Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system in a specific environment – Earth science
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-30
2004-08-24
Barlow, John (Department: 2863)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system in a specific environment
Earth science
C367S033000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06782322
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data acquisition and logging systems for subsurface resource drilling and more particularly relates to generating data for a reaming operation.
2. Related Art
The exploration for subsurface resources such as hydrocarbons including oil and gas, minerals and water, typically requires various techniques for determining the characteristics of geological formations. Many characteristics, such as the hydrocarbon volume, resistivity, porosity, lithology, and permeability of a formation, may be deduced from certain measurable quantities associated with the geological formations. Drilling for subsurface resources to determine the characteristics of the geological formations is a well known technique. A drilling rig is typically deployed to drill a well for exploring the subsurface resources.
The data acquisition and logging system is typically used to acquire information describing the well characteristics. The information may be acquired in real-time by a sensor equipped drilling tool and communicated to a back-end portion of the logging system for performing additional processing. The term “real-time” data, as used herein, includes data acquired and recorded while the drilling tool is in the well, and transmitted to the surface shortly after being acquired. Transmission typically occurs and is completed substantially while the drilling tool is in the well, and is typically by a method with limited bandwidth, such as mud-pulse telemetry. It is well known that only a subset of the recorded data can be transmitted as real-time data because of the limited data transfer rates of down-hole telemetry systems. This reduces the number of channels, the sample interval, or both, in the real-time data.
In many cases, information may be acquired in a “recorded mode” by the drilling tool, according to which data is acquired and stored in a memory device of the drilling tool. The recorded data may be subsequently retrieved from the memory when the drilling tool is brought to the surface. The term “recorded data,” as used herein, includes data stored in the memory of the drilling tool while the drilling tool is in the well. Thus, recorded data are distinct from real-time data.
It is well known that the drilling rig can be operated in several modes such as drilling, reaming, and tripping to penetrate the geological formations. For example, during the drilling operation the drilling bit is described as being “on-bottom”. (It should be understood that the term “drilling” has a rather specific meaning when used in the context of operating in a “drilling mode,” as just described. The term ‘drilling” may also be used in a more general sense, such as in the context of “drilling the well” or “measurement while drilling” (“MWD”), which are mentioned herein below.) In the reaming operation the drilling tool is rotating but its bit is “off-bottom” (i.e. not drilling), regardless of whether the drilling tool is moving up or down. In the tripping mode the drilling tool is being lowered into or pulled out of the oil well, but generally is not rotating. For the purposes of this invention, “reaming” covers both tripping and reaming.
A drilling rig is typically capable of operating only in one mode at a given instant. For example, the rig cannot be reaming and drilling at the same time. Consequently, when the rig is reaming toward bottom, the rig mode automatically changes to the drilling mode as soon as the bit touches the bottom of the hole. Therefore, in data acquisition terms, data acquired in a reaming operation is not “on-bottom”.
It should be understood that data acquired in well logging may be acquired over a period of days, weeks or even months and is therefore voluminous. Consequently, the well logging system automatically processes data as it is acquired to make the data more accessible. Typically, a set of data of particular interest is identified by the well logging system by automatically generating a data file for it. Moreover, existing well logging systems typically automatically generate real-time data files only for real-time data acquired on-bottom. In some cases, existing systems can also generate a real-time, “off-bottom” data file, such as a reaming data file (also sometimes referred to as a “ream section”), provided that the system is configured to do so prior to acquiring the data. For recorded-mode data, well logging system flexibility is conventionally even more limited. It should therefore be appreciated that the need exists to create ream section data for a selected depth range after acquiring real-time data without requiring extensive manual data manipulation or repositioning. Furthermore, it would be desirable to facilitate automatic creation of accessible ream section data from both real-time and recorded mode data.
SUMMARY
The foregoing need is addressed by the present invention. According to one form of the invention, a method for generating a depth-indexed data structure for a reaming operation includes receiving, by a software process, i) well logging data that includes time-indexed data and surface measurement data for a drilling rig, ii) a selection identifying a depth range for the reaming operation by the drilling rig, and iii) values for a certain parameter, the values indicating respective operating modes for the drilling rig. Then the software process extracts, responsive to the selected depth range and one of the values of the parameter, a section from the well logging data within the selected depth range, and generates from the section the depth-indexed data structure for the reaming operation—.
In another aspect, the parameter is user-selected. As an alternate, the parameter is program selected.
In an alternative, the parameter is included in the received well logging data.
In still another alternative, the parameter is included in the received well logging data but changeable responsive to a user-selection.
Other forms, as well as additional aspects, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4297879 (1981-11-01), Howells et al.
patent: 4320469 (1982-03-01), Frawley et al.
patent: 4512186 (1985-04-01), Edwards
patent: 4736297 (1988-04-01), LeJeune
patent: 4794534 (1988-12-01), Millheim
patent: 5589825 (1996-12-01), Pomerleau
patent: 0 654 687 (1994-10-01), None
patent: 0 939 195 (1999-02-01), None
patent: 1 160 586 (2001-05-01), None
patent: WO 01/98631 (2000-06-01), None
“DRILL-PRO”, Drum Corps Staff, Oct. 1996.*
“DRILL-PRO”, Drum Corps Staff, Oct. 1996.*
Opsah, Runar et al., A Database Model for Drilling Data Storage, Society of Petroleum Engineers vol. SPE 28225, Jul. 31, 1994, pp. 61-66.
Barlow John
Echols Brigitte L.
Le Toan M.
Ryberg John
Schlumberger Technology Corporation
LandOfFree
Method, apparatus and computer program product for creating... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method, apparatus and computer program product for creating..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method, apparatus and computer program product for creating... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3327455