OILFIELD TUBULAR RUNNING WITH ENHANCED PARAMETER MEASUREMENT

Abstract

A method of running a tubular string into a well can include measuring a threaded connection parameter using a sensor, thereby producing sensor measurements, measuring the threaded connection parameter using another sensor, thereby producing sensor measurements, and performing data fusion on the sensor measurements, thereby producing fused sensor measurements. An apparatus for running a tubular string into a well can include a rotation sensor configured to measure rotation of a tubular and produce rotation measurements, another rotation sensor configured to measure the rotation of the tubular and produce rotation measurements, and a control system including a data fusion module configured to determine fused rotation measurements from the sensed rotation measurements.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of US provisional application no. 63/696,070 filed on 18 September 2024. The entire disclosure of the prior application is incorporated herein by this reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an example described below, more particularly provides for oilfield tubular running with enhanced parameter measurement.

Various types of tubular components can be threaded together to form tubular strings for use in a well. Tubulars used in wells can include protective wellbore linings (such as, casing, liner, etc.), production or injection conduits (such as, production tubing, injection tubing, screens, etc.), drill pipe and drill collars, and associated components (such as tubular couplings).

It is typically important for threaded connections between tubulars to be properly made-up. For example, when a threaded connection is properly made-up, the threaded connection may prevent leakage of fluid into or out of the tubular string, or may resist unthreading of the connection.

It will, therefore, be readily appreciated that improvements are continually needed in the art of making-up threaded connections in tubular strings. The present disclosure provides such improvements to the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representative partially cross-sectional view of an example of a well system and associated method which can embody principles of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a representative perspective view of an example system and method of running a tubular string into a well.

FIG. 3 is a representative graph of an example of a first rotation sensor output.

FIG. 4 is a representative graph of an example of a second rotation sensor output.

FIG. 5 is a representative graph of an example of a third rotation sensor output.

FIG. 6 is a representative depiction of an example of a method of deriving a fused rotation sensor output.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Representatively illustrated in FIG. 1 is a system 10 for use with a subterranean well, and an associated method, which can embody principles of this disclosure. However, it should be clearly understood that the well system 10 and method are merely one example of an application of the principles of this disclosure in practice, and a wide variety of other examples are possible. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited at all to the details of the well system 10 and method described herein and/or depicted in the drawings.

In the FIG. 1 example, a tubular string 12 is being assembled and deployed into a well. The tubular string 12 in this example is a production or injection tubing string, but in other examples the tubular string could be a casing, liner, drill pipe, completion, stimulation, testing or other type of tubular string. The scope of this disclosure is not limited to use of any particular type of tubular string, or to any particular tubular components connected in a tubular string.

As depicted in FIG. 1, a tubular 14 is suspended near its upper end by means of a rotary table 16, which may comprise a pipe handling spider and/or safety slips to grip the tubular 14 and support a weight of the tubular string 12. In this manner, the upper end of the tubular 14 extends upwardly through a rig floor 18 in preparation for connecting another tubular 20 to the tubular string 12.

In this example, a tubular coupling 22 is made-up to the upper end of the tubular 14 prior to the tubular 14 being connected in the tubular string 12. The coupling 22 is internally threaded in each of its opposite ends.

In conventional well operations, it is common for a threaded together tubular and coupling to be referred to as a “joint” and for threaded together joints to be referred to as a “stand” of tubing, casing, liner, pipe, etc. However, in some examples, a separate coupling may not be used; instead one end (typically an upper “box” end of a joint) is internally threaded and the other end (typically a lower “pin” end of the joint) is externally threaded, so that successive joints can be threaded directly to each other.

Thus, the scope of this disclosure can encompass the use of a separate coupling with a tubular, or the use of a tubular without a separate coupling (in which case the coupling can be considered to be integrally formed with, and a part of, the tubular). In the FIG. 1 example, the coupling 22 can also be considered to be a tubular, since it is a tubular component connected in the tubular string 12.

To make-up a threaded connection 28 between the tubular 20 and the coupling 22, a set of tongs or rotary and backup clamps 24, 26 are used. The rotary clamp 24 in the FIG. 1 example is used to grip, rotate and apply torque to the upper tubular 20 as it is threaded into the coupling 22.

