Patent Application
20210317707
Drilling rigs are machines that drill wells, e.g., oil and gas wells. A drilling rig may include a substructure that supports a floor and a mast over a well center. Drilling equipment is located on the floor and the mast, and is configured to run a drill string (including a drill bit, drill pipes, and potentially various other equipment) downward, thereby forming and extending the wellbore into the earth. Various equipment may be located below the rig floor, e.g., between bases boxes of the substructure.
In some situations, “pad drilling” is employed, in which several wells are drilled near to one another. Rather than using multiple drilling rigs, or assembling and disassembling the rig to move between wellsites, some rigs are self-ambulatory. These rigs are often referred to as “walking” rigs, and generally include feet that press down onto the ground (e.g., onto a mat that is laid on the ground), which lifts the substructure of the rig up. The feet are then moved linearly with respect to the ground, e.g., via rollers, slides, etc., across a range of motion, generally provided by a stroke of a hydraulic piston. At the end of the range, the rig is lowered back onto the ground, the feet are raised and moved back to the beginning of the range of motion, and the next “step” of the walking process may commence by again pressing the feet down onto the ground.
More recently, steerable walking rigs have been implemented. These rigs may allow the rig to walk in any direction in the horizontal plane. For example, the walking rigs may be configured to walk forward, backward, and sideways, and/or to rotate. However, rotating the rig can be complicated, because the feet move linearly, but rotation is along a circular path. Moreover, the rig is not perfectly rigid, but may deflect during such rotation. Thus, precise orientation of the feet may be called for, with accidental misalignment, e.g., by human error, presenting hazards for both the rig and personnel.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Embodiments of the disclosure may provide A method for moving a drilling rig includes receiving a selection of a rig walking mode, wherein the rig walking mode corresponds to a direction of movement, determining an angle of orientation for feet of the drilling rig based on the selected rig walking mode, rotating the feet such that the feet are in the angle of orientation, lifting the rig by pushing the feet into a ground, and moving the rig relative to the ground in the direction of movement.
Embodiments of the disclosure may also provide a drilling rig system including a substructure, a plurality of walking pods coupled to the substructure, each of the walking pods including a rotating mechanism, a lift mechanism, a travel mechanism, and a foot. The rotating mechanism is configured to rotate the foot relative to the substructure and a ground, the lift mechanism is configured to raise and lower the foot relative to the substructure and the ground, and the travel mechanism is configured to move the foot relative to the substructure and the ground in a horizontal direction. The system also includes a control system in communication with the plurality of walking pods. The control system is configured to: receive a selection of a rig walking mode, the rig walking mode including a walking direction; cause the respective rotating mechanisms to rotate the respective feet, such that each foot of the walking pods is in a predetermined orientation; cause the respective lift mechanisms to lift the substructure by pushing the feet into the ground; and cause the travel mechanisms to move the substructure relative to the feet in the predetermined orientation.
Embodiments of the disclosure may further provide a method for moving a drilling rig. The method includes receiving a selection of a rig walking mode. The rig walking mode corresponds to a direction of movement, and the rig walking mode is selected from a plurality of rig walking modes. Each of the plurality of rig walking modes is associated with at least one angle of orientation for feet of the drilling rig. The method further includes determining a respective angle of orientation for each of the feet of the drilling rig based on the selected rig walking mode, rotating the feet such that each of the feet are in the respective angle of orientation, lifting the rig by pushing the feet into a ground, and moving the rig relative to the ground in the direction of movement.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present teachings and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present teachings. In the figures:
Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings and figures. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.
It will also be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first object could be termed a second object, and, similarly, a second object could be termed a first object, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The terminology used in the description of the techniques herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the techniques herein and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Further, as used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context.
The drill rig substructure 10 may also include one or more relocation systems or “walking pods” 100 located at each end of base boxes 12, 14, e.g., at the four corners of the generally rectangular substructure 10. The walking pods 100 may each include a foot 102, a lift mechanism 104, and a rotation mechanism 106. For example, the lift mechanism 104 may be or include a hydraulic cylinder, which is configured to move the foot 102 up and down (e.g., away from and toward the ground). The rotation mechanism 106 may be a slew drive or another type of device that is configured to rotate the foot 102, e.g., about an axis extending vertically therethrough. The walking pods 100 may each additionally include a travel mechanism 108, such as one or more (e.g., a pair of) horizontally-oriented cylinders that are configured to move the foot 102 horizontally with respect to the ground, e.g., in a direction that depends on the rotational orientation set by the rotation mechanism 106. In some embodiments, the walking pods 100 may be movable independently of one another, as each may include an individual assembly of a foot 102, lift mechanism 104, rotation mechanism 106, and travel mechanism 108. Accordingly, the movement of the walking pods 100 may be coordinated to efficiently relocate the drilling rig.
