BR102018008190A2 - wear drill monitoring system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

? wear drill monitoring system and method? The present invention relates to oil drill bit wear identification systems. In this scenario, the present invention provides a drill bit wear monitoring system comprising (i) a drill bit (10) having a cutting surface (12, 12, 12n) having (ia) a plurality of cutters (12c), and (ib) an inner die (14), fed with pressurized drilling fluid, wherein the drilling fluid is dispensed from the inner die (14) to the external environment by at least one drilling fluid outlet (16), the system further comprising (ii) means of monitoring the drilling fluid pressure and (iii) at least one fluid communication channel (18) between the internal die (14) and a region internal position of the drill positioned at a predetermined distance (d) from the cutting surface (12, 12o, 12n), the at least one channel (18) being adapted to release drilling fluid upon exposure to the external environment due to surface wear greater than or equal to the distance predetermined (d). The invention further provides a system associated method described above.

Description

“WEAR MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A

DRILLING DRILL ”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to oil well drilling bits. More particularly, the present invention relates to wear identification systems for oil drilling bits.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] An oil well is drilled in several stages and with different diameters, each of which is called a stage. The main standard configuration of an oil well drilled in Brazil, according to article OTC22511, is as follows:

Phase 1: drilled with a 36 ”drill and coated with a 30” steel pipe;

Phase 2: drilled with a 26 ”drill bit and lined with 20” steel tubing;

Phase 3: perforated with drill in 17 1/2 ”and coated with 13 3/8 ”steel tubing; Phase 4: perforated with drill in 12 1/4 ”and coated with 9 5/8 ”steel tubing; Phase 5: perforated with drill in 8 1/2 ”and coated with

7 ”steel tubing.

[0003] Each of the listed phases is drilled with one or more drill bits connected to the drilling column (in English, Bottom Hole Assembly - BHA), which corresponds to a set of tools and equipment that perform measurements of the physical properties of rocks drilled as well as mapping the trajectory of the well.

[0004] The drilling rig transmits weight (PSB - Weight on Drill), rotation (RPM - revolutions per minute) and torque through the drilling column to promote drilling of the wells.

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2/8 [0005] Drill bits are divided into two major groups:

roller drills (or cone drills, the most common of which are drills) and drills with fixed cutters (articles SPE23937 and SPE23940). The main difference between these two large groups is that the roller drills cut the rock through the crushing mechanism, and the fixed cutter drills through the shear mechanism.

[0006] Currently, three models of drills have been applied for drilling in oil wells: triconic, impregnated and PDC drills. The triconic drills belong to the group of roller drills and the impregnated drills and PDC to the group of fixed cutter drills.

[0007] The main limitation of triconic drills is the number of hours of use which, when exceeded, increase the risk of falling cone (s) from the drill and loss of probe time.

[0008] The impregnated drills have fins where small particles of synthetic diamond of the order of hundredths of a millimeter are infiltrated (as in an emery). This type of drill requires high speeds, around 1000 rpm. Impregnated drills have high durability, but the average penetration rate does not, in most cases, exceed 2 m / h.

[0009] PDC drills are composed of fins or blades to which synthetic diamond cutters of circular shape with diameters normally 13, 16 and 19 mm are attached.

[0010] A conventional PDC drill can be divided into caliber (G), shoulder (O), nose (N) and cone (C), as shown in the profile of figure 1. In drills with ballistic profile and dome, there is still a neck between shoulder and nose.

[0011] A very common type of wear in PDC drills is the ring mark, which consists of losing one or more rows of synthetic diamond cutters, generating a ring-shaped groove in the die, as shown in figure 2. Checked through a survey of drill bit databases that the vast majority of PDC

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3/8 even show wear with a ring mark or present in the shoulder region of the drill.

[0012] It is worth mentioning that wear by ring mark is one of the most frequent in PDC drills for drilling oil wells, especially when drilling hard and / or abrasive rocks such as pre-salt layer carbonates and Maastrichian sandstones and Campaniano in Espírito Santo.

[0013] The main problem resulting from the severity of wear by ring brand is the tapering of the well. Without knowledge of wear, it continues to drill until eventually the drill column becomes stuck in the stabilizers. This leads to a loss of time to condition the drilled section with the worn drill. Additionally, the ring mark, when accentuated, weakens the rest of the fins due to the reduction in mass, which may cause the drill to break and consequently the need for “fishing”, interrupting the drilling work for a considerable period of time.

