The impact of Soft Torque

Technology on Drilling
Performance
Mike Lukyanov Odion Ikhajiagbe
Well Engineer Well Engineer
Agenda:
§ Motivation
§ Fundamentals of stick-slip
§ Current Solutions
§ Fundamentals of Soft Torque
§ Pearl Wells Application
§ Appraisal Wells Application
§ Conclusions
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Motivation:
§ Industry surveys in 2009 highlighted demand for stick
slip mitigation
“24 second bit stall and a 1.4 second backward drill
rotation”
§ GDI have seen plenty of top drive failures, core jams
and poor core recoveries

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GDI Experiences:
§ Core jams and poor recoveries, 27’-68’ with 50% recovery
§ Top Drive Failures
Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of total NPT 5% 19% 1% 24% 16%

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What is Stick Slip:
Surface torque n Cyclic, heavy torsional
40
vibrations
35

30

25

n 3-10 second period

Torque [kNm]

20

15

10

-5
n Bottom Hole Assembly
3500 3505 3510 3515 3520
Time [sec]
3525 3530 3535 3540
(BHA) comes to a
complete stop in “stick
Downhole speed
250 phase”
200

150

n BHA accelerates up to five

RPM

100

50
times surface speed in “slip
0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
phase”
Time [sec]

5
 Fundamentals of stick-slip:
§The difference between the “static” and the “dynamic” friction
torque actually adds “negative damping” to the system:
§As bit comes to near stall, friction jumps up to Tstat
§ When it breaks free again, the friction jumps down to Tdyn

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Current Solutions:
§ Proper hole cleaning
§ Good control of drilling parameters (RPM & WOB)
§ BHA and bit design improvements
§ High frequency data acquisition to detect stick slip
§ The Soft Torque System

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NO STRS / STRS OFF STRS ON

Ad
de
Electric motor d
M ele dam
me pin
Drive inertia nt g

n Achieved by
Drill pipe changing the
stiffness drive controls
n Could be software
or electronics

BHA inertia n Tuning is

required:
“Cf” and “Kf”
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Soft Torque in a nutshell:

9
Pearl Wells Application:
§ 22 wells drilled using the SIMPOS operations
§ Last 7 wells had STRS installed and fully functional in 8
½’’ section
§ Similar drilling parameters were used on the compared
wells
§ Main comparison was done on stick-slip % observed
using:

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 Pearl Wells Application:
Av. 14.9 % Stick Slip Av. 8.9 %
30

25

20
Stick-Slip (%)

15

10

0
Well A Well B Well C Well D Well E Well F Well G Well H Well I Well J Well K Well L
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 Pearl Wells Application:
Av. 59.5 ft/hr ROP Av. 77.2 ft/hr
100

90

80

70

60
ROP (ft/hr)

50

40

30

20

10

0
Well A Well B Well C Well D Well E Well F Well G Well H Well I Well J Well K Well L
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Pearl Wells Application:
§ Improvements in bit performance were observed
§ Less bit wear and more footage drilled per bit
§ IADC bit dull grading was used and same crew applied it
§ Weighted average with respect to footage drilled was
taken
Bit Wear
feet/bit
Inner Teeth Outer Teeth
With-Out STRS 2371.9 1.5 3.2
With STRS 2567.6 1.0 2.0
% Improvement 8.2 34.2 37.1
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Appraisal Wells Application:
§ Obtaining good core samples is a priority
§ Soft torque reduced torsional vibrations aiding in improved
core recovery
§ A comparison was made between our rig and a sister rig
coring in a similar field
Well Name STRS Installed Cored interval/Core Barrel (%) Recovery (%)

Appraisal Well 1 Yes 70.4 99.5

Appraisal Well 2 Yes 65.2 95.8

Sister Rig No 40.9 - 14
Appraisal Wells Application:
Torque (K ft-lb)
0 15
§ Torque readings at surface for
both rigs were analyzed
§ Cores from the same formation
interval were compared
§ The rig with no STRS clearly
shows higher torque fluctuations
on the same axis
§ This can be a cause for core
jams and poor recoveries
15
0 RPM 120
Conclusions:
§ Stick slip is damaging both for equipment and for cores
§ STRS aided Qatar Shell in:
• Reducing stick slip by 40%
• Increasing ROP by 30%
• Reducing bit wear
• Good quality cores
§ STRS is easy to implement and has shown good results

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References:
1. C. Fraser, Hitec Products Drilling; G. White, Rowan Drilling; and E. DePeuter, LeTourneau Technologies- “Direct-
top drive designed to eliminate failure & downtime related to gearbox or motor” 02 November 2009
2. Frank Springett, SPE; Andy Shelton, National Oilwell Varco; Jeffrery Swain, SPE Chevron; Dustin Torkay, SPE,
Seawell Americas; Christopher Goetz, SPE, Kingston Systems; Thomas Geehan, SPE, MI Swaco; Keith Womer,
SPE, KW Technology Services; Mike Killalea, International Association of Drilling Contractors- “Advanced Rig
Technology: Future Technology Subcommittee Report of Activities and Industry Survey” paper SPE 128953
prepared for presentation at the 2010 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA,
2-4 Feb 2010
3. K.A. Womer, KWTS; D.R. Torkay, G. Villanueva, Seawell Americas; T. Geehan, M-I SWACO; J. Brakel, Shell; D.
Pirovolou, Schlumberger; D. Reid, NOV; M. Killalea, IADC – “Results of July 15, 2010 IADC Stick-Slip Mitigation
Workshop” paper SPE 140044 prepared for presentation at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 1-3 2011
4. L. Van den Steen - “Suppressing stick-slip-induced drill string vibrations- A hyperstability approach”
University of Twente (1997)
5. J.D. Jansen - “Non-linear dynamics of oil well drillstrings”- Delft (1993)
6. P.J. Nessjoen, A. Kyllingstad - “A new stick-slip prevention system” paper SPE 119660 National Oilwell Varco -
SPE / IADC Amsterdam (2009)
7. Anton Vos, Allan Cross, Bart Lismont, John van Venrooij, Roy Quaden, Sean Byrne/ Qatar Shell GTL- “SIMOPS,
Intending to Break North Field Records in String Time per Well” paper SPE 117848 prepared for presentation at
the 2008 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 3-6 November 2008
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 Thank you
Mike Lukyanov Odion Ikhajiagbe
Well Engineer Well Engineer
m.lukyanov@shell.com odion.ikhajiagbe@gdi.com.qa
+974 44957493 +974 44637383

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Backup Slides

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