Method, system, and medium for controlling rate of a penetration of a drill bit
AssigneePason Systems Corp.
InventorsQuinn Harrison Hepburn, Trevor Leigh Holt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, systems, and techniques for controlling the rate of penetration of a drill bit are described. In particular, an operate control loop is evaluated by: determining a travelling block acceleration of a travelling block; determining an acceleration error measurement between the travelling block acceleration and a target travelling block acceleration; determining, based on the acceleration error measurement, a brake control signal; and using the brake control signal to control a braking mechanism configured to apply a variable braking force to the travelling block.
Claims19
A method for controlling rate of penetration of a drill bit, the method comprising:
- evaluating an operate control loop by:
- determining a travelling block acceleration of a travelling block;
- determining an acceleration error measurement between the travelling block acceleration and a target travelling block acceleration;
- and
- determining, based on the acceleration error measurement, a brake control signal;
- using the brake control signal to control a braking mechanism configured to apply a variable braking force to the travelling block, wherein using the brake control signal to control the braking mechanism comprises using the travelling block acceleration as a controlling parameter for controlling the braking mechanism so as to control the rate of penetration of the drill bit;
- controlling the rate of penetration of the drill bit based on the variable braking force applied by the braking mechanism;
- and
- prior to evaluating the operate control loop:
- performing a seek operation by:
- controlling the braking mechanism so as to reduce the variable braking force;
- and
- in response to reducing the variable braking force, detecting a minimum amount of movement of the travelling block;
- and
- subsequent to performing the seek operation, performing a retract operation by:
- further controlling the braking mechanism so as to increase the variable braking force;
- and
- in response to increasing the variable braking force, detecting that an amount of movement of the travelling block is less than a maximum amount of movement of the travelling block.
A system for controlling rate of penetration of a drill bit, the system comprising:
- a braking mechanism configured to apply a variable braking force to a travelling block;
- a processor;
- a computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor and having stored thereon computer program code configured when executed by the processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
- evaluating an operate control loop by:
- determining a travelling block acceleration of the travelling block;
- determining an acceleration error measurement between the travelling block acceleration and a target travelling block acceleration;
- and
- determining, based on the acceleration error measurement, a brake control signal;
- using the brake control signal to control the braking mechanism, wherein using the brake control signal to control the braking mechanism comprises using the travelling block acceleration as a controlling parameter for controlling the braking mechanism so as to control the rate of penetration of the drill bit;
- controlling the rate of penetration of the drill bit based on the variable braking force applied by the braking mechanism;
- and
- prior to evaluating the operate control loop:
- performing a seek operation by:
- controlling the braking mechanism so as to reduce the variable braking force;
- and
- in response to reducing the variable braking force, detecting a minimum amount of movement of the travelling block;
- and
- subsequent to performing the seek operation, performing a retract operation by:
- further controlling the braking mechanism so as to increase the variable braking force;
- and
- in response to increasing the variable braking force, detecting that an amount of movement of the travelling block is less than a maximum amount of movement of the travelling block.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.