Control systems and methods for rock cuttings identification

A method, comprising:

• circulating a drilling fluid into a wellbore during a drilling process to form the wellbore in one or more subterranean formations;
• circulating a portion of uniquely identifiable particles from one of a plurality of containers into the drilling fluid during the drilling process;
• circulating a return drilling fluid from the wellbore during the drilling process, the return drilling fluid comprising the drilling fluid, a plurality of cuttings from at least one of the one or more subterranean formations, and at least one of the portion of the uniquely identifiable particles;
• separating the drilling fluid from the plurality of cuttings from at least one of the one or more subterranean formations and the at least one of the portion of the uniquely identifiable particles;
• capturing at least one image of the separated plurality of cuttings and the at least one of the portion of the uniquely identifiable particles;
• determining, based on the image, a depth of the at least one of the one or more subterranean formations;
• determining, based on the image, an amount of the portion of the uniquely identifiable particles from the one of the plurality of containers in the portion of cuttings from at least one of the one or more subterranean formations;
• comparing the determined amount of the portion of the uniquely identifiable particles with an expected amount of the portion of the of uniquely identifiable particles;
• and
• based on the determined amount being less than the expected amount, circulating an increased portion of uniquely identifiable particles from the one of the plurality of containers into the drilling fluid during the drilling process.

A computer-implemented method for determining a depth of a subterranean formation, comprising:

• operating, with one or more hardware processors, a camera to capture a first plurality of images of a mixture of cuttings from a first subterranean formation and fluorescent nanoparticles attached to the cuttings from the first subterranean formation within a drilling fluid returned from a wellbore during a drilling process;
• determining, with the one or more hardware processors, a particular fluorescent spectra unique to the fluorescent nanoparticles attached to the cuttings from the first subterranean formation based on the first plurality of images;
• determining, with the one or more hardware processors, an arrival time of the fluorescent nanoparticles attached to the cuttings from the first subterranean formation at a drill bit of the drilling process;
• determining, with the one or more hardware processors, a depth of the drill bit at the determined arrival time;
• based on the determined arrival time and depth of the drill bit, determining a depth of the first subterranean formation below a terranean surface;
• determining, with the one or more hardware processors, a travel time of the fluorescent nanoparticles attached to the cuttings from the first subterranean formation from a release time to the arrival time of the fluorescent nanoparticles attached to the cuttings from the first subterranean formation at the drill bit;
• and
• calculating, with the one or more hardware processors, the travel time based at least in part on a flow rate of the drilling fluid in the drilling process and one or more dimensions of the wellbore.

A drilling system, comprising:

• a drilling fluid sub-assembly that comprises one or more drilling fluid pumps configured to circulate a drilling fluid into a wellbore during a drilling process to form the wellbore in one or more subterranean formations;
• a cuttings collection sub-assembly configured to collect a plurality of cuttings from the subterranean formation from the drilling fluid circulated from the wellbore during the drilling process;
• a tagging sub-assembly that comprises a plurality of containers, each of the containers configured to enclose a plurality of uniquely identifiable particles;
• and
• a control system communicably coupled to the cuttings collection sub-assembly and the tagging sub-assembly and configured to perform operations comprising:
• controlling the tagging sub-assembly to circulate a portion of the plurality of uniquely identifiable particles from one of the plurality of containers into the drilling fluid during the drilling process;
• identifying at least one image from an image capture device of the cuttings collection sub-assembly, the image comprising a portion of cuttings from at least one of the one or more subterranean formations and at least one of the portion of the plurality of uniquely identifiable particles from one of the plurality of containers circulated into the drilling fluid during the drilling process;
• determining an expected amount of the portion of the plurality of uniquely identifiable particles based at least in part on one or more parameters of the drilling process;
• and
• determining, based on the image, a depth of the at least one of the one or more subterranean formations.