CN115977554A - Underground measurement while drilling device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a downhole measurement while drilling device which comprises an upstream functional short section and a downstream functional short section which are connected with each other through a joint mechanism. The joint mechanism comprises an upper body fixedly connected with the upstream functional short section and a lower body fixedly connected with the downstream functional short section. An upper via built in the upper body is electrically connected to a lower via built in the lower body. The lower body comprises a first inward-concave free moving groove, the upper body comprises a first protruding free rotating head, and the first free rotating head extends into the first free moving groove and can move freely in the first free moving groove.

Description

Underground measurement while drilling device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a measuring instrument for oil and gas exploration and development, in particular to an underground measurement-while-drilling device, and particularly relates to an underground measurement-while-drilling device for a large-curvature and short-radius borehole.

Background

Old oil and gas fields enter a yield decreasing period after long-term development, so that the exploitation difficulty is increased, and the development cost is increased.

For this reason, old well sidetracking techniques are often employed to increase oil and gas production. The principle of the technology is that directional sidetracking is carried out in an old well by using a special drilling tool and a measurement while drilling instrument, the well inclination angle is finally controlled to be about 90 degrees, and a well section with a certain length is drilled by keeping the angle, so that the length of a target layer is increased, and the oil drainage area is increased.

Because of the high requirement of the target-in-place precision, the well sidetracking of old wells usually requires that the curvature of a vertical well section is changed into a horizontal well section, and the radius is very large. However, when drilling a large-curvature short-radius well track in an old well, the drilling tool and the measurement while drilling instrument are required to have relatively large flexibility, so that the well can smoothly pass through a lateral drilling section, and the measurement while drilling instrument and a drilling tool combination, particularly a screw rod, are kept consistent in tool surface, thereby ensuring smooth implementation of directional deviation.

The drilling tool is a simple mechanical structure tool, and the total length of the drilling tool is thousands of meters. Due to the long length, a more flexible metal material can generally be chosen to achieve a larger bend. The measurement-while-drilling instrument is generally a probe type structural instrument, a measurement unit is arranged in a probe tube, the probe tube is arranged in a drill collar, and the drill collar is connected into a drilling tool assembly and enters a well to perform drilling operation. The existing measurement while drilling instrument is composed of a pulser short section, a measurement probe pipe short section, a power supply short section and the like, wherein the short sections are connected together through thread buckles in a hard mode, and the total length is 5-10 meters. Therefore, the bending of the whole measurement-while-drilling instrument can be realized only by the flexibility of the short steel (or other alloy materials), and the bending angle can be very small under the condition. If the pipe nipple is forcibly bent greatly, an external pressure-resistant cylinder of the measurement while drilling instrument needs to bear high pressure, and fragile components such as an internal circuit board and a sensor are extremely easy to damage. Therefore, conventional measurement-while-drilling instruments cannot pass through a large-curvature, short-radius well section.

Wireline logging and measurement while drilling face similar problems. The existing cable logging (including open hole logging, production logging and annular logging) instrument combination all uses the flexible short section to increase flexibility, and relative rotation angle does not need to be considered after the instruments are connected with each other through the flexible short section. The short sections of the existing measurement while drilling instrument are rigidly connected, and the relative angle between the measurement probe and the deflecting screw is fixed. Therefore, if a flexible connection mode widely used on a cable logging instrument is introduced into a measurement while drilling instrument, it is required to ensure that the probe and the screw cannot rotate relatively, or even if the measurement probe is swung at a certain tool face angle, the bent point of the screw cannot be ensured to be at the determined tool face angle. At this time, if the drill bit drills in a sliding mode, the drilling direction of the drill bit cannot be guaranteed. In addition, compared with cable logging, the environment in the measurement while drilling process is worse. The measurement while drilling instrument is subjected to extreme vibration during the drilling process, and the flexible connection is the weak point of vibration, which makes it very difficult to damp the vibration at the flexible connection position.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a measurement while drilling device capable of adapting to a large-curvature and short-radius borehole. Compared with the conventional measurement while drilling device, the measurement while drilling device has increased instrument flexibility, so that the measurement while drilling device can better adapt to the measurement while drilling requirements under complex conditions such as lateral drilling of an old well and the like.