The backup clamp 26 in the FIG. 1 example is used to grip and secure the lower tubular 14 against rotation, and to react the torque applied by the rotary clamp 24. The rotary clamp 24 and the backup clamp 26 may be separate devices, or they may be components of a rig apparatus known to those skilled in the art as an “iron roughneck” or a tong assembly.

In one example, the rotary clamp 24 and backup clamp 26 may be components of a tong system, such as the VERO(TM) tong system marketed by Weatherford International, Inc. of Houston, Texas USA. In this example, the rotary clamp 24 may be a mechanism of the tong system that rotates and applies torque to the upper tubular 20, and the backup clamp 26 may be a backup mechanism of the tong system that reacts the applied torque and prevents rotation of the lower tubular 14.

Note that it is not necessary for the tubulars 14, 20 (and coupling 22, if used) to be vertical in the tubular make-up operation. The tubulars 14, 20 could instead be horizontal or otherwise oriented. Additional systems in which the principles of this disclosure may be incorporated include the CAM(TM), COMCAM(TM) and TORKWRENCH(TM) bucking systems marketed by Weatherford International, Inc.

In other examples, a top drive (not shown) may be used to rotate and apply torque to the upper tubular 20. Thus, it will be appreciated that the scope of this disclosure is not limited to use of any particular equipment to grip, rotate, apply torque to, or react torque applied to, any tubular in a threaded connection make-up operation.

After the upper tubular 20 is properly made-up to the lower tubular 14 or coupling 22, the tubular string 12 can be lowered further into the well, and the make-up operation can be repeated to connect another stand to the upper end of the tubular string. In this manner, the tubular string 12 is progressively deployed into the well by connecting successive stands to the upper end of the tubular string. In some examples, an individual tubular component may be added to the tubular string 12, instead of a stand.

In the FIG. 1 method, the threaded connection make-up process can be controlled, so that a properly made-up connection is obtained, and this control can be automatic, so that human error is avoided. For this purpose, accurate and reliable measurements of turns of the tubular 20 during the make-up process are desirable. As described in US publication no. 2022/0326678, a torque sensor, a turn sensor and/or other sensors can be used to facilitate automated control of the threaded connection make-up process. The entire disclosure of the US publication no. 2022/0326678 is incorporated herein by this reference for all purposes.

An apparatus 30 is included in the FIG. 1 system 10 for providing the accurate and reliable rotation measurements (or other parameter measurements, such as torque measurements) needed to safely and efficiently control the make-up process. The apparatus 30 may be positioned adjacent, or attached to, the rotary and backup clamps 24, 26, or the apparatus 30 may be supported on the rig floor 18, or otherwise positioned proximate the threaded connection 28.

In this example, multiple rotation sensors are positioned to measure the rotation of the tubular 20 during the make-up process. However, one or more of the sensors may malfunction or produce spurious rotation measurements, or another component of the system 10 may not operate properly (such as, a slipping of the backup clamp 26, etc.). For these reasons and others, the apparatus 30 in the FIG. 1 example uses data fusion to produce relatively high confidence fused rotation measurements that can be used to control the make-up process, and to provide for later evaluation of the threaded connection make-up.

Referring additionally now to FIG. 2, an example of a system 32 and method for running a tubular string into a well is representatively illustrated. The FIG. 2 system 32 may be used with the FIG. 1 well system 10 and method, or it may be used with other systems and methods. For convenience, the system 32 is described below as it may be used with the FIG. 1 well system 10 and method.

As depicted in FIG. 2, the system 32 includes the apparatus 30 with multiple rotation sensors 34, 36, 38. The sensors 34, 36, 38 are positioned and configured for measuring rotation of the upper tubular 20 (represented by arrow 44 in FIG. 2). Although three rotation sensors 34, 36, 38 are depicted in the FIG. 2 system 32, other numbers of sensors may be used in other examples.

Note that the coupling 22 is not used in the FIG. 2 example. Instead, the upper tubular 20 is threaded directly into the upper end of the lower tubular 14. The sensors 34, 36, 38 measure the rotation of the upper tubular 20, thereby producing measurement data, which is input to a control system 40.

