DI G ITAL TR AN S FOR MATION
H&P’s PDS Redzone computer vision system breaks down in-
dividual frames of camera footage taken around the red
zone of the pipe delivery system, sending an audible alarm if
it detects anyone in the red zone when the PDS is activated.
it will be able to reduce the time needed to process data and get
alerts out to the rig crews.
“Right now, the main hindrance with the cloud is that we’re
only as fast as the slowest data that we have coming in,” Mr
Olson said. “We can get the rig control system data basically in
real time, but we get the EDR data in five-minute packets from
our service provider, so we have to run the rig alert system at least
five minutes after. Then, it takes a couple of minutes to run code
and deliver the alert. By housing all of this in CORTEX KEY, there’s
going to be zero time to get the data in there. Instead of getting
notifications out in five or seven minutes, we will be able to get
them within one minute.”
This reduced latency will become important for Patterson-UTI
as it incorporates more alerts dealing specifically with the poten-
tial for loss of well control into the REX system, Mr Olson said.
The company currently has 83 alerts validated and available on
the REX system, with an additional 30 alerts under consideration.
New alerts, which have focused more on safety and hazardous
event detection, have tended to be more complex than the initial
alerts developed for the system and must be validated for effi-
ciency over a set of sample data sets. Examples of the new alerts
include identifying potential rig blackouts, mud pump expendable
failures, stuck pipe and well control procedural compliance.
New alerts like these have been a key driver for installing REX
directly on the rig’s servers, Mr Olson said. “For almost all the
alerts we have on REX, the latency doesn’t necessarily affect the
quality of the system. It’s not diminished because, for the most
part, these alerts are not for things that you need to know the sec-
ond they happen. But as we’re getting more in depth with things
like well control alerts, we want to know things the second it hap-
pens so that we can take quick action.”
Patterson-UTI says it expects to complete a pilot installation
of REX on 10 rigs in Q4 2023, then install it on all rigs by Q1 2024.
Addressing dropped object risk
Like with the rest of the drilling industry, alarm systems are
nothing new for Helmerich & Payne (H&P). The company has inte-
18 grated numerous custom alarms measuring various performance
objectives for its customers. It has an alarm system monitoring
excess engine use, which aims to conserve engine power on the
rig. It also has alarm systems for avoiding wellbore collisions
downhole. However, some of the technologies and systems the company
has been developing recently have centered around the mitiga-
tion of dropped object risk. One such technology H&P is set to
launch is aimed at keeping people away from the pipe delivery
system (PDS) during high-risk activities: PDS Redzone.
“We’re approaching this from our most vulnerable areas,” said
Mike Lennox, H&P Senior Vice President, US Land . “Where’s our
greatest opportunity? That’s around the PDS and the rig floor.
That’s our greatest exposure.”
Existing procedures are already in place to reduce the likeli-
hood of serious injury in the PDS area: using proper buffer zones
and barricades, equipment inspections, and thorough pre-job
planning to ensure all equipment components are in good work-
ing order and safety procedures are followed. Still, there remains a
risk of serious injury or fatality (SIF) from a dropped tubular in the
red zone, which H&P defines as a 45-ft radius from the PDS rack.
The PDS Redzone computer vision system uses a neural net-
work to break the individual frames of the incoming video into
smaller parts and detect essential features. The neural network is
trained on large data sets containing images or videos annotated
with the positions of critical points, such as the top of the PDS or
features of a human body. It learns to detect and associate these
key points with specific body parts or features, enabling it to esti-
mate the position and movement of an object or person in new,
unseen images.
When the PDS is activated, and operational conditions satisfy
the specified logic criteria for detecting a person or persons, the
system automatically triggers an audible alarm and strobe to alert
the individual of entry into the exclusion zone and simultane-
ously stops the PDS hydraulics.
Improvements to the system have been made as a result of field
testing on rigs in the Permian Basin. Refactoring the PDS Redzone
code has resulted in a 150% frame rate increase, wider field of
view, and four times more pixels per image. The camera system
also was relocated from under the rig floor to near the winch on
the back of the PDS to primarily focus on the top of the PDS.
Further , H&P aims to establish an extended management pro-
tocol for the exclusion zones beyond the red zone atop the PDS,
aligning with existing practices of employing physical barricades
and buffers. “We want to set it up so that there’s a buffer on all
sides of the pipe delivery system. Instead of just monitoring the
area in the immediate vicinity of the PDS, we want to monitor
further out because the exposure of tubulars is still great,” Mr
Lennox said, adding that the company plans to fully launch the
app throughout its fleet sometime in the next year.
Another H&P app, Rough Drilling, was also designed to mitigate
the risk of dropped objects during periods where the level of vibra-
tion of the drillstring downhole exceeds anticipated levels .
The company defines “rough drilling” based on standard devia-
tions of hookload and torque. The app calculates these deviations
in real time: If it detects that the deviations are significant enough
J U LY/AU G U ST 2023 • D R I L L I N G C O N T R AC T O R