WO2009022115A1 - System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation - Google Patents

System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2009022115A1
WO2009022115A1 PCT/GB2008/002706 GB2008002706W WO2009022115A1 WO 2009022115 A1 WO2009022115 A1 WO 2009022115A1 GB 2008002706 W GB2008002706 W GB 2008002706W WO 2009022115 A1 WO2009022115 A1 WO 2009022115A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
drilling system
borehole
drilling
dynamic
controlling
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2008/002706
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Ashley Johnson
Walter Aldred
Geoffrey Downton
Riadh Boualleg
Kjell Haugvaldstad
Michael Sheppard
Original Assignee
Schlumberger Technology B.V.
Schlumberger Holdings Limited
Schlumberger Canada Limited
Services Petroliers Schlumberger
Prad Research And Development Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US11/839,381 external-priority patent/US8757294B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/116,444 external-priority patent/US8720604B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/116,390 external-priority patent/US8763726B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/116,380 external-priority patent/US8066085B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/116,408 external-priority patent/US8534380B2/en
Priority to EA201070264A priority Critical patent/EA019369B1/ru
Priority to AU2008288343A priority patent/AU2008288343A1/en
Priority to EP08788277A priority patent/EP2188484A1/en
Priority to CN200880111782.9A priority patent/CN101827995B/zh
Application filed by Schlumberger Technology B.V., Schlumberger Holdings Limited, Schlumberger Canada Limited, Services Petroliers Schlumberger, Prad Research And Development Limited filed Critical Schlumberger Technology B.V.
Priority to MX2010001814A priority patent/MX340647B/es
Priority to CA2694858A priority patent/CA2694858C/en
Publication of WO2009022115A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009022115A1/en

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Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B7/00—Special methods or apparatus for drilling
    • E21B7/04—Directional drilling
    • E21B7/06—Deflecting the direction of boreholes
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B44/00—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
    • E21B44/005—Below-ground automatic control systems

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates in general to a method and a system for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, in one embodiment of the present invention a system and method is provided for controlling interactions between the drilling system for drilling the borehole and an inner surface of the borehole being drilled by the drilling system to provide for steering the drilling system to directionally drill a borehole through the earth formation. In certain aspects of the present invention, the drilling system may be controlled to provide that the borehole reaches a target objective.
  • data regarding the functioning of the drilling system as it drills the borehole may be sensed and interactions between the drilling system for drilling the borehole and the inner surface of the borehole may be controlled in response to the sensed data to provide for controlling operation of the drilling system.
  • interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface may be controlled to provide for controlling the interaction of the drill bit with the earth formation.
  • a borehole may be drilled so as to intercept a particular subterranean-formation at a particular location.
  • a drilling trajectory through the earth formation may be pre-planned and the drilling system may be controlled to conform to the trajectory.
  • an objective for the borehole may be determined and the progress of the borehole being drilled in the earth formation may be monitored during the drilling process and steps may be taken to ensure the borehole attains the target objective.
  • operation of the drill system may be controlled to provide for economic drilling, which may comprise drilling so as to bore through the earth formation as quickly as possible, drilling so as to reduce bit wear, drilling so as to achieve optimal drilling through the earth formation and optimal bit wear and/or the like.
  • Directional drilling is the intentional deviation of the borehole/wellbore from the path it would naturally take. In other words, directional drilling is the steering of the drill string so that it travels in a desired direction.
  • Directional drilling is advantageous in offshore drilling because it enables many wells to be drilled from a single platform.
  • Directional drilling also enables horizontal drilling through a reservoir.
  • Horizontal drilling enables a longer length of the wellbore to traverse the reservoir, which increases the production rate from the well.
  • a directional drilling system may also be used in vertical drilling operation as well. Often the drill bit will veer off of a planned drilling trajectory because of the unpredictable nature of the formations being penetrated or the varying forces that the drill bit experiences. When such a deviation occurs, a directional drilling system may be used to put the drill bit back on course.
  • the monitoring process for directional drilling of the borehole may include determining the location of the drill bit in the earth formation, determining an orientation of the drill bit in the earth formation, determining a weight-on-bit of the drilling system, determining a speed of drilling through the earth formation, determining properties of the earth formation being drilled, determining properties of a subterranean formation surrounding the drill bit, looking forward to ascertain properties of formations ahead of the drill bit, seismic analysis of the earth formation, determining properties of reservoirs etc. proximal to the drill bit, measuring pressure, temperature and/or the like in the borehole and/or surrounding the borehole and/or the like.
  • any process for directional drilling of a borehole whether following a preplanned trajectory, monitoring the drilling process and/or the drilling conditions and/or the like, it is necessary to be able to steer the drilling system.
  • Forces which act on the drill bit during a drilling operation include gravity, torque developed by the bit, the end load applied to the bit, and the bending moment from the drill assembly. These forces together with the type of strata being drilled and the inclination of the strata to the bore hole may create a complex interactive system of forces during the drilling process.
  • the drilling system may comprise a "rotary drilling" system in which a downhole assembly, including a drill bit, is connected to a drill-string that may be driven/rotated from the drilling platform.
  • a rotary drilling system directional drilling of the borehole may be provided by varying factors such as weight-on-bit, the rotation speed, etc.
  • RSS rotary steerable system
  • Rotary steerable drilling systems for drilling deviated boreholes into the earth may be generally classified as either "point-the-bit” systems or “push-the-bit” systems.
  • the axis of rotation of the drill bit is deviated from the local axis of the bottomhole assembly ("BHA") in the general direction of the new hole.
  • BHA bottomhole assembly
  • the hole is propagated in accordance with the customary three-point geometry defined by upper and lower stabilizer touch points and the drill bit.
  • the angle of deviation of the drill bit axis coupled with a finite distance between the drill bit and lower stabilizer results in the non-collinear condition required for a curve to be generated.
  • this may be achieved including a fixed bend at a point in the bottomhole assembly close to the lower stabilizer or a flexure of the drill bit drive shaft distributed between the upper and lower stabilizer.
  • Pointing the bit may comprise using a downhole motor to rotate the drill bit, the motor and drill bit being mounted upon a drill string that includes an angled bend.
  • the drill bit may be coupled to the motor by a hinge-type or tilted mechanism/joint, a bent sub or the like, wherein the drill bit may be inclined relative to the motor.
  • the rotation of the drill-string may be stopped and the bit may be positioned in the borehole, using the downhole motor, in the required direction and rotation of the drill bit may start the drilling in the desired direction.
  • the direction of drilling is dependent upon the angular position of the drill string.
  • Push the bit systems and methods make use of application of force against the borehole wall to bend the drill-string and/or force the drill bit to drill in a preferred direction.
  • the requisite non-collinear condition is achieved by causing a mechanism to apply a force or create displacement in a direction that is preferentially orientated with respect to the direction of hole propagation.
  • this may be achieved, including non- rotating (with respect to the hole), displacement based approaches and eccentric actuators that apply force to the drill bit in the desired steering direction.
  • steering is achieved by creating non co-linearity between the drill bit and at least two other touch points.
  • Known forms of RSS are provided with a "counter rotating" mechanism which rotates in the opposite direction of the drill string rotation.
  • the counter rotation occurs at the same speed as the drill string rotation so that the counter rotating section maintains the same angular position relative to the inside of the borehole. Because the counter rotating section does not rotate with respect to the borehole, it is often called “geostationary” by those skilled in the art. In this disclosure, no distinction is made between the terms “counter rotating” and “geostationary.”
  • a push-the-bit system typically uses either an internal or an external counter-rotation stabilizer.
  • the counter-rotation stabilizer remains at a fixed angle (or geo-stationary) with respect to the borehole wall.
  • an actuator presses a pad against the borehole wall in the opposite direction from the desired deviation. The result is that the drill bit is pushed in the desired direction.
  • the force generated by the actuators/pads is balanced by the force to bend the bottomhole assembly, and the force is reacted through the actuators/pads on the opposite side of the bottomhole assembly and the reaction force acts on the cutters of the drill bit, thus steering the hole.
  • the force from the pads/actuators may be large enough to erode the formation where the system is applied.
  • the Schlumberger Powerdrive system uses three pads arranged around a section of the bottomhole assembly to be synchronously deployed from the bottomhole assembly to push the bit in a direction and steer the borehole being drilled.
  • the pads are mounted close, in a range of 1 - 4 ft behind the bit and are powered/actuated by a stream of mud taken from the circulation fluid.
  • the weight-on-bit provided by the drilling system or a wedge or the like may be used to orient the drilling system in the borehole.
  • While system and methods for applying a force against the borehole wall and using reaction forces to push the drill bit in a certain direction or displacement of the bit to drill in a desired direction may be used with drilling systems including a rotary drilling system, the systems and methods may have disadvantages.
  • such systems and methods may require application of large forces on the borehole wall to bend the drill-string and/or orient the drill bit in the borehole; such forces may be of the order of 5 kN or more, that may require large/complicated downhole motors or the like to be generated.
