Study On Torque Monitoring System For Iron Roughneck

With the rapid development of modern drilling technology,the automation,digitization,and integration of drilling equipment have been increasingly enhanced.As a critical component of intelligent drilling platforms,the iron roughneck can independently complete the makeup and breakout operations of drill pipes,and the torque it applies is crucial to the reliability of the drilling process.Therefore,monitoring the torque of the iron roughneck during operation is essential.Currently,there are several issues with torque monitoring of the iron roughneck:(1)torque is indirectly measured using the output pressure of the hydraulic system,resulting in significant measurement errors that cause misalignment of torque loading;(2)torque monitoring is carried out using pointer or digital instruments,which provide insufficient feedback on torque information and cannot display the torque loading trend intuitively;(3)there is a lack of data management and analysis functionality.To address the above issues,this project aims to design a torque monitoring system for the iron roughneck to improve the accuracy of torque measurement,enable monitoring of torque curves in the drilling control room,and provide data management and analysis functionality.This proj ect designed a torque monitoring system for the iron roughneck that integrates torque measurement,torque curve monitoring,data management,and analysis.The design was based on studying the mechanical structure and operational characteristics of the iron roughneck and analyzing the application requirements from three parties,including the iron roughneck manufacturers,drilling operators,and drilling contractors,and the on-site conditions.Firstly,targeting the characteristics of connecting and disconnecting the iron roughneck,the advantages of using force sensors instead of hydraulic sensors for torque measurement were analyzed,and the installation method of force sensors was designed based on the mechanical structure of the iron roughneck.Secondly,hardware module design,firmware programming,and user interface development were performed to meet the application requirements of torque monitoring and data management in the on-site environment of the drilling platform.Thirdly,a test fixture is designed to simulate force sensor installation for accurate force measurement testing.Moreover,a prototype is installed in the iron roughneck test workshop to verify torque measurement accuracy.At the same time,a test platform is set up to validate the functionality of the user interface for the iron roughneck.Finally,the system is installed and applied in the drilling site and records a large amount of actual measurement data.The data analysis module is designed by analyzing the recorded data and connecting it with the on-site conditions.The results showed that the torque measurement error was within ±5%,meeting the system design criteria using the force sensor’s designed installation method.Remote torque curve monitoring in the drilling room provides the user interface and data management functions,including data storage,playback,and export.Automated analysis of a large amount of recorded actual test data through the data analysis module was achieved,and concise reports were generated to evaluate the quality of makeup and breakout operations of the iron roughneck.This project completed the research on the torque monitoring system for iron roughneck.The innovation includes the use of force sensors instead of hydraulic sensors to improve torque measurement accuracy,monitoring torque curve to help drilling personnel timely understand torque loading trends,the indication of the drill string connection meets requirements and the provision of complete production data analysis through data management to help iron roughnecks evaluate and optimize work quality.This system has significant practical significance for ensuring safe drilling and has engineering application value.