104 may facilitate control of individual systems (e.g., the central system 114, the downhole system, or fluid system 112, etc.) at the level of each individual system. For example, in the fluid system 112, sensor data 128 may be fed into the controller 132, which may respond to control the actuators 130. However, for control operations that involve multiple systems, the control may be coordinated through the coordinated control device 104. Examples of such coordinated control operations include the control of downhole pressure during tripping. The downhole pressure may be affected by both the fluid system 112 (e.g., pump rate and choke position) and the central system 114 (e.g., tripping speed). When it is desired to maintain certain downhole pressure during tripping, the coordinated control device 104 may be used to direct the appropriate control commands. Furthermore, for mode based controllers which employ complex computation to reach a control setpoint, which are typically not implemented in the subsystem PLC controllers due to complexity and high computing power demands, the coordinated control device 104 may provide the adequate computing environment for implementing these controllers.

In some embodiments, control of the various systems of the drilling rig 102 may be provided via a multi-tier (e.g., three-tier) control system that includes a first tier of the controllers 126, 132, and 138, a second tier of the coordinated control device 104, and a third tier of the supervisory control system 107. The first tier of the controllers may be responsible for safety critical control operation, or fast loop feedback control. The second tier of the controllers may be responsible for coordinated controls of multiple equipment or subsystems, and/or responsible for complex model based controllers. The third tier of the controllers may be responsible for high level task planning, such as to command the rig system to maintain certain bottom hole pressure. In other embodiments, coordinated control may be provided by one or more controllers of one or more of the drilling rig systems 110, 112, and 114 without the use of a coordinated control device 104. In such embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may provide control processes directly to these controllers for coordinated control. For example, in some embodiments, the controllers 126 and the controllers 132 may be used for coordinated control of multiple systems of the drilling rig 102.

The sensor data 140, 142, and 144 may be received by the coordinated control device 104 and used for control of the drilling rig 102 and the drilling rig systems 110, 112, and 114. In some embodiments, the sensor data 140, 142, and 144 may be encrypted to produce encrypted sensor data 146. For example, in some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may encrypt sensor data from different types of sensors and systems to produce a set of encrypted sensor data 146. Thus, the encrypted sensor data 146 may not be viewable by unauthorized user devices (either offsite or onsite user device) if such devices gain access to one or more networks of the drilling rig 102. The sensor data 140, 142, 144 may include a timestamp and an aligned drilling parameter (e.g., depth) as discussed above. The encrypted sensor data 146 may be sent to the remote computing resource environment 106 via the network 108 and stored as encrypted sensor data 148.

The rig computing resource environment 105 may provide the encrypted sensor data 148 available for viewing and processing offsite, such as via offsite user devices 120. Access to the encrypted sensor data 148 may be restricted via access control implemented in the rig computing resource environment 105. In some embodiments, the encrypted sensor data 148 may be provided in real-time to offsite user devices 120 such that offsite personnel may view real-time status of the drilling rig 102 and provide feedback based on the real-time sensor data. For example, different portions of the encrypted sensor data 146 may be sent to offsite user devices 120. In some embodiments, encrypted sensor data may be decrypted by the rig computing resource environment 105 before transmission or decrypted on an offsite user device after encrypted sensor data is received.

The offsite user device 120 may include a client (e.g., a thin client) configured to display data received from the rig computing resource environment 105 and/or the remote computing resource environment 106. For example, multiple types of thin clients (e.g., devices with display capability and minimal processing capability) may be used for certain functions or for viewing various sensor data.

