Next-Generation Drilling Fluid Management: Real-Time Monitoring and Autonomous Control

Abstract

Abstract Accurate measurement and control of drilling fluid properties are crucial for safe and successful drilling operations. Traditional manual methods are slow and require significant manpower, underscoring the need for real-time monitoring. This paper highlights a new online system for monitoring drilling fluids, enabling intelligent control of drilling fluid performance. The online monitoring system improves drilling industry safety and success by measuring accurate, timely, and automated properties of drilling fluids. The online drilling fluid monitoring system continuously measures ten essential parameters, including apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, yield point, density, pH, and ion concentrations. The system uses a newly-developed variable diameter pipe technology to measure viscosity, and a patented double-pressure vibrating tube technology to measure density. Ion-selective electrodes enable fast and accurate ion concentration measurements, eliminating cumbersome titrations. The novel methods provide a quick measurement (<1s sampling rate) with a wide range and minimal errors. The system is modular and includes sampling, measurement, data acquisition, control, and pressure protection subsystems, with software integration for data visualization and remote data transmission to predetermined data centers. The system achieves one measurement every second, providing real-time and continuous monitoring of 10 essential parameters. With 30 equipment sets produced and trialed in 200 wells, the system has demonstrated continuous operation for over 125 days. The online, real-time, and continuous monitoring capabilities offer several benefits, including improved data quality and frequency, reduced on-site labor and associated health and safety hazards. Notable field applications of the system include the automatic detection of the mud density anomaly in a critical well with a narrow safe mud density, and remote real-time transmission of data for integrated geological logging analysis. Further development will focus on automating error detection and incorporating additional sensors for multiphase fluids. This paper highlights a new online drilling fluid monitoring system that improves safety and success in drilling by providing accurate, timely, and automated performance control. The system measures ten essential parameters utilizing patented technologies and provides a continuous profile of the full set of properties with time. Field trials have demonstrated the advantages of this technology, including remote data transmission and automated error detection. The system reduces on-site labor and associated safety hazards, improves HSE on-site, and opens the door to oilfield data analysis automation.