  • many systems and methods may use repeatedly thrusting of pads/actuator outwards into the borehole wall as the bottomhole assembly rotates to generate the reaction forces to push the drill bit, which may require complex/expensive/high maintenance synchronizing systems, complex control systems and/or the like.
  • This disclosure relates in general to a method and system for controlling a drilling system configured for drilling or coring a borehole through a subterranean formation. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, embodiments of the present invention provide for using drilling noise, i.e. the unsteady motion of the drilling system in the borehole during the drilling process and interactions between the drilling system and an inner surface of the borehole resulting from the unsteady motion of the drilling system to control the drilling system and/or the drilling process.
  • drilling noise i.e. the unsteady motion of the drilling system in the borehole during the drilling process and interactions between the drilling system and an inner surface of the borehole resulting from the unsteady motion of the drilling system to control the drilling system and/or the drilling process.
  • embodiments of the present invention provide for controlling repeated interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process and using the control of the repeated interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface to control operation/functioning of the drilling system.
  • the repeated interactions between one or more sections of the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole may be controlled to provide for steering the drilling system to directionally drill the borehole.
  • the repeated interactions between one or more sections of the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole may be controlled to provide for controlling operation of the drilling system, such as controlling operation of the drill bit during the drilling process.
  • a method for steering a drilling system configured for drilling a borehole in an earth formation comprising: controlling dynamic interactions between a section of the drilling system and an inner surface of said borehole; and using the controlled dynamic interactions between the section of the drilling system and the inner surface of said borehole to control the drilling system.
  • the step of controlling dynamic interactions between a section of the drilling system and an inner surface of said borehole comprises providing that the dynamic interactions between the section of the drilling system and the inner wall are non-uniform.
  • the step of controlling dynamic interactions between a section of the drilling system and an inner surface of said borehole may comprise providing that the interactions between the section of the drilling system and the inner surface vary circumferentially around the section of the drilling system.
  • the section of the drilling system providing for the control of the dynamic interactions may be maintained geostationary in the borehole during operation of the drilling system.
  • the dynamic interactions may be controlled so as to provide for steering the drilling system.
  • the dynamic interactions may be controlled so as to provide for controlling the drill bit.
  • controlling dynamic interaction between at least a section of the drilling system and the inner surface of said borehole may comprise coupling a contact element with the drilling system and using the contact element to control the dynamic interaction.
  • the contact element may be held geostationary in the borehole during operation of the drilling system.
  • the contact element is configured to produce a non-uniform dynamic interaction with the inner surface.
  • the contact element may be asymmetrically shaped, may be configured to have a nonuniform compliance, may comprise a cylinder that is eccentrically coupled with the bottomhole assembly, may comprise an element with a non-uniform weight distribution and/or the like.
  • the contact element may comprise an extendable member that may be extended outwards from the drilling system towards and/or into contact with the inner surface.
  • the extendable element may be used to apply a force to the inner surface to control the dynamic interactions.
  • the force applied to the inner surface may be less than 1 kN.
  • the contact element may be coupled with the drilling system so as to provide that the contact element is disposed within a cutting silhouette of the drill bit. In other aspects, the contact element may be coupled with the drilling system so as to provide that at least a portion of the contact element is disposed outside the cutting silhouette of the drill bit.
  • a driver may be used to alter/control the dynamic motion of the drilling system during a drilling procedure.
  • a processor may be used to manage the system for controlling the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface. Managing the system for controlling the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface may comprise positioning the system on the drilling system and/or moving the system on the drilling system.
  • the managing processor may receive data from sensors regarding the drilling process, operation of the drilling system and/or components of the drilling system, positions of the drilling system and/or components of the drilling system, location of an objective for the borehole in the earth formation, conditions in the borehole, properties of the earth formation and/or parts of the earth formation in the process of being drilled, properties of the dynamic motion of the drilling system and/or different sections of the drilling system and/or the like.
  • control of the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole being drilled may be provided by altering a profile of the inner- wall of the borehole being drilled.
  • a device such as an asymmetric drilling bit, a secondary drilling bit, an extendable element that extends from the drilling system to the inner- wall, an electro-pulse drill bit, a jetting device and/or the like may be controlled to provide that the inner-wall has a non-uniform profile so as to provide for controlling the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner- wall.
  • the system or method for controlling the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole being drilled may be controlled in real-time to provide for real-time control of the drilling system.
  • the configurations of the dynamic interaction controller may be determined theoretically, experimentally, by modelling of the dynamic interactions, from experience with previous drilling processes and/or the like.
  • the dynamic interaction controller may comprise a contact element positioned less than 10 feet from the drill bit, may comprise a contact element disposed with an outer-surface less than millimetres inside the drilling silhouette of the drill bit, may comprise a contact element disposed with an outer-surface that extends, at least in part, of the order of millimetres outside the drilling silhouette of the drill bit.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic-type illustration of a system for drilling a borehole
  • FIG. 2A is a schematic-type illustration of a system for steering a drilling system for drilling a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 2B is a cross-sectional view through a compliant system for use in the system for steering the drilling system for drilling the borehole of Fig. 2A, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGs. 3A-C are schematic-type illustrations of a cam control system for steering a drilling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGs. 4A-C are schematic-type illustration of active gauge pad systems for steering a drilling system configured for drilling a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 5 provides a schematic-type illustration of a vibration application system for steering a drilling system to directionally drill a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGs. 6A and 6B illustrate systems for selectively characterizing an inner surface of a borehole for steering a drilling assembly to directionally drill the borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 7A is a flow-type schematic of a method for steering a drilling system to directionally drill a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 7B is a flow-type schematic of a method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • This disclosure relates in general to a method and a system for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, embodiments of the present invention provide for using the heretofore unappreciated and uninvestigated noise of the drilling process - the unsteady/transient motion of the drilling system in the borehole during the drilling process and the interactions between the drilling system and the borehole resulting from the unsteady/transient motion of the drilling system - to control the drilling system and/or the drilling process.
  • a system and method for controlling interactions between the drilling system for drilling the borehole and an inner surface of the borehole being drilled, as a result of unsteady/transient motion of the drilling system during the drilling process, to provide for steering the drilling system to directionally drill a borehole through the earth formation.
  • the drilling system may be controlled to provide that the borehole reaches a target objective or drills through a target objective.
  • data regarding the functioning of the drilling system may be sensed and interactions between the drilling system for drilling the borehole and an inner surface of the borehole may be controlled in response to the sensed data to control the drilling system, i.e.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic-type illustration of a system for drilling a borehole.
  • a drill-string 10 may comprise a connector system 12 and a bottomhole assembly 17 and may be disposed in a borehole 27.
  • the bottomhole assembly 17 may comprise a drill bit 20 along with various other components (not shown), such as a bit sub, a mud motor, stabilizers, drill collars, heavy-weight drillpipe, jarring devices ("jars”), crossovers for various thread forms and/or the like.
  • the bottomhole assembly 17 may provide force for the drill bit 20 to break the rock - which force may be provided by weight-on-bit or the like - and the bottomhole assembly 17 may be configured to survive a hostile mechanical environment of high temperatures, high pressures and/or corrosive chemicals.
  • the bottomhole assembly 17 may include a mud motor, directional drilling and measuring equipment, measurements-while- drilling tools, logging-while-drilling tools and/or other specialized devices.
  • the drill collar may comprise component of a drill-string that may be used to provide weight-on-bit for drilling.
  • the drill collars may comprise a thick- walled heavy tubular component that may have a hollowed out center to provide for the passage of drilling fluids through the collar.
  • the outside diameter of the collar may rounded to pass through the borehole 27 being drilled, and in some cases may be machined with helical grooves ("spiral collars").
  • the drill collar may comprise threaded connections, male on one end and female on the other, so that multiple collars may be screwed together along with other downhole tools to make the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • Gravity acts on the large mass of the drill collar(s) to provide a large downward force that may be needed by the drill bit 20 to efficiently break rock and drill through the earth formation.
  • a driller may carefully monitors the surface weight measured while the drill bit 20 is just off a bottom surface 41 of the borehole 27.
  • the drill-string (and the drill bit), may be slowly and carefully lowered until it touches the bottom surface 41. After that point, as the driller continues to lower the top of the drill-string, more and more weight is applied to the drill bit 20, and correspondingly less weight is measured as hanging at the surface.
  • Downhole sensors may be used to measure weight-on-bit more accurately and transmit the data to the surface.
  • the drill bit 20 may comprise one or more cutters 23.
  • the drill bit 20 may be used to crush and/or cut rock at the bottom surface 41 so as to drill the borehole 27 through an earth formation 30.
  • the drill bit 20 may be disposed on the bottom of the connector system 12 and the drill bit 20 may be changed when the drill bit 20 becomes dull or becomes incapable of making progress through the earth formation 30.
  • the drill bit 20 and the cutters 23 may be configured in different patterns to provide for different interactions with the earth formation and generation of different cutting patterns.
