Patent Publication Number: US-11047214-B2

Title: Systems and methods for drilling productivity analysis

Description:
I. TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to drilling equipment and assets. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for analyzing drilling productivity. 
     II. BACKGROUND 
     Drilling processes can be monitored in real time. Nevertheless, the information obtained from typical monitoring systems is typically not used to its full potential, and drilling can be thought of as an art rather than a science. Specifically, based on the information reported by a typical monitoring system, an operator may adjust the drilling process in order to obtain a desirable outcome, but such an adjustment is subjective and is most likely far from the optimum adjustment that would be needed. As such, the productivity of drilling systems, especially for the ones deployed offshore, are often not optimized. This lack of optimization can lead to increased production costs as a result of the inherent inefficiencies that exist in the drilling production cycle. 
     III. SUMMARY 
     The embodiments featured herein help solve or mitigate the above noted issues as well as other issues known in the art. For example, an embodiment includes a system developed to determine productivity in an offshore drilling operation. By using instrumentation from onboard control and automation systems, the sequence of operation is determined and analyzed to produce key performance indicators that provide insight into operational efficiency and equipment health. 
     Such an embodiment removes the “art” in drilling, thus changing the process from art to science. Specially, with the embodiments, commercial model drilling companies can have increased visibility of the inefficiencies in their operation. Furthermore the embodiments can provide trending operations that are selectable over previous time periods thereby allowing vessel operations to be bench-marked. 
     For example, the embodiments allow a drilling contractor to measure and optimize their drilling process. As a result, they can remove inefficiencies from their operations and drill wells faster. As certain aspects of offshore drilling are not in the control of the drilling contractor and are instead, directed by the oil company, the embodiments will allow drilling contractors to break out the aspects that they are in control of, optimize them and therefore enable them to predict durations for upcoming drilling projects. This will allow a drilling contractor to be selected for contracts based on performance and even potentially take on fixed price contracts rather than day rates. 
     One embodiment provides a system for analyzing and controlling a productivity of a drilling apparatus. The exemplary system includes a processor and a memory including instructions that cause the processor to perform certain operations. The operations can include receiving information from a control system of the drilling apparatus and determining a key performance metric based on the information. The operations can further include performing a comparison between the key performance metric and at least one other key performance metric. Furthermore, the operations can further include instructing, based on the comparison, the control system to alter the productivity of the drilling apparatus. 
     Another embodiment provides a method for analyzing and controlling a productivity of a drilling apparatus utilizing a control system interfaced with the drilling apparatus. The exemplary method includes determining a key performance metric based on information received by the control system, the information being indicative of a state of the drilling apparatus. The method further includes performing a comparison between the key performance metric and at least one other key performance metric. The method can also include altering, by the control system and based on the comparison, the productivity of the drilling apparatus. 
     Additional features, modes of operations, advantages, and other aspects of various embodiments are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein. These embodiments are presented for illustrative purposes only. Additional embodiments, or modifications of the embodiments disclosed, will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings provided. 
    
    
     
       IV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Illustrative embodiments may take form in various components and arrangements of components. Illustrative embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference numerals may indicate corresponding or similar parts in the various drawings. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. Given the following enabling description of the drawings, the novel aspects of the present disclosure should become evident to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art(s). 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a drilling environment in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an offshore drilling apparatus in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a flow chart of a method in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a flow chart of a method in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
         FIG. 5  depicts a flow chart of a method in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
         FIG. 6  depicts a system in accordance with several aspects described herein. 
     
    
    
     V. DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the illustrative embodiments are described herein for particular applications, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art and with access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present disclosure would be of significant utility. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an environment  100  in which several embodiments may be used. The environment  100  features a plurality of components or assets that may be deployed in oil and gas drilling operations. Some components can be onshore, depicted on the right side (denoted “B”) of the dotted line in  FIG. 1 , and some can be offshore on a drill ship or the like, depicted on the left side (denoted “A”) of the dotted line. Together, the onshore and offshore components operate to provide several functions and to conduct several processes or sub-processes that are useful in oil and gas drilling operations, as shall be described in greater detail below. 
