Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING COMMUNICATIONS DURING
CEMENTING OPERATIONS
[0001] (This paragraph is left intentionally blank.)
[0002] This
application is related to U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0058207, published
March 1, 2018 entitled "Dual Transducer Communications Node for Downhole
Acoustic Wireless
Networks and Method Employing Same:" U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0058206
published
March 1, 2018 entitled "Communication Networks, Relay Nodes for Communication
Networks,
and Methods of Transmitting Data Among a Plurality of Relay Nodes; " U.S.
Patent Publication
No. 2018/0058208, published March 1, 2018 entitled "Hybrid Downhole Acoustic
Wireless
Network: "U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0058203, published March 1, 2018
entitled "Methods
of Acoustically Communicating and Wells that Utilize the Methods- U.S. Patent
Publication No.
2018/0058209, published March 1, 2018 entitled "Downhole Multiphase Flow
Sensing Methods,"
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0066510, published March 8, 2018 entitled
"Acoustic Housing
for Tubulars,"
[0003] This
application is related to U. S. Patent Applications having common inventors
and
assignee: U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0116085, published April 18, 2019
entitled "Method and System
for Performing Operations using Communications;" U.S. Patent Publication No.
2019/0112916, published
April 18, 2019
entitled "Method and System for Performing Communications using
Aliasing;," U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0112917, published April 18, 2019
entitled "Method
and System for Performing Operations with Communications;" U.S. Patent
Publication No.
2019/0112919, published April 18, 2019
entitled "Method and System for Performing Wireless
Ultrasonic Communications Along a Drilling String," U.S. Patent Publication
No. 2019/0112915,
published April 18, 2019
entitled "Method and System for Performing Hydrocarbon Operations
with Mixed Communication Networks; U.S.
Patent Publication No. 2019/0112918, published April 18, 2019
entitled "Vertical Seismic Profiling
1
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-15
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0004] This disclosure relates generally to the field of performing
operations, such as
hydrocarbon exploration, hydrocarbon development, and hydrocarbon production
and, more
particularly, to communicating and obtaining measurement data during cementing
operations.
Specifically, the disclosure relates to methods and systems for communicating
with
communication nodes, which may include being disposing along one or more
tubular members,
such as along casing or tubing within a wellbore, and utilized to enhance
cementing operations
and other associated operations.
BACKGROUND
[0005] This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art,
which may be associated
with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is
believed to assist in
providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular
aspects of the present
invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be
read in this light, and
not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
100061 In hydrocarbon exploration, hydrocarbon development, and/or
hydrocarbon production
operations, several real time data systems or methods have been proposed. As a
first example, a
physical connection, such as a cable, an electrical conductor or a fiber optic
cable, is secured to a
tubular member, which may be used to evaluate conditions, such as subsurface
conditions. The
cable may be secured to an inner portion of the tubular member or an outer
portion of the tubular
member. The cable provides a hard wire connection to provide real-time
transmission of data.
Further, the cables may be used to provide high data transmission rates and
the delivery of
electrical power directly to downhole sensors. However, use of physical cables
may be difficult
as the cables have to be unspooled and attached to the tubular member sections
disposed within a
2
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-15
wellbore. Accordingly, the conduits being installed into the well may not be
rotated because of
the attached cables, which may be broken through such installations. This
limitation may be
problematic for installations into horizontal wells, which typically involve
rotating the tubular
members. These passages for the cables provide potential locations for leakage
of fluids, which
may be more problematic for configurations that involve high pressures fluids.
In addition, the
leakage of down-hole fluids may increase the risk of cement seal failures.
[0007] In contrast to physical connection configurations, various wireless
technologies may
be used for downhole communications. Such technologies are referred to as
telemetry. These
communication nodes communicate with each other to manage the exchange of data
within the
wellbore and with a computer system that is utilized to manage the hydrocarbon
operations. The
communication nodes may involve different wireless network types. As a first
example, radio
transmissions may be used for wellbore communications. However, the use of
radio transmissions
may be impractical or unavailable in certain environments or during certain
operations. Acoustic
telemetry utilizes an acoustic wireless network to wirelessly transmit an
acoustic signal, such as a
vibration, via a tone transmission medium. In general, a given tone
transmission medium may
only permit communication within a certain frequency range; and, in some
systems, this frequency
range may be relatively small. Such systems may be referred to herein as
spectrum-constrained
systems. An example of a spectrum-constrained system is a well, such as a
hydrocarbon well, that
includes a plurality of communication nodes spaced-apart along a length
thereof. However,
conventional data transmission mechanisms may not be effectively utilized and
may not be utilized
with certain hydrocarbon operations.
[0008] In hydrocarbon operations, wellbores are drilled to provide access
to subsurface fluids,
the produced fluids may include sand or other solids along with the
hydrocarbons and/or water.
