U.S. patent application number 15/125823 was filed with the patent office on 2017-01-05 for transmitting collision alarms to a remote device.
The applicant listed for this patent is Karthik BALASUBRAMANIAN, Indra DUTTA, Jeremy Alexander GREENWOOD, HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.. Invention is credited to Karthik Balasubramanian, Indra K. Dutta, Jeremy Greenwood.
Application Number | 20170002650 15/125823 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54358989 |
Filed Date | 2017-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170002650 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Greenwood; Jeremy ; et
al. |
January 5, 2017 |
Transmitting Collision Alarms to a Remote Device
Abstract
A mobile device receives a message wirelessly via a third-party
wireless network. The message including an alert that a first well,
which is a well being drilled, is in danger of colliding with a
second well. The mobile device displays an announcement reflecting
the alert on a remote graphical user interface of the mobile
device.
Inventors: |
Greenwood; Jeremy; (Houston,
TX) ; Dutta; Indra K.; (Houston, TX) ;
Balasubramanian; Karthik; (Houston, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
GREENWOOD; Jeremy Alexander
DUTTA; Indra
BALASUBRAMANIAN; Karthik
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. |
Houston
Houston
Houston
Houston |
TX
TX
TX
TX |
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
54358989 |
Appl. No.: |
15/125823 |
Filed: |
April 28, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
April 28, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US14/35650 |
371 Date: |
September 13, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B 7/04 20130101; E21B
47/12 20130101; E21B 43/30 20130101; E21B 47/022 20130101; E21B
41/0092 20130101 |
International
Class: |
E21B 47/12 20060101
E21B047/12; E21B 43/30 20060101 E21B043/30; E21B 41/00 20060101
E21B041/00; E21B 7/04 20060101 E21B007/04; E21B 47/022 20060101
E21B047/022 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving a message by a field computer,
the message including an alert that a first well, which is a well
being drilled, is in danger of colliding with a second well; the
field computer sending the message via a third party wireless
network to a mobile device; and displaying an announcement
reflecting the alert on a remote graphical user interface of the
mobile device and on a display device coupled to the field
computer.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: a processor coupled to
instruments in the well being drilled determining that the first
well is in danger of colliding with the second well; and the
processor transmitting the message to the mobile device.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining that the first well is
in danger of colliding with the second well comprises: an alert
agent being executed by the processor receiving a notification that
a survey of the first well has been modified; the alert agent
invoking an anti-collision service to produce a scan report for the
first well; the alert agent receiving the scan report; the alert
agent determining that the scan report is different than a previous
scan report received from the anti-collision service, and as a
result, processing the anti-collision scan report.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein processing the anti-collision scan
report comprises: the processor displaying the scan report on a
local graphical user interface; and the processor determining that
the scan report includes an alarm condition.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising: the processor
transmitting the message as a result of determining that the scan
report includes an alarm condition.
6. The method of claim 2 wherein the processor transmits the
message to the mobile device by way of the third-party network.
7. A computer program stored in a non-transitory computer-readable
storage medium, the computer program comprising executable
instructions that cause: a field computer to receive a message, the
message including an alert that a first well, which is a well being
drilled, is in danger of colliding with a second well; the field
computer to send the message via a third party wireless network to
a mobile device; and the mobile device to display an announcement
reflecting the alert on a remote graphical user interface of the
mobile device and on a display device coupled to the field
computer.
8. The computer program of claim 7 further comprising executable
instructions that cause: a processor coupled to instruments in the
well being drilled to determine that the first well is in danger of
colliding with the second well; and the processor to transmit the
message to the mobile device.
9. The computer program of claim 8 wherein, determining that the
first well is in danger of colliding with the second well comprises
executable instructions that cause: an alert agent being executed
by the processor to receive a notification that a survey of the
first well has been modified; the alert agent to invoke an
anti-collision service to produce a scan report for the first well;
the alert agent to receive the scan report; the alert agent to
determine that the scan report is different than a previous scan
report received from the anti-collision service, and as a result,
to process the anti-collision scan report.