According to the invention, a downhole measurement-while-drilling device is provided, which comprises an upstream functional short section and a downstream functional short section which are connected with each other through a joint mechanism. The joint mechanism comprises an upper body fixedly connected with the upstream functional short section and a lower body fixedly connected with the downstream functional short section. An upper via built in the upper body is electrically connected with a lower via built in the lower body. The lower body comprises a first inward-concave free moving groove, the upper body comprises a first protruding free rotating head, and the first free rotating head extends into the first free moving groove and can freely move in the first free moving groove.

In a preferred embodiment, the first freely rotating head comprises a concave second freely moving groove, the first freely moving groove comprises a second freely rotating head extending from the bottom surface, and the second freely rotating head extends into the second freely moving groove and can freely move in the second freely moving groove.

In a preferred embodiment, a spherical fit is formed between the first freely rotating head and the first freely movable slot, and a spherical fit is formed between the second freely rotating head and the second freely movable slot.

In a preferred embodiment, the first free moving groove includes a trumpet-shaped opening portion, and a receiving portion connected to the trumpet-shaped opening portion. Wherein the flared opening portion has a larger end dimension than a diameter of the first freely rotating head and a smaller end dimension than the diameter of the first freely rotating head. The receiving portion has an inner surface that conforms to an outer surface of the first freely rotating head.

In a preferred embodiment, a free space is formed between the receiving section and the first freely rotating head, and the free space is filled with non-conductive grease.

In a preferred embodiment, the lower end of the upper lead wire is provided with a conductive contact head, the upper end of the lower lead wire is provided with a spiral winding ring, and the conductive contact head extends into the spiral winding ring to form electrical connection.

In a preferred embodiment, the spiral ring is made of an elastic material.

In a preferred embodiment, the upper and lower via lines are respectively coated with an upper and lower insulating layer.

In a preferred embodiment, the upper body and the lower body are connected to each other by anti-rotation pins.

In a preferred embodiment, the upper body and the lower body are provided with upper and lower anti-rotation grooves on end surfaces thereof opposite to each other, respectively, and the anti-rotation pins are disposed in the upper and lower anti-rotation grooves by springs.

In a preferred embodiment, the upstream functional sub and the downstream functional sub are selected from at least two adjacent ones of an pulser sub, a pulser drive sub, a power sub and a measurement probe sub.

According to the measurement-while-drilling device, the pulser short section, the pulser driving short section, the power supply short section and the measurement probe pipe short section are connected by adopting a joint mechanism with a special structure. By using the joint mechanism, the flexibility of the measurement while drilling device is increased, the probe tube and the screw rod can not rotate relatively, and the high anti-seismic performance is achieved. The measurement-while-drilling device disclosed by the invention is simple in structure and easy to process, and can be suitable for the boreholes with large curvatures and short radiuses, so that the measurement-while-drilling requirements under complex conditions such as lateral drilling of old wells and the like are met.

Drawings

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a large-curvature, short-radius wellbore into which a drill collar containing a measurement-while-drilling apparatus according to the present invention is lowered;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of the joint mechanism of the measurement while drilling device according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the articulating mechanism of fig. 2, showing the mating structure of the articulating mechanism capable of relatively free movement.

In the present application, the drawings are all schematic and are used only for illustrating the principles of the invention and are not drawn to scale. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same parts or structures.

Detailed Description

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For ease of understanding, in this application, the direction closer to the wellhead is defined as the upper end, upstream or the like, while the direction further away from the wellhead is defined as the lower end, downstream or the like; meanwhile, a direction along the length of the measurement while drilling apparatus is referred to as a longitudinal direction, an axial direction, or the like, and a direction perpendicular thereto is referred to as a lateral direction, a radial direction, or the like. It is to be understood that such directional terms are used merely for convenience in describing the present invention and are in no way limiting.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a large-curvature, short-radius borehole into which is lowered a drill collar 2 containing a measurement-while-drilling apparatus 500 according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the wellbore 1 comprises a large curvature, short radius wellbore section. The drill collar 2 is connected with the screw rod 4 and the drill bit 3 and is jointly lowered into the borehole 1 for drilling construction. In the drill collar 2, a measurement-while-drilling apparatus 500 according to the present invention is installed. The measurement while drilling device 500 comprises functional short sections which are connected in sequence, such as a pulser short section 5, a pulser driving short section 6, a power supply short section 7 and a measurement probe short section 8. Centralizers 9 are respectively installed on the pulser driving nipple 6, the power source nipple 7 and the measurement probe nipple 8 so as to ensure that the pulser driving nipple, the power source nipple and the measurement probe are centered in the borehole 1. The pulser sub 5 and centralizer 9 may be selected as appropriate depending on the size of the wellbore 1.

