Closed loop drilling system

An automated method for drilling an oilfield wellbore with a drilling system having a drilling assembly having a drill bit at an end thereof at enhanced drilling rates and with extended drilling assembly life, said drilling assembly conveyable with a tubing into the wellbore, said drilling assembly containing a plurality of downhole sensors for determining parameters relating to the formations surrounding the wellbore and the condition of the drilling assembly elements, comprising:

• (a) conveying the drilling assembly with the tubing into the wellbore for further drilling the wellbore;
• (b) initiating drilling of the wellbore with the drilling assembly utilizing a plurality known initial drilling parameters;
• (c) determining from the downhole sensors during drilling of the wellbore parameters relating to the condition of the drilling assembly;
• (d) providing a model for use by the drilling system to compute new value for the drilling parameters that when utilized for further drilling of the wellbore will provide drilling of the wellbore at an enhanced drilling rate and with extended drilling assembly life;
• and
• (e) further drilling the wellbore utilizing the new values of the drilling parameters.

An automated method for drilling an oilfield wellbore with a drilling system having a drilling assembly having a drill bit at an end thereof at enhanced drilling rates and with extended drilling assembly life, said drilling assembly conveyable with a tubing into the wellbore and having a plurality of downhole sensors for determining parameters relating to the formations surrounding the wellbore and the physical condition of the drilling assembly elements, comprising:

• (a) conveying the drilling assembly with the tubing into the wellbore for further drilling the wellbore;
• (b) initiating drilling of the wellbore with the drilling assembly utilizing a plurality known initial drilling parameters;
• (c) determining from the downhole sensors during drilling of the wellbore parameters relating to the physical condition of the drilling assembly and the formation surrounding the drilling assembly;
• (d) providing models associated with the drilling system and combining the determined parameters with said models to compute new value for the drilling parameters in the plurality of parameters that when utilized for further drilling the wellbore will provide drilling of the wellbore at an enhanced drilling rate and with extended drilling assembly life;
• and
• (e) further drilling the wellbore utilizing the new values of the drilling parameters.

An automated drilling system for drilling oilfield wellbores at enhanced rates of penetration and with extended life of drilling assembly, comprising:

• (a) a drilling assembly having a drill bit, said drilling assembly adapted to be conveyed by a tubing into the wellbore from the surface;
• (b) a force application device for applying a predetermined force on the drill bit within a range of forces;
• (c) a force controller for controlling the operation of the force application devise to apply the predetermined force;
• (d) a source of drilling fluid under pressure at the surface for supplying a drilling fluid;
• (e) a fluid controller for controlling the operation of the fluid source to supply a desired predetermined pressure and flow rate of the drilling fluid;
• (f) a rotator for rotating the bit at a predetermined speed of rotation within a range of rotation speeds;
• (g) a plurality of sensors for detecting selected drilling assembly parameters during the drilling operations and generating data representative of said drilling assembly parameters;
• (h) a computer comprising at least one processor, said computer determining from the generated data and at least one model provided to the computer drilling parameters that will yield enhanced drilling rate and extended drilling assembly life, said computer further causing the force controller, fluid controller and rotator controller to operate the force application device, source of drilling fluid under pressure and rotator to operate in accordance with the computed drilling parameters to achieve enhanced rates of penetration and extended drilling assembly life.

A system for drilling boreholes, comprising:

• (a) a drill string having a drill bit at a bottom end;
• (b) a bottom hole assembly (BHA) for providing data representative of the values of selected downhole drill string parameters;
• and
• (c) a surface control unit for receiving the data, displaying dysfunctions relating to said drill string parameters and determining a corrective action for alleviating said dysfunctions.

A drilling system for drilling oilfield wellbores, comprising:

• (a) a drill string having a drilling assembly comprising a drill bit at an end for drilling the wellbores
• (b) a plurality of sensors in the drill string for detecting motion of the drill string along predefined directions and generating signals corresponding to the detected motions;
• (c) a processor in the drill string, said processor calculating parameters relating to selected operating conditions of the drill string and determining the severity of such computed parameters;
• (d) a transmitter associated with the drill string for transmitting data to the surface corresponding to the severity of the computed parameters;
• and
• (f) a computer at the surface, said computer receiving said data, displaying the severity of the computed parameters and determining a set of drilling parameters which when used for further drilling of the wellbore will enhance the drilling rate and extend the operating life of the drill string.

A system for simulating borehole drilling conditions for a given bottom hole assembly (BHA) and a borehole profile, said simulator comprising:

• (a) a computer;
• (b) a memory associated with said computer for storing therein programmed instructions;
• and
• (c) a model associated with said computer, said model having defined therein parameters relating to the BHA and the borehole profile, said computer utilizing the model for determining dysfunctions relating to the BHA for a given set of surface-controlled parameters, said computer further determining a corrective action for alleviating said dysfunction.

A method of drilling a wellbore utilizing a drill string having a drill bit at an end thereof, comprising:

• (a) making a plurality of measurements relating to the motion of the drill string during drilling;
• (b) determining downhole a plurality of drill string parameters from the plurality of measurements;
• (c) transmitting data to the surface corresponding to the severity of the drill string parameters;
• (d) determining at the drilling parameters that will alleviate the dysfunctions for further drilling of the wellbore;
• and
• (e) continuing drilling by adjusting the drilling parameters.