     The offshore components can include a plurality of systems. In  FIG. 1 , for example, the offshore components include a drilling control system  116 , a server  114 , a drilling apparatus  112 , an operational database  122 , and an antenna  118 . The drilling apparatus  112  can be partly submerged in order to allow an operator to drill through a submerged hard surface. The antenna  118 , the control system  116 , the operational database  122 , and the server  114  can be located on a drill ship or on an ocean-based drilling platform, and they can be linked to the drilling apparatus  112 . For example and not by limitation, the drilling apparatus  112  may include an umbilical system for providing power, hydraulic, and communications support. Or, for example and not by limitation, the drilling apparatus may include multiple equipment and hardware that are located on a rig or below the ocean, all of which function to provide and/or support drilling operations. The antenna  118  can provide connectivity between the offshore components and the onshore components via a satellite  120 . 
     The onshore components of the environment  100  can include a plurality of control terminals (e.g., a computer  102  and a computer  108 ) for monitoring and controlling one or more offshore systems. The computer  102  and the computer  108  are connectable to the satellite  120  via a server  128  and a network  106 . The onshore components of further include a plurality of databases (e.g., a database  124  and a database  126 ) that include information about the drilling apparatus  112  and/or information about other drilling systems like the drilling apparatus  112  that are deployed at other locations. 
     In the exemplary embodiments, any one of technicians  110  or technicians  104  (who may also be offshore) can graphically and/or quantitatively assess the productivity of the drilling apparatus  112  and/or assert commands to the control system  116  in order to increase or lower productivity based on key performance indicators (KPI) obtained from the drilling systems  112  and/or several other factors that can include other KPIs obtained from other drilling apparatuses like the drilling apparatus  112 . Similarly, any one of technicians  111  via a computer  109  connected to the server  114  may graphically and/or quantitatively assess the productivity of the drilling apparatus  112  and/or assert commands to the control system  116  in order to increase or lower productivity based on key performance indicators (KPI) obtained from the drilling systems  112  and/or several other factors that can include other KPIs obtained from other drilling apparatuses like the drilling apparatus  112 . 
     In one scenario, one of the users  110  can access a human machine interface (HMI) on the computer  108 . The user can query information about one or more subsystems of the drilling apparatus  112  and/or about one or more several processes or sub-processes being conducted or previously conducted by the drilling apparatus  112 . The above-mentioned KPIs can be saved as information in any one or more of the aforementioned databases, i.e., either onshore or offshore. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the drilling apparatus  112 , according to an embodiment. The drilling apparatus  112  can include several control systems distributed in a first section  202 , a second section  204 , a third section  206 , and a fourth section  208 . The control systems are generally represented in  FIG. 1  as the control system  116 . Stated otherwise, the control system  116  represents a computerized control interface for monitoring and changing the state of the several sections of the drilling apparatus  112  mentioned above. 
     For example, with regards to the first section  202  of the drilling apparatus  112 , the control system  116  can be configured to set up drawworks parameters such as hook loads, hook positions, crown mounted compensator (CMC) positions, etc. As such, the control system  116  can be configured to monitor and to change these parameters either by automatic feedback or by the action of one technicians  110 . Similarly, the control system  112  can be configured to monitor and control mud return parameters in the second section  204 , such as the percentage of mud returned, and to also set gain/loss alarms based on mud return thresholds. 
     Further, with respect to third section  206 , the control system  116  can be configured to monitor and change drilling parameters such as drilled depth, average drilling speed over a predefined period, slip to slip time, and the ratio connection versus movement time. The latter parameters can be actual KPIs associated with the components of the drilling apparatus  112  that are located in the third section  206 . 
     Furthermore, with respect to the fourth section  208 , the control system  116  can be configured to monitor and change top drive parameters, mud pump parameters, as well as fetch status indicators of the overall drilling process. These indicators may be for example, and not by limitation, a measure of the current activity (or progress) of one or more drilling processes or sub-processes, weight on bit (WOB), speed references and set points, as well as torque references and set points. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a routine  300  that may be executed by the control system  116  to identify a drilling process that is ongoing. Specifically, for example and not by limitation, the drilling apparatus  112  may undertake seven (7) different types of processes in the context of drilling (e.g., processes  306 ,  308 ,  310 ,  312 ,  314 ,  316 , and  318  in  FIG. 3 ). These processes may be, for example, drilling, tripping in, tripping out, running riser, pulling riser, running casing, and wireline, which are processes that are readily identifiable by one of skill in the art. The routine  300  can include an identification module  304  configured to identify which of the seven processes are currently running. 