[0014] In an attempt to solve the problems mentioned above, technologies have appeared on the market that measure wear through a system of electrical circuits positioned inside the PDC drill. US20100139987A1, for example, discloses a drill bit comprising a wear detection system formed by at least one electrical circuit installed in the drill body. With wear, variations or interruptions are detected in the circuits, accurately identifying the bit wear level.

[0015] Despite the system described in the document US20100139987A1 solving the problem of identification and signaling of wear, such technique requires the installation of an electrical system in the drill body dedicated exclusively to this purpose, comprising battery, control / signaling system, power module , etc. In addition to considerably increasing manufacturing costs, this technique is subject to failure and

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4/8 maintenance, since the constant vibration of the drill in operation can damage the electrical components and the circuits. Furthermore, the insertion of circuits in the drill body is a very expensive and laborious task.

[0016] Thus, in the state of the art there is a need for an oil well drilling bit comprising a means of identifying its wear at low cost, taking advantage of the systems and components already existing in the drill or drilling column.

[0017] As will be more detailed below, the present invention aims to solve the problem of the state of the art described above in a practical and efficient way.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0018] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a drill bit wear monitoring system and method capable of simply and efficiently detecting drill wear without the need for an additional dedicated electrical system.

[0019] The present invention has the additional objective of providing a system and a method for monitoring the wear of a drill bit using only pre-existing systems in the drilling system composed of the drill, column, probe and other equipment.

[0020] In order to achieve the objectives described above, the present invention provides a system for monitoring the wear of a drill bit, comprising (i) a drill with a cutting surface, which has (ia) a plurality of cutters , and (ib) an internal matrix, fed with drilling fluid under pressure, in which the drilling fluid is dispensed from the internal matrix to the external environment by means of at least one drilling fluid outlet, the system further comprising one (ii) means of monitoring the drilling fluid pressure and (iii) at least one fluid communication channel between the internal matrix and an internal region of the drill positioned at a predetermined distance from the cutting surface, the at least one channel being adapted

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5/8 to release drilling fluid upon exposure to the external environment due to a wear on the cutting surface greater than or equal to the predetermined distance.

[0021] The present invention also provides a method of monitoring the wear of a drill bit, applied to the monitoring system described above, comprising the steps of (i) monitoring the pressure of the drilling fluid through a means of monitoring the pressure of the drilling fluid and (ii) detecting a drop in the fluid pressure during a predetermined time interval, indicative of exposure of at least one channel to the external environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0022] The detailed description presented below makes reference to the attached figures and their respective reference numbers.

[0023] Figure 1 illustrates a schematic profile view of a PDC type drill, as found in the prior art.

[0024] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic top view of a drill

PDC comprising a ring mark wear, as found in the prior art.

[0025] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic sectional view of a drill bit comprising the system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0026] Preliminarily, it is emphasized that the description that follows will start from a preferred embodiment of the invention. As will be apparent to any person skilled in the art, however, the invention is not limited to that particular embodiment.

[0027] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic sectional view of a drill bit 10 that is part of the drill wear monitoring system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In that preferred embodiment the system of the present invention comprises the

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6/8 said drill 10 provided with a cutting surface 12, subdivided into a cutting portion of the shoulder 12o and a cutting portion of the nose 12n, the cutting surface 12 having a plurality of cutters 12c. Preferably, bit 10 is a PDC bit.

[0028] The drill bit 10 will also comprise an internal matrix 14, fed with drilling fluid under pressure, in which the drilling fluid is dispensed from the internal matrix 14 to the external environment by means of at least one fluid outlet. drilling 16. Preferably, the internal matrix 14 is in fluid communication with the drilling column matrix (not shown), which in turn communicates fluidly with a reservoir or source of drilling fluid (not shown), located above of the drilling column, preferably in the probe. Thus, drilling fluid is injected from the reservoir or source of drilling fluid towards drill 10, through the drill string.

[0029] The system of the present invention further comprises a means of monitoring the pressure of the drilling fluid, preferably positioned remotely with respect to drill 10. Maia preferably, the means of monitoring the pressure of the fluid is a pressure monitoring system already commonly drilling rigs. Thus, the means of monitoring the pressure of the drilling fluid of the present invention can be any prior art pressure monitoring or control system.

