EP0584998B1 - Procédé et appareil pour détecter des impulsions de pression - Google Patents

Procédé et appareil pour détecter des impulsions de pression Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0584998B1
EP0584998B1 EP19930306313 EP93306313A EP0584998B1 EP 0584998 B1 EP0584998 B1 EP 0584998B1 EP 19930306313 EP19930306313 EP 19930306313 EP 93306313 A EP93306313 A EP 93306313A EP 0584998 B1 EP0584998 B1 EP 0584998B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
pressure
mud
region
detection device
plunger
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19930306313
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0584998A2 (fr
EP0584998A3 (fr
Inventor
Frank A.S. Innes
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Halliburton Co
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Halliburton Co
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Publication date
Priority claimed from GB929217069A external-priority patent/GB9217069D0/en
Application filed by Halliburton Co filed Critical Halliburton Co
Publication of EP0584998A2 publication Critical patent/EP0584998A2/fr
Publication of EP0584998A3 publication Critical patent/EP0584998A3/fr
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Publication of EP0584998B1 publication Critical patent/EP0584998B1/fr
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B47/00—Survey of boreholes or wells
    • E21B47/12—Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling
    • E21B47/14—Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling using acoustic waves
    • E21B47/18—Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling using acoustic waves through the well fluid, e.g. mud pressure pulse telemetry