  • a conventional drill bit 20 operates by boring a hole slightly larger than the maximum outside diameter of the drill bit 20, the diameter/gauge of the borehole 27 resulting from the reach of the cutters of the drill bit 20 and the interaction of the cutters with the rock being drilled.
  • This drilling of the borehole 27 by the drill bit 20 is achieved through a combination of the cutting action of the rotating drill bit 20 and the weight on the bit created as a result of the mass of the drill-string.
  • the drilling system may include a gauge pad(s) which may extend outward to the gauge of the borehole 27.
  • the gauge pads may comprise pads disposed on the bottomhole assembly 17 or pads on the ends of some of the cutters of the drill bit 20 and/or the like. The gauge pads may be used to stabilize the drill bit 20 in the borehole 27.
  • the connector system 12 may comprise pipe(s) - such as drillpipe, casing or the like - coiled tubing and/or the like.
  • the pipe, coiled tubing or the like of the connector system 12 may be used to connect surface equipment 33 with the bottomhole assembly 17 and the drill bit 20.
  • the pipe, coiled tubing or the like may serve to pump drilling fluid to the drill bit 20 and to raise, lower and/or rotate the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20.
  • the surface equipment 33 may comprise a topdrive, rotary table or the like (not shown) that may transfer rotational motion via the pipe, coiled tubing or the like to the drill bit 20.
  • the topdrive may consist of one or more motors - electric, hydraulic and/or the like - that may be connected by appropriate gearing to a short section of pipe called a quill.
  • the quill may in turn be screwed into a saver sub or the drill-string itself.
  • the topdrive may be suspended from a hook so that it is free to travel up and down a derrick.
  • Pipe, coiled tubing or the like may be attached to the topdrive, rotary table or the like to transfer rotary motion down the borehole 27 to the drill bit 20.
  • drilling motors may be disposed down the borehole 27.
  • the drilling motors may comprise electric motors hydraulic-type motors and/or the like.
  • the hydraulic-type motors may be driven by drilling fluids or other fluids pumped into the borehole 27 and/or circulated down the drill-string.
  • the drilling motors may be used to power/rotate the drill bit 20 on the bottom surface 41.
  • Use of drilling motors may provide for drilling the borehole 27 by rotating the drill bit 20 without rotating the connector system 12, which may be held stationary during the drilling process.
  • the rotary motion of the drill bit 20 in the borehole 27, whether produced by a rotating drill pipe or a drilling motor, may provide for the crushing and/or scraping of rock at the bottom surface 41 to drill a new section of the borehole 27 in the earth formation 30.
  • Drilling fluids may be pumped down the borehole 27, through the connector system 12 or the like, to provide energy to the drill bit 20 to rotate the drill bit 20 or the like to provide for drilling the borehole 27, for removing cuttings from the bottom surface 41 and/or the like.
  • hammer bits may be used pound the rock vertically in much the same fashion as a construction site air hammer.
  • downhole motors may be used to operate the drill bit 20 or an associated drill bit or to provide energy to the drill bit 20 in addition to the energy provided by the topdrive, rotating table, drilling fluid and/or the like.
  • fluid jets, electrical pulses and/or the like may also be used for drilling the borehole 27 or in combination with the drill bit 17 to drill the borehole 27.
  • a bent pipe (not shown), known as a bent sub, or an inclination/hinge type mechanism may be disposed between the drill bit 20 and the drilling motor.
  • the bent sub or the like may be positioned in the borehole to provide that the drill bit 20 meets the face of the bottom surface 41 in such a manner as to provide for drilling of the borehole 27 in a particular direction, angle, trajectory and/or the like.
  • the position of the bent sub may be adjusted in the borehole without a need to remove the connector system 12 and/or the bottomhole assembly 17 from the borehole 27.
  • directional drilling with a bent sub or the like may be complex because of forces in the borehole during the drilling process may make the bent sub difficult to manoeuvre and/or to effectively use to steer the drilling system.
  • forces which may act on the drill bit 20 may include gravity, torque developed by the drill bit 20, the end load applied to the drill bit 20, the bending moment from the drilling system including the connector system 12 and/or the like. These forces together with the type of formation being drilled and the inclination of the drill bit 20 to the face of the bottom surface 41 of the borehole 27 may create a complex interactive system of applied and reactionary forces.
  • Various systems have sought to provide for directional drilling by controlling/applying these large forces to bend/shape/direct/push the drilling system and/or using these large forces and/or generating reaction forces from pushing outward into the earth formation 30 to orient the drilling system in the borehole and/or relative to the bottom of the borehole 27 and/or to push the drill bit 20 so as to steer the drilling system to directionally drill the borehole 27.
  • systems that use forces of the drilling process, for example, the end load, to steer the drilling system may be complicated and may not provide for accurate steering of the drilling system.
  • systems that steer the drilling system by moving/orienting the drilling system in the borehole and/or pushing the drill bit 20 may require generation downhole of large forces of over 1 kN and/or extension of elements from the drilling string a considerable distance beyond the cutting range of the drill bit - i.e. far beyond the silhouette of the drill bit, where the silhouette may be defied by the outer cutting edge of the drill bit 20 - in order to generate the reaction forces used to move/orient the drilling system and/or to push the drill bit 20.
  • the drill bit 20 may, essentially, "vibrate" in the borehole 27, with the vibrations comprising repeated movement of the drill bit 20 in directions other than a drilling direction.
  • vibration/oscillation are used herein to describe repeated movements of the drilling system during the drilling process that may be in a direction in the borehole other than the drilling direction and may be random in nature.
  • vibrations/oscillations of the drilling system may be limited by the effects of the cutters impacting and extending the surface of the hole and by the gauge pads or the like hitting the wall of the borehole 27.
  • drilling systems comprising drill bits without gauge pads produce a borehole with a diameter that was significantly larger than equivalent drilling systems comprising drill bits and gauge pads. Analyzing results from these tests, it was determined that during operation of the drilling system, the bottomhole assembly 17 repeatedly undergoes a motion that involves movements away from a central axis of the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20, i.e. in a radial direction towards an inner- wall 40 of the borehole 27, during the drilling process.
  • gauge pads confine this radial motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20 so as to produce a borehole with a smaller bore.
  • the gauge pads of conventional drilling systems being deployed to minimize/eliminate the vibrational motion of the drilling system to provide a smaller/regular bore.
  • Applicants have analyzed the operation of the drilling system and found that in addition to the unsteady/transient motion during operation of the drilling system, the application of force through the connector system 12 and the drill bit 20 on to the earth formation 30 at the bottom of the borehole 27, the operation/rotation of the drill bit 20, the interaction of the drill bit 20 with the earth formation 30 at the bottom of the borehole 27 (wherein the drill bit 20 may slip, stall, be knocked off of a drilling axis and/or the like), the rotational motion of the connector system 12, the operation of the topdrive, the operation of the rotational table, the operation of downhole motors, the operation of drilling aids such as fluid jets or electro-pulse systems, the bore of the borehole 20 - which may be irregular - and and/or the like may generate motion in the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20, and this motion may be a repeated, random, transient motion, wherein at least a component of the motion is not directed along an axis of the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit
  • the kinetics of the bottomhole assembly 17 may comprise both a longitudinal motion 37 in the drilling direction as well as transient radial motions 36 A and 36 B, wherein the transient radial motions 36A and 36 B may comprise any motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 directed away from a central axis 39 of the borehole 27 being drilled and/or a central axis of the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20.
  • the radial motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 during the drilling process may be random, transient in nature. As such, the bottomhole assembly 17 may undergo repeated random radial/unsteady motion throughout the drilling process.
  • the repeated radial/unsteady motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 in the borehole 27 during the drilling process may be referred to as a dynamic motion, a radial motion, an unsteady motion, a radial-dynamic motion, a radial-unsteady motion, a dynamic or unsteady motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill-string, a repeated radial motion, a repeated dynamic motion, a repeated unsteady motion, a vibration, a vibrational-type motion and/or the like.
  • the dynamic and/or unsteady motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 during the drilling of the borehole 27 may cause/result in the bottomhole assembly 17 repeatedly coming into contact with and/or impacting an inner surface of the borehole 27 throughout the drilling process.
  • the inner surface of the borehole 27 comprising the inner-wall 40 and the bottom surface 41 of the borehole 27, i.e. the entire surface of the earth formation 30 that defines the borehole 27.
  • the dynamic and/or unsteady motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 may be random in nature and, as such, may cause/result in random intermittent/repeat contact and/or impact between the bottomhole assembly 17 and the inner surface during the drilling process.
  • the intermittent/repeated contact and/or impact between the drill-string 10 and the inner surface during the drilling process resulting from dynamic and/or unsteady motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 may occur between one or more sections/components of the drill-string 10 and the inner surface.
  • the sections/components may be a section of the drill-string 10 proximal to the drill bit 20, the bottomhole assembly 17, a component of the bottomhole assemble 17, such as for example a drill collar, gauge pads, stabilizers, a motor housing, a section of the connector system 12 and/or the like.