The above-described components of the measurement-while-drilling apparatus 500, the function and structure of the drill collar 2, the screw 4, and the drill bit 3 are well known to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

Since the borehole 1 has a large curvature, the conventional measurement while drilling instrument is difficult to pass through due to its rigidity. For this reason, according to the present invention, the measurement-while-drilling device 500 includes a joint mechanism 10 provided between the pulser sub 5, the pulser drive sub 6, the power supply sub 7, and the measurement probe sub 8, so as to connect the pulser sub 5, the pulser drive sub 6, the power supply sub 7, and the measurement probe sub 8 to each other, forming the entire measurement-while-drilling device 500. The joint mechanism 10 of the measurement while drilling device 500 according to the present invention has greater flexibility, enabling a greater degree of bending, thereby allowing the measurement while drilling device 500 to pass through a large-curvature, short-radius wellbore 1.

The joint mechanism 10 of the measurement while drilling apparatus 500 according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 2 and 3, wherein fig. 2 schematically shows the overall structure of the joint mechanism 10, and fig. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing a fitting structure in the joint mechanism 10 that is capable of relatively freely moving.

As shown in fig. 2, the joint mechanism 10 includes an upper body 100 and a lower body 200. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 are each formed as a generally cylindrical body so as to be conveniently received in the drill collar 2.

The upper body 100 is formed as a stepped shaft including a large shaft portion 101 located upstream and a small shaft portion 102 located downstream. A first coupling head 160 is formed at the upper end of the large shaft portion 102. The first coupling 160 is preferably rigid for fixed connection to the downstream end of a sub (e.g., pulser sub 5, pulser-driven sub 6, or power sub 7) located upstream of the articulation mechanism 10. A first freely rotating head 150 is formed at the end of the small shaft portion 102.

In addition, an upper through hole 105 extending through the upper body 100 in the axial direction thereof is formed, and an upper via line 110 is arranged in the upper through hole 105. According to the present invention, an upper insulating layer 120 is provided on the outer circumference of the upper via 110, and a conductive contact 140 (shown in fig. 3) is provided at the downstream end of the upper via 110. The upper via 110 and the conductive contact 140 form an electrical connection, and the upper insulating layer 120 electrically insulates the upper via 110 from the upper body 100. In addition, the entire upper body 100 serves as a common ground.

As shown in fig. 3, the first freely rotating head 150 is formed in a substantially spherical structure at the tip of the small shaft portion 102 of the upper body 100 according to the present invention. The diameter of the first freely rotating head 150 of this generally spherical configuration is greater than the diameter of the small shaft portion 102, so that the first freely rotating head 150 is formed as an outwardly bulging configuration at the tip of the small shaft portion 102. A second freely movable groove 130 is formed in the first freely rotatable head 150 to be concave. The conductive contact 140 of the upper conductive trace 110 extends from the via 105 and into the second free moving slot 130. The bottom of the second free moving groove 130 (i.e., the upstream portion thereof) is preferably formed to have a substantially spherical surface.

As shown in fig. 2, the lower body 200 is also formed as a stepped shaft including a large shaft portion 201 located upstream and a small shaft portion 202 located downstream. In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 2, the small shaft portion 202 of the lower body 200 forms a second connector 260. The second connector 260 is preferably rigid for fixed connection to the upstream end of subs (e.g., pulser-driven sub 6, power sub 7, and gauging probe sub 8) located downstream of the articulation mechanism 10.

A lower through hole 205 extending through in an axial direction thereof is formed in the lower body 200, and a lower via 210 is arranged inside the lower through hole 205. According to the present invention, a lower insulating layer 220 is provided on the outer circumference of the upper via 210, and a winding ring 240 (shown in fig. 3) is provided at the upstream end of the upper via 210. The lower via 210 and the coil 240 form a circuit connection, and the lower insulating layer 220 electrically insulates the lower via 210 from the lower body 200. The entire lower body 200 also serves as a common ground and is short-circuited to the upper body 100, forming a common ground for the entire circuit signal.

