Author Archives: Gefei Liu, PVI

About Gefei Liu, PVI

Please visit my LinkedIn profile to learn more about me. http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=115784500&trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Drilling Software: A Bridge between Research Efforts and Field Executions

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The term R&D or research and development refers to a specific group of activities within a business. There are 2 main goals of an R&D project: develop new products and discover/create new knowledge.

In our drilling community, we have seen many R&D projects with various sizes and duration. Petroleum engineering departments of many universities receive grants from industry and conduct specific tasks. On a big scale, joint industry projects (JIP) gather resources from different companies, both operators and service providers. I was involved in some big JIP projects such as DEA-44 (Horizontal Technology), DEA-42 (Casing Wear Technology) etc. By the way, DEA here stands for Drilling Engineering Association, not Drug Enforcement Administration. Many R&D projects produce great know-how and sometimes prototype products. However, we need a vessel to package the knowledge from these R&D efforts.

Software naturally becomes the form to hold the knowledge. With graphical user interface (GUI), it can become a powerful tool for end users, who often are not involved in the project.

An R&D project without action is incomplete. A software package serves as a bridge between the gap of research results and field executions. For example, not many people understand how the equation of force balance is used to calculate torque and drag along a drill string or casing, but most drilling engineers understand the hook load and surface torque charts. As a matter of fact, we don’t have to be able to solve numerical equations to be drilling engineers. The advanced engineering and calculation capabilities are already packed in the ready-to-use software like TADPRO (torque and drag model).

If not for exercising purpose, you probably want to ride to office than walk. You probably want to take bridge than take boat to reach the other end.

Let our drilling software help you drill more efficiently.

Drilling Software Is Like Movie

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In Dubai, I took some time off and went to watch the 3D movie “Life of Pi”. It is a beautiful movie in many ways. I watched it again on my flight to Houston.

I guess that movies touch more hearts than novels. Most people enjoy movies more than novels, probably because not many people have the luxury of reading a 200+ pages novel. I saw the novel (book) of Life of Pi in our local library, but it did not take me much time to decide not to borrow it. Another reason movies are more popular is that movies are the results of careful selection. Producers and directors must be extremely scrutinizing in selecting interesting or inspiring stories to base movies on.

Writing a novel is creativity in action. Translating a story into a movie or TV program is another form of creativity, requiring collaborative efforts from teams of talents. By comparison, we can tell that writing is more like playing solo in creating stories while movie making requires high technologies, performance, music, a pool of talents.

It is hard to say whether movie directors benefit more from writers or other way around to create a blockbuster sensation. It takes the best of both worlds to create a film like Life of Pi.

In a similar way, researchers and engineers write technical papers and create models. But the gap between researchers and field engineers is big. The theories developed by researchers sometimes are hard for field engineers to comprehend. Researchers may not fully understand the situations field engineers face.

Drilling software is like a movie based on certain stories (theories and models). Software developers are like movie makers, translating abstract equations into visual interfaces, often using hi-tech development tools.

A good software requires a technically sound model, carefully architected structure and easy-to-use navigation interface. The advanced model provides a solid base to construct a functional structure. Careful design makes sophisticated models appear simple and creates pleasant user-experience.

It is a leap from a script (model or theory) to a lively movie!

MUDPRO: leap from paper to electronic reporting

MUDPRO: leap from paper to electronic reporting

Gym Going and Software Using

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You probably just graduated from college. You have prepared yourself with knowledge and skills gained through years in school. And now, you are building up a career in petroleum industry.

You probably have been going to gym regularly, running on elliptical or crunching weights to make sure you look great, right? No doubt, a great physique is the foundation of success. It helps project a professional image of a young and energetic drilling engineer.

Unfortunately, this is only the 1st step to achieve your goal. You have a great vessel. Now it is time to put treasure of real world experience and know-how into it. They say: “Time is the best teacher.”, but this best teacher also kills all his students.

Fortunately, drilling engineering software such as PVI’s HYDPRO (drilling hydraulics) and TADPRO (torque and drag) can expedite your experience gaining process. You do need to go to field to obtain 1st hand experience. You can run tens or hundreds of drilling simulation using software in one day. Each simulation is a possible field observation. In short time, you mature in the drilling engineering area and you are still young!  You amplify your skill using software and you talk like seasoned engineers even though you look green.

Now, look at yourself in the mirror and you nod at yourself: “I am cool and ready to shake hand with world.”

