The Twenty-Sixth KKHTCNN Symposium on Civil Engineering

November 18-20, 2013, Singapore

Design and Analysis of a Rotary Steerable System

Using a New Hybrid Steering for Directional Drilling
Jieun Park1, Jongheon Kim2, Byeolteo Park3 and *Hyun Myung4
Division of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, 305-701, KOREA
4
Robotics Program, KAIST, Daejeon, 305-701, KOREA
silent@, rayn@, starteo@, hmyung@kaist.ac.kr
1

234

ABSTRACT
The directional drilling is an important technology for collecting unconventional resources. Especially, the shale gas has
become an important energy source due to its abundance. The directional drilling enables to reach a complex directional well
successfully and it is essential for the extraction of the shale gas. The Rotary Steerable System (RSS) is one of the dominant
equipment for the directional drilling. There are two commonly used types of RSS, Point-the-bit and Push-the-bit. Both
types of RSS are effective for the directional drilling. But the hybrid type RSS which is the combination of Point-the-bit and
Push-the-bit provides more steering angle. In this paper, we propose a new hybrid type RSS using 3-pad system and CV
(Constant Velocity) joint. A new actuator system combines the advantages of the Point-the-bit and the Push-the-bit. The
designed model provides a large steering angle by using a united actuator. The effectiveness of the proposed model is discussed
by an empirical analysis. The side forces are compared by simplified models of RSS. We generated random numbers for each
variable and performed Monte-Carlo simulations. Thus, the proposed hybrid type RSS is expected to build higher angle than
the other types.
INTRODUCTION
Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. However, to extract gas from shale was very difficult
problem because it is distributed across a wide area in the form of a continuous mud rock. But the directional drilling and
hydraulic crusher technology has brought innovation. In 2000 shale gas provided only 1% of U.S. natural gas production; by
2010 it was over 20% and the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration predicts that by 2035, 46% of the United
States' natural gas supply will come from shale gas (Paul 2012).
The directional drilling is technology to reach a target which is even horizontally away from excavation area. There were
many reasons for executing directional drilling technology since long ago. First of all, it has been used for reducing costs at
offshore drilling. The directional drilling can drill resources located in several underground places by initially excavating just
one hole. Secondly, it can avoid ruining natural habitats and prohibited position. The traditional vertical drilling had limitations
because it should avoid these areas. Finally, the directional drilling is executed to change a drilling path when the planned path
is failed for some reasons (Paul 2002).

Fig.1. Variety of situations for the directional drilling (Paul 2002)

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Graduate Students
Associate Professor

Several methods have been used for the directional drilling such as the whipstock and the jet bit. The whipstock is assistant
system which is located to lower position of drilling well and help a drill to change direction. And the jet bit is a device injecting
mud to an intended direction (Mario et al. 2007).

(a)
(b)
Fig.2. The directional drilling devices; whipstock(a) and jet bit(b) (Mario et al. 2007)
Recently, Rotary Steerable System (RSS) is most effective technology for the directional drilling (Geoff et al. 2000). It is a
new form employing the specialized bottom equipment that can control the direction. It steers lower part of the drill to change a
direction using mud motors. It has many advantages due to continuous rotation such as reduction of time and friction of the
drilling.
This technology is usually divided into two broad categories depending on how to switch the direction, these being push
the bit or point the bit. Push the bit system has 3 or more actuator pads near the drill bit. Each mud-actuated pad pushes the
lower part of the drill hole wall to build an angle. In contrast, point the bit system makes the internal offset of drill axis and drill
bit is headed towards a desired direction.

