# US 11,306,581 B2 · Adaptive quality control for monitoring wellbore drilling > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,306,581 B2 - Document ID: US11306581B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/156,982 - Filed: 2018-10-10 - Published: 2019-04-11 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-10-11 - Assignees: Magnetic Variation Services, LLC - Applicants: Magnetic Variation Services, LLC - Inventors: Marc Ernest Willerth; Stefan Maus - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11306581B2 ## CPC - E21B 47/092: by detecting magnetic anomalies - E21B 7/04: Directional drilling - E21B 44/00: Automatic control systems specially adapted for drilling operations, i.e. self-operating systems which function to carry out or modify a drilling operation without intervention of a human operator, e.g. computer-controlled drilling systems; Systems specially adapted for monitoring a plurality of drilling variables or conditions - E21B 44/06: in response to the flow or pressure of the motive fluid of the drive - E21B 47/0228: using electromagnetic energy or detectors therefor - E21B 47/024: of devices in the borehole (determining slope or direction of the borehole E21B47/022) - E21B 47/04: Measuring depth or liquid level - E21B 47/12: Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling - G01V 3/00: Electric or magnetic prospecting or detecting; Measuring magnetic field characteristics of the earth, e.g. declination, deviation - G01V 11/00: Prospecting or detecting by methods combining techniques covered by two or more of main groups G01V1/00 - G01V9/00 - E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS - G01V: GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; TAGS (means for indicating the location of accidentally buried, e.g. snow-buried, persons A63B29/02) ## Abstract A method of validating a directional survey includes measuring the gravity and magnetic field vectors using a surveying tool and computing an overall statistical distance of the measurement. The statistical distance may be calculated from reference values associated with the surveying tool using corresponding surveying tool codes with error values. In a further aspect, an error covariance matrix may be used to determine whether the new errors m a survey are consistent or not with errors from one or more previous surveys. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for monitoring drilling, the system comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for: during drilling of a borehole by a drilling system, receiving a first survey from a measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool, wherein the first survey comprises a first measurement of a gravity vector G and a second measurement of a magnetic field vector B; calculating a magnetic dip angle φ responsive to the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B; generating, a first covariant matrix describing the relationship of a plurality of measured values to expected errors in the measured values, wherein: generating the first covariant matrix comprises calculating a plurality of intermediate values based on error estimates for the first measurement of the gravity vector G, the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B, and the magnetic dip angle φ, wherein the error estimates are calculated using a plurality of tool code error coefficients; and the first covariant matrix comprises a square matrix providing joint variance between the plurality of intermediate values to indicate the relationship of the plurality of measured values to the expected errors in the measured values; generating a plurality of residual values corresponding to the first measurement and the second measurement as a difference between a reference value and a measured value for each of first measurement of the gravity vector G and the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B; computing an error ellipsoid based on the residual values and the first covariant matrix, wherein the error ellipsoid describes the bounds for residual values for the first measurement of the gravity vector G and the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B; comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable; and when the first survey is not acceptable based on the error ellipsoid, generating a first indication that the drilling should stop. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for: when the first indication is generated, generating a second indication that an assessment of a trajectory of the borehole is to be performed before drilling resumes. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions for: generating a plurality of second residual values based on differences between a plurality of previously measured values of the gravity vector G and the magnetic vector B, and the most recent measurements of the gravity vector G and the magnetic vector B; generating a second covariant matrix describing the relationship of measured values to expected errors in the measured values based on the previously measured values; and computing a second error ellipsoid describing bounds for residual values for the first measurement of the gravity vector G and the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B responsive to the second residual values and the second covariant matrix. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: computing a statistical distance associated with the first measurement of the gravity vector G and the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B responsive to the tool codes. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4, further comprising instructions for: displaying the statistical distance against a sigma threshold. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: classifying the first survey as pass or fail, based on a value of the statistical distance with respect to the sigma threshold. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: computing a probability associated with the first measurement of the gravity vector G and the second measurement of the magnetic field vector B responsive to the tool codes. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, further comprising instructions for: displaying the probability against a probability threshold. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: classifying the first survey as pass or fail, based on a value of the probability with respect to the probability threshold. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the probability is a Mahalanobis distance. ### Claim 11 A method for monitoring drilling, the method comprising: during drilling of a borehole by a drilling system, receiving a first survey from a measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool, wherein the first survey includes a plurality of measurements of a gravity vector G and a magnetic field vector B; using the magnetic field vector, calculating a magnetic dip angle φ; generating a first covariant matrix describing the relationship of measurements to expected errors in the measurements, wherein: generating the first covariant matrix comprises calculating a plurality of intermediate values based on error estimates for the gravity vector G, the magnetic field vector B, and the magnetic dip angle φ, wherein the error estimates are calculated using a plurality of tool code error coefficients; and the first covariant matrix comprises a square matrix providing joint variance between the plurality of intermediate values to indicate the relationship of the plurality of measured values to the expected errors in the measured values; generating a plurality of residual values corresponding to the plurality of measurements, wherein each residual value comprises a difference between a reference value and a measured value for each of the plurality of measurements; responsive to the residual values and the first covariant matrix, computing an error ellipsoid based on the residual values and the first covariant matrix, wherein the error ellipsoid describes the bounds for residual values for the plurality of measurements; comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is within acceptable limits; and when the first survey is not within acceptable limits, generating a first indication that the drilling should stop. