Patent Application
20250067133
Drilling activities involve complex systems that can result in failure modes leading to large fluid losses, high costs, or, in the case of a blowout, significant danger to personnel and the facilities. Mud flow rate variation can provide an early indication of potential problems in later stages of drilling activities. Generally, mud delivers a hydrostatic pressure barrier on the annular side to prevent any influxes or hole instability. Without accurate measurements of the mud flow rate on the annular side, it is challenging to detect early signals of well control events (including influxes), loss circulation problems, or hole instability. With accurate flow measurements and pump speed information, fractured zones can be identified to prevent loss of drilling mud into the formation to reduce unnecessary expenses. Accordingly, there exists a need to mitigate these risks by closely monitoring the fluid flow and pump speed in the return flow line in a drilling system to provide data on the mud flow rate on the annual side. This data may be interpreted to provide immediate notification if any abnormal conditions arise.
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.
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a system for monitoring fluid flow conditions on a return flow line including a return flow line in fluid communication with a wellbore, a shaker with multiple screens to filter a fluid, and a header box coupled to the shaker and in fluid communication with the return flow line. A contactless flow sensor faces an interior of the header box or the outlet of the return flow line near the header box. The contactless flow sensor provides data to determine a fluid flow rate based on the fluid level in the header box, the return flow line, or both. A data gathering and analyzing unit is coupled to the contactless flow sensor, which interprets the data from the flow sensor and determines a current operational status or a hazardous operational status based on the fluid flow rate and a mud pump speed. The control panel is coupled to the data gathering and analyzing unit and contains a human machine interface to display the fluid flow rate, the mud pump speed, and the current operational status or the hazardous operational status. The control panel also contains notification instruments to activate based on the hazardous operational status.
In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method for monitoring fluid flow conditions including flowing the drilling mud into the header box through the return flow line and monitoring a height of the drilling mud in the header box, return flow line, or both using a contactless flow sensor. The height of the drilling mud is utilized to determine a fluid level and a current operational status or hazardous operational status based on a fluid flow rate calculated from the fluid level data.
Other aspects and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a system for monitoring fluid flow conditions on a return flow line carrying drilling mud during drilling activities. Use of the monitoring system provides an improved, real-time data measurement to communicate and interpret flow rates of drilling mud and pump speeds to determine a system operational status that may trigger visual and auditory alarms in the case of probable failure modes.
During standard drilling activities, mud is pumped through a drill string to aid in the drilling of a wellbore into the earth and to cool and lubricate the drilling equipment. The mud is in a closed loop system, where the mud flows into the drill string into the reservoir and returns to the surface. The mud returns to the surface through the wellbore annulus that is in fluid communication with a return flow line. The return flow line is in fluid communication with a header box that distributes the mud through flow gates and is coupled to one or more shakers. The flow gates may be configured to control flow between the header box and the shaker. The shakers include one or more screens configured to filter out solids from the mud that may have reached the mud in the reservoir. The shakers flow the filtered mud into a mud pit where it is pumped out of and circulated back to go into the reservoir through the drill string in the closed loop system. The mud flow rate should stay constant throughout the process during standard operations. However, different, expected conditions outside of standard drilling may impact the flow rate of the mud. Examples of expected conditions include maintenance activities. This can cause confusion that makes simple flow rate monitoring ineffective in identifying process conditions and upsets. Accordingly, there exists a need for a system that can identify the flow rate of the return line and, based on the combination of that flow rate data and other conditions of the system, can distinguish the difference between standard process conditions and process upsets to provide insight into drilling activities and prevent system failures.
In accordance with one or more embodiments, the system includes at least one contactless flow sensor 15 and may additionally include one or more contact flow sensors 10 configured to determine a fluid level and/or a flow rate of the fluid (e.g., mud). The contactless 15 and contact flow sensors 10 may be wired, wireless, or both. Contactless sensors may use a variety of different technologies, including cameras, infrared sensors, light detection and ranging sensors (LIDAR), ultrasonic sensors, magnetic sensors, microphones sensing sounds from the fluid movement through the pipe including the sound of the fluid when it drops at an exit of the open-ended pipe, and capacitive sensors, to gather flow rate data without physically contacting the fluid itself. For example, a contactless sensor 15, such as a camera sensor, may identify a height of the fluid in the return flow line and/or a header box to calculate a fluid level and a flow rate. When using an infrared sensor, the infrared sensor may detect the presence of objects without physical contact using temperature. When using a LIDAR sensor, the LIDAR sensor may detect a distance between a fluid level in the header box and the LIDAR sensor. A LIDAR sensor may be installed at a predetermined angle above the open-ended pipe of the return flow line to detect fluid changes based on a height of the fluid and based on a width and height of the fluid at the exit of the open-ended pipe. A LIDAR sensor may also be mounted at a distance from the return flow line to map the flowing fluid and detect the fluid changes including no flow and minimum flow conditions. An ultrasonic sensor may use sound waves to detect a presence of fluid and measure the fluid level in the header box. A magnetic sensor may determine if a fluid is or is not flowing, using additional magnetic particles that are introduced on top of the fluid. A capacitive sensor may measure changes in electric fields and detect a fluid level in the header box. In some embodiments, multiple contactless flow sensors 15 may track fluid flow along a flow line to estimate the flow rate of the fluid. The contactless sensors 15 may be mounted on any surface in close proximity to the system, allowing the sensor to be directed at or face the return flow line outlet or the header box.
