The present invention relates generally to drilling and surveying subterranean boreholes such as for use in oil and natural gas exploration. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for imparting a predetermined magnetic pattern to a casing string tubular.
The use of magnetic field measurements in prior art subterranean surveying techniques for determining the direction of the earth's magnetic field at a particular point is well known. Techniques are also well known for using magnetic field measurements to locate subterranean magnetic structures, such as a nearby cased borehole. These techniques are often used, for example, in well twinning applications in which one well (the twin well) is drilled in close proximity and often substantially parallel to another well (commonly referred to as a target well).
The magnetic techniques used to sense a target well may generally be divided into two main groups; (i) active ranging and (ii) passive ranging. In active ranging, the local subterranean environment is provided with an external magnetic field, for example, via a strong electromagnetic source in the target well. The properties of the external field are assumed to vary in a known manner with distance and direction from the source and thus in some applications may be used to determine the location of the target well. In contrast to active ranging, passive ranging techniques utilize a preexisting magnetic field emanating from magnetized components within the target borehole. In particular, conventional passive ranging techniques generally take advantage of remanent magnetization in the target well casing string. Such remanent magnetization is typically residual in the casing string because of magnetic particle inspection techniques that are commonly utilized to inspect the threaded ends of individual casing tubulars.
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/301,762 to McElhinney, a technique is disclosed in which a predetermined magnetic pattern is deliberately imparted to a plurality of casing tubulars. These tubulars, thus magnetized, are coupled together and lowered into a target well to form a magnetized section of casing string typically including a plurality of longitudinally spaced pairs of opposing magnetic poles. Passive ranging measurements of the magnetic field may then be advantageously utilized to survey and guide drilling of a twin well relative to the target well. This well twinning technique may be used, for example, in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) applications in which horizontal twin wells are drilled to recover heavy oil from tar sands.
McElhinney discloses the use of, for example, a single magnetizing coil to impart the predetermined magnetic pattern to each of the casing tubulars. As shown on
A SAGD well twinning operation typically requires a large number of magnetized casing tubulars (for example, in the range of about 50 to about 100 magnetized tubulars per target well). It will be readily appreciated, that drilling even a moderate number of such twin wells can result in the need for literally thousands of magnetized casing tubulars. While the above described manual method for magnetizing casing tubulars has been successfully utilized, it is both time and labor intensive. It is also potentially dangerous given the size and weight of a typical casing tubular (e.g., on the order of about 40 feet in length and 1000 pounds or more in weight). Moreover, such a manual process has the potential to lead to significant differences in the imparted magnetization from tubular to tubular, especially given the sheer number of magnetized tubulars required for a typical SAGD operation. It will be appreciated that in order to achieve optimum passive ranging results (and therefore optimum placement of the twin wells), it is preferable that each tubular have an essentially identical magnetic pattern imparted thereto.
Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus and method for magnetizing a large number of casing tubulars. In particular, a semi or fully automated apparatus and method that reduces handling requirements and includes quality control would be advantageous.
Exemplary aspects of the present invention are intended to address the above described need for an apparatus and method for magnetizing a large number of casing tubulars. One aspect of this invention includes an apparatus for imparting a magnetic pattern to a casing string tubular. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a plurality of co-axial magnetizing coils (also referred to in the art as gaussing coils and gaussing rings) deployed on a frame. The coils are typically deployed about a track on which the tubular may be traversed. The track may include, for example, a plurality of non-magnetic rollers deployed on the frame. Selected ones of the rollers may be driven, for example, via a motor. Advantageous embodiments may further include a magnetic field sensor disposed to measure the imparted magnetic field along the length of the tubular as it is removed from the track after magnetization. Further advantageous embodiments include a computerized controller in electronic communication with the coils and the magnetic field sensor.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide several advantages over prior art magnetization techniques described above. For example, exemplary embodiments of this invention tend to enable a repeatable magnetic pattern to be imparted to each of a large number of wellbore tubulars. The magnetic pattern is repeatable both in terms of (i) the relative position of various magnetic features (e.g., pairs of opposing magnetic poles) along the length of the tubular and (ii) the magnetic field strength of those features. Such repeatability tends to provide for accurate distance determination during passive ranging, and therefore accurate well placement during twinning operations, such as SAGD drilling operations.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention also advantageously provide for semi-automated quality control of tubular magnetization. For example, as described in more detail below, both the measured magnetic field along the length of the tubular and the applied current in the coils during magnetization may be processed as quality control parameters. These quality control measures tend to provide further assurance of tubular to tubular repeatability.
Exemplary embodiments of this invention also advantageously enable rapid magnetization of a large number of wellbore tubulars. Moreover, the apparatus and method require minimal handling of large tubulars and heavy coils, and therefore provide for improved safety during magnetization. Furthermore, as described in more detail below, exemplary embodiments of this invention are semi-automated, and can be configured to be nearly fully automated.
