1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the field of data acquisition related to oil and gas wells, and, more particularly, to a removable sealed housing for equipment that may be employed in obtaining downhole measurement data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oil and gas wells are formed by a rotary drilling process. To that end, a drill bit is mounted on the end of a drill string which may be very long, e.g., several thousand feet. At the surface, a rotary drive mechanism turns the drill string and the attached drill bit at the bottom of the hole. In some cases, a downhole motor may provide the desired rotation to the drill bit. During drilling operations, a drilling fluid (so-called drilling mud) is pumped through the drill string and back up-hole by pumps located on the surface. The purpose of the drilling fluid is to, among other things, remove the earthen cuttings resulting from the drilling process.
The environmental conditions that exist downhole in oil and gas wells can be very important to drilling, production and completion operations. For example, downhole temperatures and pressures as well as fluid viscosities can greatly impact various operations that are involved in creating a productive oil and gas well. More specifically, with respect to drilling operations, there is a growing desire to obtain as much data as possible regarding downhole environmental and operating conditions. Such data may be useful for research purposes, as well as, in some cases, taking actions with respect to drilling a particular well or future wells. Additionally, it may be desirable to provide positional information, e.g., depth, and relative location of a drilling bit, such that a well may be properly drilled to a desired target zone.
While there are existing methodologies for acquiring some forms of downhole data, such methodologies tend to be relatively expensive and difficult to employ. What is desired is a relatively low-cost mechanism and procedure for acquiring downhole measurement data. The provision of such a mechanism would allow its use on a far greater number of wells, thereby providing much more information that may be useful in drilling and completing future oil and gas wells.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and methods for solving, or at least reducing the effects of, some or all of the aforementioned problems.
The present invention is generally directed to a removable sealed housing for equipment that may be employed in obtaining downhole measurement data. In one illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a recess formed therein, a detachable sealed housing removably coupled to the component, at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing being positioned in the recess, the housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one device positioned in the cavity. In some cases, substantially all of the detachable sealed housing may be positioned within the recess in the component.
In another illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a recess formed therein, a detachable sealed housing threadingly coupled to the component, at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing being positioned in the recess, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one of a sensor and an electrical component positioned in the cavity.
In yet another illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a surface, a detachable sealed housing removably coupled to the surface of the component, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one device positioned in the cavity. The detachable sealed housing may be removably coupled to the surface by use of one or more threaded fasteners.
In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises positioning a detachable sealed housing at least partially in a recess formed in a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, removably coupling the detachable sealed housing to the component wherein at least a portion of the detachable housing is positioned in the recess formed in the component, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein and at least one device positioned within the cavity, positioning the component and the detachable sealed housing in the subterranean wellbore, and acquiring data using the at least one device after the detachable sealed housing is positioned within the subterranean wellbore.
In another illustrative embodiment, the method comprises positioning a detachable sealed housing adjacent a surface of a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, removably coupling a detachable sealed housing to the surface of the component, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein and at least one device positioned within the cavity, positioning the component and the detachable sealed housing in the subterranean wellbore, and acquiring data using the at least one device after the detachable sealed housing is positioned within the subterranean wellbore.
The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached figures. The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definition will be expressly set forth in the specification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definition for the term or phrase.
In general, the present invention is directed to a removable sealed housing that may be removably coupled to a downhole component that is adapted to be positioned in a subterranean hole, e.g., a wellbore. In one illustrative embodiment, the removable sealed housing may have one or more cavities wherein one or more devices, e.g., sensors and/or electrical components, may be positioned in such cavities. In one very particular embodiment, the detachable sealed housing contains at least one cavity wherein at least one sensor may be positioned for acquiring various forms of downhole data. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present application, the present invention may be employed in connection with acquiring any of a variety of different types of data, and the detachable sealed housing disclosed herein may be coupled to any of a variety of different types of downhole components, e.g., a tubular component, a bottom hole assembly, a downhole sub, a drill bit, etc. Thus, the present invention should not be considered as limited to the acquisition of any particular type of data, or as to the coupling of the detachable sealed housing disclosed herein to any particular type of downhole component, unless such limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claims. Nor should the present invention be considered as limited to use with only sensors positioned in the cavities of the detachable sealed housing, as a variety of items or devices may be positioned in the cavities formed in the detachable sealed housing.
In general, in one illustrative embodiment, the present invention is directed to a removable sealed housing that may be positioned, at least partially, in a recess or opening formed in a downhole component.