The rig computing resource environment 105 may include various computing resources used for monitoring and controlling operations such as one or more computers having a processor and a memory. For example, the coordinated control device 104 may include a computer having a processor and memory for processing sensor data, storing sensor data, and issuing control commands responsive to sensor data. As noted above, the coordinated control device 104 may control various operations of the various systems of the drilling rig 102 via analysis of sensor data from one or more drilling rig systems (e.g. 110, 112, 114) to enable coordinated control between each system of the drilling rig 102. The coordinated control device 104 may execute control commands 150 for control of the various systems of the drilling rig 102 (e.g., drilling rig systems 110, 112, 114). The coordinated control device 104 may send control data determined by the execution of the control commands 150 to one or more systems of the drilling rig 102. For example, control data 152 may be sent to the downhole system 110, control data 154 may be sent to the fluid system 112, and control data 154 may be sent to the central system 114. The control data may include, for example, operator commands (e.g., turn on or off a pump, switch on or off a valve, update a physical property setpoint, etc.). In some embodiments, the coordinated control device 104 may include a fast control loop that directly obtains sensor data 140, 142, and 144 and executes, for example, a control algorithm. In some embodiments, the coordinated control device 104 may include a slow control loop that obtains data via the rig computing resource environment 105 to generate control commands.

In some embodiments, the coordinated control device 104 may intermediate between the supervisory control system 107 and the controllers 126, 132, and 138 of the systems 110, 112, and 114. For example, in such embodiments, a supervisory control system 107 may be used to control systems of the drilling rig 102. The supervisory control system 107 may include, for example, devices for entering control commands to perform operations of systems of the drilling rig 102. In some embodiments, the coordinated control device 104 may receive commands from the supervisory control system 107, process the commands according to a rule (e.g., an algorithm based upon the laws of physics for drilling operations), and/or control processes received from the rig computing resource environment 105, and provides control data to one or more systems of the drilling rig 102. In some embodiments, the supervisory control system 107 may be provided by and/or controlled by a third party. In such embodiments, the coordinated control device 104 may coordinate control between discrete supervisory control systems and the systems 110, 112, and 114 while using control commands that may be optimized from the sensor data received from the systems 110 112, and 114 and analyzed via the rig computing resource environment 105.

The rig computing resource environment 105 may include a monitoring process 141 that may use sensor data to determine information about the drilling rig 102. For example, in some embodiments the monitoring process 141 may determine a drilling state, equipment health, system health, a maintenance schedule, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the monitoring process 141 may monitor sensor data and determine the quality of one or a plurality of sensor data. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may include control processes 143 that may use the sensor data 146 to optimize drilling operations, such as, for example, the control of drilling equipment to improve drilling efficiency, equipment reliability, and the like. For example, in some embodiments the acquired sensor data may be used to derive a noise cancellation scheme to improve electromagnetic and mud pulse telemetry signal processing. The control processes 143 may be implemented via, for example, a control algorithm, a computer program, firmware, or other suitable hardware and/or software. In some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment 106 may include a control process 145 that may be provided to the rig computing resource environment 105.

The rig computing resource environment 105 may include various computing resources, such as, for example, a single computer or multiple computers. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may include a virtual computer system and a virtual database or other virtual structure for collected data. The virtual computer system and virtual database may include one or more resource interfaces (e.g., web interfaces) that enable the submission of application programming interface (API) calls to the various resources through a request. In addition, each of the resources may include one or more resource interfaces that enable the resources to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual computer system of the computing resource environment to store data in or retrieve data from the database or other structure for collected data).

The virtual computer system may include a collection of computing resources configured to instantiate virtual machine instances. The virtual computing system and/or computers may provide a human-machine interface through which a user may interface with the virtual computer system via the offsite user device or, in some embodiments, the onsite user device. In some embodiments, other computer systems or computer system services may be utilized in the rig computing resource environment 105, such as a computer system or computer system service that provisions computing resources on dedicated or shared computers/servers and/or other physical devices. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may include a single server (in a discrete hardware component or as a virtual server) or multiple servers (e.g., web servers, application servers, or other servers). The servers may be, for example, computers arranged in any physical and/or virtual configuration

In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment 105 may include a database that may be a collection of computing resources that run one or more data collections. Such data collections may be operated and managed by utilizing API calls. The data collections, such as sensor data, may be made available to other resources in the rig computing resource environment or to user devices (e.g., onsite user device 118 and/or offsite user device 120) accessing the rig computing resource environment 105. In some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment 106 may include similar computing resources to those described above, such as a single computer or multiple computers (in discrete hardware components or virtual computer systems).

