China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation
Method for controlling a drilling system

Abstract:

A drilling system that includes a mud pump disposed on an earth surface and a drill string with a bottom hole assembly (BHA) in a borehole. The drilling system can be controlled by turning the mud pump ON or OFF according to a pre-determined sequence so that the mud flow in the borehole fluctuates between high and low. The mud pulser in the bottom hole assembly senses the fluctuation in the mud flow and generates a binary signal accordingly. The mud pulser further sends the binary signal to a measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool in the bottom hole assembly. The binary signal executes one or more firmware in the MWD tool.