In the history of oil and gas drilling, the basic principles and methods involved in drilling sensor technology have only changed twice. The invention of the borehole sensor first appeared in the 1920s. Prior to this, the industry was basically blindly drilling. The drilling tools developed were simply using techniques such as acid in the bottle to corrode the glass out of the meniscus, or other simple mechanical means to measure well deviations.
In the 1970s, with the invention of magnetic steering tools, a major revolution swept the industry, and the principle is that most modern directional drilling tools still follow today. However, we are now witnessing the dawn of a new era – directional technology drilling sensors based on MEMS technology are being accepted as a reliable alternative to drilling.
Why is MEMS?
With MEMS technology, humans create micromechanical devices with the most vivid imagination. It is envisaged that gears, transmissions, clutches, actuators, and even micro-turbine engines can be as large as nails. But how do humans achieve microscopically? Even modern precision computer controlled machines cannot meet the microscopic scale required for MEMS devices.
The secret lies in the innovation of semiconductor manufacturing technology. Like the devices that make the tiny transistors needed for today's powerful computers, semiconductor manufacturers can create micromechanical components layer by layer. The deposition, delamination of materials, and the removal of excess material by lithography and etching processes are key technologies for fabricating MEMS devices.
MEMS manufacturing based on semiconductor technology not only miniaturizes devices, but also makes them inexpensive and rugged. Semiconductor factories are constantly on the road to manufacturing chips or MEMS, and it is difficult to move forward. These economies of scale use the same processes, equipment, and low-cost materials, making MEMS an attractive technology for mass production sensors.
The miniaturization of MEMS devices gives them inherent reliability. Based on semiconductor technology, these devices combine anti-fatigue components, so that MEMS structures will not fail through billions or even trillions of cycles. The microscopic size of MEMS devices means less motion quality, which means excellent reliability under shock and vibration.
MEMS economic scale
In 1993, Analog Devices (ADI) released the first MEMS accelerometer. The mass production of this sensor first originated from the demand for airbag applications. Since then, MEMS has grown at an alarming rate. In fact, every mobile phone now has MEMS accelerometers, magnetometers and gyroscopes, many of which also include MEMS pressure sensors (barometers) and microphones. Sensors that are shipped in mega-globals worldwide sell for only a few dollars or even less than one dollar. As the market scale continues to expand, new applications of MEMS technology will continue to be discovered. According to the 2017 MEMS Industry Status - 2017 Edition released by Yole, the MEMS and sensor market will grow from $38 billion in 2016 to $66 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 12%. From the perspective of shipments, sensors and actuators (including surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters, oscillators, inkjet heads, micromirrors, microfluidic devices, etc.) will be from 650 in 2016. The number of billions has grown to 138 billion in 2021.
Application of MEMS technology in directional drilling
Surprisingly, almost all electronic measurement-while-drilling (MWD) systems today use some kind of MEMS sensor . MEMS sensors have the natural properties of sensing and quantifying secondary parameters such as drilling dynamics and functional failure. Sensors for measuring downhole shock, vibration and rotation parameters are commercially available, economical, and well qualified. However, MWD systems have consistently used traditional sensor technology to perform critical borehole orientation measurements.
For a long time, the industry has been trying to find a replacement for a standard positioning sensor consisting of a three-axis inertial (mechanical, quartz-based) accelerometer and a three-axis fluxgate (ring core) magnetometer. It is the main method of measuring the position of the wellbore. Traditional sensors are bulky, fragile, and expensive (sometimes equivalent to 100 to 1000 times the cost of MEMS sensors), but are very accurate and can be repeated for dozens of temperature cycles. Operators can tolerate very small errors or inaccurate positioning of the wellbore, but it is very difficult to certify alternative sensor technologies that match the existing accuracy and temperature repeatability of conventional sensors.
Directional drilling market is gradually opening to MEMS technology
Today's market demand is extremely demanding. The customer requested that a sufficient amount of directional drilling sensors be received immediately (eg, demand was received on the first day, and the goods were received the next day) and proved to be less expensive than the sensors used, with higher reliability and performance. Traditional sensor technology has become the opposite of market demand with high cost, long delivery time and poor stability.
This lays the foundation for sensor manufacturers to invest in the development and production of MEMS-based sensors to replace traditional sensors.
Innovation: endless
An effective way to improve the reliability of traditional sensors is to design a redundant system with two or more components. When the first component is used, the component that is backed up can be "alternate" immediately. For the sensor cost and size considerations, this route actually does not work for the innovators of traditional sensor technology. But MEMS sensors are smaller in size and much cheaper, and can be put on the right track.
Now, it is feasible to build a system with two or three redundant positioning sensors, which is less expensive than a traditional single sensor. MEMS sensor manufacturers can deploy a large number of sensor arrays with increased reliability, accuracy and performance in the same size as traditional sensors. This is just the beginning of the possibility that MEMS sensors will enable new applications and innovations.
The road to development of the hegemony market
The current "problem" is not "if" but "when" we will rely on MEMS technology for directional drilling. In this paper, most sensors are manufactured based on traditional technology. However, some manufacturers now offer innovative borehole measurement-grade orientation sensors that are partially or completely based on MEMS technology and are suitable for a wide range of temperatures. As the industry's confidence in new sensors grows, we expect more manufacturers to enter the market.
In addition, we interviewed many companies involved in research, development, manufacturing and supply of sensors in various industries, not just in the oil and gas industry. Every interviewed manufacturer showed a clear model of transferring research and development funding from traditional sensor manufacturing technology to MEMS-based technology. Some manufacturers have abandoned their investment in traditional technology and are only focused on developing sensors based on MEMS technology.
Finally, while MEMS-based sensors have long been developed for use in other industries and in the oil and gas industry, new companies that focus on the design, development, and manufacture of high-temperature MEMS sensors for downhole oil and gas directional drilling are emerging. .
Nowadays, the demand for directional drilling service companies is getting smaller and smaller, and they are under increasing pressure to face the continuous lower prices and maintain operations while supplying innovative products. Equipment manufacturers are “adding wings†to service companies with competitive and reliable drilling technology products, and continue to find a way to provide customers with the same price but more innovative and better performance solutions.
MEMS technology allows new products to perform not only better or better than traditional sensors, but also provide higher value.
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