Imagination, Prediction and Reality

There is a joke about the human brain and it goes like this: our brain has two parts. One is the left brain and the other is in the right. The right one has nothing left and the left one has nothing right.

According to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, a person who is “left-brained” is often said to be more logical, analytical, and objective, while a person who is” right-brained” is said to be more intuitive, thoughtful, and subjective.

Artists may use the right side of their brains more to maximize creativity, but if they exhaust their imagination, their art works lose their appeal.

Sometimes, we, as viewers, participate in the creative process when we enjoy a good piece of art. This can be demonstrated in our appreciation of the statue of Venus de Milo. The statue is widely renowned for the mystery of her missing arms. The missing arms do not stop people from appreciating this marvelous work of ancient Greek. People are fascinated by the missing parts and are creating their own interpretations of the possible positions of the missing arms. By imagination, everyone creates a Venus statue in their mind. Maybe that is the everlasting beauty of Venus: the incompleteness of an original work of art.

However, in the world of engineering, we strive to remove any uncertainties as much as possible. Drilling software is a tool for drilling engineers to help them predict what will happen on the rig floor and downhole.

The following graph shows the hook load prediction using TADPRO (torque and drag model).

Hook Load Prediction Using TADPRO (torque and drag model).

Hook Load Prediction Using TADPRO (torque and drag model).

Charts like these give drilling engineers guidelines as to what to expect during drilling operations. This way, we can see the upcoming reality with little imagination.

Fear of the Unknown

“I can’t believe what I just ate.” Those were my words when I had my last bite of … Jellyfish. I didn’t want to eat it at first, but I succumbed too quickly to peer pressure and I tried it, and before I knew it, I had eaten it all. That’s why I said the words at the beginning of the blog, because I would have never imagined that I would eat such a thing as jellyfish and I loved it.

As much as I love food, I have never been the kind of person that is into eating uncommon foods, especially the ones that were once alive. I guess it is all due to cultural ideas. In some cultures they eat anything and everything, while in other cultures they limit themselves to specific kinds of foods. Having the privilege to work with people from another culture has given me the opportunity to expand my limitations by trying out different kinds of foods, in this case, Jellyfish.

The problem with many of us in America is that when we see something we are not used to seeing or in this case, eating, we give it too much thought on whether or not we should try it and the majority of the time we simply decide not to try it. The reason: fear of the unknown. We simply feel safer trying what we know, what is common to us, but when facing a situation where we have to try something completely new to us, we hesitate because we are uncertain of the results.

In the beginning of this blog I mentioned that I got to eat the jellyfish due to succumbing to peer pressure. I was having lunch with my workmates and they kept on telling me that I should try it, that I shouldn’t say that I don’t like something if I haven’t tried it yet, and that made me realize that what they were saying was completely true. How can I assure that I will not like something if I haven’t even given myself the opportunity to at least try it? I was a little hesitant at first, but the result was that I ate the whole plate.

This is a lesson for everything in life, but in this case, it’s a lesson for drilling engineers. Technology has evolved in such an unimaginable way that drilling operations can have beyond compare results. Technology has given drilling engineers the opportunity to explore the unknown with cutting edge software that make their work easier in every possible way. This technology can be new to most engineers, but wouldn’t it be the best option for them once they give it a try? They might be a little hesitant, because since they have not tried it they might question the essence of such software, (the fear of the unknown) but the reality is: if they don’t try it, they won’t find out how incredible this software is.

Drilling Software of Pegasus Vertex

PVI is equipped with such an exquisite technology that once drilling engineers try it, they will not regret it, just like I don’t regret eating Jellyfish which is now one of my favorite dishes.

Drilling Software: See the Invisible

We just had a T-Shirt design contest. Graphic designers were asked to put drilling software in perspective of the design.

Nowadays, drilling engineering software is an indispensable tool for drilling engineers. Directional and extended reach drilling and HTHP wells challenge us with more and more technical difficulties. Software is one of the solutions to these problems. However, because of its abstract nature, it is not easy to illustrate drilling software in a T-shirt design. At least, it is difficult to have a good design without using abused images of drilling rigs and computers.

One of the submissions is a pair of glasses as shown below.

See the Invisible | Pegasus Vertex, Inc. - Drilling Software

As soon as we saw it, we liked it. It has a subtle message: our drilling software allows engineers to see the downhole condition, which is invisible to normal eyes.

