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I interned there last year. They use a Windows 7 image that is preloaded with drilling software built in-house. Most of the newer software seemed to be written

by Cyph0n 11y ago

I interned there last year. They use a Windows 7 image that is preloaded with drilling software built in-house. Most of the newer software seemed to be written in .NET. They have some really awesome tech, especially from an electronics point of view. Some of their newer MWD (measurement while drilling) tools have state of the art sensors for every physical phenomenon known to man. The drilling operator can therefore "see" everything. The electronics systems that go downhole can withstand insane temperatures (125C), shocks, and RPM.

jqm 11y ago
So, but that isn't really a "proprietary OS" if it's a Windows 7 image loaded with software. That internship sounds pretty cool. I bet they do have some neat tech.
- Cyph0n 11y ago
  I guess that's what they're switching from. It seemed to work fine for them, especially since most reporting can be done using MS Office, which everyone is familiar with. Maybe it's getting expensive to support, given how many licenses they need? Yeah, the technology is insane. I'll give you an example of what I mean by that. Think of this situation: all of the parts of the drill string that contain the sensors that provide real-time environment conditions AND control the direction of drilling are, say, 3 km underground. How the hell do you send movement commands or receive sensor data? It's not practical to extend a wire for that distance. Wireless communication is unreliable at best underground. More importantly, how do you provide power to these tools? Luckily for them, mud is continually pumped through the drill string for many reasons, including cooling the drill bit and breaking down the formation. So they used that mud to communicate and transfer power. The general idea is to vary the flow rate on the surface to transmit binary information. To send data upwards, the mud flow is blocked and unblocked, and the pressure change is detected on the surface. It's pretty fascinating stuff!
  - srean 11y ago
    That's pretty amazing. Could you or anyone else elaborate why would providing a conventional electrical conductance based communication channel be difficult ? I am sure it is, otherwise they wouldn't go to such great lengths( or depths, in this case)
    - Cyph0n 11y ago
      I'm no expert on the subject, but according to Wikipedia [1], there is in fact a technique that involves using a wire, but it's still not in widespread use. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_while_drilling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_while_drilling
      - yakult 11y ago
        That article still mentions the use of mud pulse telemetry, though. Considering the low bandwith of mud, pulling a cable all the way down is probably not an option, or else it would already be done. I wonder if it's possible to use a relay of short-range wireless transmitters, with heavy error correction? Bandwidth of mud telemetry is 'up to' 40 bps or 250 with compression, according to this: http://www.bakerhughes.com/products-and-services/drilling/drilling-services/measurement-while-drilling/axcelerate-high-speed-mud-pulse-telemetry http://www.bakerhughes.com/products-and-services/drilling/dr...
    - ejanus 11y ago
      For now Mud Pulse telemetry is well researched and pretty reliable technology. But I would not make a hazard guess what will happen tomorrow.
  - x5n1 11y ago
    Mud does sound very reliable or having much bandwidth. Plus is the drill not made out of metal? Why not just use the entire drill as a conductive "wire"?
    - Cyph0n 11y ago
damian2000 11y ago
I worked in a similar field until recently ... a lot of the ICs being used were automotive rated, hence the high temp rating. Also, pressures on the outside of the tool get massive - up to 15,000psi depending on depth.
- ejanus 11y ago
  Is it automotive? I was thinking of military grade..
ejanus 11y ago
I left SLB few months ago , and during my stay there I was exposed to most of their MWD tools. I worked both in the maintenance and field engineering organization. Please note that all MWD(D&M) tools are expected to withstand 150 degC however some high temperature tools could get up to 170 degC. But this is just industry standard (Baker, Halliburton, and others have such).Their electronics technology has been around for decades, however SLB started off(recently) making incremental improvement and at same time incorporating new technologies. Please don't use the word "see" because there is nothing radical here or new. MWD tools are just sensors.. magnetometers, accelerators, strain gauges , FPGA and some basic electronics power system. In some cases you may have transmitters and receivers oriented to a particular frequency range. MWD tools have sensors in the same family as what we have in a smart phone.
- Cyph0n 11y ago
  How about density, porosity, resistivity, and so on? I saw some LWD tools that used different sonic-based techniques, nuclear sources, and others for formation evaluation. I'm thinking of the PeriScope, EcoScope from LWD, and the TeleScope from MWD. The point-the-bit tech in the Xceed is also amazing! I didn't get to read up on the details, as they prevented interns from accessing technical documents, but from what I saw some of the sensors were quite advanced. Granted, I don't have that much exposure to state of the art sensor tech, so I could be wrong.
  - ejanus 11y ago
    I wont like to discuss SLB technology here because that is the duty of their salesmen, however I will pick on "point-the-bit tech in the Xceed" technology to illustrate a bit. Xceed is modeled after an MWD tool called PowerPulse(TeleScope predecessor), it copied about 90% of that technology. However to the uninitiated it may look like something from the outer space. It has resolver(motor), that means you have angular position, and throw in magnetometers, accelerators , and sensors into the play. Presto!

by Cyph0n 11y ago

jqm 11y ago

So, but that isn't really a "proprietary OS" if it's a Windows 7 image loaded with software. That internship sounds pretty cool. I bet they do have some neat tech.