In one aspect, the present invention includes a stack of magnetized casing tubulars. The stack includes a plurality of magnetized wellbore tubulars, each of the magnetized wellbore tubulars including a plurality of north and south magnetic poles imparted to a corresponding plurality of longitudinal positions along the tubulars, the magnetic poles imparted to substantially the same longitudinal positions on each of the tubulars. The plurality of wellbore tubulars are arranged into a stack having at least two rows and at least two columns, the wellbore tubulars stacked side by side and atop one another such that the magnetic poles on one tubular are radially aligned with magnetic poles of an opposite polarity on adjacent tubulars.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realize by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
With reference to
Referring now to
With continued reference to
As described above in the Background of the Invention, wellbore tubulars 60 are typically magnetized such that they include at least one opposing pair of magnetic poles (north north or south south). It will be understood that the preferred spacing of pairs of opposing poles along a casing string depends on many factors, such as the desired distance between the twin and target wells, and that there are tradeoffs in utilizing a particular spacing. In general, the magnetic field strength about a casing string (or section thereof) becomes more uniform along the longitudinal axis of the casing string with reduced spacing between the pairs of opposing poles (i.e., increasing the ratio of pairs of opposing poles to tubulars). However, the fall off rate of the magnetic field strength as a function of radial distance from the casing string tends to increase as the spacing between pairs of opposing poles decreases. Thus, it may be advantageous to use a casing string having more closely spaced pairs of opposing poles for applications in which the desired distance between the twin and target wells is relatively small and to use a casing string having a greater distance between pairs of opposing poles for applications in which the desired distance between the twin and target wells is larger. Moreover, for some applications it may be desirable to utilize a casing string having a plurality of magnetized sections, for example a first section having a relatively small spacing between pairs of opposing poles and a second section having a relatively larger spacing between pairs of opposing poles. Therefore, advantageous embodiments of apparatus 100 enable a wide range of magnetic patterns (e.g., substantially any number of pairs of opposing poles having substantially any spacing) to be imparted to the tubulars.
The exemplary embodiment shown on
With reference now to
In certain exemplary embodiments, it may be advantageous to provide each of the coils 150 with magnetic shielding (not shown) deployed on one or both of the opposing longitudinal ends thereof. The use of magnetic shielding would tend to localize the imposed magnetization in the tubular, for example, by reducing the amount of magnetic flux (provided by the coil) that extends longitudinally beyond the coil 150. In one exemplary embodiment, such magnetic shielding may include, for example, a magnetically permeable metallic sheet deployed about the tubular at the longitudinal faces of each coil 150.
It is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that there are many standard tubular diameters. Moreover, it is not uncommon for a single well to utilize more than one casing diameter. For example, many wells have a relatively large diameter near the surface (e.g., 9 to 12 inch) and a relatively small diameter (e.g., 6 to 9 inch) near the bottom of the well. In order to accommodate a range of tubular diameters, the magnetizing coils 150 may be disposed to move vertically with respect to the frame 110. Such movement of the coils 150 enables them to be precisely centered about the tubulars 60 (
It will be understood that centering the tubulars 60 in the coils 150 may also be accomplished by disposing the rollers 120 to move vertically with respect to the frame 110. In such an alternative embodiment, the rollers would be moved downwards to accommodate larger diameter tubulars and upwards to accommodate smaller diameter tubulars. The invention is not limited in these regards.
With reference now to
In the exemplary embodiment shown, computerized controller 250 may be advantageously configured to connect and disconnect each of the coils 150 to and from electrical power. For example, the coils 150 may be simultaneously connected and disconnected from electrical power. In this manner, the entire tubular may be advantageously magnetized in only a few seconds (e.g., about 10), thereby readily enabling large numbers of tubulars to be magnetized in a short period of time. The invention is not limited in this regard, however, as two or more groups of the coils 150 may also be sequentially connected and disconnected from the electrical power, for example, to advantageously limit peak power requirements. The exemplary embodiment shown on
In the exemplary embodiment shown, tubulars are loaded and unloaded on opposing sides of the apparatus 200 (as shown on the left and right sides of the figure). The invention is also not limited in this regard. Tubulars may be equivalently loaded and unloaded from the same side of the apparatus 200. This may be advantageous, for example, in a portable configuration, such as one in which the apparatus 200 is deployed on a truck/trailer (e.g., so that it may be transported to a drilling site).
With continued reference to
With reference now to
As stated above, exemplary embodiments of apparatuses 100 and 200 may be advantageously utilized to repeatably magnetize a large number of wellbore tubulars in rapid succession. Prior to magnetization, the tubulars are loaded onto the track (e.g., the nylon rollers) in a loading area. They are then rolled longitudinally along the track, for example, via one or more powered rollers to a predetermined magnetization position. A plurality of magnetizing coils is then powered (e.g., substantially simultaneously) such that a circumferential current flows in each of the coils. As described above, the electrical current imparts a substantially permanent magnetization to the tubular. The magnetized tubular may then be optionally rolled longitudinally along the track in sensory range of a magnetic sensor to an unloading area, where it is removed from the track and stored for future use (or deployed directly into a borehole). As described above, the measured magnetic field is typically processed to determine whether or not the imparted magnetization meets predetermined specifications.
It will be appreciated that the tubulars need not be stationary during magnetization thereof as in the exemplary method embodiment described above. The tubulars may also be traversed along a portion of the track (through the coils 150) during magnetization thereof. In such an embodiment, slower movement of the tubular would tend to result in a stronger magnetization thereof (for a given electrical current in each of the coils). To form a pair of opposing magnetic poles the direction (polarity) of the electric current may be changed in one or more of the coils 150 when the tubular reaches some predetermined location (or locations) along the track (which could be determined automatically, for example, via an optical sensor). It will be appreciated that movement of the tubulars along the track during magnetization (i.e., while one or more coils are energized) may require additional safety precautions to prevent, for example, unexpected movement of the tubular.
With reference now to
It will further be appreciated that exemplary embodiments of the invention may be utilized to “remagnetize” previously magnetized tubulars, for example, magnetized tubulars that fail one or both of the above described quality control checks. The invention may also be utilized to “degauss” a previously magnetized tubular.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alternations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/487,904, filed Jul. 17, 2006, entitled APPARATUS FOR MAGNETIZING CASING STRING TUBULARS.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11487904 | Jul 2006 | US |
Child | 12422355 | US |