Development and prospect of intelligent control of geological drilling process

The complex and ever-changing geological environment and harsh conditions pose enormous challenges to the control of geological drilling process. The flourishing development of frontier technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence has brought new opportunities to the development of drilling industry. Firstly, the development status of intelligent control of geological drilling process is elaborated from 3 aspects: Sensing and modelling of drilling process, intelligent optimization of drilling process and drilling process control. In terms of sensing and modelling of drilling process, various geological environment models have been established using multi-source information of drilling process, which enables the sensing of geological environment change and drilling process status, achieving fault diagnosis and early warning based on drilling information characteristics. In terms of intelligent optimization of drilling process, many prediction models of rate-of-penetration (ROP) have been established and ROP optimization algorithms have been developed for geological drilling process; facing various constraint conditions and optimization indicators, the design of optimal drilling trajectory has been investigated. In terms of drilling process control, the models of drill-string, drilling trajectory and drilling fluid circulation have been established, and suitable controllers have been put forward to adjust the operating parameters such as weight-on-bit, rotational speed and pumping volume to ensure the safety and efficiency of drilling process. Secondly, the intelligent control system for geological drilling process and its engineering applications are discussed. Finally, the future of cyber-physics fusion and intelligent control technology of drilling process based on industrial Internet of Things is envisioned, including the integrated technology of optimal decision-making and control with multi-objectives and high-dimensional constraints, and the networked intelligent management and control blending big data and cloud-edge collaborative technology, to enhance the sensation depth, comprehensive scheduling and global optimization capabilities of complex industrial systems like geological drilling. With the launch of a new round of National Exploration and Development Plan, it is urgent to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence, new generation information technology and geological drilling related theoretical methods and technologies, to break through the key scientific problems of intelligent control of geological drilling process and develop advanced intelligent geological equipment, providing technical support for resource exploration and development.