Drilling Digital Twin Success Stories the Last 10 Years

Abstract

Abstract Objective of the paper is to describe and present results of using a "Digital Twin" in Drilling Operations (Planning and Engineering, Training and Operational Support) in the last 10 years for Operators worldwide. The concept of Digital Twin was first introduced by Michael Grieves at the University of Michigan in 2003 through Grieves’ Executive Course on Product Lifecycle Management. Winning a Formula 1 race is no longer just about building the fastest car, hiring the bravest driver and praying for luck. These days, when a McLaren technology group races in Monaco or Singapore, it beams data from hundreds of sensors wired in the car to Woking, England. There, analysts study that data and use complex computer models to relay optimal race strategies back to the driver. The McLaren race crew and the online retailers both harness data and use algorithms to make reasonable projections about the future, Parris explains. The concept is called Digital Twin [1]. A Digital Twin contains information such as a piece of equipment or asset, including its physical description, instrumentation, data and history. A Digital Twin can be created for assets ranging from a well to a piece of equipment to an entire oilfield. For example, a subsea system could have a Digital Twin via a simulation model of a subsea system's components, including the blowout preventer, tiebacks, risers, manifolds, umbilical and moorings. Drilling and extracting simulations can determine whether virtual designs can actually be built using the machines available," GE said. "Last but not least, real-time data feeds from sensors in a physical operating asset are now used to know the exact state and condition of an operating-asset product, no matter where it is in the world"[2].