Rig Equipment Control With Feedback for Field Development Planning

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Field development plans in hydrocarbon exploration are hindered by the scarcity and speed of information flowing from individual well sites to field development specialists, leading to sub-optimized decisions and inefficient resource allocation, as decisions are often made reactively rather than proactively.

Innovation Solution

An information handling system that integrates human inputs and electronic sensory inputs to generate outputs controlling electro-mechanical machinery, enabling timely and optimized decision-making by converting field development plans into well plans, which can be upscaled or downscaled based on real-time feedback and historical data to optimize field development economics.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If traditional reactive decision-making based on observations is used, then operational simplicity is maintained, but field development optimization and resource allocation efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefield development optimizationVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

An information handling system acts as an intermediary between well site operations and field development specialists. The system receives data from multiple well sites, processes it through field scale computer models, and provides optimized recommendations back to operations, enabling proactive decision-making without requiring direct complex analysis at each well site.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements continuous feedback loops where data from well site equipment flows back to field scale computer models, which then generate optimized recommendations. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic adjustment of field development plans based on real-time conditions across multiple well sites.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Loss of information

If data collection from multiple well sites is increased, then information availability for decision-making is improved, but information processing time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation availabilityVSAvoiddecision-making time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Field scale computer models are pre-configured with field development plans and parameters before operations begin. This preliminary setup allows the system to quickly process incoming well site data against predetermined optimization criteria, reducing the time needed for decision-making while maintaining comprehensive information analysis.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Manual data collection and analysis processes are replaced with automated electronic data transmission from well site equipment directly to field scale computer models. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated computational systems enables rapid processing of information from multiple well sites without proportionally increasing processing time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Productivity

If field scale computer models are used for optimization, then resource allocation efficiency is improved, but computational requirements and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource allocation efficiencyVSAvoidcomputational resources

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The optimization system is segmented into modular field scale computer models that can process different aspects of field development independently. Each model handles specific well sites or operational parameters, allowing computational tasks to be distributed and processed in parallel, reducing overall computational resource requirements while maintaining optimization effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11287788B2Field development optimization through direct rig equipment control

Publication Date: 2022.03.29 HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC

AI summary

A method comprising inputting a field development plan into a human interface, transferring the field development plan to an information handling system, transferring on or more electronic inputs into the information handling system, running a software program on the information handling system that integrates the electronic inputs with the field development plan to produce an output, sending the output to one or more pieces of equipment, operating the one or more pieces of equipment based at least in part on the output, measuring the operation of the one or more pieces of equipment with one or more sensors, sending the measurements from the one or more sensors back to the information handling system, running the software program with the measurements, updating the output based at least in part on the measurements and the field development plan, and sending an updated output to the one or more pieces of equipment.