IP Library Granted Patent US 11,506,047
Granted Patent B2
US 11,506,047 · App. 16/715,880 · Granted Nov 22, 2022

Image based inspection and automated inventory and supply chain management of well equipment

Inventors: Chinthaka Pasan Gooneratne (Dhahran, SA); Michael Affleck (Aberdeen, GB); Timothy E. Moellendick (Dhahran, SA)
Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
E21B47/04E21B17/02E21B21/08E21B41/00E21B41/0092E21B44/02E21B47/00E21B47/11G01F1/704G01N21/8851G05B19/4155G06Q30/0633G06Q50/02G08B21/187H04N5/225E21B3/04E21B19/008E21B21/062E21B21/106E21B33/061G05B2219/31229H04N2005/2255
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,506,047
App. No.
16/715,880
Granted
Nov 22, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A monitoring system includes an image sensor positioned about a rig, the image sensor directed at a drill string component positioned on the rig, and an onsite gateway communicably coupled to the image sensor and disposed proximate to the rig. The onsite gateway includes one or more processors, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors. The programming instructions instruct the one or more processors to receive an image stream of the drill string component from the image sensor, identify an operating parameter of the drill string component, generate an operating condition of the drill string component, determine that the generated operating condition meets a failure threshold of the drill string component, and send an instruction to drive a controllable device.

Claims (45)

1. A system, comprising:

an image sensor positioned about a rig, the image sensor directed at a drill string component positioned on the rig; and

an onsite gateway communicably coupled to the image sensor and disposed proximate to the rig, the onsite gateway comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the programming instructions instruct the one or more processors to:

receive an image stream of the drill string component from the image sensor;

identify, from the image stream, an operating parameter of the drill string component, wherein the operating parameter comprises an integrity of the drill string component, and identifying the operating parameter comprises analyzing the integrity of the drill string component;

generate, from the image stream and the identified operating parameter, an operating condition of the drill string component, wherein generating the operating condition comprises determining a failure type of a feature of the drill string component, the failure type comprising at least one of a crack, gouge, dent, pitting, wear, tear, or corrosion of the feature of the drill string component;

store the generated operating condition of the drill string component within a historical data on a cloud communicably connected to the onsite gateway, the cloud configured to store and analyze the historical data of operating conditions;

determine, based on the generated operating condition and the stored historical data of operating conditions on the cloud, that the generated operating condition meets a failure threshold of the drill string component; and

responsive to determining that the generated operating condition meets a failure threshold of the drill string component, send an instruction to drive a controllable device, wherein sending instruction to drive a controllable device comprises automatically prompting a retrieval of a replacement part of the drill string component from a fabrication factory and a transportation of the replacement part of the drill string component to the rig.

2. The system of claim 1 , where the image sensor comprises a high-definition camera.

3. The system of claim 1 , where the image sensor is one of a plurality of image sensors positioned about the rig.

4. The system of claim 3 , where the plurality of image sensors are at least partially directed at a drill string of the rig, the drill string comprising the drill string component.

5. The system of claim 1 , where the image sensor comprises an audio sensor configured to provide an audio stream to the onsite gateway.

6. The system of claim 1 , where the controllable device comprises a user interface, and sending an instruction to drive the controllable device comprises displaying an inspection report of the drill string component on the user interface.

7. The system of claim 1 , where the controllable device comprises a printer, and automatically prompting a retrieval or fabrication of a replacement part of the drill string component at a fabrication factory further comprises sending an instruction to drive the printer to manufacture the replacement part of the drill string component.

8. The system of claim 1 , where the drill string component comprises at least one of a drill pipe, a drill bit, a tool joint, or a casing.