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: when the first indication is generated, generating a second indication that an assessment of a trajectory of the borehole should be performed before drilling resumes. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: generating second residual values based on differences between previously obtained measurements and the measured value for each of the plurality of measurements; generating a second covariant matrix describing the relationship of measured values to expected errors in the measured values based on the previously measured values; and responsive to the second residual values and the second covariant matrix, computing the error ellipsoid describing bounds for residual values for the measurements. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprises: computing a statistical distance associated with the measurements based on the tool codes. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: displaying the statistical distance against a sigma threshold. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprises: classifying the first survey as pass or fail, based on a value of the statistical distance with respect to the sigma threshold. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprises: computing a probability associated with the measurements based on the tool codes. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising: displaying the probability against a probability threshold. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprises: classifying the first survey as pass or fail, based on a value of the probability with respect to the probability threshold. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the probability is a Mahalanobis distance. ### Claim 21 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying at least one indication of the gravity vector, the magnetic field vector, and the magnetic dip angle together with inner error limits, wherein the inner error limits define a pass range. ### Claim 22 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying at least one indication of the gravity vector, the magnetic field vector, and the magnetic dip angle together with outer error limits, wherein the outer error limits define a fail threshold. ### Claim 23 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying at least one indication of the gravity vector, the magnetic field vector, and the magnetic dip angle together with both inner error limits and outer error limits, wherein the ranges between the inner error limits and the outer error limits indicate a pass or fail range. ### Claim 24 A system for monitoring drilling, the system comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; a display device coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for performing the steps of: during drilling of a borehole by a drilling system, receiving a first survey from a measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool, wherein the first survey includes measurements of a gravity vector G and a magnetic field vector B; responsive to the magnetic field vector, calculating a magnetic dip angle φ; generating a first covariant matrix describing the relationship of a plurality of measured values to a plurality of expected errors in the measured values, wherein: generating the first covariant matrix comprises calculating a plurality of intermediate values based on error estimates for the gravity vector G, the magnetic field vector B, and the magnetic dip angle φ, wherein the error estimates are calculated using a plurality of tool code error coefficients; and the first covariant matrix comprises a square matrix providing joint variance between the plurality of intermediate values to indicate the relationship of the plurality of measured values to the expected errors in the measured values; generating residual values corresponding to the measurements as differences between each reference value and each associated measured value for each of the measurements; responsive to the residual values and the first covariant matrix, computing a statistical distance associated with the measurements, the statistical distance describing bounds for residual values for the measurements; and displaying on the display device a comparison of at least a portion of the first survey with the statistical distance to provide a visual indication of whether the first survey is within acceptable limits. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, further comprising instructions for: when the first survey is not within acceptable limits, generating a first indication that the drilling should stop. ### Claim 26 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, further comprising instructions for: when the first indication is generated, generating a second indication that an assessment of a wellbore trajectory of the borehole is to be performed before drilling can resume. ### Claim 27 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, further comprising instructions for: generating second residual values based on differences between previously measured values and a most recently measured value for each of the measurements; generating a second covariant matrix describing the relationship of measured values to expected errors in the measured values based on the previously measured values; and using the second residual values and the second covariant matrix, computing the statistical distance describing bounds for residual values for the measurements. ### Claim 28 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the statistical distance to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: computing an error ellipsoid associated with the measurements based on the tool codes. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The system of claim 28, further comprising instructions for: displaying the error ellipsoid against at least one sigma threshold. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein the instructions for comparing the first survey with the error ellipsoid to determine if the first survey is acceptable further comprise instructions for: classifying the first survey as pass or fail, based on a value of the statistical distance with respect to the sigma threshold. ### Claim 31 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein a sigma threshold is displayed as a rectangle bounded by the error ellipsoid. ### Claim 32 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, wherein the comparison is displayed as a plot with at least one shaded region representing a QC threshold. ### Claim 33 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, wherein the comparison is displayed as a plot of measurement values bounded by inner limits and outer limits. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, wherein the inner limits indicate pass or fail of the measurement values and the outer limits indicate fail of the measurement values. ### Claim 35 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, wherein the area between the inner limits is displayed as a first color, and the area between each inner limit and the corresponding outer limit is displayed as a second color. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The system of claim 35, wherein the first color is green. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the second color is yellow. ### Claim 38 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, further comprising instructions for: accessing data from at least one previous survey of the borehole performed prior to the first survey, wherein the inner limits and the outer limits are adaptive responsive to the at least one previous survey. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The system of claim 38, wherein the visual indication is updated with additional data responsive to a second survey performed after the first survey. ### Claim 40 (depends on 24) The system of claim 24, wherein the visual indication is updated with additional data as the borehole is drilled.