# US 2019/0169978 A1 · Systems and methods for measuring rate of penetration

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- Number: US 2019/0169978 A1
- Document ID: US20190169978A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/828,555
- Filed: 2017-12-01
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-12-01
- Assignees: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
- Applicants: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
- Inventors: Mohamed Abdeliamin Saad
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190169978A1

## CPC

- E21B 47/09: Locating or determining the position of objects in boreholes or wells {, e.g. the position of an extending arm}; Identifying the free or blocked portions of pipes
- 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 45/00: Measuring the drilling time or rate of penetration
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS

## Abstract

Systems and methods for measuring rate of penetration (ROP) and well depth of a drill string are disclosed. As the drill string is constructed, a pair of rangefinders are positioned near the well site and are configured to measure a distance to points on the drill string without human intervention. The rangefinders calculate a length of drill string segments the measured distances and from the length and an elapsed time calculate an accurate, automatically generated ROP.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for calculating rate of penetration (ROP), comprising:
a drill string having a plurality of pipe segments coupled together end-to-end, the drill string being configured to advance into a wellbore during a drill operation;
a first rangefinder and a second rangefinder configured to observe the pipe segments as the pipe segments advance into the wellbore, the first rangefinder being spaced apart from the second rangefinder, wherein the first and second rangefinders are configured to locate at least one identifier on one or more pipe segments; and
a calculation component configured to calculate a penetration distance by summing distances between identifiers and to calculate the ROP as the penetration distance achieved during an elapsed time.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein one of the identifiers is attached to the drill string and the other identifier is fixed at a reference point.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the identifiers comprise an end of the pipe segments, and wherein the ends are located using edge detection.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the rangefinders are configured to perform a LiDAR measurement of the identifiers.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the rangefinders are configured to acoustically locate the identifiers.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the first and second rangefinders have an observable range, and wherein the identifiers are located on pipe segments at intervals less than the observable range.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6 wherein each pipe segment has at least one identifier.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein at least one pipe segment includes two or more components wherein at least one of the components does not include an identifier.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the pipe segments comprise at least one of pipes, tools, subs, packers, or drill equipment.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the calculation component is configured to report the ROP to a remote operator.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the calculation component is configured to determine a rate of sampling defining a frequency at which the rangefinders observe the drill string.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11 wherein the rate of sampling is at least in part determined by the ROP.

### Claim 13

A system for measuring a rate of penetration (ROP) of a drill string in a wellbore, the system comprising:
a first rangefinder positioned at a wellsite and being configured to observe the drill string as the drill string is being constructed and lowered into the wellbore, the drill string comprising a plurality of pipe segments;
a second rangefinder positioned at the wellsite and being configured to observe the drill string as the drill string is being constructed and lowered into the wellbore, the second rangefinder being spaced apart from the first rangefinder;
wherein the first and second rangefinders are configured to observe a first identifier and a second identifier on one or more of the pipe segments and to measure a distance between each rangefinder and each identifier, and wherein a distance between the first and second rangefinders is known; and
a computation component configured to:
calculate a distance between the first and second identifiers using the distances between each rangefinder and each identifier and the distance between the first and second rangefinders; and
calculate the ROP by calculating distances between identifiers and summing the distances, wherein the ROP for a given time period is equal to a ratio of the summed distances and the given time period.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13 wherein the rangefinders are LiDAR, acoustic, radar, optical, electromagnetic, or RFID rangefinders and wherein the identifiers correspond to the rangefinders.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13 wherein the identifiers on the pipe segments comprise an edge and wherein the rangefinders are configured to use edge detection to observe the edge.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13 wherein:
a distance between the first identifier and the second identifier is d;
a distance between the first rangefinder and the first identifier is c;
a distance between the first rangefinder and the second identifier is e;
a distance between the first rangefinder and the second rangefinder is b;
a distance between the second rangefinder and the first identifier is f;
a distance between the second rangefinder and the second identifier is a;
an angle γ between a and d is calculated using the equation:
γ
1
=
cos
-
1

a
2


e
2


b
2
2

be
an angle γ1 between d and e is calculated using the equation:
γ
=
cos
-
1

f
2


c
2


b
2
2

bc
an angle γ2 between a and e is calculated using the equation:
γ2=γγ1
d is calculated using the equation:
d=√{square root over (c2+e22ce cos γ2)}

### Claim 17

A method for calculating rate of penetration (ROP) for a drill string, the method comprising:
positioning two rangefinders relative to the drill string, the drill string comprising a plurality of segments, wherein the rangefinders observe the segments as the segments enter a wellbore, and wherein the rangefinders are separated by a distance along the drill string;
periodically measuring a distance between points on the drill string and each of the rangefinders;
calculating a length of the segments from the distance between two points on the drill string from the distance from the two rangefinders and the two points;
adding the length to a running total length; and
calculating a ratio of the running total length and an elapsed time corresponding to the running total length.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein measuring the distance between the points using the rangefinders comprises using LiDAR.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein measuring the distance between the points using the rangefinders comprises using acoustics.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein measuring the distance between the points using the rangefinders comprises using optics.

### Claim 21 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein measuring the distance between the points using the rangefinders comprises using RFID.

### Claim 22 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein measuring the distance between the points using the rangefinders comprises using edge detection.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17 wherein the points on the drill string are at least one of reflective, sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, acoustically tuned, or having contours, and wherein the rangefinders are configured to observe the points correspondingly.