10. The computer program of claim 9 wherein processing the
anti-collision scan report comprises executable instructions that
cause: the processor to display the scan report on a local
graphical user interface; and the processor to determine that the
scan report includes an alarm condition.
11. The computer program of claim 10 further comprising executable
instructions that cause: the processor to transmit the message as a
result of determining that the scan report includes an alarm
condition.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the executable instructions cause
the processor to transmit the message to the mobile device by way
of the third-party network.
13. An apparatus comprising: a processor to: receive survey
information from a drill string drilling a first borehole, process
the received survey information and wellbore data about a second
borehole, determine that the drill string in the first borehole is
in danger of colliding with the second borehole, and transmit an
alert via a third-party network, display the alert on a processor
graphical user interface coupled to the processor; and a mobile
device comprising a graphical user interface, the mobile device to
receive the alert via the third-party network and display an
announcement regarding the danger of collision on the mobile device
graphical user interface.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising: an engineering
data model to provide the wellbore data about the second
borehole.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising: an anti-collision
service being executed by the processor to determine that the drill
string in the first borehole is in danger of colliding with the
second borehole.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising: an alert agent
executing on the processor that coordinates the software components
involved in determining that the drill string in the first borehole
is in danger of colliding with the second borehole.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Directional drilling operations typically allow for greater
recovery of hydrocarbons from reservoirs downhole. Drilling
multiple directional wells in the same area may increase the
possibility of collisions between boreholes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for drilling operations.
[0003] FIG. 2 illustrates a situation in which there is a danger of
a collision between a borehole being drilled and another
borehole.
[0004] FIG. 3 illustrates a computer that executes software for
performing operations.
[0005] FIG. 4 illustrates components of an anti-collision
workflow.
[0006] FIG. 5 illustrates the creation of a collision scan
report.
[0007] FIG. 6 illustrates the transmission of the scan report.
[0008] FIG. 7 illustrates scan report processing.
[0009] FIG. 8 illustrates data flow in anti-collision
processing.
[0010] FIGS. 9A-9C show examples of mobile devices receiving and
displaying collision alerts.
[0011] FIG. 10 shows a flow chart.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] One embodiment of a system for drilling operations (or
"drilling system"), illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a drilling rig
10 at the surface 12, supporting a drill string 14. In one
embodiment, the drill string 14 is an assembly of drill pipe
sections which are connected end-to-end through a work platform 16.
In alternative embodiments, the drill string comprises coiled
tubing rather than individual drill pipes. In alternative
embodiments, the drilling system is sea based rather than land
based. In one embodiment, a drill bit 18 couples to the lower end
of the drill string 14, and through drilling operations the bit 18
creates a borehole 20 through earth formations 22 and 24. In one
embodiment, the drill string 14 has on its lower end a bottom hole
(BHA) assembly 26 which comprises the drill bit 18, a logging tool
30 built into collar section 32, directional sensors located in a
non-magnetic instrument sub 34, a downhole controller 40, a
telemetry transmitter 42, and in some embodiments a downhole
motor/rotary steerable tool 28.
[0013] In one embodiment, the downhole controller 40 controls the
operation of telemetry transmitter 42 and orchestrates the
operation of downhole components. In one embodiment, the controller
40 processes data received from the logging tool 30 and/or sensors
in the instrument sub 34 and produces encoded signals for
transmission to the surface via the telemetry transmitter 42. In
some embodiments telemetry is in the form of mud pulses within the
drill string 14, and which mud pulses are detected at the surface
by a mud pulse receiver 44. Other telemetry systems may be
equivalently used (e.g., acoustic telemetry along the drill string,
wired drill pipe, etc.). In addition to the downhole sensors, the
system may include a number of sensors at the surface of the rig
floor to monitor different operations (e.g., rotation rate of the
drill string, mud flow rate, etc.).