Further, the wellbore may be unstable and/or may not be structurally sound as
a result of the
subsurface formation conditions along changes in the hydrocarbon operations.
Such changes in
the subsurface formation and/or associated conditions may result in production
of debris, such as
sand, solids and/or formation material, which has multiple adverse effects on
hydrocarbon
operations. Sand and/or solids production may increase significantly during
the first flow and/or
water breakthrough or even when conditions change. Unfortunately, the sand or
solid production
may reduce well productivity, may damage completion devices, may hinder
wellbore access and/or
may increase solid disposal. In addition, cementing the formation may enhance
the stability of the
3
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
formation.
[0009] To limit sand and/or solid production, cementing the formation may
be performed to
minimize debris, such as sand and/or formation material. The cementing
operations may involve
the passing the cement into the wellbore and directing the cement to a
specific location within the
wellbore. Unfortunately, the correct placement of cement is a problem with
cementing operations.
Conventional methods may involve performing calculations to determine the
correct placement of
cement. The calculations may include determining the volume of cement slurry
necessary to fill
the void space where the cement is planned to be placed. The estimation of the
volume is
performed by direct physical measurements using multi-finger caliper log
and/or by sonic
measurements. Unfortunately, these estimations may not represent the actual
wellbore, which
results in the cementing not properly covering the zone of interest or using
excess cement.
[0010] Accordingly, there remains a need in the industry for methods and
systems that are
more efficient and may lessen problems associated with noisy and ineffective
communication.
Further, a need remains for efficient approaches to perform real-time or
concurrent monitoring
during the cementing operations, which involves acoustic communicating along
tubular members
within a wellbore. The present techniques provide methods and systems that
overcome one or
more of the deficiencies discussed above.
SUMMARY
[0011] In one embodiment, a method of performing cementing operations by
communicating
data among a plurality of communication nodes is described. The method
comprising: obtaining
well data for a subsurface region; determining a communication network based
on the obtained
well data, wherein the communication network includes a plurality of
communication nodes;
installing the plurality of communication nodes into a wellbore and a cement
monitoring system,
wherein one or more communication nodes of the plurality of communication
nodes are configured
to obtain measurements associated with fluids within the wellbore and to
transmit the measurement
data to other communication nodes in the communication network; performing
cementing
installation operations to install cement at a cement location, wherein the
performing cementing
installation operations include: obtaining measurements from one of the one or
more
communication nodes during the cementing installation operations; and
transmitting data packets
associated with the obtained measurements from the one of the one or more
communication nodes
4
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
to a control unit via the communication network during the cementing
installation operations; and
performing hydrocarbon operations in the wellbore after the cement is
installed at the cement
location.
[0012] The
method may include various enhancements. The method may further comprising
adjusting cementing installation operations based on the transmitted data
packets associated with
the obtained measurements; further comprising determining changes in density
of fluids adjacent
to the one or more communication nodes during the cementing installation
operations; further
comprising determining changes in gamma ray of fluids adjacent to the one or
more
communication nodes during the cementing installation operations; further
comprising
configuring the plurality of the communication nodes based on a communication
network
configuration; wherein the communication network configuration comprises
selecting one of one
or more frequency bands, one or more individual tones, one or more coding
methods, and any
combination thereof; further comprising producing hydrocarbons from the
wellbore; wherein the
transmitting data packets comprises transmitting high-frequency signals that
are greater than (>)
20 kilohertz; wherein the transmitting data packets comprises transmitting
high-frequency signals
that are in the range between greater than 20 kilohertz and 1 megahertz;
wherein the performing
cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a cementing fluid into the
wellbore,
disposing the cementing fluid adjacent to the tubular member within the
wellbore, and setting the
cementing fluid within the wellbore to form the cement at the cement location;
wherein the
performing cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a first fluid
into the wellbore
prior to the pumping the cementing fluid into the wellbore; wherein the first
fluid comprises one
or more of viscosifier, emulsifier, weighting material, water, oil and any
combination thereof;
further comprising: obtaining measurements from the one or more communication
nodes
associated with the first fluid during the cementing installation operations,
and transmitting data
packets associated with the obtained first fluid measurements from the one or
more communication
nodes to the control unit via the communication network during the cementing
installation
operations; wherein the performing cementing installation operations comprise:
pumping a first
fluid into the wellbore prior to the pumping the cementing fluid into the
wellbore; further
comprising: obtaining measurements from the one or more communication nodes
associated with
the cementing fluid during the cementing installation operations, and
transmitting data packets
associated with the obtained cementing fluid measurements from the one or more
communication
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
nodes to the control unit via the communication network during the cementing
installation
operations; wherein the cementing fluid comprise one or more of lime, silica,
alumina, iron oxide,
gypsum, water, additives and any combination thereof; wherein the additives
comprises one or
more of accelerators, retarders, extenders, weighting agents, dispersants,
fluid-loss control agents,
lost-circulation control agents, antifoam agents and any combination thereof;
wherein the
performing cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a second fluid
into the wellbore
after the pumping the cementing fluid into the wellbore; further comprising:
obtaining
measurements from the one or more communication nodes associated with the
second fluid during
the cementing installation operations, and transmitting data packets
associated with the obtained
second fluid measurements from the one or more communication nodes to the
control unit via the
communication network during the cementing installation operations.