Electrically-Actuated Blow-Out Preventer (BOP)

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic plan view of a BOP 300, according to an embodiment. The BOP 300 may include one or more motors (two are shown: 310A, 310B). The motors 310A, 310B may be positioned on opposite sides of a well 370 and/or pipe 380. The motors 310A, 310B may be or include electric motors. More particularly, the motors 310A, 310B may each include or be coupled to a variable frequency drive (VFD) (two are shown: 312A, 312B). The VFDs 312A, 312B are alternating current (AC) motor drives that control the speed and/or torque of the motors 310A, 310B by varying the frequency of the input electricity to the motors 310A, 310B.

The BOP 300 may also include one or more bonnets (two are shown: 320A, 320B). The bonnets 320A, 320B may be coupled to the motors 310A, 310B and be positioned at least partially between the motors 310A, 310B and the well 370 and/or pipe 380.

The BOP 300 may also include one or more rams (two are shown: 330A, 330B). The rams 330A, 330B are shown in a first (e.g., open) position in FIG. 3 where the rams 330A, 330B are positioned away (e.g., spaced apart) from the pipe 380. Inner portions (e.g., rotors) of the motors 310A, 310B may rotate, and that rotation may be converted into linear movement of the rams 330A, 330B (e.g., toward or away from the pipe 380).

The rams 330A-330B shown in FIGS. 3-5 are shear rams. The shear rams 330A, 330B are closing elements of the BOP 300 that are fitted with blades that are designed to cut (i.e., shear) the pipe 380. Once the pipe 380 has been cut, the shear rams 330A, 330B may close (e.g., contact one another) to provide isolation or sealing of the well 370 and/or pipe 380.

The BOP 300 may also include one or more sensors (three are shown: 340A-340C). The sensors 340A-340C may be coupled to and/or in communication with the motors 310A, 310B, the bonnets 320A, 320B, the shear rams 330A, 330B, or a combination thereof.

The sensors 340A may be configured to measure position data. In one embodiment, the position data may be or include the position of the shear rams 330A, 330B. The position of the shear rams 330A, 330B may be an absolute position (e.g., in XYZ coordinates), or in relation to a position of the motors 310A, 310B and/or the pipe 380 (e.g., 3 cm away from the pipe 380). In another embodiment, the position data may include a number of rotations of the (e.g., rotors of the) motors 310A, 310B, and the positions of the shear rams 330A, 330B may be determined based upon the number of rotations.

The sensors 340B may be configured to measure speed data. In one embodiment, the speed data may be or include the speed of the shear rams 330A, 330B. This may be or include the (e.g., linear) speed at which the shear rams 330A, 330B are moving toward/into a closed position (e.g., 2 cm/second toward the pipe 380). In another embodiment, the speed data may be or include rates of rotations of the (e.g., rotors of the) motors 310A, 310B, and the speeds of the shear rams 330A, 330B may be determined based upon the rates of rotations.

The sensors 340C may be configured to measure torque data. This may include the torques of the motors 310A, 310B. In one embodiment, the torque may be measured directly. In another embodiment, the torque data may be or include the power (e.g., electrical current) used by the motors 310A, 310B, and the torque may be determined based upon the power.

The BOP 300 may also include one or more controllers (one is shown: 350). The controller 350 may be coupled to and/or in communication with the motors 310A, 310B (e.g., the VFDs 312A, 312B) and/or the sensors 340A-340C. The controller 350 may be configured to determine the position(s) of the shear rams 330A, 330B based upon the position data measured by the sensors 340A. The controller 350 may also be configured to determine the speed of the shear rams 330A, 330B based upon the speed data measured by the sensors 340B. The controller 350 may also be configured to determine the torque of the motors 310A, 310B based upon the torque data measured by the sensors 340C.

Then, the controller 350 may be configured to control the motors 310A, 310B (e.g., the VFDs 312A, 312B) based at least partially upon the position(s) of the shear rams 330A, 330B, the speed(s) of the shear ram(s) 330A, 330B, the torque(s) of the motors 310A, 310B, or a combination thereof. In one example, the controller 350 may control (e.g., modify) the power (e.g., voltage and/or current) provided to the motors 310A, 310B. In another example, the controller 350 may control (e.g., modify) the frequency provided to the motors 310A, 310B (e.g., the VFDs 312A, 312B). Controlling the amount of power and/or frequency may, in turn, control (e.g., modify) the position(s), the speed(s), the torque(s), or a combination thereof.

