Patent Application
20250129710
The present invention belongs to the technical field of oil and/or gas well drilling operations, more particularly, the invention relates to operations carried out during the fracturing procedure of an oil and/or gas well where downhole fracturing tools or other objects of a ferromagnetic nature are used.
During the fracturing operations of an oil or gas well, it is necessary to introduce a fracturing tool with explosives to be detonated deep in the borehole. Said fracturing tool is assembled as a unit at the surface comprising a plug, an installation tool and a perforating gun, the assembly being run into the borehole on a wireline to a desired depth. This tool hangs from a crane by means of a conductor cable of about 1 to 40 mm (0.04 to 1.57 in) in diameter, which outside part is covered by steel wires that protect it against possible blows or cuts, and its core has a copper conductor through which the signal to detonate the explosives is transmitted. Once the tools reach the appropriate depth, the perforating gun is activated to detonate the explosives and to form cracks in the formation that will later be enlarged by the injection of the hydraulic fluid causing the fracture of the well to allow the access of hydrocarbons from the formation containing hydrocarbons to the inside of the casing. Once the fracturing operations are completed, the fracturing tool is hoisted out of the well to perform other operations in the fracture tree. This operation may be repeated 30 to 50 times per well.
During the fracturing operation, the pressure which is not held in the formation may be released into the casing, and it may sometimes be transmitted up the wellbore and to the surface, in such an emergency situation, it will be necessary to promptly close the fracture tree using a blowout preventer and various valves located in the surface fracture tree to hold and control the pressure inside the borehole.
In addition, anticipating these situations, the surface fracture tree valves are often very fast and easy to close, which means that the various surface valves could also close accidentally.
In such a situation, the blowout preventers and/or the various valves located on the fracture tree could close with enough force to pass through any objects installed in the borehole that pass through the fracture tree, such as fracturing tools, tubular goods and the wires supporting the fracturing tool.
It may even be the case that the fracture tree valves are intentionally closed even when there are objects inside the fracture tree since their existence is unknown to the operator.
In either case, if the fracture tree valves are closed intentionally or accidentally, most of the elements inside the through-hole of the surface fracture tree valve will be sheared off, and as a consequence, such elements remaining inside the borehole may fall to the bottom of the well.
Once the blowout preventer or other valves on the surface are reopened, the elements that have fallen to the bottom of the well or the wire holding them must be retrieved before continuing well operations.
Generally, such operations of “fishing” the dropped elements to the bottom of the well are costly and time-consuming, and in many cases, when it is not possible to retrieve the dropped element, it may result in the loss of the well.
This problem has been addressed by the prior art. For example, document US20220082725 (A1), discloses the use of geomagnetic sensors to detect the presence of a tool or wire within a vertical well bore including a surface production tree, wherein the sensor is located on the outer portion of the production tree and may be in wireless communication with a logic controller. The geomagnetic sensor may have a memory, a logic controller, and a display. The logic controller is configured to give an indication that an object, either a tubing or simply a wire, is inside the through hole and that the blowout preventer or other valves in the fracture tree should not be closed except in an emergency. The logic controller also takes additional readings of the geomagnetic field and compares them to the initial reading, when an additional reading is substantially similar to the initial reading, the logic controller will provide an indication that the through hole is clear and the valves can be operated. Paragraph (004) mentions that it is possible to place one or more geomagnetic sensors adjacent to the tubular through-hole of the wellbore at the surface and generally, below the blowout preventer or other gate valves.
Herein,
Herein, and as it appears from the illustrative figures of this document, the geomagnetic sensor is located in the standpipe below the blowout preventer or valves. In such a position, the geomagnetic sensors would not be able to detect the presence of a length of tool, piping, wireline or object that is between the surface and the top end of the vertical branch of the fracture tree, that is, between the wellhead spool and the end where the lubricator is located. However, the device disclosed in patent US20220082725 can only detect portions of the fracturing tool, wireline, tubular good or other object moving in the vicinity of the sensors and would be unable to detect portions of the tool, wireline, tubular good or object above still remaining within the fracture tree. Additionally, since the US patent device is located in the vertical portion of the casing near the surface (wellhead), i.e., below the fracture tree, this implies that, for the replacement thereof, it is necessary to disassemble part of the fracture tree with higher costs and operating time involved.
Therefore, there is still a need for a device that can remotely detect fracturing tools, wirelines, tubing, or any other objects of a ferromagnetic nature more efficiently and that can detect the presence of such elements in any section of the well or the fracture tree while being easy to manufacture, assemble, replace or repair and even being quickly and simply adaptable to other devices associated to the well control.
To solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a remote sensing device that allows detecting fracturing tools, wirelines, tubular goods or any other object regardless their location in the gas and/or oil well or in the fracture tree by using a set of geomagnetic sensors conveniently arranged in such a position as to allow detecting the presence of such tools, tubular goods, wirelines or objects in any section of the well or the fracture tree, even above when the tool or wire is above the wellhead, or the blowout preventer or vertical valves to determine at all times and with complete certainty that such elements have completely exited the well and the fracture tree or if they are still in a section of the well and the fracture tree.