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a pressure pulse in a flowing mud stream, and is particularly useful in measurement while drilling processes.
  • Measurement while drilling is a technique whereby data collected at the bottom of a borehole are transmitted to the surface by some form of telemetry. This results in a major reduction in drilling time compared to other techniques in which drilling has to be stopped to permit instrumentation to be lowered down the hole on a wireline.
  • MWD is widely used in drilling for oil and gas. Parameters measured include direction and inclination of the drill string, and geological data such as gamma radiation, resistivity, porosity and density. Various telemetry methods have been tried, the most widely used at present being mud pulse transmission.
  • Drilling for oil and gas is carried out by means of a string of drill pipes, at the downhole end of which is the drill bit.
  • the pipes are rotated either by a drive device on the surface or by a downhole motor or turbine.
  • Drilling mud is pumped at high pressure down the drill pipes to emerge through jets in the bit. The mud then travels back up the hole via the annulus between the drillpipe and the hole wall, to be cleaned and recirculated.
  • the functions of the drilling mud are to lubricate the bit, carry the cuttings back up to the surface, and balance the hydrostatic pressure in the rock formation.
  • Mud is pumped downhole by a positive displacement pump, usually with three cylinders.
  • the pump pressure is up to 20.7MN/m 2 (3000 psi) and the flow rate up to 5.3m 3 per minute (1400 US gallons per minute).
  • the pumps can develop several thousand watts (several hundred horsepower: (1hp is 746W.)
  • a hydraulic accumulator generally referred to as a de-surger in this application, is installed in the pipeline to absorb the pressure fluctuations from the pump. These would otherwise cause undue noise and vibration.
  • the de-surger consists of a pressure vessel in which an elastomeric diaphragm separates a volume of nitrogen from the mud which fills the rest of the vessel. As will be seen, the de-surger affects the efficiency of mud pulse transmission.
  • Mud pulses can be generated by opening and closing a valve between the drillpipe and the annulus near the bottom of the drill string. When the valve is open, the pressure drop across the bit jets is bypassed to some extent, and the pressure in the drill pipe is reduced.
  • a device operating in this way is generally referred to as a negative pulser.
  • a valve in the drill pipe can be partially closed, causing a pressure increase or positive pulse.
  • a third type of device produces a train of pulses which are phase modulated to transmit data. This is really a special case of a positive pulser.
  • British patent specification no. 2160565A describes a way of overcoming at least some of these problems.
  • the mud flow rate rather than the mud pressure, is monitored at the surface using a flow meter downstream of the de-surger.
  • the mud flow rate at the surface responds more sharply to a downhole mud pulse than does mud pressure and, in addition, signal to noise ratios for mud flow rate are much higher than for mud pressure.
  • suitable flow meters are magnetic flow meters such as the Foxboro Series 2800 magnetic flowmeters manufactured by The Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Other types of commercially available flow meters, such as insertion type flow meters can also be employed.
  • Magnetic flow meters operate by establishing a magnetic field through which the slightly conductive drilling mud flows, thereby creating an electric potential. This potential, which is proportional to the rate of flow, is measured and electronically amplified and then transmitted to a recorder or data processor.
  • mud pulses can be detected in flowing stream of mud in a conduit by monitoring the pressure change as the pulse-containing stream passes between two regions of the conduit of different cross-sectional area.
  • the flowing mud will show a pressure change as it passes from one region to the other. This difference in pressure will change as a mud pulse flows into one of the regions. This change in the difference in pressure between the two regions can be used very effectively to detect mud pulses in the mud stream.
  • the present invention provides very effective and low cost surface detection of mud pulses generated downhole while drilling.
  • the method of the invention has other advantages too. For example, because it monitors the difference in pressure between the two regions, the background "noise" is of very little importance or effect.
  • the change in pressure due to the arrival of a pulse in one region can be a greater percentage of the normal pressure difference between the regions, than is the change in flow rate with the GB 2160565 arrangement or the pressure change in conventional prior art procedures.
  • the two regions of different cross-sectional area are preferably adjacent so that mud flows directly from one region into the other.
  • the pressure in each region can be measured independently, and then compared (normally electronically) with the pressure in the other region.
  • a differential pressure transducer can be connected to the two regions to give direct information as to the pressure difference.
  • a bypass conduit is tapped into a main conduit, and a venturi for example is provided in the bypass conduit, the pressure changes being measured in the bypass conduit this avoids having to interfere significantly with the main mud flow conduit on site (which can be difficult on a working drilling rig).
  • US-A-3,555,504 which represents the prior art as referred to in the preamble of claim 6, discloses an apparatus for detecting pressure pulse signals originating downhole and travelling to the surface through the drilling fluids.
  • the apparatus of US-A-3,555,504 comprises a mud pulse detection device comprising a body defining a through bore for passing drilling mud therethrough, a first region in the bore, a second region in the bore, and means for sensing the difference in pressure between mud in the first and second regions.
  • the present invention is characterised over US-A-3,555,504 in that said second region has a greater cross-sectional area than said first region.
  • a simplified mud circuit is shown in Figure 1.
  • a mud pump 1 drives mud through a drill string 2.
  • a de-surger 3 contains a diaphragm 4 and a volume of gas 5.
  • a pressure transducer 6 is fitted downstream of the de-surger.
  • the mud pulser is represented by a valve 7 and the bit jets by a restriction 8.
  • the pulser 7 effectively has two settings, one of which will create a higher pressure drop across the pulser than the other.
  • the following discussion will relate to a positive pulser i.e. the pressure upstream will rise when a pulse is created.
  • the invention is however equally effective with a negative pulser.