9. A method, comprising:

capturing, with an image sensor positioned about a rig, an image stream of a drill string component being run into a well;

identifying, with an on-site gateway communicably coupled to the image sensor, an operating parameter of the drill string component from the captured image stream, wherein the operating parameter comprises an integrity of the drill string component, and identifying the operating parameter comprises analyzing the integrity of the drill string component;

generating, with the on-site gateway and from the image stream and the operating parameter, an operating condition of the drill string component, wherein generating the operating condition comprises determining a failure type of a feature of the drill string component, the failure type comprising at least one of a crack, gouge, dent, pitting, wear, tear, or corrosion of the drill string component;

storing the generated operating condition of the drill string component within a historical data of operating conditions on a cloud communicably connected to the on-site gateway, the cloud configured to store and analyze historical data of operating conditions;

determining, based on the generated operating condition and the stored historical data of operating conditions on the cloud, that the generated operating condition meets a failure threshold of the drill string component; and

in response to determining that the operating condition of the drill string component meets the failure threshold, transmitting a signal to drive a controllable device, wherein transmitting a signal to drive a controllable device comprises automatically prompting a retrieval of a replacement part of the drill string component from a fabrication factory and a transportation of the replacement part of the drill string component to the rig.

10. The method of claim 9 , where the controllable device comprises a user interface, and transmitting a signal to drive a controllable device comprises displaying an inspection report of the drill string component on the user interface.

11. The method of claim 9 , where the controllable device comprises a printer, and transmitting a signal to drive a controllable device further comprises prompting the printer to manufacture the replacement part for the drill string component.

12. The method of claim 9 , where the drill string component comprises at least one of a drill pipe, a drill bit, a tool joint, or a casing.

13. The method of claim 9 , where capturing an image stream of a drill string component comprises capturing, with a plurality of image sensors comprising the image sensor, the image stream of the drill string component.

14. The method of claim 9 , where identifying an operating parameter of the drill string component from the captured image stream comprises filtering the image stream using at least one of spatial domain or frequency domain filtering.

15. A system, comprising:

an image sensor positioned about a rig, the image sensor directed at a drill string component of a well tool positioned on the rig; and

an onsite gateway communicably coupled to the image sensor and disposed proximate to the rig, the onsite gateway comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the programming instructions instruct the one or more processors to:

receive an image stream of the drill string component from the image sensor;

identify, from the image stream, an operating parameter of the drill string component, wherein the operating parameter comprises an integrity of the drill string component, and identifying the operating parameter comprises analyzing the integrity of the drill string component;

generate, from the image stream and the identified operating parameter, an operating condition of the drill string component, wherein generating the operating condition comprises determining a failure type of a feature of the drill string component, the failure type comprising at least one of a crack, gouge, dent, pitting, wear, tear, or corrosion of the drill string component;

store the generated operating condition of the drill string component within a historical data on a cloud communicably connected to the onsite gateway, the cloud configured to store and analyze the historical data of operating conditions;

determine, based on the generated operating condition and the stored historical data of operating conditions on the cloud, that an automation rule includes the operating condition generated from the image stream; and

responsive to determining that an automation rule includes the operating condition, send an instruction to drive a maintenance robot to perform maintenance on the drill string component or to remove and replace the drill string component with a replacement drill string component.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising performing at least one of deep learning algorithms, machine learning algorithms, artificial intelligence algorithms, or big data analytics on the historical data stored on the cloud to generate an optimization parameter from the historical data; and

wherein determining that the generated operating condition meets a failure threshold of the drill string component comprises determining, based on the optimization parameter from the historical data on the cloud, that the generated operating condition meets the failure threshold.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein analyzing the integrity of the drill string component comprises analyzing the image stream using at least one of analog signal processing, digital signal processing, pattern recognition, edge detection, wavelet transform processing, pixelated processing, image texture processing, component-based approach connectivity processing, principle component analysis, independent component analysis, descriptors based methods, linear filtering, anisotropic diffusion operations, grey-level segmentation, or image thresholding.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein storing the generated operating condition of the drill string component within the historical data of operating conditions on the cloud comprises generating a dataset of the drill string component on the cloud.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 19, 2021
From: ARAMCO OVERSEAS COMPANY UK LIMITED
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 056282/0651 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 17, 2019
From: GOONERATNE, CHINTHAKA PASAN; MOELLENDICK, TIMOTHY E.
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 051654/0843 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 17, 2019
From: AFFLECK, MICHAEL
To: ARAMCO OVERSEAS COMPANY UK LIMITED
Reel/Frame 051655/0320 →
Continuity (4)
Provisional Application 62780833 · Dec 17, 2018
Provisional Application 62780856 · Dec 17, 2018
Provisional Application 62780843 · Dec 17, 2018
Related Publication 20200190963A1 · Jun 18, 2020