulation environments are the key to the safe and successful implementation of drilling automation and the development of crew skills to face future challenges.