Granted Patent B2

US 9,194,183 · App. 14/045,553 · Granted Nov 24, 2015

Inventors: Edward Curtis Stacy, II (Evansville, IN); Antonio Garcia (Pima, AZ)

Assignee: Flanders Electric Motor Services, Inc.

E21B7/00E21B44/00

Abstract

Claims (44)

1. A system for drilling a borehole, comprising:

a drill rig comprising a drill including a drill bit, an air injection system, and a water injection system; and

a control system operatively associated with said drill rig, said control system:

monitoring drill parameters comprising drill rotational speed, drill torque, drill depth, hoist speed and number of drill retractions;

receiving information from said drill rig relating to at least one drill parameter,

controlling each of said drill, said air injection system and said water injection system,

storing program steps for program control, and processing data; and

said control system processing information relating to the drill parameter, determining whether the drill parameter is within a predetermined specification for at least one monitored drill parameter for a drilling phase or a retraction phase, the retraction phase following completion of the drilling phase, choosing a hole defect mitigation routine based on the at least one monitored drill parameter when the at least one drill parameter is outside the predetermined specification, said hole defect mitigation routine comprising at least one drilling phase defect mitigation routine for implementation during the drilling phase, said drilling phase defect mitigation routine comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of rotary stall protection, end-of-hole spin-out, and end-of-hole water control, and at least one retraction phase mitigation routine for implementation during the retraction phase, said control system controlling said drill rig to implement said rotary stall protection routine when for a predetermined period of time one or both of said monitored drill rotational speed is outside a predetermined specification for rotational speed and said drill torque is outside a predetermined specification for drill torque, said rotary stall protection routine comprising:

retracting the drill bit;

rotating the drill bit; and

resuming the drilling phase with of at least a reduced down-force until drill penetration rate stops changing.

2. A system for drilling a borehole, comprising:

a drill rig comprising a drill including a drill bit, an air injection system, and a water injection system; and

a control system operatively associated with said drill rig, said control system:

monitoring drill parameters comprising drill rotational speed, drill torque, drill depth, hoist speed and number of drill retractions;

receiving information from said drill rig relating to at least one drill parameter,

controlling each of said drill, said air injection system and said water injection system,

storing program steps for program control, and processing data; and

said control system processing information relating to the drill parameter by determining whether the drill parameter is within a predetermined specification for at least one monitored drill parameter for a drilling phase or a retraction phase, the retraction phase following completion of the drilling phase, choosing a hole defect mitigation routine based on the at least one monitored drill parameter when the at least one drill parameter is outside the predetermined specification, said hole defect mitigation routine comprising at least one drilling phase defect mitigation routine for implementation during the drilling phase, said drilling phase defect mitigation routine comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of rotary stall protection, end-of-hole spin-out, and end-of-hole water control, and at least one retraction phase mitigation routine for implementation during the retraction phase, said control system controlling said drill rig to implement said end-of-hole spin-out routine after the borehole has been drilled when said monitored number of drill retractions during the drilling phase is outside a predetermined specification for number of drill retractions, said end-of-hole spin-out routine comprising:

retracting the drill bit to a position above a bottom of the borehole;

after the retracting, rotating the drill bit at the position for a spin-out period if the drill bit was retracted two or fewer times during the drilling phase;

after the retracting, rotating the drill bit at the position for a product of the spin-out period and the number of drill retractions if the drill bit was retracted three or more times during the drilling phase; and

retracting the drill bit from the borehole.

3. A system for drilling a borehole, comprising:

a drill rig comprising a drill including a drill bit, an air injection system, and a water injection system; and

a control system operatively associated with said drill rig, said control system:

monitoring drill parameters comprising drill rotational speed, drill torque, drill depth, hoist speed and number of drill retractions;

receiving information from said drill rig relating to at least one drill parameter,

controlling each of said drill, said air injection system and said water injection system,

storing program steps for program control, and processing data; and

said control system processing information relating to the drill parameter, determining whether the drill parameter is within a predetermined specification for at least one monitored drill parameter for a drilling phase or a retraction phase, the retraction phase following completion of the drilling phase, choosing a hole defect mitigation routine based on the at least one monitored drill parameter when the at least one drill parameter is outside the predetermined specification, said hole defect mitigation routine comprising at least one drilling phase defect mitigation routine for implementation during the drilling phase and at least one retraction phase mitigation routine for implementation during the retraction phase, said refraction phase mitigation routine comprising one or more selected from the group consisting of drill bit hang-up protection, torque monitoring and hole clean-out, said control system controlling said drill rig to implement said hole clean-out routine when one or more of said monitored drill retractions is outside a predetermined specification for drill retractions, said monitored hoist speed is outside a predetermined specification for hoist speed, and said drill torque is outside a predetermined specification for drill torque, said hole clean-out routine, comprising:

lowering the drill bit to a position above a bottom of the borehole;

rotating the drill bit for a spin-out period if the drill bit was retracted two or fewer times during the drilling phase;

rotating the drill bit for a product of the spin-out period and the number of drill retractions if the drill bit was retracted at least 3 times during the drilling phase; and

retracting the drill bit from the borehole.

4. A method for drilling a borehole, comprising:

monitoring one or more drill parameters comprising drill rotational speed, drill depth, hoist speed or number of drill retractions during a drilling phase and a retraction phase, the retraction phase beginning after the borehole has been drilled or after performing an end-of-hole measurement routine, said end-of-hole measurement routine being performed when said monitored drill depth meets a predetermined borehole depth and comprising:

lowering a drill bit to a position above a bottom of the borehole;

rotating the drill bit for a spin-out period if the drill bit was retracted two or fewer times during the drilling phase;

rotating the drill bit for a product of the spin-out period and the number of drill retractions if the drill bit was retracted at least 3 times during the drilling phase; and

retracting the drill bit from the borehole;

using the monitored drill parameter to draw a conclusion about a borehole characteristic;

choosing a defect mitigation routine based on the borehole characteristic; and

implementing the defect mitigation routine.

Assignments (12)

Continuity (4)