According to the present invention, the large shaft portion 201 of the lower body 200 is made of a slightly elastic material and has a first freely movable groove 230 recessed inward. The first free moving groove 230 includes a trumpet-shaped opening portion 232, and a receiving portion 235 connected to the trumpet-shaped opening portion 232. The large end of the flared opening portion 232 is sized to be larger than the diameter of the first freewheeling head 150 to facilitate insertion of the first freewheeling head 150 into the first freewheeling slot 230. The small end of the flared opening portion 232 is sized smaller than the diameter of the first freewheeling head 150 so that the first freewheeling head 150 cannot be disengaged therefrom after being inserted into the first freewheeling slot 230 (specifically the receiving portion 235). The receiving portion 235 of the first freewheeling slot 230 is configured to have a shape complementary to the shape of the first freewheeling head 150, but is slightly oversized so as to form a freewheeling gap 400 therebetween (as shown in FIG. 3). Thereby, the first freely rotating head 150 can freely rotate in the first freely movable groove 230.

As shown in fig. 3, in the first freely movable groove 230 of the lower body 200 is provided a second freely rotatable head 250 protruding from the bottom thereof, the free end (i.e., the upstream end) of which is preferably formed to have a substantially spherical surface. When the first freely rotating head 150 is inserted into the first freely moving groove 230, the second freely rotating head 250 of the lower body 200 enters into the second freely moving groove 130 of the upper body 100. Since the second freely rotating head 250 and the second freely moving groove 130 each have a spherical surface, the second freely rotating head 250 can freely rotate within the second freely moving groove 130.

It will be readily appreciated that in accordance with the present invention, the spherical surfaces of the second freewheeling head 250 and the spherical surfaces of the second freewheeling head 130 are configured to fit within each other, but are sized slightly smaller to facilitate free rotation of the second freewheeling head 250 within the second freewheeling slot 130.

As shown in fig. 3, according to the present invention, a helicoidal ring 240 is provided at the upstream end of the lower lead 210, and also in the lower through hole 205. The lower through hole 205 penetrates through the second freely rotating head 250 of the lower body 200. Thus, when the first freely rotating head 150 is inserted into the first freely moving groove 230, the second freely rotating head 250 of the lower body 200 enters the second freely moving groove 130 of the upper body 100. At this time, the conductive contact 140 at the end of the upper via 110 enters the spiral ring 240 of the lower body 200, so that an effective electrical connection is established between the conductive contact 140 and the spiral ring 240.

In a preferred embodiment, the inner diameter of the helicoidal ring 240 is sized slightly larger than the outer diameter of the electrical contacts 140 so that the electrical contacts 140 can slide relatively within the helicoidal ring 240. Additionally, the axial length of the helicoil 240 is selected to be greater than the axial length of the electrical contact 140 so that the electrical contact 140 can be fully received in the helicoil 240.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the upper body 100 of the joint mechanism 10 is connected with the lower body 200, the first freely rotating head 150 of the upper body 100 is inserted into the first freely moving groove 230 of the lower body 200 and is freely movable in the first freely moving groove 230; the second freely rotating head 250 of the lower body 200 is inserted into the second freely moving groove 130 of the upper body 100 and can freely move in the second freely moving groove 130; at the same time, the electrical contact 140 at the end of the first lead wire 110 of the upper body 100 enters the spiral loop 240 at the end of the second lead wire 210 of the lower body 200 and is free to move. Through these three kinds of free movements, the entire joint mechanism 10 has high flexibility, so that the measurement while drilling apparatus 500 also has high flexibility. Thus, the measurement-while-drilling apparatus 500 according to the present invention can smoothly pass through a large-curvature, short-radius wellbore 1.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the spiral wrap 240 is made of an elastic material. In this case, due to the elasticity of the spiral ring 240 itself, a good electrical connection between the conductive contact 140 and the spiral ring 240 can be maintained even if a strong shock is applied. Therefore, the measurement while drilling device 500 provided by the invention can ensure effective electrical connection between the pups during directional drilling.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the free space 400 is filled with an electrically non-conductive grease, which provides both lubrication and insulation.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 are connected to each other by the rotation preventing pin 300, so that the mutual rotation between the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 can be prevented. Specifically, opposite upper and lower rotation-preventing grooves 170 and 270 are provided on the upper and lower bodies 100 and 200, and rotation-preventing pins 300 are provided in the two rotation-preventing grooves 170 and 270 to rotatably connect the upper and lower bodies 100 and 200.

Further, it is preferable that a spring 310 is fixedly coupled in each of the two anti-rotation grooves 170 and 270, and both ends of the anti-rotation pin 300 are coupled to the two springs 310, respectively. The spring 310 is preferably a shock-resistant spring. Thus, the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 may be bent at a certain angle with each other due to the anti-shock spring. Based on above-mentioned structural design, can solve among the prior art can't realize relative angle pivoted problem, reduced the vibrations again simultaneously to the while drilling measuring device during operation destruction.