Gym Going and Software Using

Drilling Software Solves Puzzle

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I once attended a Bible study, which focused on the book of Genesis. The teacher asked: “What is the most important piece of jigsaw puzzle?”  Students started to answer “The corner ones”, “One with straight edge”. After a pause, he slowly revealed “The most important piece of jigsaw is the box top.” We all smiled when he showed us a slide of a box of puzzle with puzzle image.

He further explained that the book of Genesis is the box top of the Bible. “Genesis maps out all the happenings of the entire Bible.” He said.

Many of us played with puzzles ourselves or with our children. The finished artwork bears no resemblance to the hundreds of pieces of colored cardboards in the box that initially greeted us. Although the individual elements remain the same, and do not reveal much information, the complete work allows us to see the whole picture.

In a similar manner, drilling engineers are constantly putting together the pieces of procedure, equipment, instrument readings from rig floor, and their own calculations. Our job is to fit them into the right places. This way, we can understand why certain drilling parameters change, why problems occur or what our observation mean.

The beauty of drilling software such as TADPRO (torque and drag) is its ability to put pieces of information including ROP, RPM and WOB all together to solve the puzzle. The integration of operation parameters, wellbore trajectory and advanced mathematics model produces more meaningful results.  Think of TADPRO as your box top!

Drilling_Software_Solves_Puzzle

Drilling Software: Your Hot Model

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Everyone including drilling engineer seems to be busier than before – There are always more wells to be drilled, more projects to be managed, more well planning to be done and reports to be run. Let us face it: you and I are not supermen or ironmen. We are just normal John and Joe, facing the increasing demanding.

Any help would be helpful. Imagine an assistant, who could be on-call 24/7! And she does not charge overtime or complain about tasks. One might think this kind of helper is a far-fetched idea. But what is in my mind is an assistant you can actually own and this assistant is most likely a super model: drilling engineering model.

All of us hate to do repeated tasks, and that is why we invented dish washer and vacuum cleaner. From abacus, to calculator, to computer, we calculate more and faster. It might be fun to find the greatest common divisor in 3rd grade, but hand calculation of a buoyant weight of pipe in mud is more of a tedious step than an exciting destination. We have important technical decisions to be made in office and on rig floor.

That is why drilling engineering software such as PVI’s TADPRO (torque and drag model) comes handy. It frees us from repeated manual calculation and errors associated. These drilling models do not discriminate vertical, deviated, horizontal or ERD wells. Provided with proper input data, these model assistants perform analysis, run reports, show animation within a few seconds. If you are not sure about certain variable such as friction factor in open hole sections, they like many attentive helpers, even give you sensitivity study to show you the best and worst scenarios.

Sometimes, these models are just like robots, receiving orders and performing tasks. Other times, they give you crucial advices and identify potential problems, such as helical buckling or excessive downhole pressure. They are like a senior consultant who is amiable and does not charge premium.

These models are strictly trained to be friendly. They do not care much if you give them a job after 5pm or in weekends. They are very tolerant if you accidently key in the wrong data. They do not give you an eye. Instead, they kindly remind you of the error and even suggest you the correct input in many cases.

Did I mention that these models are very pretty? Their faces (what we call interface) are carefully designed so that users will not get lost and interaction creates pleasant experience.

Drilling is tough, find good software - your hot model.

Cloud Computing for Cementing Lab

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In just 2 decades, the internet has fundamentally changed the way people interact with computers and each other. Everyone is now talking about “the cloud.” Business applications are moving to the cloud. The shift from traditional software models to the Internet has steadily gained momentum over the last 10 years. It is no longer a fad; it is the future.

Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet). The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams.

In cloud computing, users access cloud-based applications through a web browser while the software and user's data are stored on servers at a remote location. The idea is to share resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale similar to a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network.

These innovations in cloud computing are making our business (drilling software) more mobile and collaborative.

For example, the design and test of the slurry are the integral parts of every cementing job. This process is time-consuming and expensive because of the variability of the conditions between wells. Traditionally, cementing engineers and lab technicians used paper forms to record test results. With the introduction of MS Office Excel, people began to take advantage of electronic filing. This has greatly enhanced the reporting quality and filing. However, the part critically missing with this approach is organizing numerous reports and searching for specific data.

A stand-alone software with database backbone may solve the above problems, but we chose a more advanced approach: a web-based cementing lab database management.  CEMLab, our latest release provides solution to problems many cementing lab manager and technicians face today:

•           Difficulty of designing cement slurries

•           Waste of resources to repeat similar tests

•           Lack of prove while job problems occur

•           Non-standard practices at various labs within a company

Our goal was to make this cementing lab database management system CEMLab the daily platform to design slurry, record and store test results, create lab reports, and perform searches. This integration will free lab managers and technician to focus on their core business.

