DETAILED ENGINEERING OF THE AUTOMATION OF A TEST BENCH FOR DRILLING FLUIDS AND CUTTINGS TRANSPORT OF ECOPETROL – ICP

During well drilling processes, the accumulation of cuttings downhole can cause several problems such as stuck pipe, increased torque, bit burnout and, most importantly, a considerable decrease in the drilling penetration rate, all leading to prolonged operating periods and increasing costs of up to 10% of the forecasted budget. Therefore, it is necessary to study, in a controlled environment, the behavior of the variables involved in the drilling process in order to improve the efficiency the operations involved. The Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo, ICP, fluids and drilling cuttings transport test bench is composed of different systems, in which tests are carried out to simulate the behavior of fluid and drilling cuttings transport in different stages of the process of creating a well for oil extraction. Automation is key to achieve any efficiency improvement goal. This test bench lacks the automation systems needed to monitor and control of the variables involved in the process. Due to this, ICP has considered initiating the development of a project to automate the drilling fluids test bench, in order to perform a series of different tests autonomously, with the possibility of remote controlling and monitoring the operation of the test bench, in addition to achieve greater efficiency and traceability in data collection. This work shows an early stage that involves the detailed engineering of automation and redesign of the existing system for the incorporation of rock cuttings into the hydraulic circuit of the test bench, which currently presents malfunctions. This is done through a sequential stages methodology which includes phases such as identification, definition, and investigation of the different subsystems that make up the test bench and their functioning, followed by the proposal, selection, and validation by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, simulation of the redesign of the cuttings incorporation system to solve the current backflow failure. Once this stage is completed, the selection and documentation of the necessary instrumentation (actuators, sensors, and electronic control equipment) for the automation of the test bench is carried out through decision-making tools such as Quality Function Deployment, QFD, matrices. Then, the design, programming, and simulation in a virtual environment of the strategies for controlling the physical variables of the test bench and the Human-Machine Interface are developed, followed by the testing and integration of the entire solution. Thus, the detailed engineering stage of the project is concluded, obtaining all the necessary information and documentation to begin the implementation of the equipment for the automation of the Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo, ICP, fluids and drilling cuttings transport test bench.