Cyph0n 11y ago
I guess that's what they're switching from. It seemed to work fine for them, especially since most reporting can be done using MS Office, which everyone is familiar with. Maybe it's getting expensive to support, given how many licenses they need? Yeah, the technology is insane. I'll give you an example of what I mean by that. Think of this situation: all of the parts of the drill string that contain the sensors that provide real-time environment conditions AND control the direction of drilling are, say, 3 km underground. How the hell do you send movement commands or receive sensor data? It's not practical to extend a wire for that distance. Wireless communication is unreliable at best underground. More importantly, how do you provide power to these tools? Luckily for them, mud is continually pumped through the drill string for many reasons, including cooling the drill bit and breaking down the formation. So they used that mud to communicate and transfer power. The general idea is to vary the flow rate on the surface to transmit binary information. To send data upwards, the mud flow is blocked and unblocked, and the pressure change is detected on the surface. It's pretty fascinating stuff!
- srean 11y ago
  That's pretty amazing. Could you or anyone else elaborate why would providing a conventional electrical conductance based communication channel be difficult ? I am sure it is, otherwise they wouldn't go to such great lengths( or depths, in this case)
  - Cyph0n 11y ago
    I'm no expert on the subject, but according to Wikipedia [1], there is in fact a technique that involves using a wire, but it's still not in widespread use. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_while_drilling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_while_drilling
    - yakult 11y ago
      That article still mentions the use of mud pulse telemetry, though. Considering the low bandwith of mud, pulling a cable all the way down is probably not an option, or else it would already be done. I wonder if it's possible to use a relay of short-range wireless transmitters, with heavy error correction? Bandwidth of mud telemetry is 'up to' 40 bps or 250 with compression, according to this: http://www.bakerhughes.com/products-and-services/drilling/drilling-services/measurement-while-drilling/axcelerate-high-speed-mud-pulse-telemetry http://www.bakerhughes.com/products-and-services/drilling/dr...
  - ejanus 11y ago
    For now Mud Pulse telemetry is well researched and pretty reliable technology. But I would not make a hazard guess what will happen tomorrow.
- x5n1 11y ago
  Mud does sound very reliable or having much bandwidth. Plus is the drill not made out of metal? Why not just use the entire drill as a conductive "wire"?
  - Cyph0n 11y ago

damian2000 11y ago

I worked in a similar field until recently ... a lot of the ICs being used were automotive rated, hence the high temp rating. Also, pressures on the outside of the tool get massive - up to 15,000psi depending on depth.

ejanus 11y ago
Is it automotive? I was thinking of military grade..

ejanus 11y ago

I left SLB few months ago , and during my stay there I was exposed to most of their MWD tools. I worked both in the maintenance and field engineering organization. Please note that all MWD(D&M) tools are expected to withstand 150 degC however some high temperature tools could get up to 170 degC. But this is just industry standard (Baker, Halliburton, and others have such).Their electronics technology has been around for decades, however SLB started off(recently) making incremental improvement and at same time incorporating new technologies. Please don't use the word "see" because there is nothing radical here or new. MWD tools are just sensors.. magnetometers, accelerators, strain gauges , FPGA and some basic electronics power system. In some cases you may have transmitters and receivers oriented to a particular frequency range. MWD tools have sensors in the same family as what we have in a smart phone.

Cyph0n 11y ago
How about density, porosity, resistivity, and so on? I saw some LWD tools that used different sonic-based techniques, nuclear sources, and others for formation evaluation. I'm thinking of the PeriScope, EcoScope from LWD, and the TeleScope from MWD. The point-the-bit tech in the Xceed is also amazing! I didn't get to read up on the details, as they prevented interns from accessing technical documents, but from what I saw some of the sensors were quite advanced. Granted, I don't have that much exposure to state of the art sensor tech, so I could be wrong.
- ejanus 11y ago
  I wont like to discuss SLB technology here because that is the duty of their salesmen, however I will pick on "point-the-bit tech in the Xceed" technology to illustrate a bit. Xceed is modeled after an MWD tool called PowerPulse(TeleScope predecessor), it copied about 90% of that technology. However to the uninitiated it may look like something from the outer space. It has resolver(motor), that means you have angular position, and throw in magnetometers, accelerators , and sensors into the play. Presto!