US 11,448,058 B2 · Comprehensive structural health monitoring method for bottom hole assembly

Abstract

Conventional practice for determining a life expectancy of a drilling tool has been based on simple static bending moment evaluation and/or conservative past experience life limits. This archaic practice has often led to premature scrapping of the tools and has proven to be overly conservative and cost-ineffective. Introduced herein is a BHA condition monitoring technique that combines both field data and advanced models in one system. The introduced technique is based on a combination of system and component level models to monitor and evaluate the current health and life of BHA components. The introduced technique can apply to all directional drilling BHAs, including mud motors and rotary steerable systems, and can be used at different levels of the tool's life cycle to improve efficiency, reduce downhole failure incidents, and maximize assets' utilization.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A data processing system for monitoring structural health of a bottom hole assembly (BHA) operating within a borehole, comprising:

a downhole sensor that makes shear force and bending moment measurements;
a memory;
and
a processor communicatively coupled to said memory, said processor performs, by executing instructions stored in said memory, operations that include:
reconstructing a borehole in a 3D simulation space using at least one borehole model that determines a trajectory of said borehole;
calculating shear forces and bending moments along a length of a BHA along a length of said borehole by simulating a propagation of said BHA along said length of said borehole in said 3D simulation space;
calibrating said propagation based on a comparison between said shear forces and bending moments and said shear force and bending moment measurements;
and
condition-monitoring a first component of said BHA by relating said shear forces and bending moments to loads internally exerted on said first component;
and
providing a warning to a user when a consumed life of said first component exceeds a consumed life threshold for said first component.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Comprehensive structural health monitoring method for bottom hole assembly

Life of this patent

Comprehensive structural health monitoring method for bottom hole assembly

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20