In this example, the control system 40 is used to control operation of a tong assembly 42. The tong assembly 42 includes the rotary and backup clamps 24, 26. As depicted in FIG. 2, a motor 46 of the tong assembly 42 drives a gear train 48, which supplies rotation to the rotary clamp 24. However, the scope of this disclosure is not limited to use of any particular type or configuration of a tong assembly, or to use of a tong assembly at all.

The rotation sensor 34 in the FIG. 2 example comprises an optical sensor. Suitable types of optical sensors for use as the sensor 34 include (but are not limited to) a camera, a laser scanning device, etc. The sensor 34 produces digitized images as measurement data that can be utilized by the control system 40 to determine the rotation 44 of the tubular 20.

In contrast, the rotation sensor 36 is used to directly measure the rotation 44 of the tubular 20. In the FIG. 2 example, the rotation sensor 36 can comprise a turns sensor of the type that includes a roller arranged to contact an outer surface of the tubular 20.

The sensor 36 may be mounted on the tong assembly 42 so that, when the tong assembly is positioned to make-up the threaded connection 28, the roller will contact the outer surface of the tubular 20. As the tubular 20 rotates, the roller also rotates, thereby producing measurement data input to the control system 40.

The rotation sensor 38 is positioned internal to the tong assembly 42 in the FIG. 2 example. The sensor 38 can comprise a turns sensor positioned and arranged to measure rotation of a component of the gear train 48, or to measure rotation output of the motor 46. The measurement data output by the sensor 38 is input to the control system 40.

Note that other types, numbers and combinations of sensors may be used in other examples. For example, one or more torque sensors can be used to measure the torque applied by the rotary clamp 24 to the upper tubular 20. Torque measurements output by the torque sensor can be input to the control system 40 for use in determining how to control operation of the tong assembly 42, in conjunction with the rotation measurements output by the rotation sensors 34, 36, 38.

Unfortunately, the measurement data output by each of the sensors 34, 36, 38 may not always be available, reliable or accurate. For example, if the optical sensor 34 is not able to clearly view the upper tubular 20, the output of the sensor 34 cannot be relied on to be an accurate representation of the tubular rotation 44. If the roller of the sensor 36 slips against the outer surface of the tubular 20, the output of the sensor 36 will not be an accurate representation of the tubular rotation 44. As another example, if wired or wireless communication between any of the sensors 34, 36, 38 and the control system 40 is not available, or a sensor malfunctions, there may be no measurement data available from the sensor for use by the control system.

Referring additionally now to FIGS. 3-5, examples of rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 output by the respective rotation sensors 34, 36, 38 are representatively illustrated. The rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 are represented as graphs of turns versus time, but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that other representations of rotation measurements are possible (such as, rotational speed versus time, which can be integrated to determine angular rotation or turns versus time, etc.). The scope of this disclosure is not limited to any particular type or representation of the outputs of the sensors 34, 36, 38.

Each of the sets of rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 includes times in which there are gaps 56 in the measurements. The rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 appear to include some noise, in that they do not represent smooth rotational speed transitions, and at least the measurements 54 include a sharp peak 58 that is not present in the other measurements 50, 52.

Instead of relying on any one of the sets of rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 for use by the control system 40 to control operation of the tong assembly 42, the FIG. 2 control system is capable of performing data fusion utilizing all of the rotation measurements to produced fused rotation measurements. The fused rotation measurements are expected to have enhanced availability, reliability and accuracy, as compared to the rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 output by each of the individual sensors 34, 36, 38.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the control system 40 in this example includes a data fusion module 60 and a controller module 62. Other modules and components (such as, input and output devices, data storage, instructions/programs, processors, power supplies, etc.) may be included in the control system 40 as desired.

The data fusion module 60 in this example is implemented in software. The rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 are input to the data fusion module 60. The data fusion module 60 is capable of supplying measurement data in instances in which sensor output is not available (such as, in the gaps 56 of the FIGS. 3-5 examples), remove noise from the data, reject spurious rotation measurements (such as, the peak 58 represented in the rotation measurements 54), perform data smoothing, etc.