As will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present application, the present invention has broad applicability and may be employed with any of a variety of components that may be positioned in a subterranean wellbore. For example, the present invention may be employed with drill bits, tubular components, bottom hole assemblies, drilling motors, electrical submersible pumps, fishing tools, whipstocks, packers, etc. Thus, the present invention should not be considered as limited to use with any particular type of downhole component. As will be understood after a complete reading of the present application, the removable sealed housing 10 of the present invention may take a variety of shapes and configurations, and it may be installed using a variety of techniques. Various illustrative examples will be described in the specification, however, the present invention should not be consider as limited to these specifically disclosed embodiments as they are illustrative in nature. Moreover, the removable sealed housing 10 may be coupled to the downhole component using a variety of techniques. Accordingly, the particular techniques disclosed herein for coupling the housing 10 to the downhole component are illustrative in nature only, and should not be considered a limitation of the present invention unless such limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claims.
In the embodiment depicted in
As indicated previously, the present invention may be employed in a variety of different applications. In one illustrative example, the detachable sealed housing 10 may have at least one device 29, e.g., at least one sensor and/or at least one item of electrical equipment, positioned in the cavity 18. Thus, as depicted in
The manner in which such devices, e.g., sensors 30 and/or electrical components 31, are coupled together so as to obtain the desired data are well known to those skilled in the art and thus will not be described in any greater detail herein. The sensors 30 and the electrical components 31 may be mounted to the surface 18a by a variety of known techniques, e.g., gluing, use of a potting compound, etc. Moreover, although only the surface 18a is depicted as having the sensors 30 and the electrical components 31 mounted thereon, such items may be mounted on any or all of the surfaces of the cavity 18 depending upon the particular application. Thus, the present invention should not be considered as limited to any particular type of sensor 30 or electrical component 31 or how such items are mounted within the cavity 18 of the detachable sealed housing 10 of the present invention. After the devices 29 are mounted in the cavity 18, the cavity 18 may be substantially filled with a potting compound or other material.
In general, in one illustrative embodiment, the present invention may be used to facilitate the acquisition of data regarding any of a variety of different types of downhole data or information, including, for example, formation type, well temperature, well pressure, drill bit accelerations, velocities and displacements, drill bit inclination and azimuth, drill bit axial load and rotational torque, drill bit rotary speed and rate of penetration, chemical sensors for grease analysis, pH sensors, oxygen sensors, NOx sensors, carbon monoxide sensors, etc. The present invention may also be employed to acquire ring compression data that may be indicative of successful make-up. Strain gauges may be employed in such an illustrative application. The present invention may also be employed to acquire data relating to drill pipe accelerations as well as data relating to the dynamic behavior of any bottom hole assembly (BHA).
Examples of sensing devices 30 that may be positioned within the cavity 18 include any of a variety of different types of mechanical and/or electrical sensors, e.g., thermometers, gyroscopes, strain gauges, accelerometers, barometers, pressure sensors, hall effect switches, etc. Examples of electrical components 31 that may be positioned within the cavity 18 include, but are not limited to, a battery, a microprocessor, a memory unit or chip, a circuit board, a communications port, and/or an analog-to-digital converter, etc. If desired or necessary, a plurality of such components may be positioned within the cavity 18, e.g., multiple batteries. The sensors 30 and electrical components 31 may be coupled together in any of a variety of known techniques.
As indicated previously, the detachable sealed housing 10 may be of any desired shape, and any number of sealed cavities 18 may be formed within the housing 10. Moreover, the shape and configuration of the cavities 18 may also vary depending upon the particular application.
In one illustrative embodiment, at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing 10 is adapted to be positioned in a recess or opening 40 formed in a body 111 of an illustrative downhole component. In other embodiments, substantially the entirety of the detachable sealed housing 10 may be positioned within the recess 40. The manner in which the detachable sealed housing 10 is coupled to the downhole component 111 may vary depending upon the particular application. Again, it should be understood that the downhole component 111 is depicted by way of example only as it may be any type of device adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore. The following are illustrative examples of how the detachable sealed housing 10 of the present invention may be removably coupled to the downhole component 11.
