Scholarly record
INTELLIGENT SYSTEM FOR DRILLING MUD DENSITY AND RHEOLOGY CONTROL BASED ON PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS AND SENSORS
Abstract
Drilling fluid properties – density and rheology (plastic viscosity, yield point, gel strength) – are essential for wellbore stability, pressure control, hole cleaning, and minimizing non-productive time (NPT) in oil and gas drilling. Traditional manual methods (pressurized mud balance, Fann 35 viscometer) are periodic, labor-intensive, and delay corrections, increasing risks of kicks, lost circulation, and instability. This study proposes an intelligent automated system for real-time monitoring and control using piezoelectric resonant sensors (tuning fork or vibrating beam) installed inline, which detect density via resonant frequency shifts and viscosity/rheology via damping/quality factor changes, enabling inversion to accurate API-equivalent parameters. Piezoelectric actuators (stack or bimorph) provide fast, precise adjustments through automated dosing of additives or dilution, controlled by an embedded unit with advanced algorithms (PID with feedforward, model predictive, or fuzzy logic) for autonomous closed-loop regulation. Compared to existing inline systems (vibrational, pipe, Couette), it offers compactness, no moving sensor parts, high-temperature/high-pressure robustness, rapid response (<1 min), and lower calibration needs. Modeling, calibration, and simulations show density errors <2–3 %, rheology deviations <±1 dial, and control settling times of 5–10 minutes, advancing drilling automation (Industry 4.0), enhancing safety, and reducing costs by minimizing NPT from mud deviations.
Publication details
References20
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