It is easily understood that, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper body 100 and the lower body 200 are connected to each other by a plurality of anti-rotation pins 300 arranged evenly spaced in the circumferential direction.

According to the measurement-while-drilling device 500, the pulser short section 5, the pulser driving short section 6, the power supply short section 7 and the measurement probe pipe short section 8 are connected by adopting the joint mechanism 10 with a special structure. By using the joint mechanism 10, the flexibility of the measurement while drilling device 500 is increased, the probe tube and the screw rod are ensured to be relatively incapable of rotating, and the high anti-seismic performance is achieved. The measurement-while-drilling device 500 disclosed by the invention is simple in structure and easy to process, and can be suitable for large-curvature and short-radius boreholes, so that the measurement-while-drilling requirements under complex conditions such as lateral drilling of old wells and the like are met.

It will be readily appreciated that in an embodiment of the invention, not shown, the above-described articulation mechanism 10 is employed to connect only a portion of adjacent ones of the pulser sub 5, the pulser drive sub 6, the power sub 7 and the measurement probe sub 8. This also enables a similar technical effect to be achieved.

Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention in any way. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described in the foregoing examples, or that equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

1. The underground measurement while drilling device (500) comprises an upstream functional short section and a downstream functional short section which are connected with each other through a joint mechanism (10), wherein the joint mechanism (10) comprises an upper body (100) fixedly connected with the upstream functional short section and a lower body (200) fixedly connected with the downstream functional short section, an upper conducting wire (110) arranged in the upper body (100) is electrically connected with a lower conducting wire (210) arranged in the lower body (200),

wherein the lower body (200) comprises a first concave free moving groove (230), the upper body (100) comprises a first protruding free rotating head (150), and the first free rotating head (150) protrudes into the first free moving groove (230) and can freely move in the first free moving groove (230).

2. The downhole measurement while drilling device (500) of claim 1, wherein the first freely rotating head (150) comprises a recessed second freely moving slot (130), the first freely moving slot (230) comprising a second freely rotating head (250) extending from a bottom surface, the second freely rotating head (250) extending into the second freely moving slot (130) and being freely movable within the second freely moving slot (130).

3. The downhole measurement-while-drilling device (500) of claim 2, wherein a clearance-type spherical fit is formed between the first freely-rotating head (150) and the first freely-moving slot (230), and a clearance-type spherical fit is formed between the second freely-rotating head (250) and the second freely-moving slot (130).

4. The downhole measurement-while-drilling apparatus (500) of claim 3, wherein the first free moving slot (230) comprises a flared opening portion (232) and a receiving portion (235) coupled to the flared opening portion (232), wherein the flared opening portion (232) has a larger end dimension than a diameter of the first free rotating head (150) and a smaller end dimension than the diameter of the first free rotating head (150), the receiving portion (235) having an inner surface that conforms to an outer surface of the first free rotating head (150).

5. The downhole measurement while drilling device (500) of claim 4, wherein a live gap (400) is formed between the receiving portion (235) and the first free rotating head (150), the live gap (400) being filled with non-conductive grease.

6. The downhole measurement-while-drilling apparatus (500) of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a lower end of the upper conductor (110) is provided with a conductive contact head (140), an upper end of the lower conductor (210) is provided with a coiled loop (240), and the conductive contact head (140) protrudes into the coiled loop (240) to form an electrical connection.

7. The downhole measurement while drilling device (500) of claim 6, wherein the helicoidal ring (240) is made of an elastomeric material.

8. The downhole measurement-while-drilling apparatus (500) of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the upper (110) and lower (210) conductive wires are coated with an upper insulating layer (120) and a lower insulating wire (220), respectively.

9. The downhole measurement-while-drilling device (500) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the upper body (100) and the lower body (200) are connected to each other by anti-rotation pins (300).

10. The downhole measurement-while-drilling device (500) according to claim 9, wherein the upper body (100) and the lower body (200) are provided with an upper anti-rotation groove (170) and a lower anti-rotation groove (270) on end surfaces thereof opposite to each other, respectively, and the anti-rotation pins (300) are disposed in the upper anti-rotation groove (170) and the lower anti-rotation groove (270) through springs (310).

11. The downhole measurement-while-drilling device (500) of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the upstream functional sub and the downstream functional sub are selected from at least two adjacent ones of a pulser sub (5), a pulser drive sub (6), a power supply sub (7) and a measurement probe sub (8).

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