Many kinds of formerly “dumb” industrial components are getting smarter with the addition of sensing capabilities and data communications. The latest example of this added intelligence comes from Parker Hannifin, which has developed a new kind of intelligent seal for oil drilling equipment.
To make the seals smarter, Parker has added a fiber optic communications and power supply that supports sensing capabilities. These “Smart Seals” also have a new mechanical design that improves structural integrity by encapsulating a circular metallic seal element within the threaded connections for the drill pipes.
Both the sensing and the structural integrity are much needed in the blind, harsh environment found at the business end of an oil drilling bit. Usually these drill bits and the pipes that connect them to the surface rely on flexible seal assemblies – essentially high-performance o-rings. “Seal failures are a major source of downtime,” says Dale Ashby, Parker’s vice president of technology for sealing and shielding.
Parker’s initial efforts to improve the seal design focused only on improving seal life. But during the course of the year-long development process, the company’s engineers discovered that the addition of fiber optics would transform the seals into a vehicle for bi-directional communications between the bit and the surface. “The fiber optics provide continuity for data transfer through the discontinuity of the junctions in the drill pipe,” Ashby says.
Fiber optics also transmit power to the downhole sensors. Ashby notes that current sensing systems rely on batteries, which have to be replaced periodically and which add complexity to the bit assembly.
In the first version of the Smart Seals, the data to be transmitted to the surface will include temperature, torque and rotational speed. Ashby says version two will likely include some sort of chemical analysis abilities. “Version one will be diagnostic only, but our vision is for a prognostic system capable of making real-time changes,” he says.
Copies of a presentation on the new seal technology are available.
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 Parker’s new Smart Seals for oil drilling allow bidirectional communications between the bit and the surface. |
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