After a drilling rig is used to drill an oil or gas well and install the well casing, the rig is dismantled and removed from the site. From that point on, a well service rig typically is used to service the well. Servicing includes, among many other things, installing and removing inner tubing strings and sucker rods. When a drilling or well service rig is working on a well, it is incumbent upon the crew operating the rig to create a record of the casing, tubing, or rods installed into and removed from the well. This record is an important part of the well file, or well history, and will often be referred to at later dates during the life of the well. However, counting individual casing, tubing, or sucker rod segments, or their joints or connections, and then later correlating this count to the depths within the well of the individual casing, tubing, or rod segments, or their joints or connections, can be a laborious task that is very much susceptible to human error.
While there are many devices and methods of locating and recording tubing connections, this technology generally is applied to casing and tubing that has already been run into the well. For examples, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,032,739 and 6,003,597. Current well servicing technology does not include a means for automatically counting the number of joints or connections at the same time the casing, tubing, or rods are being pulled from or run into a well. Furthermore, there is no technology that can automatically reduce this count into database form. Finally, there is no system that can automatically give the rig operator a continuously updated rod, tubing, or casing count as these items are being run in or pulled from a well. This invention alleviates these deficiencies.
Rods, tubing, and casing that are run into and out of a well are generally made of some kind of metal, usually iron or some alloy of a ferrous material. The magnetic flux density and magnetic permeability of the individual tubes is approximately uniform due to the consistent metal characteristics, uniform wall thickness, and uniform outer and inner diameters that are generally held to strict manufacturing specifications. Only when the ends of the tubing and casing are screwed together, using a coupling or collar, does the magnetic flux density measurably change within the length of the pipe string. A magnetic induction device mounted at the wellhead that is capable of measuring changes in magnetic flux can monitor these changes in flux at each joint or collar, and thereby recognize when a tubing joint or casing collar passes in or out of the well. The number of changes in magnetic flux directly correlates to the number of joints and collars that have passed; therefore, an accurate inventory of the number of lengths of casing or tubing that are run into the well can be automatically maintained.
Referring to
Many wellbores consist of a pipe within a pipe. The outer pipe string or casing typically consists of pipe sections coupled together by way of casing collars. The inner pipe string or rods or tubing typically consists of pipe sections interconnected by way of pipe couplings. When installing inner pipe string segments, the individual pipe segments are screwed together using hydraulic tongs (not shown). Hydraulic tongs are known in the art, and refer to any hydraulic tool that can screw together two pipes or sucker rods. During make-up operations, block 38 supports each pipe segment while it is being screwed into the downhole pipe string. After the connection is made up, block 38 supports the entire string of pipe segments so that the entire string, which includes the new pipe segment, can be lowered into the well. After lowering, the entire string is secured, and the block 38 retrieves another new pipe segment for connection with the entire string. Conversely, during breakout operations, block 38 raises the entire string of pipe segments out of the ground until at least one individual segment is exposed above ground. The string is secured, and then block 38 supports the pipe segment while it is uncoupled from the string. Block 38 then moves the individual pipe segment out of the way, and returns to raise the string so that further individual pipe segments can be detached from the string.
Hoist 36 controls the movement of a cable 37 that extends from hoist 36 over the top of a crown wheel assembly 55 located at the top of derrick 40, supporting traveling block 38. Hoist 36 winds and unwinds cable 37, thereby moving the traveling block 38 between its crown wheel assembly 55 and its floor position, which is generally at the wellbore 58, but can be at the height of an elevated platform (not shown) located above wellbore 58.
Rods, tubing, and casing that are run into and out of a well are generally made of some kind of metal, usually iron or some alloy of a ferrous material. The magnetic flux density and magnetic permeability of the individual tubes is approximately uniform due to the consistent metal characteristics, uniform wall thickness, and uniform outer and inner diameters that are generally held to strict manufacturing specifications. Only when the ends of the tubing and casing are screwed together, using a coupling or collar, does the magnetic flux density measurably change within the length of the pipe string. This change is usually measurable by a magnetic induction device mounted at the wellhead that is capable of measuring magnetic flux.
Devices for measuring magnetic flux are well known in the art, and many variations of magnetic flux measuring devices are in use in the industry today. Some such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,032,739 and 6,003,597, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. One such common device simply comprises a coil of wire placed around or near a magnet. Some commercial devices employ two permanent magnets with like poles pointed toward the coil. Hall effect transducers and magneto sensors are also known in the art and can be used with this invention.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a voltmeter measures the changes in magnetic flux by measuring an induced current that is created in a coil of wire as a result of the change in magnetic flux. In some cases, the voltmeter is calibrated to read zero volts at a point in which the casing or tubing wall is exposed to the magnetic field. Therefore an increase or decrease in voltage will indicate the passing of the coupling or joint as it passes through the magnetic field. When the voltmeter reads a certain voltage, the counting system recognizes that as a coupling or joint, thereby only counting voltmeter readings at or above a certain level. It is well within the skill of one of ordinary skill in this art to determine the minimum appropriate voltmeter reading that corresponds to the passing of a coupling or a joint, as it will likely be different with every application.
Referring to
The change in magnetic flux is thought to be caused by air gaps in the threads between the coupling and/or collar or by the increased volume of metal that is uniquely present at a joint or coupling. Regardless of what causes the change in magnetic flux, when the magnetic flux measuring device detects a significant variation, it can be concluded that a collar or joint is passing by the measuring device. By counting each pulse—i.e., each significant variation in flux—an operator or other person can determine how many joints are being run into the hole or pulled out of the hole. Because there is likely to be noise in the magnetic flux signal, in some embodiments the signal is filtered so that only the significant variations in flux—when a coupling or joint passes—are measured and counted.
Once the magnetic flux measuring device detects a significant variation in the magnetic flux, that signal is converted into a countable signal, which is then fed into a suitable counter such as a relay-driven stepping mechanical counter or a GUI. The counting device then monitors and keeps track of the number of pulses, and therefore the number of joints, that have passed the sensor. Devices for converting the flux variations into a countable signal and then feeding the signal into a counter are well known in the art, and may include a signal processor, as described above. In some embodiments, the signal may be fed directly into a computer system and automatically placed into an electronic spreadsheet. In this way, the number of lengths of tubing that are run into and out of the hole can be easily tracked by the system operator.
In one embodiment, instead of mounting a sensor on or near the wellhead, a coil of wire or Hall effect sensor is embedded or molded into a wiper rubber. As shown in
Although the invention is described with respect to a preferred embodiment, modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined by reference to the claims which follow.
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