CEMLab is completely web-based, allows you to login from anywhere. You do not need to download a heavy desktop program, just visit your assigned server site from any computer worldwide.

CEMLab does not force lab staff to abandon their beloved workflow. In fact, features in CEMLab such as user management, job tracking and remote submission of test requests make workflow easier than ever. Workflows will become more streamlined. The search function featuring various and combined criteria is flexible enough to make the time-consuming task easy and simple.

2000 years ago, Chinese philosopher Lao Zi said:”A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” We have taken the first step toward streamlining cement slurry design and testing.  Looking ahead, we are excited to see how this application, the first of its kind, brings happiness to many cementing lab managers and technicians along their journey!

CEMLab-Cement_Lab_Data_Management_Software

Art and Engineering of Drilling Software

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Calgary is Canada’s oil center and the sister city to Houston. It is also a city of art and design.

There are quite a number of art galleries on 11th avenue in the southwest part of town. If I do have enough time to tour around, I’d prefer to visit Banff National Park, otherwise these galleries are the great substitutes. There are lots of beautiful paintings, many of them depicting the wonders of the Canadian Rockies.

In many ways, the creation of a painting is similar to the development of software. Artists have the urge to express their ideas. They construct the final image in their minds and plan the steps to achieve it. They use all the essential tools such as paintbrush, paints, palette, canvas and easel to translate their abstract image into artistic reality.

Similarly, during a typical software development, ideas are processed into technical specification represented by flowcharts and data arrays. Developers use computer language to translate the abstract formulas and logics into a tangible tool.

CEMLab

As drilling software developers, we have something to create for others, not because we have to create something, but because it helps others and shares information. It is like the painting process: with each practiced brushstroke of the sunset, it gets closer to its perfected final version. Eventually the artist (developer) says, “It’s done. This is it!”  Our recently developed software CEMLab (Cementing Lab Data Management System) is a debut of a lively “expert” on cementing.

The difference between art painting and software is that software continuously improves as the result of interaction between developers and users, while a painting is finalized once and for all.

We hope that our clients who provide cementing services will use CEMLab as their cementing lab’s platform for designing slurry, recording testing data, generating reports and managing test data. Together, we can make your job easier by continually making CEMLab better.

Playing Tennis and Drilling Well

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Houston Oilman’s Tennis Tournament (HOTT) is one of the largest oil and gas industry sporting events in Texas. This year, my friend and I played Men’s double (Group A) and eventually won the 1st place in consolation. Our photographer friend took this snapshot at the end of one match. We won this match. More importantly, we won their smile. It is easy for winning team to smile or cry, but it is difficult for losing side to do so. We did have some fun.

2013 Houston Oilman's Tennis Tournament (HOTT)

2013 Houston Oilman's Tennis Tournament (HOTT), Giammalva Racquet Club, Mar. 22 - 23

The competitive nature of tennis makes it tough to be a social sport like golf for recreational players like us. Upbeat spirit and sportsmanship create pleasant chemicals among competing teams.

Worldwide figures for the number of tennis players are next to impossible to come by, but tennis is widely acknowledged as one of the most popular and cosmopolitan of all sports. In U.S., a 2005 study commissioned by the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association estimated that nearly 25 million people in this country play tennis.

In the world of professional tennis, there are 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments. 4 times each year, 128 of the world’s best players fight in those 2 weeks, 127 matches, 7 rounds, with 1 champion and 1 large sum of prize money. Wimbledon (one of the Grand Slams) just announced that this year’s singles will each receive $2.4 million. The road to championship is sweaty.

In petroleum industry, there have been 4.3 million wells drilled in the U.S. and Canada over 150 years. There are about 1,000,000 wells drilled in Texas. But not every well drilled delivers desired results, all easy oil and gas is gone.

According to George E. King of Apache Corp., in a recent SPE lunch-n-learn presentation, a typical risk and reward analysis starts with 100 ideas, then 50 leads (leases with potential for oil and gas), then 25 prospects, then 11 drillable wells, finally 1 discovery.

Playing professional tennis and drilling oil and gas wells are both risky and rewarding. Both industries have developed technologies to improve their odd of success. The materials of tennis racket changed from wood, to metals, to ceramics graphite and composites. Manufacturers are creating strings that are designed to produce more spin, power, and durability.

