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US 11,934,180 B2Granted
Method for equipment control
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsMikko Jaaskelainen, Joshua Lane Camp, Ian Bradford Mitchell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of controlling a pumping sequence of a fracturing fleet at a wellsite. A managing application executing on a computer in the control van can retrieve the pumping sequence from a local or remote storage computer. The managing application can establish an electronic communication link to receive sensor data from a plurality of fracturing units. The managing application can control the plurality of fracturing units with a stage script with multiple sequential instructions for a pumping stage of a pumping sequence while receiving one or more periodic data sets from the plurality of fracturing units wherein the data sets are indicative of the current state of the pumping stage of the pumping sequence.
Claims20
A method of controlling a pumping sequence of a fracturing fleet configured to perform a pumping operation on multiple wellbores at a wellsite, comprising:
- establishing electronic communication between a managing application executing on a computer at the wellsite and a plurality of fracturing units located at the wellsite;
- loading, by the managing application, a pumping sequence;
- retrieving, by the managing application via the electronic communication, a unique identifier for each of the plurality of fracturing units;
- selecting, by the managing application, a first inventory of fracturing units to perform the pumping sequence on a first wellbore based on a selection criteria;
- selecting, by the managing application, a second inventory of fracturing units to perform the pumping sequence on a second wellbore based on the selection criteria;
- selecting, by the managing application, a third inventory of fracturing units to be held in reserve at the wellsite;
- starting a stage script, by the managing application, with multiple sequential instructions for a pumping stage of a pumping sequence;
- receiving, by the managing application, one or more periodic datasets from the first inventory and the second inventory of fracturing units indicative of a current state of a pumping stage of the pumping sequence;
- determining, by the managing application, an operational exception within the pumping stage of the pumping sequence from the first inventory or the second inventory of fracturing units;
- and
- in response to receiving the operational exception, starting, by the managing application, one or more fracturing units from the third inventory of fracturing units by i) beginning a pumping load from zero and ii) opening an isolation valve on an instrumented package via an automated exception sub-script, wherein the one or more fracturing units from the third inventory is assigned to the inventory of fracturing units with the operational exception.
8 more elements
A system of controlling a pumping sequence of a fracturing fleet performing a pumping operation on multiple wellbores at a wellsite, comprising:
- a first pumping group comprising a first fluid manifold and a first plurality of pumps fluidically coupled to a blender and a first wellbore, wherein the first plurality of pumps are fluidically coupled to the first fluid manifold;
- a second pumping group comprising a second fluid manifold and a second plurality of pumps fluidically coupled to the blender and a second wellbore, wherein the second plurality of pumps are fluidically coupled to the second fluid manifold;
- a managing application, executing on a computer system, controlling a plurality of frac units comprising the first pumping group and the second pumping group, wherein the managing application is communicatively connected to the frac units via a plurality of unit control modules, and wherein the plurality of unit control modules are configured to control the frac units;
- wherein the managing application is configured to perform the following:
- loading, by a managing application executing on a computer at the wellsite, a pumping sequence;
- establishing electronic communication between the managing application and a plurality of fracturing units located at the wellsite;
- retrieving, by the managing application, one or more periodic datasets from at least one sensor associated with each of the plurality of fracturing units, and wherein the one or more periodic datasets are indicative of a current operation of each of the plurality of fracturing units;
- starting a stage script, by the managing application, with multiple sequential instructions for a pumping stage of a pumping sequence;
- controlling, by the managing application, the plurality of fracturing units in accordance with the stage script;
- and
- receiving, by the managing application, at least one operational exception from a fracturing unit;
- in response to receiving the operational exception, isolating, by the managing application, one or more fracturing units by an instrumented package via an automated exception sub-script.
9 more elements
A system of controlling a pumping sequence of a fracturing fleet performing a pumping operation on multiple wellbores at a wellsite, comprising:
- a first pumping group comprising a first fluid manifold and a first plurality of pumps fluidically coupled to a blender and a first wellbore, wherein the first plurality of pumps are fluidically coupled to the first fluid manifold;
- a second pumping group comprising a second fluid manifold and a second plurality of pumps fluidically coupled to the blender and a second wellbore, wherein the second plurality of pumps are fluidically coupled to the second fluid manifold;
- a managing application, executing on a computer system, controlling a plurality of frac units comprising the first pumping group and the second pumping group, wherein the managing application is communicatively connected to the frac units via a plurality of unit control modules, and wherein the plurality of unit control modules are configured to control the frac units;
- wherein the managing application is configured to perform the following:
- loading, by a managing application executing on a computer at the wellsite, a pumping sequence;
- establishing electronic communication between the managing application and a plurality of fracturing units located at the wellsite;
- retrieving, by the managing application, one or more periodic datasets from at least one sensor associated with each of the plurality of fracturing units, and wherein the one or more periodic datasets are indicative of a current operation of each of the plurality of fracturing units;
- starting a stage script, by the managing application, with multiple sequential instructions for a pumping stage of a pumping sequence;
- controlling, by the managing application, the plurality of fracturing units in accordance with the stage script;
- and
- receiving, by the managing application, at least one operational exception from a fracturing unit, a wellbore sensor, or a wellhead sensor;
- and
- in response to receiving the operational exception, modifying, by the managing application, a target set point for the pumping stage for the i) first wellbore, ii) the second wellbore, or iii) both via an automated exception sub-script.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.