  • the interactions between the drill-string 10 and the inner surface caused by/resulting from the dynamic and/or unsteady of the bottomhole assembly 17 may be referred to as dynamic interactions, unsteady interactions, radial motion interactions, vibrational interactions and/or the like.
  • Fig. 2A is a schematic-type illustration of a system for steering a drilling system for drilling a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the drilling system for drilling the borehole may comprise the bottomhole assembly 17, which may in-turn comprise the drill bit 20.
  • the drilling system may provide for drilling a borehole 50 having an inner- wall 53 and a drilling- face 54.
  • a collar assembly 55 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 by a compliant element 57.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be a tube, cylinder, framework or the like.
  • the collar assembly 55 may have an outer-surface 55A.
  • the outer-surface 55 A may comprise the outer-surface of the tube/cylinder and/or any pads, projections and/or the like coupled with the outer surface of the tube/cylinder.
  • the collar assembly 55 may have roughened sections, coatings, projections on its outer surface to provide for increased frictional contact between an outer-surface of the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53.
  • the collar assembly 55 may comprise pads configured for contacting the inner- wall 53.
  • the collar assembly 55 may comprise a gauge pad system.
  • the outer-surface 55 A may be defined by the outer-surfaces of each of the elements (pads) of the collar assembly 55.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be configured with the bottomhole assembly 17 to provide that the outer-surface 55 A engages, contacts, interacts and/or the like with the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 during the drilling process as a result of the dynamic motion of the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the design/profile/compliance of the outer-surface 55A and/or the disposition of the outer-surface 55A relative to a cutting silhouette of the drill bit 20 may provide for controlling the dynamic interaction between the outer-surface 55A and the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling- face 54.
  • the compliant element 57 may comprise a structure that provides a lateral movement of the collar assembly 55 relative to the drill bit 20, where the lateral movement is a movement that is, at least in part directed, towards a center axis 61 of the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the collar assembly 55 may itself be configured to be laterally compliant and may be coupled to the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or may be a section of the bottomhole assembly 17, without the use of the compliant element 57.
  • the compliant element 57 may not be uniformly-circumferentially compliant. In such an embodiment, one or more sections of the compliant element 57 disposed around the circumference of the compliant element 57 may be more laterally compliant than other sections of the compliant element 57.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be configured to provide that dynamic motion of the bottomhole assembly 17 produces dynamic interactions between the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 during the drilling process.
  • different relative outer-circumferences as between the collar assembly 55 and the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20 may provide for different dynamic interactions between the collar assembly 55 and the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54. Modeling, theoretical analysis, experimentation and/or the like may be used to select differences in the relative outer-circumference between the collar assembly 55 and the bottomhole assembly 17 and/or the drill bit 20 for a particular drilling process to produce the wanted/desired dynamic interaction.
  • the dynamic interaction between the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 may not be uniform circumferentially around the collar assembly 55.
  • the compliant element 57 may comprise an area of decreased compliance 59B and an area of increased compliance 59A.
  • dynamic interactions between the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling- face 54 above a section of the compliant element 57 having increased lateral compliance i.e., the area of increased compliance 59A
  • dynamic interactions between the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling- face 54 above a section of the compliant element 57 having decreased lateral compliance i.e., the area of decreased compliance 59B.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be configured to provide that the collar assembly 55 is coupled with the bottomhole to provide that collar assembly 55 is disposed entirely within a cutting silhouette 21 of the drill bit 20, the cutting silhouette 21 comprising the edge-to-edge cutting profile of the drill bit 20.
  • the collar assembly 55, a section of the collar assembly 55, the outer-surface 55A and/or a section of the outer-surface 55 A may extend beyond the cutting silhouette 21.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 to provide that the outer outer-surface 55 A is of the order of 1 -10s of millimeters inside the cutting silhouette 21.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 to provide that at least a portion of the outer-surface 55 A extends in the range up to 10s of or more millimeters beyond the cutting silhouette 21.
  • Fig. 2B is a cross-sectional view through a compliant system for use in the system for steering the drilling system for drilling the borehole of Fig. 2A, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the compliant element 57 viewed in cross-section in Fig. 2B comprises the area of increased compliance 59A and the area of decreased compliance 59B.
  • the compliant element 57 may comprise any configuration of compliance that produces non-uniform compliance around the compliant element 57
  • the compliant element 57 is depicted as a solid cylindrical structure, however, in different aspects of the present invention, the compliant element 57 may comprise other kinds of structures, such as a plurality of compliant elements arranged around the bottomhole assembly 17 and configured to couple the collar assembly 55 to the bottomhole assembly 17, an assembly of support elements capable of coupling the collar assembly 55 to the bottomhole assembly 17 and providing lateral movement of the collar assembly 55 and/or the like.
  • the collar assembly 55 may itself be a structure with integral compliance, wherein the integral compliance may be selected to be non-uniform around the collar assembly 55 and the collar assembly 55 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 or maybe a section of the bottomhole assembly 17 without the compliant element 57.
  • the collar assembly 55 may comprise a plurality of compliant elements, such as pads or the like, the plurality of compliant elements being coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 and at least one of the compliant elements having a compliance that is different from the other compliant elements.
  • the area of increased compliance 59A may be disposed on the compliant element 57 so as to be diametrically opposite the area of decreased compliance 59B.
  • the compliant element 57 may prevent the collar assembly 55 from moving inwards at the location of the area of decreased compliance 59B (upwards as depicted in Fig. 2A), but may allow the collar assembly 55 to move inwards at the area of increased compliance 59A (downward as depicted in Fig. 2A).
  • the drill bit 20 as it undergoes dynamic motion during the drilling process, may interact with the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 and may tend to move, be oriented or preferentially crush/remove rock in the direction of and/or towards the area of increased compliance 59A (upward as depicted in Fig. 2A ).
  • the compliant element 57 may provide for the drilling system to be steered and may provide for directional drilling of the borehole 50.
  • the non-uniform interaction of the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole 27 may also be used to control the interactions of, and as a result the functioning of, the drill bit 20 with the earth formation, during the drilling process.
  • any non-uniform circumferential compliance of the collar assembly 55 or the compliant element 57 may provide for steering/controlling the drilling system.
  • the amount of differential compliance in the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 and/or the profile of the nonuniform compliance of the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 may be selected to provide the desired steering response and/or control of the drill bit 20.
  • Steering response and/or drill bit response of a drilling system for a compliance differential and/or a circumferential compliance profile may be determined theoretically, modeled, deduced from experimentation, analyzed from previous drilling processes and/or the like.
  • the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 may be coupled with the drilling system or the housing.
  • the drilling system may be disposed in the borehole with the area of increased compliance 59A disposed at a specific orientation to the drill bit 20 to provide for drilling of the borehole 50 in the direction of the area of increased compliance 59A.
  • the position of the area of increased compliance 59A may be changed.
  • a positioning device 65 which may comprise a motor, a hydraulic actuator and/or the like - may be used to rotate/align the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 to provide for drilling of the borehole 50 by the drilling system in a desired direction.
  • the positioning device 65 may be in communication with a processor 70.
  • the processor 70 may control the positioning device 65 to provide for desired directional drilling.
  • the processor 70 may determine a position of the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 in the borehole 50 from manual intervention, an end point objective for the borehole, a desired drilling trajectory, a desired drill bit response, a desired drill bit interaction with the earth formation, seismic data, input from sensors (not shown) - which may provide data regarding the earth formation, conditions in the borehole 50, drilling data (such as weight on bit, drilling speed and/or the like) vibrational data of the drilling system, dynamic interaction data and/or the like - data regarding the location/orientation of the drill bit in the earth formation, data regarding the trajectory /direction of the borehole and/or the like.
  • the processor 70 may be coupled with a display (not shown) to display the orientation/direction/location of the borehole 50, the drilling system, the drill bit 20, the collar assembly 55, the compliant element 57, the drilling speed, the drilling trajectory and/or the like.
  • the display may be remote from the drilling location and supplied with data via a connection such as an Internet connection, web connection, telecommunication connection and/or the like, and may provide for remote operation of the drilling process.
  • Data from the processor 70 may be stored in a memory and/or communicated to other processors and/or systems associated with the drilling process.
  • the steering/drill bit functionality control system may be configured for use with a rotary-type drilling system in which the drill bit 20 may be rotated during the drilling process and, as such, the drill bit 20 and/or the bottomhole assembly 17 may rotate in the borehole 50.
  • the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 may be configured so that motion of the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 is independent or at least partially independent of the rotational motion of the drill bit 20 and/or the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the collar assembly 55 may be held geostationary in the borehole 50 during the drilling process.
  • the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 may be a passive system comprising one or more cylinders disposed around the drilling system.
  • the one or more cylinders may in some instances be disposed around the bottomhole assembly 17 of the drilling system.
  • the one or more cylinders may be configured to rotate independently of the drilling system.
