Automation Systems Design and Laboratory Prototyping Aimed at Mature Petroleum Drilling Rig Retrofitting

Abstract

This paper presents a control system design methodology for the drill-string rotary drive and draw-works hoist system aimed at mature drilling rig retrofitting. The rotary drive is equipped with an active damping speed control system featuring a proportional-integral speed controller readily available within modern controlled electrical drives, extended with drill-string back-spinning prevention scheme for the case of stuck tool. The draw-works hoist system features a tool normal force (Weight-on-Bit) controller with tool longitudinal speed (Rate-of-Penetration) limiting functionality. The design of proposed control systems has been based on suitable control-oriented process models and damping optimum criterion which guarantees a desired level of closed-loop system damping. The proposed drilling control systems have been verified on a downscaled laboratory experimental setup, which represents a necessary pre-requirement before these systems are tested in the field.

Keywords

• active damping
• draw-work
• laboratory setup
• petroleum drilling
• proportional-integral controller
• retrofitting