The Directive is GE's latest measure-while-drilling tool and is designed to help customers optimise drilling penetration rates by allowing adjustments and corrections to be made quickly based on real-time data.
Moreover, real-time management of downhole vibration typically reduces equipment damage, helping to avoid potential well drilling delays and reduce overall costs.
GE Oil & Gas downhole technology leader James Junker said the design and development of the Directive sensor package was driven by increasing customer requirements for improvement reliability and real-time shock and vibration measurements at high temperature.
"Such measurements aren't new to the industry but the Directive system design features inherent calibration stability for a far longer duration than other commercially available products, leading to a lower cost of ownership for this tool versus competitive products," he said.
Optimal placement of directional and horizontal wells within a reservoir requires knowing where the drill bit is in the hole as well as its orientation at every moment during drilling.
The drill bit's location is measured by downhole gravity and magnetic sensors.
The sensors perform directional surveys that take into account inclination, azimuth and drill bit tool face orientation.
The survey information is transmitted uphole through either mud pulse telemetry or via electromagnetic waves.
This helps the driller quickly orient the drill bit correctly.
The Directive system has a simplified, ruggedised and compact design with fewer components and an improved layout for a long service life at an operating temperature up to 175C.
The sensor package is engineered to hold calibration stability under harsh drilling conditions for longer, with the goal of drilling with greater confidence, fewer trips to the shop and lower associated repair costs.
The Directive system has greater processing power than the Tensor directional module and features a simplified board design.
The design packs the processor, four channels of detectors, an analogue-digital converter, two accelerometers and 32 megabytes of memory onto a reduced number of boards.
