US 11,814,943 B2
Slide drilling control based on top drive torque and rotational distance
Nathaniel Wicks, Somerville, MA (US); and Ginger Hildebrand, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to Schlumberger Technoloyg Corporation, Sugar Land, TX (US)
Filed by Schlumberger Technology Corporation, Sugar Land, TX (US)
Filed on Dec. 4, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/112,639.
Prior Publication US 2022/0178241 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. E21B 44/04 (2006.01); E21B 3/02 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 44/04 (2013.01) [E21B 3/022 (2020.05)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a control system for controlling rotation of a top drive configured to connect with an upper end of a drill string, wherein the control system comprises:
a torque sensor operable to facilitate torque measurements indicative of torque output by the top drive to the upper end of the drill string;
a rotation sensor operable to facilitate rotational distance measurements indicative of rotational distance imparted by the top drive to the upper end of the drill string, wherein the rotation sensor is further operable to facilitate rotational speed measurements indicative of rotational speed imparted by the top drive to the upper end of the drill string: and
a processing device comprising a processor and a memory storing computer program code, wherein the processing device is operable to:
receive the torque measurements;
receive the rotational distance measurements;
cause the top drive to rotate the drill string while the drill string is off-bottom by causing the top drive to increase the rotational speed until a predetermined rotational speed is reached and maintain the predetermined rotational speed until the processing device determines a reference torque based on the torque measurements received while the drill string is off-bottom and rotated by the top drive, wherein the reference torque is or comprises a maximum torque output by the top drive to the drill string sufficient to rotate the drill string from the top drive to a lower end of the drill string;
cause the top drive to alternatingly rotate the drill string in opposing directions with respective first and second torques based on the reference torque to perform slide drilling operations, wherein the first and second torques are less than the reference torque;
determine a reference rotational distance based on the rotational distance measurements received during the slide drilling operations; and
cause the top drive to alternatingly rotate the drill string in the opposing directions based on the reference rotational distance to perform the slide drilling operations.