Technology development plays a more conspicuous role in oil industry than in tennis. Before 1995 (when the dot.com ever began), the oil companies earned a higher rate of return on invested capital than any other industry. When trying to diversify, they realized that everything else was less profitable than oil. Their exclusive investment option was R & D to make exploration and production operations more profitable. Billions of dollars went into petroleum technology. Today, drilling technologies including drilling software enable us to drill deeper and drill in various geographical areas like jungle, desert and the Arctic slope.

I will not be involved in on-site drilling operation, but we will provide drilling engineers with drilling engineering software.

I will not be able to play competitive tennis, but I will definitely try to participate in the upcoming SPE Tennis Tournament in autumn.

A Preview of Drilling Operation

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The great Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein said this in the last century. Since then people’s imaginations have come a long way. From a caveman’s painting on rocks to modern man’s sci-fi and animated movies. Imagination explodes around us.

We see imagination on a big scale, such as, NASA’s Apollo 11 – the first manned mission to land on Moon in 1969 – and on a small scale, where we use our imagination to be more creative and happier.

In art, our imagination allows us to be whoever and whatever we want to be in this world. Whatever we imagine, we can conceive and give birth to it. We can sing it in song, write it in a story or poem, draw it, paint it or even sculpt it. Through imagination, the world is literally at our fingertips.

As we grow up, we often grow out of our imagination. We are taught to stop using it. And we soon believe that we no longer have one. But we can recapture our imagination through some simple steps, such as:

  • Think about something extraordinary when you wake up
  • Pretend to be someone else
  • Visualize things you want to create
  • Wear socks that don't match
  • Drive to work a different way or eat at a new restaurant
    ...

Imagination demands that we open our mind and heart and let our thoughts flow freely.

For drilling engineers, drilling software is a great tool to boost our imagination. With this tool, we can be drilling a 20,000 foot horizontal well or cementing a casing in an offshore well at a water depth of 10,000 feet, all while sitting in front of a computer screen. During the planning stage, we don't have to be on-site. A simple run of a simulation puts us on the rig floor so we can see hookload changes as it is happening. We can even modify our operational parameters (ROP, RPM, etc.) to see how they impact our drilling performance, simply by switching between input and output windows or employing a sensitivity study.

Drilling software, through 2D or 3D visual display, makes our imagination tangible and real. Sometimes it can even spot the flaw in our imagination by identifying potential problems in our drilling operation design before we execute it in the field.

Below is output from PVI’s CEMVIEW software (cementing engineering toolbox). It shows the casing configuration and wellbore schematic at each casing stage.

A_Preview_of_Drilling_Operation

Just as our imagination is the preview of our lives’ coming attraction, drilling software is our engineers’ preview of our next project.

Tennis Match and Drilling Software

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We just saw the curtain of 2013 Australian Open down. For 2 weeks, the year’s first Grand Slam showcased the top players from around the world. One of the most impressive matches is between Serbian Novak Djokovic, the world no. 1 and Swiss player Wawrinka, in quarterfinal. The match is a zig-zag, corner-to-corner grueling fight, which lasted more than 5 hours. At the end, Djokovic, cornered by Wawrinka’s deep and low shot, managed to pull the trigger and crafted a wide-angled passing shot. The score board froze at 12:10am in 5th set tiebreak: Novak earned a spot in semi-final. He eventually came out victorious and won the title.

For viewers like us, the longer the match, the more interesting the game. For players like Novak and Wawrinka, playing the heated match like that requires tremendous physical and mental strengths. Their strategy is probably not to play prolonged match unless necessary. It is sad that only one can be the winner, since tennis is a really popular sport and people play similar sports like badminton using great equipment like the best badminton rackets which are easy to get online.

Fortunately, not every one of us needs to fight like that. In our industry, we have developed a market place or system in which everyone is doing his/her job while depends others to support them. Everyone supports someone else and gets help from others.

Our business is developing advanced drilling software, which helps drilling engineers and managers to make informed technical decision, quickly and wisely. With the right software tools like HYDPRO (drilling hydraulics) and MUDPRO (mud reporting), engineers can spend less time in calculation or report, and more time on critical matters or just relax, knowing that the technical issues are taken care of.

MUDPRO, since its debut 3 years ago, has helped hundreds of mud engineers in their daily morning reporting. It takes less than 10 minutes to create daily report (if inventory is done), and creating end-of-well recap is instantaneously. Did I mention well comparison? It is just a click away.

When it comes to drilling software in general or MUDPRO for mud reporting, using PVI’s software is as easy as Game, Set and Match.

Game_Set_Match