  • the one or more cylinders may be configured to provide that friction between the one or more cylinders and the formation may fix, prevent rotational motion of, the one or more cylinders relative to the rotating drilling system.
  • the one or more cylinders may be locked to the bottomhole assembly when there is no weight-on-bit, and hence no drilling of the borehole, and then oriented and unlocked from the bottomhole assembly when weight-on-bit is applied and drilling commences; the friction between the one or more cylinders and the inner surface maintaining the orientation of the one or more cylinders.
  • the one or more cylinders may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 by a bearing or the like.
  • the positioning of the one or more cylinders may be provided, as in a non-rotational drilling system, by the positioning device 65, which may rotate the one or more cylinders to change the location of an active area of the cylinder in the borehole 50 to change the drilling direction and/or the functioning of the drill bit 20.
  • the compliant element 57 may comprise a cylinder and maybe rotated around the bottomhole assembly 17 to change a location of the area of increased compliance 59A and/or the area of decreased compliance 59B to change the drilling direction of the drilling system resulting from the dynamic interaction between the collar assembly 55 and the inner- wall 53.
  • an active control may be used to maintain a desired orientation/position of the collar assembly 55 and/or the compliant element 57 with respect to the bottomhole assembly 17 during the drilling process.
  • this type of device could be used in a motor assembly to replace the bent sub. This could bring benefits in terms of tripping the assembly into the hole through tubing and completion restrictions and when drilling straight in rotary mode.
  • Figs. 3A-C are schematic-type illustrations of a cam control system for steering a drilling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 3A illustrates the directional drilling system with the cam control system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a drilling system is drilling the borehole 50 through an earth formation.
  • the drilling system comprises the bottomhole assembly 17 disposed at an end of the borehole 50 to be/being drilled.
  • the bottomhole assembly 17 comprises the drill bit 20 that contacts the earth formation and drills the borehole 50.
  • a gauge pad assembly 73 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17 by a compliant coupler 76.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may comprise a drill collar, a cylinder, non-cutting ends of one or more cutters of the drill but 20 and/or the like.
  • Fig. 3 B illustrates the gauge pad assembly 73 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 comprises a cylinder 74A with a plurality of pads 74B disposed on the surface of the cylinder 74A.
  • the plurality of pads 74B may have compliant properties while in other aspects the plurality of pads 74B may be non- compliant and may comprise a metal.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may itself be compliant and the compliant gauge pad assembly may be coupled with/ an element of the bottomhole assembly 17 without the compliant coupler 76.
  • a cam 79 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the cam 79 may be moveable on the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the cam 79 may comprise an eccentric/non/symmetrical cylinder.
  • the cam 79 may be moveable so as to contact the gauge pad assembly 73.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may be configured to contact the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 during the process of drilling the borehole 50.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may be directly coupled with the bottomhole assembly 17, coupled to the bottomhole assembly 17 by a coupler 76 or the like.
  • the coupler 76 may comprise a compliant/elastic type of material that may allow for movement of the gauge pad assembly 73 relative to the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the cam 79 may be actuated by a controller 80.
  • the controller 80 may comprise a motor, hydraulic system and/or the like and may provide for moving the cam 79 and/or maintaining the cam 79 to be geostationary in the borehole 50 during the drilling process.
  • the cam 79 may comprise a cylinder with an outer surface 81 and an indent 82 in the outer surface 81.
  • the controller 80 may provide for moving the cam 79 to an active position wherein the outer surface 81 may be proximal to or in contact with the gauge pad assembly 73.
  • the cam 79 may be used to control the dynamic interactions between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the inner- wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 by providing that the properties of the gauge pad assembly 73 are non-uniform around the gauge pad assembly 73.
  • piezoelectric, hydraulic and/or other mechanical actuators may be used to provide that the gauge pad assembly 73 has non-uniform properties that may and the non-uniform properties may be used to control the dynamic interactions between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54.
  • the indent 82 may be separated from the gauge pad assembly 73 by a spacing 83, where the spacing 83 is greater than the spacing between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the outer surface 81 at the other positions around the system.
  • a part of the gauge pad assembly 73 above the indent 82 may have more freedom/ability to move laterally in comparison to the other sections of the gauge pad assembly 73 disposed above the outer surface 81. Consequently, interactions between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 during the drilling process will not be uniform around the gauge pad assembly 73.
  • the cam 79 may be used to control an offset of the gauge pad assembly 73, either to produce the offset of the gauge pad assembly 73 to steer the drilling system or to mitigate the offset in the gauge pad assembly 73 to provide for straight drilling.
  • the cam 79 may be used to control an offset of the gauge pad assembly 73, either to produce the offset of the gauge pad assembly 73 to produce a certain behaviour of the drill bit 20 or to mitigate the offset in the gauge pad assembly 73 to different behaviour of the drill bit 20.
  • the cam 79 may comprise an eccentric cylinder.
  • the cam 79 may be engaged with the gauge pad assembly 73 and may provide that at least a section of the gauge pad assembly 73 may be over gauge with respect to the drill bit 20.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 being over-gauged may interact with the inner-surface of the borehole 50 in a non- uniform manner.
  • the cam 79 may have a section with a steadily varying outer-diameter to provide for steadily varying the gauge/diameter of at least a section of the gauge pad assembly 73 during a drilling process.
  • the bottomhole assembly 17 may undergo dynamic motion in the borehole 50 resulting in dynamic interactions between the bottomhole assembly 17 and the inner-surface of the borehole 50.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 because of the greater compliance of the gauge pad assembly 73 above the indent 82 compared to the compliance of the gauge pad assembly 73 at a position on the opposite side of the gauge pad assembly 73 relative to the indent, repeated dynamic interactions between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the inner-wall 53 and/or the drilling-face 54 will cause the drilling system to drill in a drilling direction 85, where the drilling direction 85 is directed in the direction of the of the indent 82.
  • the cam 79 may prevent the gauge pad assembly 73 moving inwards (upwards as drawn), but may allow the gauge pad assembly 73 to move in opposite direction (downwards as drawn).
  • the drill bit 20 will move, vibrate, upward relative to the gauge pad assembly 73 and hence provide for drilling by the drilling system in an upward direction, towards the indent 82, to produce an upward directed section of the borehole 50.
  • the cam 79 may provide for offsetting the axis of the gauge pad assembly 73 from the axis of the drill bit 20 in a geostationary plane.
  • the offsetting of the gauge pad assembly 73 by the cam 79 may be provided while the gauge pad assembly 73 is rotating with the drill bit 20 and/or the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the actual side tracking of the borehole may be small; for example, in such a curved section, for a forward drilling of the borehole of 150 mm (6 in) the side tracking of the borehole is 0.07 mm.
  • the system for producing controlled, non-uniform dynamic interactions with the inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process may only need to generate a small deflection of the borehole.
  • control of the dynamic interactions using collar/gauge-pad assemblies with an eccentric circumferential profile relative to a center axis of the bottomhole assembly and/or the drill bit including eccentric profiles that were over-gauge and/or under-gauge relative to the drill bit, produced steering of curved sections of the borehole with such desired curvatures.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may be mounted on the compliant coupler 76 with the axis of the gauge pad assembly 73 coinciding with the axis of the drill bit 20 and/or the cutting system that may comprise the drill bit 20.
  • steering of the drilling system may be achieved by using the cam 79 to constrain the direction of the compliance of the compliant coupler 76 so the gauge pad assembly 73 may move in one direction, but is very stiff (there is a resistance to radial movement) in the opposite direction.
  • that cam 79 may be engaged so as to make the movement of the gauge pad assembly 73 system stiff (resistant to radial motion) in all directions.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may comprise a single ring assembly carrying the gauge pads in gauge with the drill bit 20.
  • a small over or under gauge may be tolerable.
  • the pads on the gauge pad assembly 73 may be mounted on the ring assembly independently and/or may be independently controlled.
  • the gauge pad assembly 73 may be mounted on a stiff compliant structure and may move radially relative to the drill bit 20.
  • the cam 79 may be eccentric and may be configured to be geostationary when steering the drilling system and drawn in, removed and/or the like when the drill-string is being tripped or steering is not desired.
  • the active part of the cam 79 such as the indent 83 or the like, may be maintained in a geostationary position relative to the borehole 50 to provide for drilling of the borehole 50 in a desired direction, for example in the direction of the geostationary indent 83.
  • the cam 79 may be geostationary and the gauge pads or the like may be free to rotate during the drilling process.
  • the mounting may be radially compliant, but may also be capable of transmitting torque and axial weight to the bottomhole assembly 17.
  • the compliant coupler 76 which may be a mounting or the like, may comprise a thin walled cylinder with slots cut in the cylinder so as to allow radial flexibility but maintain tangential and axial stiffness.
  • Other embodiments may include bearing surfaces to transmit the weight and/or pins and/or pivoting arms which may be used to transmit the torque.
  • the drilling system may be controlled to directionally drill the borehole
  • the processor 75 may be used to manage the controller 80 to provide for rotation of the cam 79 during or between drilling operations to continuously control the direction of the drilling process.