[0013] A hydrocarbon system is described. The hydrocarbon system comprises:
a wellbore in
a hydrocarbon system; a plurality of tubular members disposed in the wellbore;
a communication
network associated with the hydrocarbon system, wherein the communication
network comprises
a plurality of communication nodes that arc configured to communicate
operational data between
Iwo or more of the plurality of communication nodes during operations; and a
cement monitoring
system, wherein one or more communication nodes of the plurality of
communication nodes are
configured to obtain measurements associated with fluids within the wellbore,
to transmit the
measurement data to other communication nodes in the communication network and
to monitor
the cementing operations.
[0014] The system may include various enhancements. The system may include
wherein the
one or more communication nodes of the plurality of communication nodes are
configured to
measure changes in density of fluids adjacent to the one or more communication
nodes during the
cementing installation operations; wherein the one or more communication nodes
of the plurality
of communication nodes are configured to measure changes in gamma ray of
fluids adjacent to the
one or more communication nodes during the cementing installation operations;
wherein the
plurality of communication nodes are configured to transmit high-frequency
signals that are
greater than (>) 20 kilohertz; and/or wherein the plurality of communication
nodes are configured
to transmit high-frequency signals that are in the range between greater than
20 kilohertz and 1
megahertz.
6
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The advantages of the present invention are better understood by
referring to the
following detailed description and the attached drawings.
[0016] Figure 1 is an exemplary schematic representation of a well
configured to utilize a
communication network having a cement monitoring system that includes one or
more
communication nodes in accordance with certain aspects of the present
techniques.
[0017] Figures 2A and 2B are exemplary views of communications nodes of
Figure 1.
[0018] Figure 3 is an exemplary flow chart in accordance with an embodiment
of the present
techniques.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] In the following detailed description section, the specific
embodiments of the present
disclosure are described in connection with preferred embodiments. However, to
the extent that
the following description is specific to a particular embodiment or a
particular use of the present
disclosure, this is intended to be for exemplary purposes only and simply
provides a description
of the exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to
the specific
embodiments described below, but rather, it includes all alternatives,
modifications, and
equivalents falling within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.
[0020] Various terms as used herein are defined below. To the extent a term
used in a claim
is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in
the pertinent art have
given that term as reflected in at least one printed publication or issued
patent.
[0021] The articles "the", "a", and "an" are not necessarily limited to
mean only one, but rather
are inclusive and open ended so as to include, optionally, multiple such
elements.
[0022] The directional terms, such as "above", "below", "upper", "lower",
etc., are used for
convenience in referring to the accompanying drawings. In general, "above",
"upper", "upward"
and similar terms refer to a direction toward the earth's surface along a
wellbore, and "below",
"lower", "downward" and similar terms refer to a direction away from the
earth's surface along the
wellbore. Continuing with the example of relative directions in a wellbore,
"upper" and "lower"
may also refer to relative positions along the longitudinal dimension of a
wellbore rather than
relative to the surface, such as in describing both vertical and horizontal
wells.
7
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
[0023] As used herein, the term "and/or" placed between a first entity and
a second entity
means one of (1) the first entity, (2) the second entity, and (3) the first
entity and the second entity.
Multiple elements listed with "and/or" should be construed in the same
fashion, i.e., "one or more"
of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other
than the elements
specifically identified by the "and/or" clause, whether related or unrelated
to those elements
specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to "A
and/or B", when used
in conjunction with open-ended language such as "comprising" can refer, in one
embodiment, to
A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to
B only (optionally
including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B
(optionally
including other elements). As used herein in the specification and in the
claims, "or" should be
understood to have the same meaning as "and/or" as defined above. For example,
when separating
items in a list, "or" or "and/or" shall be interpreted as being inclusive,
i.e., the inclusion of at least
one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,
optionally, additional
unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as "only
one of' or "exactly one
of," or, when used in the claims, "consisting of," will refer to the inclusion
of exactly one element
of a number or list of elements. In general, the term "or" as used herein
shall only be interpreted
as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e., "one or the other but not both")
when preceded by terms
of exclusivity, such as "either," "one of," "only one of," or "exactly one
of'.
