Transforming a Mechanical Vertical Drilling Tool into a Digitally Controlled Rotary Steerable Tool - The Journey of Design, Development, Testing and Commercialization

The design and development of a rotary steerable system from inception to commercialization, with proven performance/reliability recognition is an engineering challenge to say the least. Rotary steerable systems (RSS) are one of the most challenging drilling tools to bring successfully to the market. This is because they combine mechanics, electronics and hydraulics that all must operate together to make the system work. With the complex task and cost of bringing multiple engineering disciplines together on one team (mechanical, electrical, electronic, embedded code, software and test engineers) to develop a rotary steerable, it is often a challenge for a small private company to start from the ground up. In this instance, a completely different approach was adopted to bring a unique RSS to the market. Utilizing an existing mud operated mechanical vertical drilling tool with slow rotating steering head, the engineering team set to work to develop an electronic control unit with a digital mud valve to transform the tool into a cost-effective rotary steerable tool. The design, development, engineering challenges, in-house and field-test program will be described to show how rotary steerable development on a budget is possible. Maintaining a tight project budget leads to engineering creativity and thought paths that cannot be inspired when large budgets are subsidizing product development. The paper will detail how the rotary steerable product was successfully tested by partnering with operators in North America land. Selecting some of the harshest drilling areas for testing increased the pace of development, and improvement was accelerated with the use of multiple drilling dynamics sensors and pressure sensors.