Claims
- 1. A drilling system comprising topside equipment, a drilling unit, and a drill string extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit, wherein said drill string comprises:
- a drill pipe,
- a mud pipe concentrically received within said drill pipe and defining a mud passage for supply of drilling mud from said topside equipment to said drilling unit,
- electrical conductor means providing electrical communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit and comprising three concentric angularly spaced arcuate conductors of equal radii, said mud pipe being received within said conductors, an inner pipe received concentrically between said mud pipe and said arcuate conductors,
- spacer portions on said inner pipe extending radially outwardly between said arcuate conductors to engage said drill pipe, and
- wherein a first and a second fluid passage each extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit are provided between said mud pipe and said inner pipe and between said conductors and said drill pipe respectively.
- 2. The drilling system of claim 1 further comprising electrically insulating material around each of said arcuate conductors.
- 3. A drilling system comprising topside equipment, a drilling unit and a drill string extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit, wherein said drill string comprises:
- a drill pipe,
- a mud pipe concentrically received within said drill pipe and defining a mud passage for supply of drilling mud from said topside equipment to said drilling unit,
- electrical conductor means providing electrical communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit and comprising three concentric angularly spaced arcuate conductors of equal radii received within said mud pipe,
- an inner pipe received concentrically in said mud pipe and said arcuate conductors,
- three spacer portions on said inner pipe extending radially outwardly between said arcuate conductors to engage said mud pipe, and
- wherein a first and a second fluid passage extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit are provided between said conductors and said mud pipe and within said inner pipe respectively.
- 4. The drilling system of claim 3 further comprising insulating material around each of said arcuate conductors.
- 5. In a drilling system comprising a drill pipe extending between topside equipment and a drilling unit, electrical conductor means extending within said drill pipe comprising:
- three arcuate electrical conductors of equal radii,
- an outer pipe concentrically received within said drill pipe,
- an inner pipe received within said outer pipe for conveyance of drilling mud to said drilling unit, said inner and outer pipes being spaced to provide therebetween a further passage for fluid communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit,
- three angularly spaced spacer means extending between said outer pipe and said drill pipe, a respective one of said arcuate conductors being received between each adjacent pair of said spacer means with spacing to define fluid passage means for fluid communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit.
- 6. A drill pipe assembly for use in a drilling system, the assembly comprising:
- a drill pipe,
- an intermediate pipe concentrically received within said drill pipe with spacing to define a first conduit of annular cross-section therebetween,
- an inner pipe concentrically received within said intermediate pipe with spacing to define a second conduit of annular cross-section therebetween,
- a plurality of spacers extending radially between said intermediate pipe and one of said drill pipe and said inner pipe to divide one of said first and second conduits into a plurality of arcuate conduit portions of generally arcuate cross-section, and
- a plurality of electrical conductor means of generally arcuate cross-section, each of said electrical conductor means being located within a respective one of said arcuate conduit portions.
- 7. The drill pipe assembly of claim 6 wherein said spacers extend radially between said intermediate pipe and said drill pipe, and wherein each of said conductor means occupies part only of the arcuate conduit portion in which the conductor means is located.
- 8. The drill pipe assembly of claim 7 wherein said spacers are integrally formed portions of said intermediate pipe.
- 9. The drill pipe assembly of claim 6 wherein said spacers are three in number and are equiangularly distributed around said intermediate pipe.
- 10. The drill pipe assembly of claim 7 wherein each of said generally arcuate conductor means engages the outer surface of said intermediate pipe and the spacers defining the arcuate conduit portion within which said conductor means is located.
- 11. In a drilling system including topside equipment, and a drilling unit;
- a drill string comprising the drill pipe assembly of claim 7 extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit,
- means supplying drilling mud to said drill unit through the interior of said inner pipe,
- means effecting electrical communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit by way of said plurality of electrical conductor means, and
- means for supplying fluid from said topside equipment along at least one of said first and second conduits.
- 12. The drill pipe assembly of claim 6 wherein said spacers extend radially between said intermediate pipe and said inner pipe and wherein each of said conductor means occupies part only of the arcuate conduit portion in which the conductor means is located.
- 13. The drill pipe assembly of claim 12 wherein said plurality of conductor means forms a ring of conductor means, the conductor means of said ring being separated only by said spacers.