Therefore, it is possible to avoid the problems caused by the accidental or intentional closing of one or more valves of the fracture tree while the fracturing tool, wireline, tubular good or any other object is inside the borehole and/or the fracture tree allowing the early detection of such objects (tool, tubing, or wireline) and thus avoiding damage to them or that they accidentally fall to the bottom with the consequent loss of time and resources in recovering them, which in some cases may result in the disablement of the well, when the latter is not possible.
A fracture tree is understood as a surface structure comprising master valves, wing valves, choke valves, a fracture head, and adapter flanges as essential components, and having a vertical or trunk branch, lateral branches, a free upper end and a lower end connected to the wellhead.
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to illustrative
Geomagnetic sensors are designed to passively detect variations in the Earth's magnetic field. Therefore, this type of sensor is able to detect, at a certain distance and without direct contact, whether certain objects capable of disturbing the earth's magnetic field are moving or remain stationary. This allows an external, passive and non-invasive measurement of such objects.
This type of geomagnetic sensors provides the values of the surrounding magnetic field.
This ability of geomagnetic sensors to detect objects disturbing the Earth's magnetic field is used by the present invention to detect the presence of a fracturing tool, the wireline thereof or any tubular good present in the borehole or in the fracture tree, since, due to its appreciable volume, it produces a variation of the Earth's magnetic field detectable by the geomagnetic sensor not only when the tool and/or the wireline or any other object capable of disturbing the local Earth's magnetic field moves but when such elements remain stationary. So, by measuring a significant and repetitive difference in the values of the Earth's magnetic field, it is possible to determine when a tool, wireline, tubing or any other object is present or not inside the borehole and/or fracture tree.
The geomagnetic sensors are highly sensitive for the detection of the movement of an object such as, for example, a fracturing tool and/or a wireline or other object that is capable of generating a local disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field. Therefore, the remote sensing device of the present invention performs an analysis of the various signal patterns produced by at least one geomagnetic sensor set on the fracture tree in such a way that it is possible to detect the presence of such objects when they are in motion or when such objects are stationary within the borehole and/or the fracture tree.
For example, as far as a fracturing tool and the wireline thereof are concerned, such patterns arise from the following scenarios:
Thus, if pattern 1) is detected, the device determines that the wireline runs in the borehole with the tool and remains in the wellbore, therefore, it will issue a warning signal to the operator not to close any valves on the fracture tree as there is a risk of damaging the tool or cutting the wireline. If pattern 2) is detected, the device determines that the wireline has run out of the borehole with the tool and therefore, it will issue a warning signal to the operator that it is possible to close the well valves without risk of damaging the tool or cutting the wireline. If pattern 3) is detected, the device determines that the wireline has run out of the well without the tool, therefore, it will issue a third warning signal to the operator that it is possible to close the fracture tree valves and that furthermore, the wireline has been cut and the tool remains downhole. In the same way, the device will issue a respective warning signal in scenario 4), i.e., when there is a hydrate formation interfering with the signal from the sensors. Gas hydrates are ice-like crystalline structures formed by the complex interaction of oil, gas and water under high pressure and low temperature. The natural conditions necessary for gas hydrate crystallization often occur in oil pipelines. Once the hydrate particles nucleate, they grow and aggregate and can create a hydrate plug in the pipeline adversely affecting fluid flow and, in some extreme cases, even block the pipeline completely.
Additionally, the device of the present invention shall send a warning signal when it detects damage or kinking (knot formation) in the fracturing tool wireline allowing to prevent an eventual fall of the tool to the bottom of the well due to wireline cutting or complications caused by the jamming of the wireline inside the borehole.
Therefore, to run the processes described above, the remote sensing device of the present invention comprises data acquisition means configured to receive and transmit the signals sent by at least one geomagnetic sensor (1) located on a support element (2), said data acquisition means are in wireless communication with a remote control and monitoring unit (3) which is configured to receive and process the data sent by said data acquisition means and store them in a cloud to be visualized remotely by means of a user interface, such as a computer, smartphone or tablet, to learn about the status of the sensing device in real time.
Additionally, the data acquisition means are in communication with a command panel (11) mounted in a zone near the well area.
The data sent by the data acquisition means is transmitted via any data transmission protocol available in the area (such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, GPRS, IoT: LoraWAN, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G/5G), and stored in a cloud.
During the operation of the device of the present invention, the at least one geomagnetic sensor detects and records a local portion of the Earth's magnetic field in the installation position thereof. The initial geomagnetic field record is taken when in the portion of the fracture tree adjacent to the geomagnetic sensor there is no tool, wireline, tubing or any other object that can disturb the Earth's magnetic field at the measurement point.
Once a fracturing tool, wireline, tubular good or any other object capable of disturbing the geomagnetic field is introduced in the borehole, a disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field occurs locally near the at least one geomagnetic sensor (1) located at the upper end of the fracture tree, for example, at the upper end of the vertical branch of the fracture tree. The signals emitted by the at least one geomagnetic sensor are then sent by data acquisition means to a remote control and monitoring unit (3) for processing, the processed information is stored in a cloud and can be viewed through user interfaces remotely and/or from a command panel (11) located near the well. The control and monitoring unit (3) processes the signal patterns sent by the at least one geomagnetic sensor and further generates a set of warning and information signals for the user as described above.