[0014] In some embodiments, the data from the downhole sensors and
the surface sensors is processed for display, as described in
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0186687,
which is assigned to the assignee of the instant application. The
processor components that process such data may be downhole and/or
at the surface. For example, one or more processors, including for
example downhole controller 40, in a downhole tool may process the
downhole data. Alternatively or in addition, one or more processors
either at the rig site and/or at a remote location may process the
data. Moreover, the processed data may then numerically and/or
graphically displayed as described in United States Patent
Application Publication No. 2013/0186687, referenced above.
[0015] In one embodiment, a field computer 46 receives data
transmitted to the surface via the telemetry transmitter 42. In one
embodiment, the field computer 46 processes some or all of the data
transmitted via the telemetry transmitter 42, as described below.
In one embodiment, the field computer 46 determines that the
borehole 20 is in danger of colliding with a second borehole 202,
as illustrated in FIG. 2, and sends a message to a mobile device 48
via one or more wireless network(s) 50. In one embodiment, the
wireless network(s) 50 includes one or more cellular networks, one
or more wireless wide area networks, one or more wireless local
area networks, and/or one or more wired networks. In one
embodiment, at least a portion of the wireless network(s) 50 is a
third-party network, where a third-party network is owned by
someone other than the owner or operator of the drilling system
illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, if the drilling system is owned
by an oil service company, then the cellular telephone system may
be a third-party network.
[0016] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 3, the field computer
46 comprises processor(s) 302. In one embodiment, the field
computer 46 also includes a memory unit 330, processor bus 322, and
Input/Output controller hub (ICH) 324. In one embodiment, the
processor(s) 302, memory unit 330, and ICH 324 are coupled to the
processor bus 322. In one embodiment, the processor(s) 302 may
comprise any suitable processor architecture. In one embodiment,
the field computer 46 may comprise one, two, three, or more
processors, any of which may execute a set of instructions in
accordance with embodiments described herein.
[0017] In one embodiment, the memory unit 330 may store data and/or
instructions, and may comprise any suitable memory, such as a
dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In one embodiment, the field
computer 46 also includes IDE drive(s) 308 and/or other suitable
storage devices. In one embodiment, a graphics controller 304
controls the display of information on a display device 306.
[0018] In one embodiment, the input/output controller hub (ICH) 324
provides an interface to input/output (I/O) devices or peripheral
components for the field computer 46. In one embodiment, the ICH
324 may comprise any suitable interface controller to provide for
any suitable communication link to the processor(s) 302, memory
unit 330 and/or to any suitable device or component in
communication with the ICH 324. In one embodiment, the ICH 324
provides suitable arbitration and buffering for each interface.
[0019] In one embodiment, the ICH 324 provides an interface to one
or more suitable integrated drive electronics (IDE) drives 308,
such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or compact disc read only memory
(CD ROM) drive, or to suitable universal serial bus (USB) devices
through one or more USB ports 310. In one embodiment, the ICH 324
also provides an interface to a keyboard 312, a mouse 314, a CD-ROM
drive 318, one or more suitable devices through one or more
firewire ports 316. In one embodiment, the ICH 324 also provides a
network interface 320 through which the field computer 46 can
communicate with other computers and/or devices.
[0020] In one embodiment, the field computer 46 includes a
machine-readable medium that stores a set of instructions (e.g.,
software) embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies for
described herein. Furthermore, software may reside, completely or
at least partially, within memory unit 330 and/or within the
processor(s) 302.
[0021] In one embodiment, an anti-collision workflow, illustrated
in FIG. 4, includes an alert agent 402, which coordinates the other
software components in the anti-collision workflow.
[0022] In one embodiment, the anti-collision workflow includes a
database (DB) 404 that contains pertinent information about a
drilling environment and well planning and drilling-relate
applications for accessing that information. An example DB 404 is
the ENGINEERING DATA MODEL.TM. available from Halliburton. In one
embodiment, DB 404 is a suite of well planning and drilling-related
applications coupled to a database. In one embodiment, DB 404
provides the well, wellbore, and survey data for anti-collision
analysis.
