Binning During Non-Rotation Drilling in a Wellbore

Abstract

A drilling rig apparatus is disclosed for improving slide drilling control by enabling use of azimuthal measurements while slide drilling to characterize and direct geosteering control. A bottom hole assembly controller receives RPM and gamma sensor data and transitions from a rotary, vertical binning mode to a slide drilling, horizontal binning mode when the RPM falls below a threshold. In the horizontal mode, the BHA controller tracks the hemisphere that the gamma sensors are in. As data from a gamma sensor is received from the upper hemisphere, it is associated with a top bin in a radial plot, and data from a gamma sensor in the lower hemisphere is associated with a bottom bin. The BHA controller estimates one or more bin values for bins falling between the top and bottom bins. The measured and estimated bin data is transmitted to the surface for image log creation and geosteering control.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bottom hole assembly comprising:
 a plurality of sensors configured to detect azimuthal measurements while the bottom hole assembly is in a wellbore;   a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors and configured to:
 place, during slide drilling operations, the detected azimuthal measurements from a first sensor of the plurality of sensors into a top portion of an upper hemisphere of a radial plot and the detected azimuthal measurements from a second sensor of the plurality of sensors into a bottom portion of a lower hemisphere of the radial plot; and 
 generate a plurality of intermediate values between the top portion of the upper hemisphere and the bottom portion of the lower hemisphere corresponding to intermediate portions of the radial plot; and 
   a transceiver configured to transmit the detected azimuthal measurements in the upper hemisphere, the intermediate values, and the detected azimuthal measurements in the lower hemisphere to a surface controller for image log generation used in controlling a direction of the bottom hole assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a rotation sensor configured to detect a rotation per minute (RPM) rate of the bottom hole assembly while drilling,   wherein the processor is further configured to:   compare the RPM rate to a first threshold RPM rate; and   transition from a vertical binning mode to a horizontal binning mode in response to the RPM rate equaling or being less than the first threshold RPM rate, the horizontal binning mode corresponding to the slide drilling operations.   
     
     
         3 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 transition from the horizontal binning mode to the vertical binning mode in response to the RPM rate being greater than a second threshold RPM rate, the vertical binning mode corresponding to rotational drilling operations.   
     
     
         4 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the plurality of sensors comprise gamma imaging sensors, and   the plurality of gamma imaging sensors comprise two gamma imaging sensors spaced apart by 180 degrees along a circumference of the bottom hole assembly.   
     
     
         5 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 assert, during slide drilling operations, a flag that indicates that the azimuthal measurements are occurring during slide drilling operations, wherein the flag is included with the transmission from the transceiver.   
     
     
         6 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
 transmit the detected azimuthal measurements in the upper hemisphere, the intermediate values, and the detected azimuthal measurements in the lower hemisphere to the surface controller in real time.   
     
     
         7 . The bottom hole assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a memory buffer configured to store data comprising the detected azimuthal measurements in the upper hemisphere, the intermediate values, and the detected azimuthal measurements in the lower hemisphere are retrieved from the bottom hole assembly,   wherein the transmission comprises the data being retrieved from the memory buffer after tripping the bottom hole assembly out of the wellbore.   
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 detecting, by a plurality of sensors of a bottom hole assembly in a wellbore, a first plurality of measurements from a first sensor of the plurality of sensors and a second plurality of measurements from a second sensor of the plurality of sensors;   placing, by a controller of the bottom hole assembly, the first plurality of measurements into an upper portion of a first hemisphere of a radial plot and the second plurality of measurements into a lower portion of a second hemisphere of the radial plot;   estimating, by the controller, a plurality of intermediate measurement values between the upper portion and the lower portion corresponding to intermediate portions of the first and second hemispheres; and   transmitting, from the bottom hole assembly, the first plurality of measurements, the second plurality of measurements, and the plurality of intermediate measurement values to a surface controller for image log generation used in controlling a direction of the bottom hole assembly.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 tracking, by a rotation sensor at the bottom hole assembly, a rotations per minute (RPM) rate of the bottom hole assembly while drilling;   comparing, by the controller, the RPM rate to a first threshold RPM rate; and   transitioning, by the controller, from a vertical binning mode to a horizontal binning mode in response to the RPM rate being equal to or less than the first threshold RPM rate, wherein the horizontal binning mode corresponds to slide drilling operations.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 comparing, by the controller, the RPM rate to a second threshold RPM rate; and   transitioning, by the controller, from the horizontal binning mode to the vertical binning mode in response to the RPM rate being greater than the second threshold RPM rate, the vertical binning mode corresponding to rotational drilling operations.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 asserting, by the controller, a flag that indicates the first and second plurality of measurements are occurring during slide drilling operations and the controller is in a horizontal binning mode; and   including, by the controller, the asserted flag with the transmitting during the horizontal binning mode.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the transmitting further comprises:
 transmitting, by the controller, the first plurality of measurements, the second plurality of measurements, and the plurality of intermediate measurement values in real time.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 storing, by the controller during drilling, the first plurality of measurements, the second plurality of measurements, and the plurality of intermediate measurement values into a memory buffer of the bottom hole assembly,   wherein the transmitting further comprises providing access to the memory buffer after tripping the bottom hole assembly out of the wellbore.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the plurality of intermediate measurement values comprises a left value for the radial plot and a right value for the radial plot, and   the transmitting further comprises transmitting the first plurality of measurements as an up value for the radial plot, the second plurality of measurements as a down value for the radial plot, and the left and right values.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a plurality of sensors of a bottom hole assembly in a wellbore while in a horizontal binning mode, a plurality of measurements;   associating a first measurement from the plurality of measurements with an upper bin of an upper hemisphere of a radial plot and a second measurement from the plurality of measurements with a lower bin of a lower hemisphere of the radial plot;   estimating a plurality of intermediate values between the upper bin and the lower bin corresponding to intermediate bins of the upper and lower hemispheres; and   transmitting the first measurement associated with the upper bin, the second measurement associated with the lower bin, and the plurality of intermediate values to a surface controller for use in controlling a direction of the bottom hole assembly while slide drilling.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 transitioning from a vertical binning mode to the horizontal binning mode in response to a tracked rotation per minute (RPM) rate of the bottom hole assembly falling below a first threshold RPM rate, the horizontal binning mode corresponding to slide drilling operations.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , the operations further comprising:
 tracking the RPM rate of the bottom hole assembly with a rotation sensor; and   comparing the RPM rate to the first threshold RPM rate.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
 comparing the RPM rate to a second threshold RPM rate; and   transitioning from the horizontal binning mode to the vertical binning mode in response to the RPM rate being greater than the second threshold RPM rate, the vertical binning mode corresponding to rotational drilling operations.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 including a flag that indicates, when asserted, that the first and second plurality of measurements are occurring during slide drilling operations and the controller is in a horizontal binning mode.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 transmitting the first measurement associated with the upper bin, the second measurement associated with the lower bin, and the plurality of intermediate values in real time.