Bit face orientation control in drilling operations

1. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

the control system including computing apparatus programmed for receiving a speed limit input and a torque limit input by an operator person, the speed limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on speed of movement of the drillstring, the torque limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on torque applied to the drillstring,

the control system controlling movement by the motive apparatus so that the speed limit is not exceeded and so that the torque limit is not exceeded,

wherein the motive apparatus comprises a top drive system,

the top drive system includes a top drive and driving of the top drive is done by a variable frequency drive,

a variable frequency drive controller controls the variable frequency drive,

the control system controls the variable frequency drive controller,

the variable frequency drive controller provides feedback to the control system indicative of actual speed of a drive shaft of the top drive, the drive shaft connected to the drillstring to rotate the drillstring and the bit, and feedback indicative of the actual torque applied to the drillstring by the top drive shaft,

the bit is to be moved to a destination position from a starting position,

wherein the control system controls the motive apparatus so that overshooting of the destination position by the bit is eliminated or minimized, and

wherein the control system calculates a constant acceleration for initial movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit, a constant velocity for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit following movement at a constant acceleration, and a constant deceleration for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit to move the bit to a destination position with no or minimal overshooting of the destination position.

2. A method for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the method comprising

moving a control member of a system to orient the bit, the moving done manually by a person, the system including motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface, a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member, a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

controlling the motive apparatus with the control system, and

rotating the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member.

3. The method of claim 2

wherein the control system controls movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit to move the bit to a destination position with no or minimal overshooting of the destination position, the method further comprising moving the drillstring and bit to move the bit to the destination position with no or minimal overshooting of the destination position.

4. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

the control system including computing apparatus programmed for receiving a speed limit input and a torque limit input by an operator person, the speed limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on speed of movement of the drillstring, the torque limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on torque applied to the drillstring, and

the control system controlling movement by the motive apparatus so that the speed limit is not exceeded and so that the torque limit is not exceeded.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein

the control member is a manually rotatable knob operatively connected with the control system.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the motive apparatus comprises a top drive system.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein

the top drive system includes a top drive and driving of the top drive is done by a variable frequency drive,

a variable frequency drive controller controls the variable frequency drive, and

the control system controls the variable frequency drive controller.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein

the variable frequency drive controller provides feedback to the control system indicative of actual speed of a drive shaft of the top drive, the drive shaft connected to the drillstring to rotate the drillstring and the bit, and feedback indicative of the actual torque applied to the drillstring by the top drive shaft.

9. The system of claim 4 wherein

the bit is to be moved to a destination position from a starting position, and

wherein the control system controls the motive apparatus so that overshooting of the destination position by the bit is eliminated or minimized.

10. The system of claim 7

wherein the control system calculates a constant acceleration for initial movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit, a constant velocity for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit following movement at a constant acceleration, and a constant deceleration for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit to move the bit to a destination position with no or minimal overshooting of the destination position.

11. The system of claim 4 wherein

the control system stops the motive apparatus whenever the speed of rotation of the drillstring and the bit is within a preselected dead band range, thereby stopping rotation of the drillstring and the bit.

12. The system of claim 4 wherein the motive apparatus is a rotary table system.

13. The system of claim 4 wherein the control system includes programmable media and control software for accomplishing control functions.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the control system includes control apparatus containing the programmable media, the control apparatus from the group consisting of computer, programmable logic controller, single board computer, central processing unit, microcontroller, and finite state machine.

15. The system of claim 4 further comprising

an operator interface for an operator to input to the control system limit values for motive apparatus speed, torque to be applied to the drillstring by the motive apparatus, and a desired bit destination position.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein

the control system provides to the operator interface indications of actual motive apparatus speed, actual torque applied to the drillstring, and position of the control member.

17. The system of claim 4 further comprising

the motive apparatus having a rotating part for rotating the drillstring, and

encoder apparatus in communication with the control system, the encoder apparatus for providing a position signal indicative of position of the rotating part of the motive apparatus.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein

the control system continuously uses the position signal from the encoder apparatus to control the motive apparatus.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein

the motive apparatus is a top drive system and the rotating part is a top drive shaft of the top drive system.