- 14. The drill pipe assembly of claim 12 wherein each of said generally arcuate conductor means has an inner curved surface engaging said inner pipe and an outer curved surface spaced from said intermediate pipe.
- 15. In a drilling system including topside equipment and a drilling unit;
- a drill string comprising the drill pipe assembly of claim 12 extending between said topside equipment and said drilling unit,
- means supplying drilling mud to said drill unit by way of said first conduit,
- means effecting electrical communication between said topside equipment and said drilling unit by way of said plurality of electrical conductor means, and
- means for supplying fluid from said topside equipment along at least one of said second conduit and the interior of said inner pipe.
- 16. In a drilling apparatus including topside equipment and a drill unit;
- a drill string extending between said topside equipment and said drill comprising the drill pipe assembly of claim 6;
- at least one remotely controllable power generating unit in at least one of said drill unit and said drill pipe, said power generating unit generating power for effecting at least one of local control and local sensor operations.
- 17. A drilling system comprising a drill string extending between topside and downhole equipment, said drill string comprising:
- plural concentric pipes spaced to provide at least one annular passage,
- spacers extending radially of said pipes to divide said annular passage into arcuate passage portions,
- plural electrical conductor means each of arcuate cross-section, the conductor means being concentrically located each in a respective one of said arcuate passage portions with radial spacing from one of said concentric pipes to provide fluid conduits within said passage portions.
- 18. The drilling system of claim 17 wherein each of said conductor means has an arcuate extent substantially equal to that of the said arcuate passage portion in which it is located.
- 19. The drilling system of claim 17 wherein said conductor means are three in number and are uniformly spaced around said drill string.
- 20. The drilling system of claim 17 wherein each of said conductor means engages one of the said concentric pipes and extends between said spacers defining said passage portion within which the conductor means is located.
- 21. The drilling system of claim 17 further comprising, at at least one position along said drill string, a drive unit selectively operable to move said drill string within a drill hole in response to power supplied and/or control signals transmitted by the conductor means.
- 22. The drilling system of claim 21 wherein said drive means comprises at least one piston element carried externally by said drill string and selectively responsive to the flow of fluid within the system to effect said movement.
- 23. The drilling system of claim 22, wherein said fluid comprises drilling mud.
- 24. A drilling system comprising topside equipment, a drill unit, and a drill string extending from said topside equipment to said drill unit, wherein:
- said drill string comprising:
- a drill pipe,
- a mud pipe,
- a tubular conductor assembly, said conductor assembly comprising a plurality of conductor elements each having the form of at least part of a tube; and each of said drill pipe, said mud pipe and said plurality of conductor elements extending from said topside equipment to said drill unit,
- means mounting said mud pipe and said conductor assembly substantially concentrically within and spaced from said drill pipe, and spaced apart from each other, thereby to provide within said drill pipe a mud passage for supply of drilling mud from said topside equipment to said drill unit, and a first and a second fluid passage each providing fluid communication between said topside equipment and said drill unit, said first and said second fluid passages being at least in part defined by said conductor assembly,
- said drill unit comprising:
- a drill bit,
- an electric motor for driving said drill bit, said electric conductor elements being connected to said electric motor for supplying power thereto from said topside equipment, and
- fluid passage means extending through said electric motor and communicating with said first and said second fluid passages,
- said topside equipment comprising:
- means for supplying drilling mud through said mud passage to said drill unit, and
- means for circulating fluid downwardly through one of said first and second fluid passages to said drill unit, through said fluid passage means, and upwardly from said drill unit to said topside equipment through the other of said firs and second passages.
- 25. The drilling system of claim 24, wherein said conductor elements comprise tubular conductor elements and said conductor assembly further comprises solid insulation between said tubular conductor elements.
- 26. The drilling system of claim 24, wherein said conductor elements comprise part-tubular conductor elements of equal radii centered on a common axis, and said conductor assembly further comprises a support ring having radially projecting spacer means, a respective on of said conductor elements being received between each adjacent pair of said spacer means.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
8616006 |
Jul 1986 |
GBX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/068,227, filed 6/30/87, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
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0063444 |
Apr 1982 |
EPX |
0110182 |
Nov 1983 |
EPX |
1230382 |
Dec 1966 |
DEX |
2441112 |
Mar 1976 |
DEX |
2604063 |
Aug 1977 |
DEX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
68227 |
Jun 1987 |
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