For example, the data fusion module 60 can comprise a Kalman filter capable of supplying missing or incomplete data, such as, by estimating fused rotation measurements for time periods in which the rotation measurements 50, 52 or 54 are unavailable. A suitably configured Kalman filter can also “weight” the measurement data output by each of the various sensors 34, 36, 38 to thereby determine a set of fused rotation measurements that are more reliable and accurate than any of the individual sets of rotation measurements 50, 52, 54. As another example, the data fusion module 60 can also, or alternatively, include the capability of performing functions, such as, averaging, determining a median, determining a maximum, curve fitting, data smoothing, high- or low-pass filtering, etc., on the rotation measurements 50, 52, 54.

The controller 62 is used to control operation of the tong assembly 42 based on the fused rotation measurements output by the data fusion module 60. For example, the controller 62 can control operation of the motor 46 to thereby control the rotation and torque applied to the tubular 20 by the rotary clamp 24. The controller 62 in some examples can include a programmable logic controller, software/instructions, one or more processors, memory, a power supply, and/or other components.

Referring additionally now to FIG. 6, use of the data fusion module 60 to produce the fused rotation measurements 64 is schematically and representatively illustrated. In this example, the multiple sets of rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 output by the respective sensors 34, 36, 38 are input to the data fusion module 60. The data fusion module 60 outputs fused rotation measurements 64 that are then used by the controller module 62 to control operation of the tong assembly 42.

Note that, in this example, the fused rotation measurements 64 are represented by a straight line in a graph of turns versus time. In other examples, the fused rotation measurements 64 may not represent a linear relationship between turns and time. However, preferably in this example, the fused rotation measurements 64 do not include any gaps 56, noise or spurious data.

In other examples, other types of sensors may be used to measure other parameters in the threaded connection make-up process. For example the sensors 34, 36, 38 could comprise torque sensors capable of outputting measurements of torque applied to the upper tubular 20 by the rotary clamp 24. The data fusion module 60 can be used to produce the fused torque measurements 64 from the outputs of the sensors 34, 36, 38.

It may now be appreciated that the above disclosure provides significant advances to the art of running a tubular string into a well and controlling tubular make-up operations. In one example described above, the control system 40 includes the data fusion module 60, which receives rotation measurements 50, 52, 54 from the respective sensors 34, 36, 38 and provides fused rotation measurements 64 for use by the controller module 62 to control operation of the tong assembly 42, or otherwise control make-up of the threaded connection 28.

The above disclosure provides to the art a method of running a tubular string 12 into a well. In one example, the method can comprise: measuring a threaded connection parameter using a first sensor 34, thereby producing first sensor measurements 50; measuring the threaded connection parameter using a second sensor 36 or 38, thereby producing second sensor measurements 52 or 54; and performing data fusion on the first and second sensor measurements 50, 52 or 54, thereby producing fused sensor measurements 64.

The data fusion performing step may include inputting the first and second sensor measurements 50, 52 or 54 to a Kalman filter, determining a median of the first and second sensor measurements 50, 52 or 54, and/or determining a maximum of the first and second sensor measurements 50, 52 or 54.

The first and second sensors 34, 36 or 38 may comprise respective first and second rotation sensors.

The first sensor 50 may comprise an optical sensor. The optical sensor may comprise a camera.

The second sensor 36 may comprise a turns sensor configured to contact the tubular 20. The second sensor 38 may comprise a turns sensor disposed internal to a tong assembly 42.

The data fusion performing step may comprise estimating the fused sensor measurements for time periods in which the first and second sensor measurements 50, 52 or 54 are unavailable. The method may include controlling operation of a tong assembly 42 based on the fused sensor measurements 64.

The above disclosure also provides to the art an apparatus 30 for running a tubular string 12 into a well. In one example, the apparatus 30 can comprise: a first rotation sensor 34 configured to measure rotation of a tubular 20 and produce first rotation measurements 50; a second rotation sensor 36 or 38 configured to measure the rotation of the tubular 20 and produce second rotation measurements 52 or 54; and a control system 40 comprising a data fusion module 60 configured to determine fused rotation measurements 64 from the first and second rotation measurements 50, 52 or 54.

The first rotation sensor 34 may comprise an optical sensor. The optical sensor may comprise a camera. The second rotation sensor 36 or 38 may comprise a turns sensor configured to contact the tubular 20, or a turns sensor disposed internal to a tong assembly 42.