The BOP 300 may be electrically-actuated, which is in contrast to conventional BOPs that are hydraulically-actuated. The electrical actuation may allow the sensors 340A-340C to measure precise position data, speed data, and torque data. The electrical actuation may also allow the controller 350 to precisely control the position, speed, and torque at different intervals during the electrical actuation, as described below. Conventional hydraulic BOPs cannot be precisely controlled in this manner. The BOP 300 may not include any hydraulic components.

The BOP 300 may also include a database 360. The database 360 may be coupled to and/or in communication with the sensors 340A-340C and/or the controller 350. The database 360 may include previously-captured position data, speed data, and torque data, as well as the size(s) of the pipe(s) 380 that may be used. In addition to controlling (e.g., modifying) the position(s), the speed(s), and/or the torque(s) based upon the position data, speed data, and/or torque data, the controller 350 may also or instead control the position(s), the speed(s), and/or the torque(s) based at least partially upon the data in the database 360. This may help to calibrate and/or optimize the operation of the BOP 300.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic plan view of the BOP 300 with the shear rams 330A, 330B in a second (e.g., intermediate) position, according to an embodiment. The BOP 300 may be electrically-actuated to cause the shear rams 330A, 330B to move from the open position (FIG. 3) to the intermediate position (FIG. 4). The shear rams 330A, 330B are in contact with the pipe 380 but have not (yet) cut through the pipe 380 when in the intermediate position.

The controller 350 may determine that the distance between the shear rams 330A, 330B and the pipe 380 is 0 cm based upon the position data when the shear rams 330A, 330B are in the intermediate position. The controller 350 may also or instead determine that the speed of the shear rams 330A, 330B has decreased based upon the speed data when the shear rams 330A, 330B are in the intermediate position (e.g., due to the contact with the pipe 380). The controller 350 may also or instead determine that the torque has suddenly increased based upon the torque data when the shear rams 330A, 330B are in the intermediate position. More particularly, the motors 310A, 310B may have a first (e.g., lower) torque when actuating from the open position to the intermediate position (e.g., due to the shear rams 330A, 330B being unimpeded), and the torque may suddenly increase to a second (e.g., higher) torque when the shear rams 330A, 330B contact and/or cut through the pipe 380.

In one embodiment, the controller 350 may cause the motors 310A, 310B to operate in a first (e.g., speed) mode when the shear rams 330A, 330B are actuating from the open position to the intermediate position (e.g., toward the pipe 380 but not in contact with the pipe 380). The motors 310A, 310B, when operating in the speed mode, may have a first (e.g., faster) speed and/or a first (e.g., lower) torque. In an example, the speed may be from about 2000 rotations per minute (RPM) to about 3000 RPM or from about 2500 RPM to about 4000 RPM, and the torque may be from about 10 newton-meters (Nm) to about 50 Nm or from about 15 Nm to about 30 Nm when operating in the speed mode. In contrast, the speed and torque may not be controlled in conventional hydraulic BOPs. In addition, the electrical current provided to the motors 310A, 310B may be from about 5 amps (A) to about 25 A or from about 5 A to about 15 A, and the voltage provided to the motors 310A, 310B may be from about 150 volts (V) to about 200 V or from about 200 V to about 250 V when operating in the speed mode.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic plan view of the BOP 300 with the shear rams 330A, 330B in a third (e.g., closed) position, according to an embodiment. The BOP 300 may be electrically-actuated to cause the shear rams 330A, 330B to move from the intermediate position (FIG. 4) to the closed position (FIG. 5). The shear rams 330A, 330B have cut through the pipe 380 and/or are in contact with one another when in the closed position.

The controller 350 may determine that the distance between the shear rams 330A, 330B is 0 cm based upon the position data when the shear rams 330A, 330B are in the closed position. The controller 350 may also or instead determine that the speed of the shear rams 330A, 330B has changed (e.g., decreased to 0 cm/second) based upon the speed data when the shear rams 330A,