Systems and methods for positive displacement motor diagnostics and failure prediction

Abstract

Methods and systems relating to a drilling operation at a well site include a plurality of drilling parameters, which define the processes of the drilling operation, and a positive displacement motor. The positive displacement motor includes a plurality of embedded sensors, wherein each embedded sensor has an embedded sensor type and an embedded sensor location, a process control unit, and a communication line connecting the plurality of embedded sensors to the process control unit. A computer is communicably connected to the plurality of embedded sensors and includes one or more computer processors, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a computer processor. The instructions include functionality for: receiving a data stream from the plurality of embedded sensors; monitoring the data stream according to the embedded sensor type and the embedded sensor location; generating a first alert if at least one embedded sensor in the plurality of embedded sensors, as monitored by the data stream according to the embedded sensor type and the embedded sensor location, resides outside a plurality of pre-defined embedded sensor ranges; processing the data stream to predict a failure mode and time to the failure mode; and detecting a failure in the positive displacement motor and generating a second alert indicating the failure.