  • the indent 82 may have a graded profile 82A to provide for a varying depth of the indent 82.
  • the relative compliance of the gauge pad assembly 73 between a section of the gauge pad assembly 73 above the indent 82 relative to a section of the gauge pad assembly 73 not above the indent 82 may be varied.
  • an acuteness ( ⁇ ) 86 of the drilling direction 85 may be variably controlled.
  • a plurality of indents may be provided in the cam 79 to provide for control of the interactions between the gauge pad assembly 73 and the inner-wall 53.
  • the plurality of indents may be disposed at different positions around the circumference of the cam 79 to provide the desired steering effect.
  • a plurality of cams may be used in conjunction with one or more gauge pad assemblies on the bottomhole assembly 17 to provide different steering effects during the drilling process.
  • Figs. 4A-C are schematic-type illustration of active gauge pad systems for controlling a drilling system configured for drilling a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • an active gauge pad 100 may be used to control a drilling system for drilling a borehole that may comprise a drill pipe 90 coupled with a bottomhole assembly 95.
  • the bottomhole assembly 95 may comprise a drill bit 97 for drilling the borehole.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may comprise a drill collar, a gauge pad, a section of the bottomhole assembly, a tubular assembly, a section of the drill bit and/or the like that may interact with the inner surface of the borehole being drilled in a non-uniform manner.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may comprise a disc, a cylinder, a plurality of individual elements - for example a series of pads disposed around the circumference of the bottomhole assembly 95 or the drill pipe 90 - that may be coupled with the drilling system and may interact with the inner surface of the borehole being drilled during the drilling process.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may be coupled with the drilling system so as to be less than 20 feet from the drill bit 97. In other aspects, the active gauge pad 100 may be coupled with the drilling system so as to be less than 10 feet from the drill bit 97.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may be moveable in the borehole.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may be aligned in the borehole using an actuator or the like to an orientation in the borehole to produce the desired control of the drilling system as a result of the non-uniform interactions of the active gauge pad 100, as oriented in the borehole, with the inner surface of the borehole.
  • the operation and/or steering of the drilling system may be controlled/managed, and this control/management may, in some aspects, occur in real-time.
  • the active gauge pad 100 is coupled with the bottomhole assembly 95 to provide for interaction with the inner surface of the borehole being drilled at a location proximal to the drill bit 97.
  • the active gauge pad 100 may be configured to be held geostationary during drilling operations.
  • An actuator, frictional forces and/or the like may be used to hold the active gauge pad 100 geostationary.
  • the active gauge pad may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 95 at a distance of less than 10-20 feet behind the drill bit 97.
  • Fig. 4B illustrates one embodiment of the active gauge pad of the system depicted in Fig. 4A.
  • an active gauge pad IOOA may comprise an element that is asymmetric.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA has a non-symmetrical outer surface
  • the active gauge pad 100 A may interact with the inner surface of the borehole as a result of dynamic motion of the drill-string during the drilling process in a non-uniform way that will depend upon the non-symmetrical configuration of the active drill pad 100A.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA may be asymmetric in design and may be configured to be coupled with the bottomhole assembly as provided in Fig. 4 A at a distance in a range of several inches to 10-20 feet behind the drill bit.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA may comprise a uniform cylinder and may be arranged eccentrically on the bottomhole assembly to provide for a non-uniform interaction with the inner surface as a result of the dynamic motion of the drill string.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA may comprise a geostationary tube and may be slightly under gauge on one side. In other embodiments, the active gauge pad IOOA may be under gauge on one side and over gauge on the opposite side. In some aspects, the active gauge pad IOOA may comprise a plurality of geostationary tubes that are under/over gauged circumferentially and that may be coupled around the circumference of the drill pipe 90 and/or the bottomhole assembly 95.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA may be configured to provide that the active gauge pad IOOA is coupled with the drill string so that the active gauge pad IOOA is disposed entirely with a cutting silhouette of the drill bit; the cutting silhouette comprising the edge-to-edge cutting profile of the drill bit. In other embodiments of the present invention, a section or all-of-the active gauge pad IOOA may extend beyond the cutting silhouette of the drill bit.
  • the active gauge IOOA may be coupled with the drill-string to provide that the outer surface of the active gauge IOOA is of the order of 1-lOs of millimeters inside the cutting silhouette.
  • the active gauge IOOA may be coupled with the drill-string to provide that at least a portion of the outer surface of the active gauge pad IOOA extends in the range of tenths to 10s of more millimeters beyond the cutting silhouettes.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA - because the active gauge pad IOOA is non-concentric with the bottomhole assembly, asymmetric and/or the like - may interact with the inner surface of the borehole being drilled as a result of radial motion of the drilling system in the borehole during the drilling process in a non-uniform manner.
  • Repeated dynamic interactions between the active gauge pad IOOA, as depicted in Fig. 4B, and the inner surface of the borehole during a drilling process may result in the drilling system tending to drill in a downward direction 103, as provided in the figure.
  • the active gauge pad IOOA may be used to steer the drilling system.
  • the drilling system may be steered by use of contact surfaces on the bottomhole assembly 95 that may be within the profile cut by the cutters and/or without pushing the contact surfaces out beyond the cut profile.
  • Fig. 4C illustrates a further embodiment of the active gauge pad of the system depicted in Fig. 4A.
  • an active gauge pad IOOB may comprise a collar 105 coupled with an extendable element 107.
  • the collar 105 may comprise a cylinder, disc, drill collar, gauge pad, a section of the bottomhole assembly 95, a section of the drill-string, a section of the drill pipe and or the like.
  • the extendable element 107 may be an element that may be controlled to change the circumferential profile of the collar 105.
  • the extendable element 107 may be controlled/actuated by a controller 110.
  • the controller 110 may comprise a motor, a hydraulic system and/or the like.
  • the controller 110 may actuate the extendable element 107 to extend outward from the bottomhole assembly 95 so as to change dynamic interactions between the active gauge pad IOOB and the inner surface of the borehole being drilled, resulting from radial/dynamic motion of the drilling system in the borehole during the drilling process.
  • the active gauge pad IOOB may be configured to provide that when extended the active gauge pad IOOB is disposed entirely with the cutting silhouette of the drill bit. In other embodiments of the present invention, a section or the entire extended/partially extended active gauge pad IOOB may extend beyond the cutting silhouette of the drill bit.
  • the active gauge IOOB may be coupled with the drill-string to provide that the outer surface of the active gauge IOOB in an extended position is of the order of 1- 10 mm inside the cutting silhouette.
  • the active gauge IOOB may be coupled with the drill-string to provide that at least a portion of the outer surface of the active gauge pad IOOB when extended or partially extended extends in the range of tenths of millimeters to 10s or more millimeters beyond the cutting silhouettes.
  • the interactions between the active gauge pad IOOB and the inner surface may be controlled by the positioning/extension of the extendable element 107 to provide for steering of the drilling system and directional drilling of the borehole being drilled by the drilling system.
  • the processor 70 may receive data regarding a desired drilling direction, data regarding the drilling process, data regarding the borehole, data regarding conditions in the borehole, seismic data, data regarding formations surrounding the borehole and/or the like and may operate the controller 110 to provide the positioning/extension of the extendable element 107 to steer the drilling system.
  • the extendable element 107 may be extendable to adjust the dynamic interactions between the active gauge pad 100 and the inner surface of the borehole being drilled. This may require a simple passive extension of the extendable element 107 so that the active gauge pad 100 has a nonuniform shape around a central axis of the drilling system and/or the borehole, without having to apply a thrust or force on the inner surface.
  • the extendable element 107 may be positioned, extended so as to exert a force on the inner surface.
  • the extendable element 107 may exert a force of less than 1 kN on the inner surface to provide for both exertion of a reaction force from the inner surface on the drilling system and control of the dynamic interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface.
  • Operating the extendable element 107 to provide for exertion of forces of less than 1 kN may be advantageous as such forces may not require large downhole power consumption/ power sources, may reduce size and complexity of the controller 110 and/or the like.
  • the bottomhole assembly 95, the drill bit 97, the active gauge pad 100 and/or the like may be configured to have an unevenly distributed mass.
  • the mass of the bottomhole assembly 95, the drill bit 97, the active gauge pad 100 and/or the like may vary circumferentially or the like to provide that the unsteady motion of the drilling system and/or the interaction between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole is not uniform.
  • the non-uniform weighting of the drilling system may provide for control of and/or steering of the drilling system.
  • the drill collar which provides weight-on-bit may be cylinder with a non-uniform weight distribution.
  • the cylindrical drill collar may be rotated to change the profile of the non-uniform weight/mass distribution in relation to the wellbore to provide a desired control of the drilling system and/or steering of the drilling system.
  • the drill string may be shaped to provide for controlling unsteady interactions with the inner surface.
  • the bottomhole assembly 95 may be asymmetrically shaped, have asymmetrical compliance and/or the like.