     The identification module  304  may make such a determination by receiving data from the various sections of the drilling apparatus  112  and decide, based on the received data, whether a process is being executed. For example, the identification module  304  may receive drill bit speed data from the third section  206  and the first section  202  and determine based on the speed, identify that drilling is currently occurring. Similarly, sensor and equipment state data may indicate whether one of the other seven processes is currently running. 
     For example, at execution, the routine  300  may start at step  302  and determine via the identification module  304 , which one or which ones of processes  306 ,  308 ,  310 ,  312 ,  314 ,  316 , and  318  are currently running. Upon such determination, the routine  300  ends at step  320  with a list of identifiers indicative of which processes are in progress. As such, an ongoing process may be displayed on the screen of either the computer  102  or the computer  108  via a human machine interface such as a graphical user interface. 
     For example, once the process  312  has been identified as being in progress, the control system  116  can fetch data from sensors in the section associated with the identified process. The sensor data may be reported from various components in the form tags in a tag module  402 . A tag may be information that is indicative of a state of a component. For example, a tag may be raw data indicative of the speed of a drill bit or the pressure measured at a particular location down the bore hole. Based on a predefined relationship between these tags and key performance metrics, the control system  116  may then generate the key performance metrics for the process  312  in a KPI module  404 . 
     The key performance metrics reported in the KPI module  404  may be at least one of WOB, block position, block weight, active heave compensation (AHC) Mode, AHC position, rate of penetration (ROP), top drive speed, top drive torque, stand pipe pressure, mud pump strokes/minute (SPM), mud pump discharge pressure, total SPM, mud return, gain/loss alarms, mud pump designation, average ROP per stand, WOB to WOB, net ROP improvement. 
     Based on the KPIs in to KPI module  404 , an operator can assess the productivity of the drilling apparatus  112 . Furthermore, as shall be generally described in regards to the method  500  shown in  FIG. 5 , the computer  102  or  108  can receive KPI modules from other drilling apparatuses to provide a comparison between the KPI module  404  and the other KPI modules. As such, if another KPI module is judged to be more advantageous, the control system  116  can be instructed to change equipment parameters associated with the process  312  to cause the KPIs in the KPI module  404  to converge to those of the other KPI module. In other words, the drilling process of the drilling apparatus  112  can be optimized based on KPIs from a similar system. This optimization can be undertaken in a feedback loop. 
     The method  500  can be generally used for analyzing and controlling a productivity of the drilling apparatus  112  utilizing the control system  116  cooperatively with the control terminals and computers described with respect to the environment  100 . The exemplary method  500  can begin at step  502 , and it can include (at step  504 ) determining a key performance metric based on information received by the control system  116 . The information can be indicative of a state of the drilling apparatus  112 , e.g., the information can be tag module  402  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     The method  500  can further include performing a comparison between the key performance metric and at least one other key performance metric (step  506 ). Lastly, the method  500  can include altering, by the control system  116  and based on the comparison, the productivity of the drilling apparatus  112  (step  508 ). 
     For example, if the key performance metric of the drilling apparatus  112  falls below the key performance metric of the other drilling apparatus, the control system  116  can be instructed to increase a speed or another parameter so that the key performance metric of the other drilling apparatus. This serves as a reference KPI for optimization. The method  500  then ends at step  510 . 
     Having set forth various exemplary embodiments, a controller  600  (or system) consistent with their operation is now described.  FIG. 6  shows a block diagram of the controller  600 , which can include a processor  602  that has a specific structure. The specific structure can be imparted to the processor  602  by instructions stored in a memory  604  included therein and/or by instructions  620  that can be fetched by processor  612  from a storage medium  618 . The storage medium  618  may be co-located with the controller  600  as shown, or it may be located elsewhere and be communicatively coupled to the controller  600 . 