  • the pressure transducer When the pulser is activated, the pressure immediately upstream increases and the velocity decreases. These changes do not occur instantaneously throughout the drill string, but propagate along it at the speed of sound in the fluid - approximately 1219m (4000 feet) per second. If the pressure transducer is 2438m (8000 feet) from the pulser, its reading will remain unchanged for two seconds after the pulser is activated.
  • the volume of mud produced by the pump can be assumed to be substantially unaffected by the increased pressure of the pulser signal. If the pulse were of sufficient duration for transients to die away, pressure at the transducer would stabilise at a higher value determined by the various losses in the system including the pulser restriction, and velocity at the transducer would return to its previous value.
  • the pulse is too short for stabilisation to occur, and the transient signal must be detected.
  • This can best be visualised as a region in the drill pipe in which mud pressure is increased and velocity decreased. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 2.
  • a transition area 10 in which the transition between lower pressure/higher velocity and higher pressure/lower velocity will occur.
  • the length of the transition area will depend on the speed of operation of the pulser, the degree of diffraction due to changes in drill pipe section, and the effects of viscous friction.
  • a second transition area 11 at the trailing edge of the pulse in which the opposite changes in pressure and velocity take place.
  • the velocity of the fluid in the pulse is not similarly cancelled out by the presence of the de-surger.
  • the reduced pressure at the upstream end of the pulse results in a further reduction in velocity, so while the pressure component in the pulse is removed, the velocity component is enhanced.
  • a pressure signal may still be detected in the absence of sonics, but its amplitude depends on the duration of the pulse. This can be illustrated by a numerical example:
  • the initial rate of pressure change is only 0.3 MN/m 2 (42 psi) per second.
  • a pulse of 0.1 seconds duration would only give a pressure rise, sonics apart, of 0.03 MN/m 2 (4.2 psi). This would be extremely hard, if not impossible to detect.
  • V1 reduces to 2.8 m/sec (9.4 ft/sec) due to the arrival of a pulse
  • a differential pressure transducer may be connected between the two pressure tappings to give a direct indication of velocity.
  • Figure 4 shows a device designed for mud pulse velocity detection. It consists of a body 12 preferably having screw threads 13, 14 at each end to permit fitting in the pipeline from the de-surger to the drill pipe. The body has an internal constriction 15 with a pressure tapping 16. A second tapping 17 is provided in the larger diameter of the body. A differential pressure transducer 18 is connected across the two tappings. The constriction may optionally be faired by two tapered sections 19, 20 to reduce erosion due to turbulent mud flow.
  • the cross sectional area at the constriction may be adjustable by means of a plunger operated by a screw thread or hydraulic ram in order to accommodate the range of mud flow rates encountered in practice.
  • Figure 5 is an example of unprocessed pressure (A) and velocity (B) traces obtained from a positive pulser at a depth of 1372m (4500 feet), using the detection device described above for velocity. The greater amplitude and clarity of the velocity signal are obvious. Pulse width is 0.5 seconds.
  • Figure 6 shows an alternative device for mud pulse velocity detection.
  • the device as shown is adapted to fit into a standard pressure transducer tapping 40 which may already exist on rig pipework 41 by means of screw threads 42 in the tapping.
  • the device may be provided within a screw-threaded body for fitting into a pipeline in a manner similar to that described with respect to the Figure 4 embodiment.
  • the device of Figure 6 comprises a plunger 43 slidably supported within a sleeve 44.
  • the sleeve 44 is provided with screw threads 45 which cooperate with screw threads 42 in the tapping 40.
  • a shoulder 46 on a plunger 43 separates a first portion 47 of the plunger from an end portion 48 of the plunger having a larger diameter than the first portion 47. The shoulder 46 limits the distance by which the plunger 43 is permitted to slide within the sleeve 44.
  • An annular recess 49 is provided in the first portion 47 of the plunger and a screw-threaded hole 50 is provided in the sleeve 44.
  • a locking screw 51 fits through the hole 50 and cooperates with the annular recess 49 to permit fixing of the plunger 43 within the sleeve at the correct depth and alignment, as will be described in more detail below.
  • O-ring seals 60 are provided between the plunger and the sleeve to prevent leakage of the drilling mud from the pipework 41.
  • a high pressure tapping or aperture 52 is formed in the plunger 43, and is connected via a through-passage 53 and a connecting loop 54 with one side of a differential pressure transducer 55.
  • a low pressure tapping or aperture 56 is also formed in the plunger 43, and is connected via a through-passage 57 and a connecting loop 58 with the other side of the differential pressure transducer 55.
  • the low pressure aperture 56 is oriented at right angles to the high pressure aperture 52.
  • the drilling mud is flowing through the pipework 41 in the direction of arrow 59.
  • the device is positioned in the tapping 40 and the location of the plunger 43 within the sleeve 44 is adjusted, such that the end portion 48 of the plunger protrudes into the fluid flow by a selected amount in order to cause a restriction in the flow.
  • the plunger is oriented with the high pressure aperture 52 facing upstream, as shown, and the depth and orientation of the plunger are set by means of the locking screw 51.
  • the high pressure aperture 52 is exposed to the stagnation pressure in the flow, since the restriction in the flow caused by the end portion 48 of the plunger 43 creates a stagnation point immediately upstream of the plunger.
  • the low pressure aperture 56 is exposed to the static pressure of the fluid near the minimum cross-section of the restriction in the flow.
  • the sensitivity of the device of Figure 6 is therefore higher than that of the device of Figure 4 since it senses the high pressure at a stagnation point in the flow.
  • a further advantage of the device shown in Figure 6 is that it can be fitted to the standard transducer tappings already provided on rig pipework, thus facilitating installation.
  • the end portion 48 of the plunger 43 may be provided with a streamlined shape, or with an aerofoil.
  • a main mud flow conduit 70 (the direction of flow being shown by arrow 71) is tapped to provide a bypass passage 72 in parallel to the main flow 71.
  • a venturi 73 is provided in the bypass and a pressure sensor 74 is provided connected at one side to the venturi and at the other side upstream of the venturi.

