Prediction and analysis of penetration rate in drilling operation using deterministic and metaheuristic optimization methods

The rate of penetration (ROP) optimization is one of the most important factors in improving drilling efficiency, especially in the downturn time of oil prices. This process is crucial in the well planning and exploration phases, where the selection of the drilling bits and parameters has a significant impact on the total cost and time of the drilling operation. Thus, the optimization and best selection of the drilling parameters are critical. Optimization of ROP is difficult due to the complexity of the relationship between the drilling variables and the ROP. For this reason, the development of high-performance computer systems, predictive models, and algorithms will be the best solution. In this study, a new investigation approach for ROP optimization has been done regarding different ROP models (Maurer, Bingham, Bourgoyne and Young models), algorithms (Multiple regression, ant colony optimization (ACO), fminunc, fminsearch, fsolve, lsqcurvefit, lsqnonlin), and different objective functions. The well-known data from the Louisiana field in an offshore well have been used to compare the used parameter estimation approach with other techniques. Indeed, datasets from an onshore well in the Hassi Messaoud Algerian field are explored. The results confirmed the superiority and the effectiveness of B&Y models compared to Bingham and Maurer models. Fminsearch, lsqcurvefit, ACO, and Excel (GRG) algorithms give the best results in ROP prediction while the application of the MNLR approach. Using the mean squared error (MSE) and the determination coefficient (R-2) as objective functions significantly increases the accuracy prediction where the results given are (R = 0.9522, RMSE = 2.85) and (R = 0.9811, RMSE = 4.08) for Wells 1 and 2, respectively. This study validates the application of B&Y model in both onshore and offshore wells. The findings reveal to deal with data limitation problems in ROP prediction. Simple and effective optimization techniques that require less memory space and computational time have been provided.

Automated summary

Optimizing ROP is crucial for improving drilling efficiency, with the selection of drilling bits and parameters playing a significant role. This study explored different ROP models, algorithms, and objective functions, confirming the superiority of the B&Y model in prediction and providing simple and effective optimization techniques.