[0023] In one embodiment, the anti-collision workflow includes a
data management service (DMS) 406, which allows drilling and other
rigsite data to be collected, transmitted, replicated, and managed
in real time. An example DMS 406 is the INSITE.RTM. product
available from Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
[0024] In one embodiment, DMS 406 is a common platform that stores,
transmits, and replicates data acquired from drilling systems. In
one embodiment, DMS 406 allows replication of data between rig and
office environments, allowing real time collaboration between teams
and management of well site situations as they arise. In one
embodiment, DMS 406 is the source of directional survey data for
the anti-collision workflow. In one embodiment, after an engineer
enters and validates survey information into DMS 406, a formatted
data transfer application (FDT) 408, that coordinates data transfer
according to a standard, such as WITSML ("WITSML" is an
abbreviation of "Wellsite information transfer standard markup
language"), copies the data to the DB 404, which is the source of
data for the anti-collision analysis, as described below. In one
embodiment, the FDT 408 writes the result of the anti-collision
analysis from the DB 404 to the DMS 406 where it is stored for
later use and reference.
[0025] In one embodiment, the anti-collision workflow includes a
data transfer application (DT) 410 that manages the transfer of
data from multiple data source to multiple databases. An example DT
410 is the DECISIONSPACE.RTM. Data Server available from Landmark
Graphics Corporation. In one embodiment DT 410 provides a uniform
interface to access data from data stores such as DMS 406, DB 404,
and OPENWORKS.RTM. (not shown) available from Landmark Graphics
Corporation. In one embodiment, DT 410 provides access to well,
wellbore, and survey data from DB 404. In one embodiment, FDT 408
uses DT 410 to write well, wellbore, and survey data into DB
404.
[0026] In one embodiment, the anti-collision workflow includes an
anti-collision service 412 that creates a scan report that
indicates how far the well being drilled (e.g., borehole 20) is
from its neighboring or offset wells (e.g., second borehole 202,
see FIG. 2) using conventional techniques, an example of which is
described in PEARL CHU LEDER, D. P. MCCANN, and A. HATCH, "New
Real-Time Anticollision Alarm Improves Drilling Safety," Society of
Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition
1995 (SPE 30692). In one embodiment, the scan report provides the
safety factor among other information that indicates the likelihood
of a collision. In one embodiment, the anti-collision service 412
uses well information and survey data from the current well and
survey data from the offset wells to compute the scan report. In
one embodiment, the anti-collision service 412 retrieves data from
the DB 404.
[0027] In one embodiment, an anti-collision advisor 414 is the
front-end application that provides alerts of the possibility of a
collision condition. In one embodiment, the anti-collision advisor
414 runs as part of the drilling dynamics advisor ("DDA") (not
shown), which is a monitoring and advice application that provides
alerts of real-time events that demand attention.
[0028] In one embodiment, a messaging service (MS) 416, such as an
ACTIVEMQ.RTM. service available from The Apache Software
Foundation, provides the ability to exchange messages among the
anti-collision workflow components shown on FIG. 4 and among other
processes and services running on the field computer 46.
[0029] In one embodiment, a configuration component 418 contains
and manages the configuration for the alert agent 402, DT 410, the
anti-collision service 412, and MS 416, as indicated by the lines
on FIG. 4.
[0030] In one embodiment of creating a collision scan report,
illustrated in FIG. 5, MS 416 notifies the alert agent 402 that the
survey for the well being drilled in DB 404 has been modified. In
one embodiment, a survey provides a three dimensional record of a
path of a borehole (e.g., borehole 20, see FIGS. 1 and 2, or second
borehole 202, see FIG. 2) through the earth. In one embodiment, the
current location of the drill bit 18 drilling borehole 20 or
another part of the bottom hole assembly 26 is reported through
telemetry and is stored in DB 404 as part of the survey for
borehole 20. In one embodiment, upon receiving notification that
the survey for the well being drilled has changed, the alert agent
402 invokes the anti-collision service 412 to generate a scan
report for the survey. In one embodiment, the anti-collision
service 412 reads survey data for the well being drilled and for
offset wells from DB 404, performs an anti-collision analysis,
produces a scan report (or "collision report") 502. In one
embodiment, the anti-collision service 412 returns the scan report
502 to the alert agent 402.