  • the drill bit 97 may be asymmetrical, have an asymmetrical compliance, have non-uniform cutting properties and/or the like.
  • the drilling system may be configured to enhance the unsteady motion of the drilling system during the drilling process. Modeling, experimentation and/or the like may be used to design drilling systems with enhanced unsteady motion.
  • Positioning of the cutters on the drill bit 97,' cutter operation parameters may be used to provide for enhanced unsteady motion.
  • the drilling system may incorporate a flexible/compliant coupling, a bent sub and/or the like (not shown) that may act to enhance unsteady interactions, enhance control of the drilling system from unsteady interactions and/or the like.
  • Fig. 5 provides a schematic-type illustration of a repeated radial motion actuator system for steering a drilling system to directionally drill a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a drilling system may comprise the drill-string 140 - that may, in- turn, comprise the bottom hole assembly 95 - and the drilling system may be configured for drilling a borehole through an earth formation.
  • a radial motion generator 150 may be attached to the drill-string 140.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may be configured to generate radial motion of the bottomhole assembly 95 in the borehole; where radial motion may be any motion of the bottomhole assembly 95 directed away from the central axis of the borehole towards the inner-wall of the borehole.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may comprise a mechanical vibrator, acoustic vibrator and/or the like that may produce repeated radial motion, such as vibrations, of the bottomhole assembly 95.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may be tuned to the physical characteristics of the drill-string 140 and/or the bottomhole assembly 95 to provide for enhancing the radial motion produced.
  • interactions between the bottomhole assembly 95 and the inner surface of the borehole may be generated, enhanced, altered and/or the like by the radial motion generator 150.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may provide for steering the drill-string 140 by creating, applying, changing and/or the like interactions between the bottomhole assembly and the inner surface of the borehole. By steering the drill-string 140, the borehole being drilled by the drill-string 140 maybe directionally drilled.
  • a processor 155 may be used to control the radial motion generator 150 to generate interactions between the bottomhole assembly 95 and the inner surface so as to provide for steering of the drill- string 140 in a desired direction.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may be used in combination with other methods of creating non-uniform unsteady interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole being drilled, such as described in this specification.
  • the radial motion generator 150 may provide for enhancing or dampening unsteady motion of the drill-string to enhance/damp the effect of the unsteady interaction controller and/or to control the unsteady interaction controller.
  • the unsteady interaction controller may act as a controller/manager of the unsteady interaction controller and may itself be controlled by a processor to provide for controlling/steering the drilling system and/or enhancing damping the non-uniform unsteady motion interactions between the unsteady interaction controller and the inner surface of the borehole.
  • Figs. 6A and 6B illustrate systems for selectively characterizing an inner surface of a borehole for steering a drilling assembly to directionally drill the borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a drill-string 160 may be used to drill a borehole through an earth formation.
  • the drill-string 160 may comprise a bottomhole assembly 165 and a coupler 170 that may couple the bottomhole assembly 165 with equipment at or proximal to a surface location.
  • the bottomhole assembly may comprise a drill bit 173 that may comprise a plurality of teeth 174 for scrapping/crushing rock in the earth formation to create/extend the borehole being drilled.
  • the inner surface of the borehole being drilled may be somewhat regular in shape and may be defined by an outer diameter of the drill bit 173. Generally, the inner surface is somewhat circular in shape. Properties of different portions of the earth formation may cause irregularities in the shape of the inner surface.
  • a shaping device 180 may interact with the inner surface to change/shape the inner surface.
  • the shaping device 180 may comprise a fluid jet system for jetting a fluid onto the inner surface, a drill bit configured for laterally drilling into the inner surface, a scraper for scraping the inner surface and/or the like.
  • the shaping device 180 may be used to change the profile of the inner surface to provide for controlling interactions between the bottomhole assembly 165 and the inner surface.
  • a gauge pad 185 may be coupled with the bottomhole assembly 165 proximal to the drill bit 173 and may be configured to interact with the inner surface during drilling of the borehole by the drilling system. Where the inner surface is relatively uniform, random interactions between gauge pad 185 and the inner surface resulting from radial motion of the bottomhole assembly 165 during the drilling process may on average be uniform and may not affect the direction of drilling.
  • the shaping device 180 may contour/shape the inner surface to control the interactions between the gauge pad 185 and the inner surface.
  • the bottomhole assembly 165 may not comprise the gauge pad 185 and the interactions may be directly between the bottomhole assembly 165 and the inner surface.
  • the drilling system may be steered.
  • the shaping device 180 may be maintained geostationary during a steering procedure to provide for accurately selecting the region of the inner surface to be shaped by the shaping device 180 during the drilling process when the drill- string 140 and/or components of the drill-string 140 may be moving/rotating within the borehole.
  • the shaping device 180 may comprise water jets mounted between the gauge cutters and the gauge pads of the drill bit.
  • the water jets or the like may be used to undercut the earth formation in front of the gauge pad to generate a gap between the inner surface and the gauge pad that may provide for vibrational steering of the drilling system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • an electro-pulse system may be mounted in front of the gauge pads and may be used to soften up a section of the inner surface to allow the gauge pad to crush the material of this section to generate the gap to provide for vibrational steering of the drilling system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the electro-pulse system may be used to generate the gap directly.
  • the drill bit 173 may be configured to drill a borehole with a selectively non-uniform inner surface.
  • a tooth 190 of the drill bit 173 may be configured to be selectively activated to provide a contour on the inner surface.
  • different techniques may be used to control the drill bit 173 to selectively shape the inner surface. By controlling the contours, shape of the inner surface of selectively placing grooves, indents or the like in the inner surface the interaction between the inner surface and the bottomhole assembly 165, resulting from radial motion of the bottomhole assembly 165 during drilling of the borehole, may be controlled and the direction of drilling may, as a result, also be controlled.
  • the drill bit 173 may comprise a mechanical cutter that may be deployed to preferentially cut one side of the inner surface.
  • Fig. 7A is a flow-type schematic of a method for steering a drilling system to directionally drill a borehole, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a drilling system may be used to drill a section of a borehole through an earth formation.
  • the drilling system may comprise a drill-string attached to surface equipment or the like.
  • the drill-string may itself comprise a bottomhole assembly comprising a drill bit for contacting the earth formation and drilling the section of the borehole through the earth formation.
  • the bottomhole assembly may be linked to the surface equipment by drill pipe, casing, coiled tubing or the like.
  • the drill bit may be powered by a top drive, rotating table, motor, drilling fluid and/or the like.
  • the drill-string may undergo random motion in the borehole, which random motion may include radial vibrations that cause the drill- string to repeatedly contact an inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process.
  • the interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface resulting from the radial vibrations may be most pronounced at the bottom of the borehole where interactions may occur between the bottomhole assembly and the inner surface.
  • the vibrational-type interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface may be controlled.
  • the control of the dynamic interactions may occur at the bottom of the borehole.
  • devices may be used at the bottom of the borehole to provide that the vibrational-type interactions of the bottomhole assembly and the inner surface are not uniform.
  • the step of controlling the vibrational-type interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface may comprise damping and/or enhancing at locations around the circumference of the inner surface the vibrational-type interactions between the bottomhole assembly and the inner surface. The damping and/or enhancing locations around the circumference of the inner surface may be maintained or varied as the borehole is drilled.
  • a plurality of devices may be used to create a non-uniform interaction between the bottomhole assembly and the inner surface.
  • an interaction element may be used in step 212 to provide for controlling the dynamic interactions.
  • the interaction element may be an independent element such as a drill collar, gauge pad assembly, cylinder or the like that may be coupled with the drill-string, and in some aspects the bottomhole assembly, may be a section of the drill-string, such as a section of the bottomhole assembly, or the like.
  • the interaction element may be configured to provide for uniform interaction between the interaction element and the interior surface of the borehole being drilled.
  • the borehole being drilled is a borehole in the earth formation with essentially a cylindrical inner surface.
  • the interaction element may comprise an element with a profile that is non-uniform with respect to a center axis of the drill-string and/or the borehole.
  • the interaction element may comprise an eccentric cylinder coupled with the bottomhole assembly; wherein as coupled with the bottomhole assembly a center axis of the eccentric cylinder is not coincident with a center axis of the bottomhole assembly.
  • the interaction element may comprise a series of pads disposed around the bottomhole assembly and configured to contact cylindrical inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process, wherein at least one of the pads is configured to extend outward from the bottomhole assembly by a lesser or greater extent than the other pads.
  • the interaction element may comprise an element with non-uniform compliance.
  • the compliant element may comprise an element with certain compliance and a section of the element with an increased or decreased compliance relative to the certain compliance of the rest of the element, and be configured to provide that at least a part of the area of increased or decreased compliance and at least a part of the element with the certain compliance may each contact the cylindrical inner surface during the drilling process as a result of dynamic motion of the bottomhole assembly.
  • an actuator may be used to change the characteristics of the interaction element, such as to actuate the interaction element from an element that interacts uniformally with the inner surface of the borehole to one that interacts in a nonuniform manner with the inner surface.
