Demonstration of the Drilling and Wells Interoperability Standard Framework in a Multi-Company Context

Abstract As drilling process automation advances at rig sites, new challenges arise. Multiple Automated Drilling Control Systems (ADCS) require advisory system providers to develop various interfaces. Although a typical ADCS supports multiple advisory connections, it cannot easily switch to another advisor's recommendations once control is established. Additionally, there is no transparent data exchange with computer-interpretable descriptions for dynamically identifying available data sources during operations. These challenges have led an SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) subcommittee to create a framework for semantic interoperability across multiple ADCS and advisory systems. The Drilling and Wells Interoperability Standards (D-WIS) framework has undergone testing through increasingly complex demonstration scenarios. These began with multi-agent management of drilling performance and progressed to automated drill-a-stand procedures using recommendations from multiple advisory systems. Further demonstrations incorporated automatic protection functions, such as safe operating envelopes and fault detection, isolation, and recovery triggers. Finally, dynamic planning operations were showcased. The demonstrations proved that multiple advisory systems could collaborate using the D-WIS framework while connecting to various ADCS solutions. Bridges have been developed to enable connection to different ADCS solutions, without requiring changes to the ADCS themselves. All advisory systems involved in testing were existing commercial solutions. Vendors added a communication layer to the D-WIS framework backbone, known as the ‘Blackboard’. This layer comprises two parts: one based on semantic technology for dynamically discovering available data and its meaning, and another based on OPC-UA communication for fast, low-latency real-time signal exchange. A Drilling Process State Interpretation engine publishes the current drilling process state in a defined format, ensuring synchronization among all parties. A Scheduler executes an electronic Rig Action Plan (eRAP), defined dynamically by rules triggered by the interpreted drilling process state. These rules may adjust the priority of advisory systems best suited to provide recommendations to ADCS functions, such as prioritizing systems well suited at cuttings transport during rapid drilling or those adapted in managing drill-string vibrations when encountering hard stringers. An Advice Composer uses the priorities set by the Scheduler to select or combine recommendations before passing them to the ADCS bridge. This bridge allows advisory systems to interact with a generic set of ADCS functions, eliminating the need for detailed configuration knowledge. D-WIS enhances drilling automation capabilities at the rig site while ensuring seamless interoperability among different parties. This opens new opportunities for developing advisory systems and ADCS functions, potentially driving further efficiency improvements beyond those achieved with the initial adoption of drilling automation.