[0031] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 6, the alert agent
402 reviews the scan report 50 to determine if it is the same as
the most recent scan report that it received from the
anti-collision service 412. In one embodiment, this is done to
avoid sending duplicate scan reports to the anti-collision advisor
414.
[0032] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 7, the anti-collision
advisor 414 reads the newly arrived scan report 502 and displays it
on a display device, such as display device 306. In one embodiment,
if there is an alarm condition in the scan report 502, the
anti-collision advisor causes indications of the alarm to appear on
the display device and sends an alarm to an alarm server 702, which
in one embodiment is a component of DMS 406.
[0033] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 8, the interoperation
of the anti-collision processes includes a flow of survey data,
represented by the solid lines, a flow of anti-collision scan
results, represented by fine dashed lines, an alert process flow
represented by dash-dot lines, and systems communications
represented by coarse dashed lines.
[0034] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 8, tool real time
telemetry 802 transmitted by the telemetry transmitter 42 is
received by the field computer 46 and decoded 804, the latter
typically being a function of the DMS 406. In one embodiment, MS
416 notifies the alert agent 402 that survey points in a survey
have changed or have been updated. In one embodiment, the alert
agent 402 invokes the anti-collision service 412, which performs an
anti-collision analysis and produces a scan report 502. In one
embodiment, the anti-collision service 412 returns the scan report
502 to the alert agent 402. In one embodiment, the alert agent 402
analyzes the scan report 502 to determine if it is different from a
previous scan report (in one embodiment, the most recently received
previous scan report). In one embodiment, if the scan report is
different, the alert agent sends the report to DMS 406 and the
anti-collision advisor 414 displays the scan report 502 on the
display device 306. In one embodiment, if the scan report 502
indicates a danger of a collision (such as that shown in FIG. 2),
the anti-collusion advisor 414 displays an alert announcement on
the display device 306 and/or other display and sound devices (not
shown). In one embodiment, the alert announcement includes the
words "Collision Alert" or similar words and includes other visual,
audible, and/or sensory indicators intended to draw the attention
of operators, such as bright colors, flashing graphics, vibrations
and/or alarm sounds.
[0035] In one embodiment, in addition to displaying the alert
announcement on the display device 306, the field computer
transmits an alert message to the mobile device 48 through the
wireless network(s) 50 causing the mobile device 48 to display an
alert announcement, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A (in which mobile
device 48 is a cellular telephone), 9B (in which mobile device 48
is a tablet), and 9C (in which mobile device 48 is a laptop
computer). In one embodiment, the alert announcement includes the
words "Collision Alert" or similar words and includes other visual,
audible, and/or sensory indicators intended to draw the attention
of users of the mobile device 48, such as bright colors, flashing
graphics, alarm sounds, and/or vibrations. In one embodiment, the
visual alert announcement is superimposed over other data from the
well being drilled that is being displayed on the mobile device, as
shown in FIGS. 9A-9C.
[0036] In use, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a processor, such as
field computer 46, coupled to instruments, such as one or more
components in bottom hole assembly 26, in the well being drilled,
such as borehole 20, receives survey data for the well being
drilled, such as borehole 20, (block 1002) and determines that the
well being drilled, such as borehole 20, is in danger of colliding
with a second well, such as second borehole 202, (block 1004) and
transmits a message warning of the danger to the mobile device,
such as mobile device 48 (block 1006). In one embodiment, the
transmission is over the wireless network(s) 50.
[0037] In one embodiment, the mobile device, such as mobile device
48, receives the message over the wireless network(s) 50 (block
1008). In one embodiment, the mobile device, such as mobile device
48, displays an announcement of the danger of the well being
drilled colliding with a second well on a graphical user interface
of the mobile device (block 1010).
[0038] The word "coupled" herein means a direct connection or an
indirect connection.
[0039] The text above describes one or more specific embodiments of
a broader invention. The invention also is carried out in a variety
of alternate embodiments and thus is not limited to those described
here. The foregoing description of an embodiment of the invention
has been presented for the purposes of illustration and
description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and
variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is
intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this
detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
* * * * *