Method and system for determining the state of a drilling operation

Abstract

A method for determining a state of a drilling operation includes providing a first set of operational data of the drilling operation through a first time interval, providing a set of operational event dividers that delimit a plurality of second time intervals within the first time interval, for at least one of the plurality of second time intervals, providing a second set of operational data of the drilling operation through a second time interval, deriving characteristic values of the second set of operational data through the second time interval, and determining the state of the drilling operation in the second time interval based on the characteristic values.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for determining a state of a drilling operation, the method comprising:
 providing a first set of operational data of the drilling operation through a first time interval;   providing a set of operational event dividers that delimit a plurality of second time intervals within the first time interval;   for at least one of the plurality of second time intervals, providing a second set of operational data of the drilling operation through a second time interval;   deriving characteristic values of the second set of operational data through the second time interval; and   determining the state of the drilling operation in the second time interval based on the characteristic values.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the operational data is selected from at least one of status data obtained by drilling equipment and an operational measurement provided by a sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the operational data is selected from at least one of a weight-on-bit, a mud circulation rate, a rotation, a torque, a slips state, and a bit depth. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of operational event dividers are provided so that the plurality of second time intervals do not overlap. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the set of operational event dividers are provided so that the plurality of second time intervals span the entire first time interval. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein,
 the set of operational event dividers represent points of time, and   the operational data comprises values of data which cross a predetermined threshold value.   
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of operational event dividers are selected from at least one of a slips open event, a slips close event, a weight-on-bit on event, and a weight-on-bit off event. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second time interval is delimited by operational event dividers representing data of a same class of operational data. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second time interval is delimited by operational event dividers representing data of a different class of operational data. 
     
     
         10 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic values of the second set of operational data through the second time interval are derived as,
 an average of the second set of operational data through the second time interval,   a median of the second set of operational data through the second time interval, or   a change in the second set of operational data over the second time interval.   
     
     
         11 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the state of the drilling operation based on the characteristic values includes comparing the characteristic values with at least one predetermined threshold value. 
     
     
         12 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the state of the drilling operation based on the characteristic values includes looking up in prestored data. 
     
     
         13 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein,
 the step of providing the second set of operational data of the drilling operation through the second time interval,   the step of deriving characteristic values of the second set of operational data through the second time interval, and   the step of determining the state of the drilling operation in the second time interval based on the characteristic values,   are repeated for the plurality of second time intervals so as to result in a series of determined states of the drilling operation through the first time interval.   
     
     
         14 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the first set of operational data of the drilling operation through the first time interval is completed before each of,
 the step of providing the set of operational event dividers,   the step of providing a second set of operational data,   the step of deriving characteristic values, and   the step of determining the state of the drilling operation.   
     
     
         15 . A computer program product which, when loaded into a memory and executed on a processing device, causes the processing device to perform the method as recited in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         16 . A system for determining a state of a drilling operation, the system comprising:
 input devices configured to provide operational data of the drilling operation; and   a computer device configured to perform the method recited in  claim 1 .