As shown in
The present invention may also be employed in situations in which the removable sealed housing 10 is removably coupled to a surface 11a of a downhole component 11. The surface 11a may be an interior surface or an exterior surface of the component 11. In one particular embodiment, the surface 11a may be an external cylindrical surface of the component 11. As shown in
The body 20 of the detachable sealed housing 10 may serve other useful purposes in addition to housing the sensors 30 and/or electrical components 31. For example, in the embodiment shown in
The present invention may also be employed in situations when the removable sealed housing 10 of the present invention may be adapted to communicate with or receive data from instrumentation, sensors and/or electrical components that are installed in various downhole components. For example, in some applications, it may be desirable to have a sensor located at a particular location within a downhole component, e.g., thermocouple positioned adjacent the bearings of a roller cutter drill bit to sense the temperature experienced by the bearings. To that end,
In various embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of cavities 18 are formed in the detachable sealed housing 10 and the cavities 18 are connected to one another via one or more internal passageways 37 (see
As illustratively depicted in
In the case where the present invention is employed to obtain downhole data, the indicator lights 47 and/or display panel 42 may be employed in a variety of different contexts. For example, a control logic may be established such that an indicator light is “on” only when a sensed parameter, e.g., temperature, pressure, torque, etc., exceeds a preselected allowable limit or range, i.e., the indicator light can indicate an out-of-tolerance or problem condition. Alternatively, the control logic may be established such that the indicator light is always “on” and only goes off when an out-of-tolerance condition is sensed. Colored indicator lights may also be employed with the present invention, e.g., red and green lights, wherein the red light indicated an out-of-tolerance condition and the green light indicated a within-tolerance condition. The use of such indicator lights may be very useful. For example, through use of the indicator lights 47, an out-of-tolerance event may be quickly identified as soon as the detachable sealed housing 10 is removed from the borehole. In that case, analysis of the data acquired by the devices in the housing 10, e.g., sensors, may be given a very high priority as an out-of-tolerance condition is indicated. Absent the use of such good/bad indicator lights, the analysis of the acquired data may be delayed. Such delays may be very problematic in many situations if corrective actions are delayed. Such indicator lights may be employed for any or all sensed variables depending upon the particular application. The indicator lights 47 may be LED devices that are commonly found in the industry. The lights 47 may be electrically coupled to the equipment, e.g., electrical components 31 and/or sensors 30 positioned in the cavities 18 in the detachable sealed housing 10. The lights 47 may be actuated by known circuitry positioned within the cavities 18. The control logic used to actuate the lights 47 may be embedded in various circuits formed on the electrical components 31 positioned within the cavities 18, e.g., a microprocessor, a programmable logic device, etc.
As indicated in
Thereafter, in the illustrative embodiment where one or more sensors 30 and/or electrical components 31 are positioned within the cavities 18, the detachable sealed housing 10 is removably coupled to a downhole component and the detachable sealed housing 10 and the downhole component are positioned downhole and data is acquired regarding, for example, various downhole environmental conditions or positional information. In one illustrative embodiment, this data is stored in a memory unit or chip positioned within the cavity 18. After sufficient data has been acquired, the detachable sealed housing 10 is brought uphole and the information regarding the acquired data is downloaded and used for any of a variety of research, development or production reasons. In some embodiments, the downloading of the acquired information may be accomplished by an electrical connection or by wireless interrogation using a radio or infrared device. If desired, the cavity 18 may be unsealed by, for example, removing the illustrative cover plate 20a depicted in various embodiments disclosed herein.
In some cases, the detachable sealed housing 10 of the present invention may be employed wherein the data obtained by the sensor(s) positioned within the cavity 18 is sent to the surface on a real-time, or near real-time, basis. To that end, a communication link between the surface and the sensors 30 and/or electrical components 31 within the cavity 18 is provided and data is transmitted to the surface on a real-time or near real-time basis.
In the embodiment depicted in
In general, in one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a removable sealed housing for equipment that may be employed in obtaining downhole measurement data. In one illustrative embodiment, the apparatus disclosed herein comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a recess formed therein, a detachable sealed housing removably coupled to the component, at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing being positioned in the recess, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one device positioned in the cavity. In some applications, substantially all of the detachable sealed housing may be positioned within the recess formed in the component.
In another illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a recess formed therein, a detachable sealed housing threadingly coupled to the component, at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing being positioned in the recess, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one of a sensor and an electrical component positioned in the cavity.
In yet another illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, the component having a surface, a detachable sealed housing removably coupled to the surface of the component, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein, and at least one device positioned in the cavity.
In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises positioning a detachable sealed housing at least partially in a recess formed in a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, removably coupling the detachable sealed housing to the component wherein at least a portion of the detachable sealed housing is positioned in the recess formed in the component, the detachable sealed housing having at least one cavity formed therein and at least one device positioned within the cavity, positioning the component and the detachable sealed housing in the subterranean wellbore, and acquiring data using the at least one device after the detachable sealed housing is positioned within the subterranean wellbore.
In another illustrative embodiment, the method comprises positioning a detachable sealed housing adjacent a surface of a component adapted to be positioned in a subterranean wellbore, removably coupling a detachable sealed housing to the surface of the component, the housing having at least one cavity formed therein and at least one device positioned within the cavity, positioning the component and the detachable sealed housing in the subterranean wellbore, and acquiring data using the at least one device after the detachable sealed housing is positioned within the subterranean wellbore.
The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. For example, the process steps set forth above may be performed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.
The subject matter of the present application is, in a general sense, related to the subject matter disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/709,625, filed on May 18, 2004, entitled “Equipment Housing for Downhole Measurements,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.