Claims (12)

  1. Procédé pour la détection d'impulsions de boue dans un courant d'écoulement de boue dans un conduit comprenant la comparaison de signaux de pression en provenance de deux régions du conduit qui présentent des sections transversales d'importance différente.
  2. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle le signal de pression en provenance de chacune des deux régions est mesuré indépendamment, et les signaux de pression sont ensuite comparés.
  3. Procédé selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans laquelle un capteur de pression différentielle est relié aux deux régions et une comparaison directe des signaux de pression est réalisée.
  4. Procédé selon la revendication 1, 2 ou 3, dans laquelle les deux régions sont adjacentes.
  5. Procédé selon la revendication 1, 2, 3 ou 4, dans laquelle le courant de boue se trouve dans une dérivation parallèle au conduit principal d'écoulement de boue.
  6. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue comprenant un corps (12) qui définit un alésage traversant pour passer de la boue de forage; une première région dans l'alésage; une deuxième région dans l'alésage; et un moyen (18) pour détecter la différence de pression dans la boue entre les première et deuxième régions; caractérisé en ce que ladite deuxième région présente une section transversale plus importante que ladite première région.
  7. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 6, dans lequel un moyen (13, 14) est prévu sur ledit corps pour relier ledit corps (12) dans un circuit de boue de forage.
  8. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 6 ou 7, dans lequel ladite première région est réalisée par une constriction interne (15), et dans lequel ledit dispositif comprend en outre une première prise de pression (16) exposée à la pression dans la première région, une deuxième prise de pression (17) exposée à la pression dans la deuxième région, et un moyen de mesure et de transmission de la différence de pression entre les première et deuxième prises.
  9. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 8, dans lequel des carénages aérodynamiques (19, 20) sont prévus sur la constriction (15).
  10. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 8 ou 9, dans lequel l'importance de la section transversale à la constriction (15) est réglable par le moyen d'un piston.
  11. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 10, dans lequel le piston peut être actionné par le moyen d'une vis de blocage.
  12. Dispositif de détection d'impulsions de boue selon la revendication 10, dans lequel lesdites première et deuxième prises de pression sont prévues à l'intérieur du piston, et dans lequel ladite deuxième prise de pression est exposée à la pression à un point d'arrêt en amont dudit piston.
EP19930306313 1992-08-12 1993-08-10 Procédé et appareil pour détecter des impulsions de pression Expired - Lifetime EP0584998B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB929217069A GB9217069D0 (en) 1992-08-12 1992-08-12 Pressure pulse measurement
GB9217069 1992-08-12
US96064292A 1992-10-14 1992-10-14
US960642 2001-09-20

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0584998A2 EP0584998A2 (fr) 1994-03-02
EP0584998A3 EP0584998A3 (fr) 1995-03-01
EP0584998B1 true EP0584998B1 (fr) 1996-11-20

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19930306313 Expired - Lifetime EP0584998B1 (fr) 1992-08-12 1993-08-10 Procédé et appareil pour détecter des impulsions de pression

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EP (1) EP0584998B1 (fr)
DK (1) DK0584998T3 (fr)
NO (1) NO932861L (fr)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5515336A (en) * 1994-08-17 1996-05-07 Halliburton Company MWD surface signal detector having bypass loop acoustic detection means
US20150034386A1 (en) * 2013-07-30 2015-02-05 Schlumberger Technology Corporation Fluidic Modulators and Along String Systems
US10605024B2 (en) 2017-11-10 2020-03-31 Baker Hughes, A Ge Company, Llc System using flow vibration detection and method

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3555504A (en) * 1968-12-12 1971-01-12 Schlumberger Technology Corp Pressure wave noise filter
US3742443A (en) * 1970-07-27 1973-06-26 Mobil Oil Corp Apparatus for improving signal-to-noise ratio in logging-while-drilling system
NO790496L (no) * 1978-02-27 1979-08-28 Schlumberger Technology Corp Fremgangsmaate og apparat for demodulering av signaler i et system for logging under boring
US4262343A (en) * 1979-04-18 1981-04-14 Dresser Industries Pressure pulse detection apparatus
US4224687A (en) * 1979-04-18 1980-09-23 Claycomb Jack R Pressure pulse detection apparatus incorporating noise reduction feature
USH55H (en) * 1984-06-18 1986-05-06 Method for improved mud pulse telemetry
US4715022A (en) * 1985-08-29 1987-12-22 Scientific Drilling International Detection means for mud pulse telemetry system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NO932861L (no) 1994-02-14
NO932861D0 (no) 1993-08-11
EP0584998A2 (fr) 1994-03-02
EP0584998A3 (fr) 1995-03-01
DK0584998T3 (da) 1996-12-09

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