20. The system of claim 13 wherein

the bit is to be moved for a period of time to arrive at a bit destination location,

the control software for calculating speed for the period of time and speed changes for the bit to approach the bit destination location, and

the control system for controlling speed of movement of the bit in accordance with calculations of the control software.

21. The system of claim 4 wherein the system is operable in open-loop mode and wherein

the motive apparatus is a top drive system and the rotating part is a top drive shaft of the top drive system,

the variable frequency drive provides feedback to the control system regarding speed of the top drive shaft, and

the control system for calculating a position of the top drive shaft based on speed feedback from the variable frequency controller and based on an indication of cycle time provided by the control system.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein

the control system includes computing apparatus programmed for receiving a speed limit input and a torque limit input by an operator person, the speed limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on speed of movement of the drillstring, the torque limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on torque applied to the drillstring,

the control system controlling movement by the motive apparatus so that the speed limit is not exceeded and so that the torque limit is not exceeded, and

the control system includes computing apparatus for receiving an incremental angular rotation distance input by the operator person and a drillstring rotation direction input by the operator person, the control system for controlling the top drive system so that the drillstring is rotated the incremental angular rotation distance in the input drillstring rotation direction.

23. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

the motive apparatus comprising a top drive system,

the top drive system including a top drive and driving of the top drive is done by a variable frequency drive,

a variable frequency drive controller controls the variable frequency drive, and

the control system controls the variable frequency drive controller.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein

the variable frequency drive controller provides feedback to the control system indicative of actual speed of a drive shaft of the top drive, the drive shaft connected to the drillstring to rotate the drillstring and the bit, and feedback indicative of the actual torque applied to the drillstring by the top drive shaft.

25. The system of claim 23

wherein the control system calculates a constant acceleration for initial movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit, a constant velocity for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit following movement at a constant acceleration, and a constant deceleration for movement by the motive apparatus of the drillstring and bit to move the bit to a destination position with no or minimal overshooting of the destination position.

26. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

the motive apparatus having a rotating part for rotating the drillstring, and

encoder apparatus in communication with the control system, the encoder apparatus for providing a position signal indicative of position of the rotating part of the motive apparatus.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein

the control system continuously uses the position signal from the encoder apparatus to control the motive apparatus.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein

the motive apparatus is a top drive system and the rotating part is a top drive shaft of the top drive system.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein

the control system includes computing apparatus programmed for receiving a speed limit input and a torque limit input by an operator person, the speed limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on speed of movement of the drillstring, the torque limit input comprising a signal indicative of a limit on torque applied to the drillstring,

the control system controlling movement by the motive apparatus so that the speed limit is not exceeded and so that the torque limit is not exceeded, and

the control system includes computing apparatus for receiving an incremental angular rotation distance input by the operator person and a drillstring rotation direction input by the operator person, the control system for controlling the top drive system so that the drillstring is rotated the incremental angular rotation distance in the input drillstring rotation direction.

30. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

the control system including programmable media and control software for accomplishing control functions,

the bit is to be moved for a period of time to arrive at a bit destination location,

the control software for calculating speed for the period of time and speed changes for the bit to approach the bit destination location, and

the control system for controlling speed of movement of the bit in accordance with calculations of the control software.

31. A system for selectively orienting a bit at the end of a drillstring, the system comprising

motive apparatus for rotating a drillstring and a bit, the bit connected to an end of the drillstring, the drillstring in a wellbore, the wellbore extending from an earth surface into the earth, the bit at a location beneath the earth surface,

a control member apparatus including a control member manually movable by a person to effect a change in orientation of the bit in the wellbore, the control member apparatus including signal apparatus for producing a movement signal indicative of manual movement of the control member,

a control system in communication with the motive apparatus and the control member, the control system for translating a movement signal from the control member apparatus into a command to the motive apparatus, the command commanding the motive apparatus to rotate the drillstring and the bit in correspondence to the movement of the control member,

wherein the system is operable in open-loop mode and wherein

the motive apparatus is a top drive system and the rotating part is a top drive shaft of the top drive system,

the variable frequency drive provides feedback to the control system regarding speed of the top drive shaft, and

the control system for calculating a position of the top drive shaft based on speed feedback from the variable frequency controller and based on an indication of cycle time provided by the control system.