Oil and gas well is created by drilling a hole of 5 to 50 inches in diameter into the earth with a drilling rig that rotates a drill string with a bit attached. During drilling process, engineers and drillers heavily rely on the limited information on the rig floor to determine the downhole condition, because they cannot see the subsurface.

Typically, only one tenth of iceberg is above water. Majority of iceberg is below water, making it difficult to determine its shape and size. Similar situation exists on the rig floor. Drilling engineers only have handful observations such as hookload, surface torque, pump pressure, ROP, RPM, etc. They can neither see what happens to drill string or formation nor accurately measure the buckling of the pipe. It is like a situation that we walk cross a muddy river: we cannot see the river bed, but our feet do their best sensing the water, mud and rock and send a message to our brains. Drilling operation is a dialog between drillers and formation in the dark. Drilling software turns on light to let engineers see the invisible.

“Sophisticated Yet Simple”

What is PVI Software is the question you may ask.
They're a different breed of programs that take on difficult tasks.
For years engineers have done the best they can to keep track of invisible things
but have gone insane trying to figure out what really goes on beneath.
First it was a piece of paper, then they got their hands on excel sheets
but a problem was still there for they couldn’t really tell if the bit was there still.
How to be certain of the exact end-of-well recap
Would they have to drill a bigger hole to send someone down to get the numbers right?
How many more resources will be wasted to get an efficient Cement Lab?
How to be sure if the wellbore will be secure at all times?
With the reservoir depth and downhole temperature change
even the best engineer can get one mayor headache.
Don’t waste your time imagining how much mud will be displaced.
Prehistoric times are long gone with the dinosaurs and cavemen.
In the early 20th century technology was considered magic.
In the 21st century technology is more real than reality.
That old method system is going down the wellbore,
drill right through it because you don’t need it anymore.
Here’s where PVI enters the game
to show all you peeps who’s the master at this.
Say goodbye to the pens,
say goodbye to loose papers,
PVI is a drilling software
That will save your neck, time and lots of money.
Download it in your computer without any fear
and you’ll make the best drilling operation ever.
From Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 or 8
The program will be running like a piece of cake.
With its many advanced features, colors and multilanguage
You can work with it in Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, English or Spanish.
Concerned about an oil spill, a blow out or loss of a well?
PVI can predict the location of the casing wear.
Made for torque, drag, hydraulics,
name the term and PVI does it.
With a 3D path view you’ll get deep into the sea
And you’ll follow the wellbore with no scuba diving kit.
Once you allow PVI do your drilling
Everybody will know you as the best
The adrenaline rush of doing an awesome job will get you all fired up.
You’re gonna get hooked like a gamer on a couch.
Get ready for a new experience you’ll learn well.
Once you get it in your system, there is just no escape.
From the ground to the top, from the sea to the land
giving it a try will make you achieve great success
and after all this you still wanna know why PVI is the tool for you?
‘cause its singularity is sophisticated yet simple to use.

“If I die because of this, I’ll be very mad!”

My 7-year old daughter caught cold and ran fever. While taking her temperature, I told her not to bite the thermometer. “There is mercury inside and it is poisonous.” I said.  “Will I die if I accidently break it and swallow it?” She became serious. “You might.” I answered.

“If I die because of this, I will be very mad.” Her comment lost me for a second and then gave me a good belly laugh.

I think it must be logic for her to say that. It is such a small thing, but could lead to catastrophic ending. Her words made me laugh and think.

Our daily lives are packed with small actions. Many of us would think that if we screw up here and there, it won’t be the end of the world. Or at least that’s what we would like to think. It turns out some of the biggest and costliest disasters have resulted from us making a single tiny mistake, such as the natural gas well blowout in Kaixian County, Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. The blowout occurred on Dec. 23rd, 2003 and released highly toxic hydrogen sulfide killing 234 villagers.

Investigation later showed that this catastrophe was actually caused by many small acts of workplace negligence, including turning down blowout prevention valve and not igniting the blowout gas quickly enough.

Learning from our mistakes is a crucial step in growing and improving ourselves. However, if we could avoid the mistakes but also learn the would-be mistakes, then we earn our credits without paying too much tuition.

One way of doing so, in my mind, is using drilling software for training, simulating different circumstances and observing results. Just like a flight simulator re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies for pilot training, drilling simulator with drilling software can allow drilling engineers to see the results from various operation parameters.

In addition to training, drilling software offers engineering planning and design. It is like a rehearsal of upcoming drilling operation, in which we can identify potential problems, gain confidence and increase our success rate.