  • the interaction element may not be configured to exert a pressure on the inner surface or to thrust against the inner surface, but rather may be passive in nature and interact with the inner surface due to dynamic motion of the drill-string during the drilling process.
  • the interaction element may comprise an extendible element that is extended outward from the drill-string.
  • forces may be applied by the extendible element on to the inner surface, but for simplicity and economic reasons the forces may only be small in nature, i.e. forces less than about 1 kN.
  • the interaction element may be configured so as not to extend beyond and/or be disposed entirely within a silhouette of the cutters of the drill bit. In other embodiments, the interaction element may have at least a portion that may extend beyond the silhouette of the drill bit. In certain aspects of the present invention, the interaction element may extend in the range of 1 mm to 10s of millimetres outside the silhouette of the drill bit and/or the cutters, with such an extension range providing for steering/controlling the drilling system.
  • the one or more extendable elements may be extended so as not to extend beyond and/or be disposed entirely within a silhouette of the cutters and/or the drill bit. In other aspects, the one or more extendable elements may be extended to provide that at least a portion of the one or more extendable elements extends beyond the silhouette of the cutters and/or the drill bit. Steering of the drilling system may be provided in certain embodiments of the present invention by extending the one or more extendable elements extend in the range of 1-10 mm beyond the silhouette of the cutters and/or the drill bit.
  • the combination of devices may be configured to provide for non-uniform interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface circumferentially around the drill-string and, in such configurations, coupling of the plurality of the devices with the drill-string in a manner in which the effect of one device on the dynamic interactions cancels out the effect of another of the devices may be avoided.
  • Devices that may be used to control the dynamic interactions may include, among other devices: gauge pads, drill collars, stabilizers and/or the like that may be non-concentrically arranged on the bottomhole assembly; gauge pads, drill collars, stabilizers and/or the like that may be configured to have non-uniform circumferential compressibility; devices for changing the profile/shape/contour of the inner surface; drill bits configured to drill a borehole with an irregular inner surface; and/or the like.
  • the drilling system may be steered by controlling the vibrational-type interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole.
  • the devices used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole may be selectively positioned in the borehole to provide that the dynamic interactions steer the drilling system.
  • the devices used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole may be selectively positioned on the drill-string prior to drilling a section of the borehole to provide the desired steering of the drilling system.
  • the devices used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole may be re-positioned prior to drilling a further section of the borehole.
  • an actuator such as a cam or the like
  • the cam rather than the device used to control the dynamic interactions may be selectively positioned and/or repositioned during the drilling process.
  • means for controlling the position in the borehole, orientation in the borehole, location and/or orientation on the drill-string of the device used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill- string and the inner surface of the borehole and/or a device for actuating the device used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole, such as a cam or the like, may be used to move the device used to control the dynamic interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process.
  • step 230 the drilling system is steered to drill the borehole in a desired direction.
  • a desired direction for the section of the borehole to be drilled may be determined and the device used to control the dynamic interactions may be positioned in the borehole and/or on the drill-string so as to steer the drilling system to drill the section of the borehole in the desired direction.
  • a processor may control the position, orientation and/or the like of the device used to control the dynamic interactions in the borehole and/or on the drill-string to provide that the section of the borehole to be drilled is drilled in the desired direction.
  • data from sensors disposed on the drill-string, data from sensors disposed in the borehole, data from sensors disposed in the earth formation proximal to the borehole, seismic data and/or the like may processed by the processor to determine a position orientation of the device used to control the dynamic interactions for the desired drilling direction.
  • Fig. 7B is a flow-type schematic of a method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a drilling system comprising a drill-string and a drill bit configured to drill a borehole in an earth formation may be used to drill a section of a borehole.
  • data regarding operation of the drill- string and/or the drill bit during the drilling process may be sensed. The data may include such things as weight-on-bit, rotation speed of the drilling system, hook load, torque and/or the like.
  • data may be gathered from the borehole, the surface equipment, the formation surrounding the borehole and/or the like and data may be input regarding intervention/drilling processes being or about to be implemented in the drilling process. For example, pressures and/or temperatures in the borehole and the formation may be determined, seismic data may be acquired form the borehole and/or the formation, drilling fluid properties may be identified and/or the like.
  • step 260 the sensed data regarding the drilling system and/or data regarding the earth formation and/or conditions in the borehole being drilled and/or the like may be processed.
  • the processing may be determinative/probabilistic in nature and may identify current and/or potential future states of the drilling system. For example, conditions and/or potential drilling system conditions such as inefficient performance of the drill bit, stalling of the drill bit and/or the like may be identified.
  • a processor receiving sensed data may be used to manage the controlling of the unsteady-motion-interactions between the drilling system and the inner surface of the borehole.
  • magnetometers, gravimeters, accelerometers, gyroscopic systems and/or the like may determine amplitude, frequency, velocity, acceleration and/or the like of the drilling system to provide for understanding of any unsteady motion of the drilling system.
  • the data from the sensors may be sent to the processor for processing and values for the unsteady motion of the drilling system may be displayed, used in a control system for controlling the unsteady interactions of the drillstring, processed with other data from the earth formation, wellbore and/or the like to provide for management of the control system for controlling the unsteady interactions of the drillstring and/or the like.
  • communication of the sensed data to the processor may be made via a telemetry system, a fiber optic, a wired drill pipe, wired coiled tubing, wireless communication and/or the like.
  • vibrational-type interactions between the drill-string and an inner surface of the borehole being drilled may be controlled.
  • Control of the interactions between the drill-string and an inner surface of the borehole may be provided by changing/manipulating/altering contact characteristics of a section of the bottomhole assembly, a section of the drill-string, the cutters of the drill bit, a profile of the inner surface of the borehole and/or the like.
  • the contact characteristics may be characteristics associated with an outer-surface of the section of the bottomhole assembly, the section of the drill-string, the cutters of the drill bit and/or the like that may contact the inner surface of the borehole during the drilling process.
  • the contact characteristics may comprise a profile/shape of the outer-surface (i.e.
  • outer-surface may comprise an eccentric shape of the outer-surface around a central axis of the drilling system, bottomhole assembly, drill bit and/or the like, may comprise sections of the outer- surface that may be over-gauge and/or under-gauge) may comprise a non-uniform compliance around the outer-surface and/or the like.
  • the controlled vibrational-type interactions between the drill- string and the inner surface of the borehole may be used to control the operation/functionality of the drilling system. For example, when whirring of the drill bit of the drilling system may be detected or predicted, the vibrational-type interactions between the drill-string and the inner surface of the borehole may be controlled to eliminate, reduce and/or prevent the whirring.
  • the functionality of the drilling system may be determined from the processed data and may be altered by controlling the interactions between the drill- string and an inner surface of the borehole. In this way, embodiments of the present invention may provide new systems and methods for controlling operation of a drilling system.

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  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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PCT/GB2008/002706 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation WO2009022115A1 (en)

Priority Applications (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2694858A CA2694858C (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation
MX2010001814A MX340647B (es) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 Sistema y metodo para controlar un sistema de perforacion para perforar un pozo en una formacion terrestre.
EA201070264A EA019369B1 (ru) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 Система и способ управления буровой системой для бурения ствола скважины в геологическом пласте
CN200880111782.9A CN101827995B (zh) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 用于控制在地球地层中钻井眼用的钻井系统的系统和方法
EP08788277A EP2188484A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation
AU2008288343A AU2008288343A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation

Applications Claiming Priority (10)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/839,381 2007-08-15
US11/839,381 US8757294B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2007-08-15 System and method for controlling a drilling system for drilling a borehole in an earth formation
US12/116,444 2008-05-07
US12/116,408 US8534380B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-05-07 System and method for directional drilling a borehole with a rotary drilling system
US12/116,380 US8066085B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-05-07 Stochastic bit noise control
US12/116,390 US8763726B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-05-07 Drill bit gauge pad control
US12/116,408 2008-05-07
US12/116,444 US8720604B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-05-07 Method and system for steering a directional drilling system
US12/116,390 2008-05-07
US12/116,380 2008-05-07

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PCT/GB2008/002732 WO2009022128A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 Method and system for steering a directional drilling system
PCT/GB2008/002707 WO2009022116A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 Drill bit gauge pad control
PCT/GB2008/002705 WO2009022114A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for directionally drilling a borehole with a rotary drilling system

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PCT/GB2008/002707 WO2009022116A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 Drill bit gauge pad control
PCT/GB2008/002705 WO2009022114A1 (en) 2007-08-15 2008-08-12 System and method for directionally drilling a borehole with a rotary drilling system

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EP (4) EP2176494A1 (es)
CN (6) CN103299020B (es)
AU (1) AU2008288343A1 (es)
CA (4) CA2694868A1 (es)
EA (5) EA018829B1 (es)
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CN101827995B (zh) 2014-02-26
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WO2009022114A1 (en) 2009-02-19
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