System and method for monitoring the state of a choke valve in a managed pressure drilling system
AssigneeEquinor Energy AS
InventorsHenrik Manum, Qin Li
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of monitoring the state of a choke valve in a managed pressure drilling system using a valve state parameter to represent the state of the choke valve includes measuring the flow rate of a material across the choke valve, measuring the pressure differential of the material across the choke valve, obtaining a valve characteristic of the choke valve, and calculating the valve state parameter using the flow rate, the pressure differential and the valve characteristic.
Claims15
A method of monitoring a state of a choke valve in a managed pressure drilling system using a valve state parameter to represent the state of the choke valve, the method comprising:
- measuring a flow rate of a material across the choke valve;
- measuring a pressure differential of the material across the choke valve;
- obtaining a valve characteristic of the choke valve;
- calculating the valve state parameter using the flow rate, the pressure differential and the valve characteristic;
- and
- triggering an alarm signal when the state of the choke valve is outside of a pre-determined range, wherein the alarm signal is indicative of washout or plugging.
A managed pressure drilling system, comprising:
- a choke valve for use in controlling a pressure in the system;
- a sensor for measuring a differential pressure of a material in the system across the choke valve;
- a flow meter for measuring a flow rate of the material across the valve;
- and
- a position sensor for measuring a position of the choke valve, the system being configured to monitor a state of a choke valve using a valve state parameter to represent the state of the choke valve by measuring the flow rate of a material across the choke valve using the flow meter, measuring the pressure differential of the material across the choke valve using the sensor for measuring the differential pressure of the material across the choke valve, obtaining a valve characteristic of the choke valve using the position sensor, and calculating the valve state parameter using the flow rate, the pressure differential and the valve characteristic, and wherein the system is configured to trigger an alarm signal when the state of the choke valve is outside of a pre-determined range, wherein the alarm signal is indicative of washout or plugging.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.