Abstract: The disclosed embodiments include systems and methods to improve downhole drilling. In one embodiment, a method to improve downhole drilling includes receiving a well plan, where the well plan is indicative of a well path to form a borehole of a hydrocarbon well is provided. The method also includes receiving measurements indicative of a previously-drilled section of the borehole. The method further includes generating, based on the measurements, a trajectory of the borehole, where the trajectory is a function of a depth. The method further includes providing the trajectory of the borehole to a Model Predictive Controller. The method further includes steering a tool towards the well path based on an output of the Model Predictive Controller.

Abstract: Conventional practice for determining a life expectancy of a drilling tool has been based on simple static bending moment evaluation and/or conservative past experience life limits. This archaic practice has often led to premature scrapping of the tools and has proven to be overly conservative and cost-ineffective. Introduced herein is a BHA condition monitoring technique that combines both field data and advanced models in one system. The introduced technique is based on a combination of system and component level models to monitor and evaluate the current health and life of BHA components. The introduced technique can apply to all directional drilling BHAs, including mud motors and rotary steerable systems, and can be used at different levels of the tool's life cycle to improve efficiency, reduce downhole failure incidents, and maximize assets' utilization.

Abstract: A method of drilling tendency estimation including receiving, at a processor, one or more directional sensor measurements from a drilling tool disposed on a drill string, processing, at the processor, the one or more directional sensor measurements to determine an actual wellbore trajectory over a defined interval, and identifying, at the processor, a set of directional disturbance parameters by optimization of the actual trajectory of the drilling tool, steering inputs, and/or a set of pre-defined directional disturbance parameters of the drilling tool.

Abstract: A well path for a directional drilling device may be updated by determining a perturbation for a new well path from a current bottom-hole assembly position to a target using the initial well plan (or any well path of reference) as a reference. An initial well plan may be determined for a directional drilling device along with a current actual borehole position of a drilling device along with other parameters such as attitude. With this, a perturbation to the well plan based on the current actual borehole position of a drilling device and a subterranean target maybe determined. Based on this perturbation an updated borehole path may be determined.

Abstract: Conventional practice for determining a life expectancy of a drilling tool has been based on simple static bending moment evaluation and/or conservative past experience life limits. This archaic practice has often led to premature scrapping of the tools and has proven to be overly conservative and cost-ineffective. Introduced herein is a BHA condition monitoring technique that combines both field data and advanced models in one system. The introduced technique is based on a combination of system and component level models to monitor and evaluate the current health and life of BHA components. The introduced technique can apply to all directional drilling BHAs, including mud motors and rotary steerable systems, and can be used at different levels of the tool's life cycle to improve efficiency, reduce downhole failure incidents, and maximize assets' utilization.

Abstract: A method of drilling tendency estimation including receiving, at a processor, one or more directional sensor measurements from a drilling tool disposed on a drill string, processing, at the processor, the one or more directional sensor measurements to determine an actual wellbore trajectory over a defined interval, and identifying, at the processor, a set of directional disturbance parameters by optimization of the actual trajectory of the drilling tool, steering inputs, and/or a set of pre-defined directional disturbance parameters of the drilling tool.

Abstract: A drilling optimization method including perturbing one or more drilling control parameters with a periodic or a stochastic signal during a drilling process, estimating at least one drilling performance measure to optimize the drilling process based on the perturbed one or more drilling control parameters, perturbing the at least one drilling performance measure with a periodic or a stochastic perturbation source through demodulation, determine a next best estimate of the one or more drilling control parameters to optimize the at least one drilling performance measure, perturbing the next best estimate by a periodic or a stochastic perturbation source through modulation, and feeding the perturbation next best estimates of the one or more drilling control parameters back to the drilling process.