PNIPU the Navigator for drilling of oil wells

Main article: Information technologies in the oil and gas industry

2020: Development of "navigator" for drilling of oil wells

Scientists of the Perm Polytechnic University created "navigator" for drilling of oil wells. The university reported about it on October 5, 2020. A system on the basis of fiber optic gyroscopes automatically will control the direction of drilling without stopping of work and will increase its accuracy. The technology will allow to reduce considerably the cost of the equipment for construction of wells.

The navigator for drilling of oil wells

Developers conducted a research with assistance of the Ministry of science and the higher education of the Russian Federation.

At construction of "difficult" wells apply the rotor managed systems. They allow to control and change the direction of drilling, without stopping work. To define where there is a chisel, specialists use the telemetric systems. Fiber optic gyroscopes are the finest and hi-tech sensors for this equipment. We developed "navigator" for making of wells on the basis of solid-state gyroscopes, – the associate professor of oil and gas technologies of the Perm Polytechnic University, Candidate of Technical Sciences Alexander Melekhin tells.

Conditions of production of "black gold" reserves become more difficult therefore requirements to the accuracy of drilling of oil wells increase too. According to scientists, the sensors located in a telemetric system play a role of underground "navigators" in this process. They help to control the direction of an axis of the well and excesses which can complicate its drilling and future reference.

Block of the navigation system

Fiber optic gyroscopes are most perspective recently, developers consider. They are rather compact, can work in the conditions of big overloads, provide the high accuracy of measurements and long serve, at the same time are not more expensive than analogs of "last generation". Unlike them, these sensors read out not an earth magnetic field, but gravitation. It will allow oil-producing enterprises to refuse use of the expensive equipment – the non-magnetic weighted boring pipes. Development will help to reduce distance from a chisel to the measuring block for obtaining more operational data.

We conducted researches of an experimental sample of our navigation system on the basis of a fiber optic gyroscope. 24 measurements under different corners of the well showed that gyroscopes have all necessary characteristics on accuracy, – the scientist explains.