Method and system for detecting and addressing a kick while drilling
AssigneeNabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc.
InventorsChakrapani Mandava, Andrew Armstrong, Michael Lockridge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods for detecting and addressing a kick on a drilling rig are provided. A controller on the drilling rig may receive measurements from one or more sensor systems on the drilling rig and determine a severity index value corresponding to the likelihood of a kick. If the severity index level is determined to reach a specified threshold, an operator may be prompted to perform a flow check and/or activate a blow-out preventer.
Claims20
A drilling apparatus comprising:
- a sensor system connected to a drilling rig and configured to detect one or more measurable parameters of the drilling rig;
- a blow-out preventer;
- and
- a kick detection system configured to receive the one or more measurable parameters from the sensor system during a drilling operation, the kick detection system further configured to:
- receive, from a display in communication with the kick detection system, a threshold value of a severity index corresponding to a likelihood of a kick;
- store received measurable parameters from the sensor system including volume measurements;
- average the received volume measurements from the sensor system;
- calculate a severity index value based on the averaged received volume measurements from the sensor system;
- compare the severity index value to the threshold value;
- if the calculated severity index reaches the threshold value, perform a flow check;
- and
- close the blow-out preventer if the flow check indicates a kick is occurring.
A method of detecting a kick on a drilling apparatus, comprising:
- measuring one or more parameters of a drilling apparatus with a sensor system during a drilling operation;
- receiving the one or more parameters at a controller;
- inputting, with a display in communication with the controller, a threshold value of a severity index corresponding to a likelihood of a kick;
- calculating, with the controller, a severity index value based on the received one or more parameters;
- comparing, with the controller, the threshold value and the calculated severity index value;
- if the calculated severity index value reaches the threshold value, performing a flow check;
- and
- automatically closing a blow-out preventer if the flow check indicates a kick is occurring.
An apparatus for detecting a kick on a drilling rig, comprising:
- a sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors connected to the drilling rig with a plurality of data channels associated with the plurality of sensors;
- and
- a controller in communication with the sensor system, configured to:
- receive measurements from the sensor system during a drilling operation, wherein each of the plurality of data channel carries data associated with one of the plurality of sensors;
- analyze the received measurements from the sensor system and flag each channel exhibiting abnormal measurements;
- determine whether a kick is likely to occur on the drilling rig based on a number of flagged channels;
- and
- execute operations if a kick is likely to occur, the operations comprising:
- sending a prompt to an operator to perform a flow check;
- and
- sending a prompt to the operator to close a blow-out preventer if the flow check indicates a kick is occurring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.