Safety Critical Systems Principles Applied to Drilling Engineering and Well Services Software

Sawaryn, Steven James; Sanstrom, B.; Williamson, H.E.; Kirkman, Matthew A.; McColpin, Glenn R.

doi:10.2118/84152-ms

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The potential influence of some of the drilling-and-completions applications on operational safety and integrity has been formally recognized for nearly a decade (Sawaryn et al 2003(Sawaryn et al , 2006. The applications treated in this way included casing-and-tubing design, well positioning and directional surveying, pore-pressure and fracture-gradient prediction, and measurement and well control.…”

Section: Portfolio Content and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling-and-Completions-Applications Portfolio Management—Changes and Trends

Sawaryn

Crawford

Whiteley

et al. 2015

SPE Economics &Amp; Management

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A drilling-and-completions-applications portfolio and its associated support services require constant attention if the portfolio is to remain up-to-date in both engineering and information technology (IT) terms and continue to serve the needs of the drilling-andcompletions engineering community. Over time, this management effort has become more involved and complex as the number of available applications has increased and the technologies have changed. The trend toward tighter integration and data sharing between drilling-and-completions applications and with other disciplines applications such as subsurface, places data management at the heart of the response. For large organizations, in particular, keeping up with the new releases and patches can be a challenge, and the need for backwards compatibility is paramount. Data issues and the poor connectivity associated with physical remoteness and some nonrig-based units also can impede the change out to other systems. Special attention is required for applications that are designated safety-critical or safety-related.This paper describes the way in which a major operator has defined and managed its drilling-and-completion portfolio during the last 20 years, to address the internal and industry changes and trends. The portfolio now serves the needs of more than 2,000 drilling-and-completions engineers worldwide. A wide range of examples, including the operator's WellAdvisor system, engineering toolkit, and wells/subsurface integration project, is presented, together with an evaluation of the portfolio-management challenges and successes that were achieved.It is concluded that integration requires the consistent application of strong data-management principles and a commitment to an underlying architecture to support simplification, reducing the number and complexity of the interfaces that one must manage. However, some flexibility is needed to promote the development of, and access to, new applications, and the concept of niche applications was introduced to address technical specialist's needs. Some applications that are either company-specific or are needed only in special circumstances do not lend themselves to being commercial products, and these tools are provided by custom-built, Web-based applications. The recent focus on real-time data, quality of service, and digital security is merely the latest change that has had to be accommodated.Despite the apparent rate at which technical and commercial changes are occurring, this paper's content illustrates the need to consider the portfolio-management issues over long cycle times. This paper will be of interest to both business and IT managers and engineers tasked with managing drilling, completions, and subsurface applications portfolios.

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Section: Portfolio Content and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling-and-Completions-Applications Portfolio Management—Changes and Trends

Sawaryn

Crawford

Whiteley

et al. 2015

SPE Economics &Amp; Management

Self Cite

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“…Increased automation of the workflows associated with these tasks means that most calculations must be taken for granted and will pass unchecked. Sawaryn et al 6 have described a process for managing these systems, and identified a number of requirements related to the equations they use. Specifically, equations must be traceable back to the source documentation, which must clearly explain their purpose, limitations, and use.…”

Section: Safety and Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this can give rise to random differences between software packages. 6 A better method is to develop series expressions that enable a smooth transition to be maintained.…”

Section: Safety and Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Compendium of Directional Calculations Based on the Minimum Curvature Method

Sawaryn¹,

Thorogood²

2005

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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The minimum curvature method has emerged as the accepted industry standard for the calculation of 3D directional surveys. Using this model, the well's trajectory is represented by a series of circular arcs and straight lines. Collections of other points, lines, and planes can be used to represent features such as adjacent wells, lease lines, geological targets, and faults. The relationships between these objects have simple geometrical interpretations, making them amenable to mathematical treatment. The calculations are now used extensively in 3D imaging and directional collision scans, making them critical for both business and safety. However, references for the calculations are incomplete, scattered in the literature, and have no systematic mathematical treatment. These features make programming a consistent and reliable set of algorithms more difficult. Increased standardization is needed.Investigation shows that iterative schemes have been used in situations in which explicit solutions are possible. Explicit calculations are preferred because they confer numerical predictability and stability. Though vector methods were frequently adopted in the early stages of the published derivations, opportunities for simplification were missed because of premature translation to Cartesian coordinates. This paper contains a compendium of algorithms based on the minimum curvature method (includes coordinate reference frames, toolface, interpolation, intersection with a target plane, minimum and maximum true vertical depth (TVD) in a horizontal section, point closest to a circular arc, survey station to a target position with and without the direction defined, nudges, and steering runs). Consistent vector methods have been used throughout with improvements in mathematical efficiency, stability, and predictability of behavior. The resulting algorithms are also simpler and more cost effective to code and test. This paper describes the practical context in which each of the algorithms is applied and enumerates some key tests that need to be performed.

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“…One solution adopted by Zaremba is to define a suitably small number at which the expression jumps abruptly to the asymptotic value 2 . However, this can give rise to random differences between software packages 6 . A better method is to develop series expressions that enable a smooth transition to be maintained.…”

Section: Angular Changementioning

confidence: 99%

A Compendium of Directional Calculations Based on the Minimum Curvature Method

Sawaryn

Thorogood

2003

Proceedings of SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThe minimum curvature method has emerged as the accepted industry standard for the calculation of 3D directional surveys. Using this model, the well's trajectory is represented by a series of circular arcs and straight lines. Collections of other points, lines and planes can be used to represent features such as adjacent wells, lease lines, geological targets and faults. The relationships between these objects have simple geometrical interpretations, making them amenable to mathematical treatment. The calculations are now used extensively in 3D imaging and directional collision scans, making them both business and safety critical. However, references for the calculations are incomplete, scattered in the literature and have no systematic mathematical treatment. These features make programming a consistent and reliable set of algorithms more difficult. Increased standardisation is needed.Investigation shows that iterative schemes have been used where explicit solutions are possible. Explicit calculations are preferred because they confer numerical predictability and stability. Though vector methods were frequently adopted in the early stages of the published derivations, opportunities for simplification were missed because of premature translation to Cartesian coordinates. This paper contains a compendium of algorithms based on the minimum curvature method (includes co-ordinate reference frames, toolface, interpolation, intersection with a target plane, minimum and maximum TVD in a horizontal section, point closest to a circular arc, survey station to a target position with and without the direction defined, nudges and steering runs). Consistent, vector methods have been used throughout with improvements in mathematical efficiency, stability and predictability of behaviour. The resulting algorithms are also simpler and more cost effective to code and test. This paper describes the practical context in which each of the algorithms is applied and enumerates some key tests that need to be performed. 2

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Safety Critical Systems Principles Applied to Drilling Engineering and Well Services Software

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Drilling-and-Completions-Applications Portfolio Management—Changes and Trends

Drilling-and-Completions-Applications Portfolio Management—Changes and Trends

A Compendium of Directional Calculations Based on the Minimum Curvature Method

A Compendium of Directional Calculations Based on the Minimum Curvature Method

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