[0030] The system of the present invention will further comprise at least one fluid communication channel 18 between the internal die 14 and an internal region of the drill positioned at a predetermined distance d from the cutting surface 12. Each of these channels 18 is adapted to release drilling fluid upon exposure to the external environment in the event of wear on the cutting surface greater than or equal to the predetermined distance d. This means that when there is enough wear to

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7/8 of exposing at least one channel 18 to the external environment, drilling fluid will be released from the internal matrix 14 to the external environment through this channel 18.

[0031] Once at least one channel 18 has been exposed to the external environment, leakage of drilling fluid begins and, consequently, a significant pressure drop in the fluid will be observed. This pressure variation is detected by means of monitoring the drilling fluid pressure through, for example, a sensor for automatic detection of pressure variation. Once such a significant drop in fluid pressure has been detected over a predetermined time, an audible and / or visual alert is optionally issued to operators indicating the possibility of excessive bit wear. In this scenario, work is preferably stopped for visual inspection of the drill and, if excessive wear is confirmed, it is replaced.

[0032] Preferably, the at least one channel 18 comprises at least one branch, as shown on the right side of figure 3. This may allow a larger area of the cutting surface 12 to be covered with the same channel 18.

[0033] Optionally, a single channel surrounds, with respect to the axis of rotation of the drill 10, the entire length of the cutting surface 12. In this embodiment, a ring-shaped channel 18 is formed just below the cutting surface 12.

[0034] Preferably, channel 18 is positioned close to the cutting surface only in the shoulder and nose region of drill 10, regions that are more subject to wear by ring mark.

[0035] It is worth mentioning that although only two examples of formats of channels 18 have been illustrated in figure 3, the invention is not limited to the format of the same. Thus, any channel formats fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] Additionally, the present invention provides a method of

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8/8 monitoring of wear of a drill bit, applied to the monitoring system described above, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) monitor the drilling fluid pressure using a means of monitoring the drilling fluid pressure; and (ii) detecting a drop in fluid pressure over a predetermined time interval, indicative of exposure of at least one channel 18 to the external environment.

[0037] Optionally, the method of the present invention comprises the additional step of emitting an audible and / or visual alert when detecting the pressure drop in the drilling fluid.

[0038] Thus, the present invention provides a drill bit wear monitoring system and method capable of simply and efficiently detecting drill wear without the need for an additional electrical system. In addition, only pre-existing systems in the drilling system comprised of the drill, column, probe and other equipment are used in the present invention, making the implementation cost low.

[0039] Numerous variations affecting the scope of protection of this application are permitted. Thus, it reinforces the fact that the present invention is not limited to the particular configurations / embodiments described above.

Claims (8)

1. A drill bit wear monitoring system, comprising: a drill (10) with: a cutting surface (12, 12o, 12n), which has a plurality of cutters (12c); and an internal matrix (14), fed with drilling fluid under pressure, in which the drilling fluid is dispensed from the internal matrix (14) to the external environment by means of at least one drilling fluid outlet (16) ; and a means for monitoring the drilling fluid pressure, characterized in that the drill bit (10) additionally comprises: at least one fluid communication channel (18) between the internal matrix (14) and an internal region of the drill positioned at a predetermined distance (d) from the cutting surface (12, 12o, 12n), the at least one channel (18 ) being adapted to release drilling fluid upon exposure to the external environment due to a wear on the cutting surface greater than or equal to the predetermined distance (d). 2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal matrix (14) is in fluid communication with the matrix of the drilling column. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one channel (18) comprises at least a portion parallel to the cutting surface (12, 12o, 12n). System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the at least one channel (18) comprises at least one branch. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the means for monitoring the pressure of the drilling fluid is positioned remotely with respect to the drill bit (10). 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the means of Petition 870180032946, of 04/24/2018, p. 15/22 2/2 drilling fluid pressure monitoring comprise a sensor for automatic detection of pressure variation. 7. Method for monitoring the wear of a drill bit, applied to the wear monitoring system of a drill bit as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by comprising the steps of: monitoring the drilling fluid pressure through a means of monitoring the drilling fluid pressure; and detecting a drop in fluid pressure over a predetermined time interval, indicative of exposure of at least one channel (18) to the external environment. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises the additional step of issuing an audible and / or visual alert when detecting the pressure drop in the drilling fluid.