     The controller  600  can be a stand-alone programmable system, or it can be a programmable module located in a much larger system. For example, the controller  600  can be part of the control system  116  or be located in an offshore or onshore drilling management system. The controller  600  may include one or more hardware and/or software components configured to fetch, decode, execute, store, analyze, distribute, evaluate, and/or categorize information. Furthermore, the controller  600  can include an input/output (I/O) module  614  that can be configured to interface with a plurality of offshore and/or onshore computing systems. 
     The processor  602  may include one or more processing devices or cores (not shown). In some embodiments, the processor  602  may be a plurality of processors, each having either one or more cores. The processor  602  can be configured to execute instructions fetched from the memory  604 , i.e. from one of memory blocks  612 ,  610 ,  608 , or memory block  606 , or the instructions may be fetched from the storage medium  618 , or from a remote device connected to the controller  600  via a communication interface  616 . 
     Furthermore, without loss of generality, the storage medium  618  and/or the memory  604  may include a volatile or non-volatile, magnetic, semiconductor, tape, optical, removable, non-removable, read-only, random-access, or any type of non-transitory computer-readable computer medium. The storage medium  618  and/or the memory  604  may include programs and/or other information that may be used by the processor  602 . Furthermore, the storage medium  618  may be configured to log data processed, recorded, or collected during the operation of controller  600 . The data may be time-stamped, location-stamped, cataloged, indexed, or organized in a variety of ways consistent with data storage practice. 
     In one embodiment, for example, the memory block  606  may include instructions that, when executed by the processor  602 , cause processor  602  to perform certain operations. In other words, the memory  606  may be a drilling productivity control module. The operations can include receiving information from a control system of the drilling apparatus and determining a key performance metric based on the information. The operations can further include performing a comparison between the key performance metric and at least one other key performance metric. Furthermore, the operations can further include instructing, based on the comparison, the control system  116  to alter the productivity of the drilling apparatus. 
     Generally, the embodiments can include a system (and a method of using such system) for analyzing and controlling a productivity of a drilling apparatus. The exemplary system includes a processor and a memory including instructions that cause the processor to perform certain operations. The operations can include receiving information from a control system of the drilling apparatus and determining a key performance metric based on the information. The operations can further include performing a comparison between the key performance metric and at least one other key performance metric. Furthermore, the operations can further include instructing, based on the comparison, the control system to alter the productivity of the drilling apparatus. 
     The key performance metric may be associated with a process selected from the group consisting of drilling, tripping in, tripping out, running riser, pulling riser, running casing, and wireline. Furthermore, the key performance metric may be associated with a sub-process of the process. Moreover, the at least one other key performance metric may be associated with another drilling apparatus, such as a drilling apparatus located on another vessel or on another drilling platform. The at least one other key performance metric may be selected from the group consisting of drilling, tripping in, tripping out, running riser, pulling riser, running casing, and wireline. 
     Moreover, the key performance metric may be selected from the group consisting of WOB, block position, block weight, AHC Mode, AHC position, ROP, top drive speed, top drive torque, stand pipe pressure, mud pump SPM, mud pump discharge pressure, total SPM, mud return, gain/loss alarms, mud pump designation, average ROP per stand, WOB to WOB, net ROP improvement. Furthermore, the key performance metric may be determined based on one or more equipment tags reported by the control system. 
     In some embodiments, the operations further include determining an identity of an ongoing process. An exemplary system can thus include a human machine interface that is configured for displaying the ongoing process for an operator to visualize. For example, and not by limitation, the ongoing process may be displayed in the human machine interface in one of a fishbone graphic, a pie chart, and a time graph, or generally, through any other data visualization scheme known in the art. 
     Furthermore without limitation, the human machine interface can be a graphical user interface that allows the operator to view processes, key performance metrics, operational information and the like. The human machine interface may also include interactive features that allows the operator to alter the productivity of the drilling apparatus based on the received KPIs and/or KPIs associated with other drilling apparatuses. 
     As such, the human machine interface may also be configured to display one or more other ongoing processes associated with the at least one other drilling apparatus. And the human machine interface can also display operational data. 
     In the exemplary system, the processor&#39;s operations can further include generating an alert based on the comparison. For example, the alert may be generated based on the comparison exceeding or falling below a predetermined threshold. 
     Those skilled in the relevant art(s) will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the embodiments described above can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.