Said warning and information signals may be light and/or audio signals and/or text messages which may alert the operator utilizing a user interface remotely and also, through a command panel (11) located in a safe zone near the borehole. Said command panel (11) is installed in an enclosure (12) adapted to house a set of components of the remote sensing device of the present invention as described below (see
As stated above, the geomagnetic sensor assembly of the device of the present invention is capable of detecting the presence of a moving or stationary object such as a tool, wireline or other object within the borehole and/or fracture tree. To determine the presence of such objects, the remote geomagnetic detection device of the present invention requires a record of the initial time the wireline entered the borehole. Such record may be taken manually from the command panel (11) or a remote user interface (3). To prevent this information from being lost for reasons external to the sensing device, such as a power outage, it is possible to calibrate the present remote sensing device externally and manually by indicating in which position the wireline is, i.e., inside or outside the wellbore.
The command panel (11) of the device of the present invention comprises a logic controller (7), protective means for the electrical and electronic components and remote communication means (8), an external 220V power supply (9), an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (5) that provides an autonomy of at least one day, to avoid the loss of information in the event of a power outage. Preferably, all these components are conveniently housed in the enclosure (12) installed on a mounting structure or a Skid Assembly (10).
In a preferred embodiment, the at least one geomagnetic sensor (1) is located on the external surface of the main body of the support element (2). Said support element (2) has a main body (2a), with a through hole (2b), an upper end (2c) and a lower end (2d), and an external surface (2e).
In a preferred embodiment, the main support body (2) comprises at least one geomagnetic sensor (1), preferably, two geomagnetic sensors (1), disposed within a blast-proof housing (6) configured to house the geomagnetic sensors (1) and electrical and electronic components for remote communication (not shown).
Conveniently, the at least one geomagnetic sensor is disposed on the perimetral external surface (2e) of the support element (2), preferably, they may be mounted by means of fastening means located on the external surface (2e). One, two, three, four or more sensors arranged on the outer surface (2e) of the support element (2) may be included. If provided, for example, two geomagnetic sensors (1) are preferably arranged in the same radial plane to form an angle ranging between 30° and 90°, preferably between 30° and 60°, with respect to each other.
In a preferred embodiment, the sensor holder (2) can be an API standard flanged joint spool, which allows to place at the upper end (2c) thereof, pin-type connection means for manual connection of the fracturing tool or for automatic connection of the fracturing tool. In the case of an automatic connection, it is possible to attach the fracturing tool from a remote connection device.
As indicated above, both the command panel (11) located in a zone near the wellbore area and the remote control and monitoring unit (3) include visualization means, such as a user interface, configured to display the processed information received from the sensors and, in addition, to generate a set of light and/or audio signals and/or warning or information text messages indicating the operator the following situations:
The operation history can be downloaded from the command panel (11) via a USB port, by connecting a computer network cable or using any serial data transmission protocol used in industrial installations, such as RS485 or any other suitable for that purpose. Additionally, all operation history information is simultaneously stored in a cloud so that it is possible to view this information in real time from any remote device.
The operation history is a historical summary of fracturing tool and/or wireline records indicating date and time of status changes (tool presence/tool absence). This history can be provided in a coordinate system format where the X-axis represents time and the Y-axis represents the state of the variable (presence/absence of the tool and/or wireline). This allows the status variables for different equipment installed in a production area to be compared on the same graph for evaluation.
As indicated, the support element (2) has a main body (2a), with a through hole (2b), an upper end (2c) comprising upper connection means and a lower end (2d) comprising lower connection means, and an external surface (2e).
Said lower end (2d) includes lower connection means configured to connect to the upper end of the vertical branch of a fracture tree (A), while said upper end (2c) comprises connection means configured to connect to electronic devices for remote control.
Preferably, said upper and lower connection means are flanged connections. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, each geomagnetic sensor includes a metallic sheath (4) preferably made of aluminum, for focusing and concentrating the variations of the Earth's magnetic field lines generated by the movement of the tool and/or the wireline thereof or of any object introduced inside the well, and in turn isolating the sensors from possible magnetic interferences from the environment. The support element (2), as indicated above, can be an API standard spool of conventional sizes, e.g., 5⅛″15M×5⅛″15M (450 mm-600 mm in height).
As shown in
Thus, the remote sensing device of the present invention is capable of remotely detecting a fracturing tool, wireline, tubing or other element found inside the wellbore or in any section of the fracture tree with a high degree of accuracy, allowing a safe operation of the fracture tree valves, avoiding the loss of tools and also the operating costs related to their recovery, so that the remote detection device allows significant improvements in all fracturing operations performed in the well without risk to workers or tools used for this purpose regardless of their location in the well or in the fracture tree. CLAIMS
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| M20230102783 | Oct 2023 | AR | national |
