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Mechanical Model of Drilling Robot Driven by the Differential Pressure of Drilling Fluid

  • Research Article - Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

A new type of drilling robot driven by drilling fluid is proposed, whose traction force is provided by differential pressure inside and outside of the drilling robot. The fluid mechanical model of differential pressure is established based on the principle of pressure drop. The equations for calculating the traction force of the robot in no-load condition and load condition are derived respectively. The dynamic model of drilling robot is established and the calculation method of key parameters such as weight on bit (WOB) and rate of penetration (ROP) in the dynamic model is derived. The influence of flow rate of drilling fluid on ROP/velocity and traction force of the drilling robot is analyzed. Among them, with the increasing of flow rate, the ROP/velocity and the traction force of drilling robot increases in a nearly linear trend. In the no-load condition (traction process), the drilling robot will be in acceleration until the telescopic cylinder stops pumping drilling fluid. In the load condition (drilling process), the drilling robot will reach a balance with the mechanical drilling rate within 0.1s. The proposed drilling robot can provide the possibility for the downhole operations in horizontal well with long displacement or in the condition of large traction force request. What’s more, this paper will provide a theoretical guidance for the control of ROP and WOB in the drilling process, and promote the application of drilling robots.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Science and Technology Project of Sichuan Province (Nos. 2013GZ0150, 2014GZ0121, 2015SZ0010) and the Science and Technology Project of Nanchong City (No. NC17SY4019). This work is also supported by Research Project of Key Laboratory of Fluid and Power Machinery (Xihua University).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechatronic Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Qingyou Liu & Jianguo Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Qingyou Liu, Jianguo Zhao & Haiyan Zhu

  3. Key Laboratory of Fluid and Power Machinery of Ministry of Education (Xihua University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Qingyou Liu

  4. Drilling Department of China Petroleum Group Marine Engineering Co. Ltd., Tianjin, 300280, China

    Wei Zhang

  5. Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Haiyan Zhu

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  1. Qingyou Liu
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  2. Jianguo Zhao
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  3. Haiyan Zhu
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  4. Wei Zhang
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Correspondence to Haiyan Zhu.

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Liu, Q., Zhao, J., Zhu, H. et al. Mechanical Model of Drilling Robot Driven by the Differential Pressure of Drilling Fluid. Arab J Sci Eng 44, 1447–1458 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3578-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3578-3

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