(a)

(b)

Fig.3. Types of directional drilling; push the bit(a) and point the bit(b)(Geoff et al. 2000)
Actually, both types are used in the industry and they are useful. But the point the bit has better hole-quality and lower
vibration. In terms of control, the push the bit is better because it has shorter delay than the point the bit (Schaaf et al. 2000,
Moody et al. 2004). The hybrid type RSS is also developed. PowerDrive Archer(Schlumberger) is a well-known hybrid type
system (Edwin et al. 2011). It is able to switch the direction by tilting steering sleeve. And it is operated by pad which pushes the
outer sleeve internally. In this paper, we describe a new RSS and calculate the magnitude of the side force to prove that it can
build a large angle. The new RSS using a novel actuator system has advantages of the push the bit and point the bit.
HYBRID TYPE RSS
The hybrid type RSS provide a large steering angle by combining the point the bit and push the bit. A new designed model
also has this benefit. And it is expected to be able to simplify the control system because it uses a united actuator. In this system,
the shaft is connected with joints and it guarantees to make a large angle than a single shaft(Kim et al. 2013). The constant
velocity(CV) joint enables to rotate constant rotational speed and it is usually used in the car. We adopted CV joint in bending
position to connect drive shaft. The three hybrid pads are located around the center CV joint. These pads operate using

hydraulic pistons and horizontal action of the piston is transferred to the vertical movement of the pads.

Fig.4. A new hybrid type of RSS

We performed an empirical analysis to demonstrate that a new hybrid model can provide higher steering angle. It is
self-evident that a large side force makes a big build-rate. In other words, if we calculate side forces of various RSS model, we
can compare build-rate. So three simplified model is used to compute side forces.
Point the bit
The point the bit has tilting force induced by internal device. This tilting force F3 and pivoting point located in the middle
point cause side force F1. Then the side force F1 is easily calculated.

Fig.5. Point the bit force diagram(Junichi 2008)

F1 =

d 23
F3
d12

(1)

Push the bit

The side force of push the bit is caused by pushing force F2 and a pivoting point located in the left side of the drill rod. As
the way of calculating the force in a point the bit case, side force F1 can be derived.

Fig.6. Push the bit force diagram(Junichi 2008)

F1 =

d 23
F2
d12 + d 23

(2)

Hybrid type RSS

In case of our proposed hybrid type model, tilting force F3 and pushing force F2 are both exist. These forces are generated
by three pad actuator and there is no pivoting point. The side force F1 is caused by the action of two forces and also can be
derived as above two cases.

Fig.7. Hybrid type RSS force diagram

F1 =

aF3 + bF2
b+ y

(3)

There are many parameters to define but it is hard to decide them due to variety of models and also difficult to compare the
side forces of three cases. So the Monte-Carlo simulation was performed to show the effectiveness of a new model. We
generated 100 random numbers for each variable and the results are as follows.

Fig.8. The result of the Monte-Carlo simulations

The means of side forces are 3.47kN, 1.88kN, 5.66kN each. The side force of hybrid type is higher than the sum of point
the bit and push the bit.
CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposed a new hybrid type RSS model and the design goal is to make a large steering angle. This model adopts
CV joint in the drive shaft to tilt a lot and reduce the velocity losses. The system uses a united actuator so it is expected to
control easily and operate simply. We performed Monte-Carlo simulations to predict performance of our new model. The result
shows clearly that a new hybrid type RSS can build higher angle than the other types. In future works, we will study control
theory and apply dynamics and kinematics of the system. And finite element analysis will also be applied.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources of the Korean Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation
and Planning (grant No. 2011201030001D -12-2-200), funded by the Korean Government Ministry of Trade, Industry and
Energy. It was also supported by the Brain Korea 21 Project in 2013.
REFERENCES
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Paul, N. (2002), Technical, Economic and Institutional Evaluation of Adopting Directional Drilling by KENGEN, KENYA,
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Geoff, D., Trond, S. K., Andy, H., and Demos, P. (2000), New Directions in Rotary Steerable System, Oilfield review, Vol.
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Schaaf, S., Mallary, C. R. (2000), Point-the-Bit Rotary Steerable System: Theory and Field Results, in Proc. SPE Annual
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