The data fusion module 60 may comprise a Kalman filter. The data fusion module 60 may be configured to determine a median of the first and second rotation measurements 50, 52 or 54, to determine a maximum of the first and second rotation measurements 50, 52 or 54, and/or to estimate the fused rotation measurements 64 for time periods in which the first and second rotation measurements 50, 52 or 54 are unavailable.

The control system 40 may comprise a controller module 62 configured to control operation of a tong assembly 42 based on the fused rotation measurements 64.

Although various examples have been described above, with each example having certain features, it should be understood that it is not necessary for a particular feature of one example to be used exclusively with that example. Instead, any of the features described above and/or depicted in the drawings can be combined with any of the examples, in addition to or in substitution for any of the other features of those examples. One example’s features are not mutually exclusive to another example’s features. Instead, the scope of this disclosure encompasses any combination of any of the features.

Although each example described above includes a certain combination of features, it should be understood that it is not necessary for all features of an example to be used. Instead, any of the features described above can be used, without any other particular feature or features also being used.

It should be understood that the various embodiments described herein may be utilized in various orientations, such as inclined, inverted, horizontal, vertical, etc., and in various configurations, without departing from the principles of this disclosure. The embodiments are described merely as examples of useful applications of the principles of the disclosure, which is not limited to any specific details of these embodiments.

In the above description of the representative examples, directional terms (such as “above,” “below,” “upper,” “lower,” “upward,” “downward,” etc.) are used for convenience in referring to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be clearly understood that the scope of this disclosure is not limited to any particular directions described herein.

The terms “including,” “includes,” “comprising,” “comprises,” and similar terms are used in a non-limiting sense in this specification. For example, if a system, method, apparatus, device, etc., is described as “including” a certain feature or element, the system, method, apparatus, device, etc., can include that feature or element, and can also include other features or elements. Similarly, the term “comprises” is considered to mean “comprises, but is not limited to.”

Of course, a person skilled in the art would, upon a careful consideration of the above description of representative embodiments of the disclosure, readily appreciate that many modifications, additions, substitutions, deletions, and other changes may be made to the specific embodiments, and such changes are contemplated by the principles of this disclosure. For example, structures disclosed as being separately formed can, in other examples, be integrally formed and vice versa. Accordingly, the foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as being given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited solely by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of running a tubular string into a well, the method comprising: measuring a threaded connection parameter using a first sensor, thereby producing first sensor measurements; measuring the threaded connection parameter using a second sensor, thereby producing second sensor measurements; and performing data fusion on the first and second sensor measurements, thereby producing fused sensor measurements.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the data fusion performing comprises inputting the first and second sensor measurements to a Kalman filter.

3. The method of claim 1, in which the data fusion performing comprises determining at least one of a median and a maximum of the first and second sensor measurements.

4. The method of claim 1, in which the first and second sensors comprise respective first and second rotation sensors.

5. The method of claim 1, in which the first sensor comprises an optical sensor.

6. The method of claim 5, in which the optical sensor comprises a camera.

7. The method of claim 1, in which the second sensor comprises a turns sensor configured to contact the tubular.

8. The method of claim 1, in which the second sensor comprises a turns sensor disposed internal to a tong assembly.

9. The method of claim 1, in which the data fusion performing comprises estimating the fused sensor measurements for time periods in which the first and second sensor measurements are unavailable.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling operation of a tong assembly based on the fused sensor measurements.

11. Apparatus for running a tubular string into a well, the apparatus comprising: a first rotation sensor configured to measure rotation of a tubular and produce first rotation measurements; a second rotation sensor configured to measure the rotation of the tubular and produce second rotation measurements; and a control system comprising a data fusion module configured to determine fused rotation measurements from the first and second rotation measurements.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the first rotation sensor comprises an optical sensor.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, in which the optical sensor comprises a camera.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the second rotation sensor comprises a turns sensor configured to contact the tubular.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the second rotation sensor comprises a turns sensor disposed internal to a tong assembly.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the data fusion module comprises a Kalman filter.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the data fusion module is configured to determine a median of the first and second rotation measurements.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the data fusion module is configured to determine a maximum of the first and second rotation measurements.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the data fusion module is configured to estimate the fused rotation measurements for time periods in which the first and second rotation measurements are unavailable.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, in which the control system comprises a controller module configured to control operation of a tong assembly based on the fused rotation measurements.