Still referring to
The system may further include a dye sprayer 35 to improve visibility of the fluid to improve accuracy of the contactless sensor(s) 15. The dye sprayer 35 may be coupled to the header box 7 and directed towards an interior of the header box 7 to spray a dye on the fluid in the header box 7 and improve camera visibility of a mud level. In embodiments in which the system includes a dye sprayer 35, the dye sprayer 35 is configured to spray a reflective dye onto a top surface of the fluid in the header box 7 to improve camera visibility of a mud level. The dye will float on top of the fluid. Common dyes include fluorescein, rhodamine WT, and methylene blue, though others may be used. Fluorescein is a water-soluble dye that may be easily visualized using a UV lamp. Rhodamine WT is a water-soluble dye that is often used to visualize flow patterns in rivers and streams, and may be detected at low concentrations. Methylene blue is a dye that may track fluid flow due to its high visibility.
The contactless sensor(s) 15 of the system for monitoring fluid flow may have one or more lights 32 coupled thereto to improve visibility. These lights 32 may be visible or infrared lights. Further, reference guides 31 for the contactless sensor(s) 15 may be added to any structure in close proximity to the contactless sensor(s) 15. The reference guides 31 may be physically marked onto a surface. In some embodiments, the reference guides 31 may be coupled to the contact sensors 10. Reference guides 31 may be located on a contact sensor 10 to provide a known height to the contactless sensor 15. The contact sensors 10 may be located on or in the return flow line 6 or in the header box 7, while contactless sensors 15 may be directed at the return flow line 6 and header box 7 to capture data. By adhering the reference guides 31 to the contact sensors 10, the reference guides 31 may be within the field of vision of the contactless sensor 15. Reference guides 31 are only useful in the field of vision of the contactless sensor 15. Because of this, the contact sensors 10 are a particularly effective mounting location for the reference guides 31. In some embodiments, reference guides may be lines, points, shapes, or reflective colors on a side and/or bottom of the header box 7 or movable objects within a field of vision of the contactless sensor. For example,
The system for monitoring fluid flow may also include one or more contact sensors that directly contact the fluid from within the return flow line 6 or header box 7, or may contact the outside of the return flow line 6 or header box 7. In one embodiment, the contact sensors 10 may identify the height of the fluid, to then calculate the fluid level in the return flow line 6 and the header box 7 to determine a flow rate of the fluid in the return flow line 6. Types of applicable contact sensors include flapper valves, temperature array sensors that detect a height of a fluid at least 5° C. warmer than ambient temperature, vibration sensors, ultrasonic sensors, load change detecting sensors, and hydrostatic pressure change detection sensors mounted at different heights inside the flow line.
The system 1 for monitoring fluid flow may include an area sensor 4. The area sensor 4 may be disposed proximate the shaker(s) 5 and configured to monitor maintenance activity proximate the shaker(s) 5 to indicate a maintenance status for the system 1. The area sensor 4 may detect personnel entering an area surrounding the system 1 to identify when maintenance is occurring. In some embodiments, the area sensor 4 may be a gate sensor that recognizes when an access gate is in an opened or closed position to indicate maintenance personnel are in the area. In other embodiments, the area sensor 4 may be a camera that may be utilized in conjunction with a human recognition model to detect maintenance personnel in the area. The area sensor 4 may be a combination of both a gate sensor and a camera. A goal of identifying a maintenance status for the system 1 is to provide an explanation for abnormal process conditions to allow a bypass of the auditory notification instrument 26 and visual notification instrument 23 if maintenance is the cause of the varying process conditions.
The system 1 for monitoring fluid flow may include a data gathering and analyzing unit 2 operatively coupled to the contactless sensor(s) 15 and/or contact sensor(s) 10 to display fluid flow rate, mud pump speed, and a status of the system 1. The data gathering and analyzing unit 2 is pre-programmed to interpret the receiving signals from the various sensors and to select and display a system status. This data communication between contactless sensor(s) 15 and/or contact sensor(s) 10 and the data gathering and analyzing unit 2 may be wired or wireless.
The system 1 for monitoring fluid flow may also include a control panel 3 that may be operatively coupled to the data gathering and analyzing unit 2. The control panel 3 includes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) which may be configured to display the flow rate, mud pump speed, and a status of the system. In one embodiment, the status of the system can be categorized as either current operational status, a hazardous operational status, a maintenance status, or a self-cleaning status. A current operational status describes the state of the system during standard operations, for example, if standard drilling is occurring. A hazardous operational status occurs when flow rate data and pump speed data are out of expected ranges, however, self-cleaning and maintenance are not occurring based on the data communicated from the self-cleaning device and area sensor. This hazardous operational status may occur when a failure mode is anticipated, for example, if fluid losses may be occurring or about to occur. The flow rate data may be displayed in the form of a graph of flow rate against time or fluid level against time. In one embodiment, the control panel may contain an auditory notification instrument 26. In other embodiments, it may contain a visual notification instrument 23. In other embodiments, it may contain both an auditory notification instrument 26 and a visual notification instrument 23. Examples of an auditory notification instrument 26 include a bell and a siren. Examples of a visual notification instrument 23 include a light that may be flashing, solid, colorless, or colored in accordance with one or more embodiments. Both the auditory notification instrument 26 and the visual notification instrument 23 are configured to activate based on a hazardous operational status.
The specific process steps of the camera-based contactless sensor 15 (
In block 110, once the flow rate measurement is obtained from the flow sensors, the flow rate data (including the flow rate measurement) and pump speed data is sent to a data gathering and analyzing unit 2 (
The control panel 3 (
The data gathering and analyzing unit 2 (
When the data gathering and analyzing unit 2 (
Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide at least one of the following advantages. Initiating auditory and visual notifications based on the fluid flow rate of the return flow line 6 (
Although only a few example embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus, although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures. It is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f) for any limitations of any of the claims herein, except for those in which the claim expressly uses the words ‘means for’ together with an associated function.
