Patent ID: 9359881
Filing Date: 2016-06-07
CPC Classification: E21B

Claim Text:
1. A process for drilling a borehole comprising: obtaining real-time data necessary to determine a gravitational energy term, a torsional energy term, a hydraulic energy term and a hydromechanical specific energy which is the sum of the gravitational energy term, the torsional energy term and the hydraulic energy term; determining the gravitational energy term, the torsional energy term, the hydraulic energy term and the hydromechanical specific energy based upon such real-time data, wherein the hydraulic energy term includes a hydraulic energy reduction factor so as to account for the distance between a nozzle of a drill bit and rock and the kinematic viscosity of drilling fluid; comparing each of the gravitational energy term, the torsional energy term and the hydraulic energy term against a corresponding setpoint for each term; and adjusting at least one drilling parameter based upon the comparison thereby approximating the least amount of energy required to destroy and remove a given unit volume of rock without sacrificing rate of penetration.