Additionally,
The rotary encoder 208 may be electrically coupled to a controller, and may be configured to provide signal thereto representative of the rotational orientation of the foot 102 relative to the base boxes 12, 14.
The method 400 may begin by receiving a rig walking mode selection from the control device 302, as at 402. The rig walking mode may represent the “type” of walking of the rig 300 that may be desired, e.g., moving forward/aft, moving toward the driller-side or off-driller-side (e.g., left or right), rotate clockwise, or rotate counterclockwise.
In various embodiments, the control device 302 may also be configured to individually control the lift, rotary position, and/or linear position of the feet 102, which may give the operator the ability to position the feet 102 in any orientation desired. However, once a rig walking mode is selected at 402, the automated controls may take over control, and may lock or otherwise disable the control device 302 from controlling the individual pods 100, as at 404. It will be appreciated that various safety control interrupts and/or other mechanisms by which control may be returned to manual may be provided.
The method 400 may then include determining an angular orientation for the feet 102 based on the selected rig walking mode, as at 406. Referring now to
Similarly,
Returning to
In response, the rig controller 304 may then proceed to automatically (without human intervention) rotating the feet 102 to the predetermined orientation, or substantially to the predetermined orientation (e.g., within a reasonable tolerance such as plus or minus 1 degree), according to the selected rig walking mode, as at 410. The feet 102 may be rotated in unison, in sequence, or in any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the rig control 304 may rotate the feet 102 upon receiving the walking mode selection at 402 (e.g., prior to receiving the walking command at 406). In other embodiments, as shown, the rig controller 304 may wait for the walk command before moving/rotating the feet 102.
Further, the encoder 208 may provide feedback to the rig control 304. In turn, the rig control 304 may determine when to stop the rotation of the feet 102, e.g., by signaling to the rotation mechanism 104. The rig controller 304 may also cause the remote control device 302 to display the individual orientations of the feet 102 to the operator, and thus the operator may serve as an additional safety check by reviewing the actual orientation of the feet 102. The encoder 208 may thus provide a feedback loop.
In some embodiments, the rotation of the feet 102 may implement a ramp function. For example, the rotation mechanism 106 may be hydraulically-operated, and the rotating portion of the pods 100 (including the feet 102) may carry a large amount of inertia; thus, precisely stopping at a predefined angle may be a challenge. To handle this challenge, the speed of the rotation mechanism 104 may be modulated depending on how much rotation is called for. Thus, in a situation where the direction changes a large amount (e.g., going from forward/aft walking to driller's side/off-driller's side walking), the rotation mechanism 106 may ramp up to moving quickly, and then slow down as the foot 102 approaches the end of the desired rotation. Further, in at least one embodiment, the rig controller 304 may use the feedback from the encoder 208 to display the current angular position of the feet 102 on the control device 302.
Once setting the feet 102 to the predetermined orientation, the method 400 may proceed to lowering the feet 102 and lifting the rig 300, e.g., using the lifting mechanism 104 discussed above, as at 412. Once the rig 300 is lifted, the travel mechanism 108 may be employed to move the rig 300 horizontally relative to the feet 102, as at 414. The consequence of this movement may be to move the rig 300 in a linear direction or to rotate the rig 300, as discussed above, depending on the rig walking mode implemented.
The method 400 may then include lowering the rig 300 and raising the feet 102, thereby setting the rig 300 back down on the ground, as at 416. With the weight removed from the feet 102, the feet 102 may be moved relative to the base boxes 12, 14, e.g., using the travel mechanism, such that the feet are prepared to travel walk the rig again in a subsequent step, as at 418. The method 400 may then loop back to receiving a walk command at 408.
In some embodiments, any of the methods of the present disclosure may be executed by a computing system.
A processor can include a microprocessor, microcontroller, processor module or subsystem, programmable integrated circuit, programmable gate array, or another control or computing device.
The storage media 906 can be implemented as one or more computer-readable or machine-readable storage media. Note that while in the example embodiment of
In some embodiments, computing system 900 contains one or more rig walking module(s) 908. In the example of computing system 900, computer system 901A includes the rig walking module 908. In some embodiments, a single rig walking module may be used to perform some or all aspects of one or more embodiments of the methods. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of rig walking modules may be used to perform some or all aspects of methods.
It should be appreciated that computing system 900 is only one example of a computing system, and that computing system 900 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine additional components not depicted in the example embodiment of
Further, the steps in the processing methods described herein may be implemented by running one or more functional modules in information processing apparatus such as general purpose processors or application specific chips, such as ASICs, FPGAs, PLDs, or other appropriate devices. These modules, combinations of these modules, and/or their combination with general hardware are all included within the scope of protection of the invention.
The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Moreover, the order in which the elements of the methods described herein are illustrate and described may be re-arranged, and/or two or more elements may occur simultaneously. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain at least some of the principals of the disclosure and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosed methods and systems and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
