Transient Modeling of Tripping Operations Enables Closed-Loop Limit Control of Tripping Processes to Reduce ILT While Maintaining Wellbore Safety

Abstract

Tripping operations can take up a significant portion of well construction time and the associated cost. In the last decade, there has been extensive development and deployment of real-time tripping applications to optimize tripping parameters while maintaining formation integrity. This paper presents a system that utilizes transient modeling of tripping behavior to determine the optimum parameters that safeguard the integrity of the formation and the mechanical equipment at the rig site. The system delivers tripping boundaries to automated drilling control systems (ADCS) for every stand. A digital twin of the wellbore, equipped with physics-based transient models, estimates the permissible axial velocities and accelerations developed when running drillstring in and out the wellbore. These motions develop pressure waves which travel along the wellbore and which can compromise formation integrity. The digital twin, prepared in the planning phase and deployed in the real-time drilling environment, uses smart triggering algorithms to automatically update the models and refine simulation results. Automation systems consume the predicted limits via an aggregation layer to refine fit-for-purpose tripping applications. The automation system finds optimum proposals of tripping limits and updates them directly in the rig control system in real-time. The trip monitoring system automatically and continuously publishes optimum velocity and acceleration tripping limits per stand and transmits them as set points to the ADCS to define a safe operating envelope (SOE). This approach can greatly reduce the overall tripping time in comparison to non-automated deployments. Furthermore, the reduction of invisible lost time (ILT) takes place while maintaining the integrity of the formation, and the integrity of the surface equipment. Finally, reduction of the energy required to perform the tripping process consequently decreases the amount of carbon emissions involved in the process. A set of case studies confirm the effectiveness of the approach and illustrate its benefits. A case study addresses the topic of adoption of drilling automation applications such as the tripping advisor. Another case presents the concept of interoperability using as example a deployment on a rig simulator setup in Europe to perform closed-loop control using the tripping application to write velocity and acceleration limits continuously to the ADCS.