Search

We study the kick and loss detection and attenuation problem in managed pressure drilling by modeling the well as a distributed parameter system. Two cases are considered, distinguished by whether down-hole pressure measurements are available or not. The main contribution of the paper is a theoretical result on adaptive stabilization and set-point regulation by boundary control for a general 2 × 2 linear hyperbolic system in the case of measurements taken at both boundaries, with stability proven in the L 2 -sense. The design is applied to the drilling system and shown to solve the kick and loss problem with sensing at both boundaries. An earlier result on adaptive set-point regulation for 2 × 2 hyperbolic systems is also applied to the drilling system and shown to solve a kick and loss problem with sensing restricted to the actuated boundary only. The two designs are compared in a simulation of a loss incident, showing a significant reduction in convergence time and total accumulated loss for the design with sensing allowed at both boundaries.