[0024] As used herein, "about" refers to a degree of deviation based on
experimental error
typical for the particular property identified. The latitude provided the term
"about" will depend
on the specific context and particular property and can be readily discerned
by those skilled in the
art. The term "about" is not intended to either expand or limit the degree of
equivalents which
may otherwise be afforded a particular value. Further, unless otherwise
stated, the term "about"
shall expressly include "exactly," consistent with the discussion below
regarding ranges and
numerical data.
[0025] As used herein, "any" means one, some, or all indiscriminately of
whatever quantity.
[0026] As used herein, "at least one," in reference to a list of one or
more elements, should be
understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the
elements in the list
of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every
element specifically listed
within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in
the list of elements.
8
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than
the elements
specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase "at
least one" refers, whether
related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-
limiting example, "at
least one of A and B" (or, equivalently, "at least one of A or B," or,
equivalently "at least one of A
and/or B") can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including
more than one, A,
with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another
embodiment, to at
least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and
optionally including
elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally
including more than
one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and
optionally including other
elements). The phrases "at least one", "one or more", and "and/or" are open-
ended expressions
that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of
the expressions "at
least one of A, B and C", "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B,
and C", "one or more
of A, B, or C" and "A, B, and/or C" means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B
together, A and C
together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.
[0027] As used herein, "based on" does not mean "based only on", unless
expressly specified
otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" describes both "based only
on," "based at least
on," and "based at least in part on."
[0028] As used herein, "clock tick" refers to a fundamental unit of time in
a digital processor.
For example, one clock tick equals the inverse of the effective clock speed
that governs operation
of the processor. Specifically, one clock tick for a 1 MHz effective clock
speed is equal to one
microsecond. As another example, one clock tick may be equivalent to the
minimum amount of
time involved for a scalar processor to execute one instruction. A processor
may operate at various
effective clock speeds, and, as such, the amount of time equivalent to one
clock tick may vary, but
a fractional clock tick is not possible.
[0029] As used herein, "conduit" refers to a tubular member forming a
physical channel
through which something is conveyed. The conduit may include one or more of a
pipe, a manifold,
a tube or the like, or the liquid contained in the tubular member.
Alternately, conduit refers to an
acoustic channel of liquid which may, for example, exist between the formation
and a tubular.
[0030] As used herein, "couple" refers to an interaction between elements
and is not meant to
limit the interaction to direct interaction between the elements and may also
include indirect
9
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
interaction between the elements described. Couple may include other terms,
such as "connect",
"engage", "attach", or any other suitable terms.
[0031] As used herein, "determining'' encompasses a wide variety of actions
and therefore
"determining" can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving,
investigating, looking up
(e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure),
ascertaining and the like. Also,
"determining" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing
(e.g., accessing data
in a memory) and the like. Also, "determining" can include resolving,
selecting, choosing,
establishing and the like.
[0032] As used herein, "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "some
embodiments," "one
aspect," "an aspect," "some aspects," "some implementations," "one
implementation," "an
implementation," or similar construction means that a particular component,
feature, structure,
method, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment, aspect,
or implementation
is included in at least one embodiment and/or implementation of the claimed
subject matter. Thus,
the appearance of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" or "in
some
embodiments" (or "aspects" or "implementations") in various places throughout
the specification
are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment and/or
implementation. Furthermore, the
particular features, structures, methods, or characteristics may be combined
in any suitable manner
in one or more embodiments or implementations.
[0033] As used herein, "exemplary" is used exclusively herein to mean
"serving as an example,
instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is
not necessarily to
be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0034] As used herein, "formation" refers to any definable subsurface
region. The formation
may contain one or more hydrocarbon-containing layers, one or more non-
hydrocarbon containing
layers, an overburden, and/or an underburden of any geologic fomiation.
[0035] As used herein, "hydrocarbons" are generally defined as molecules
formed primarily
of carbon and hydrogen atoms such as oil and natural gas. Hydrocarbons may
also include other
elements or compounds, such as, but not limited to, halogens, metallic
elements, nitrogen, oxygen,
sulfur, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Hydrocarbons may be
produced from
hydrocarbon reservoirs through wells penetrating a hydrocarbon containing
formation.
Ilydrocarbons derived from a hydrocarbon reservoir may include, but are not
limited to, petroleum,
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
kerogen, bitumen, pyrobitumen, asphaltenes, tars, oils, natural gas, or
combinations thereof.
Hydrocarbons may be located within or adjacent to mineral matrices within the
earth, termed
reservoirs. Matrices may include, but are not limited to, sedimentary rock,
sands, silicilytes,
carbonates, diatomites, and other porous media.
100361 As used herein, "hydrocarbon exploration" refers to any activity
associated with
determining the location of hydrocarbons in subsurface regions. Hydrocarbon
exploration
normally refers to any activity conducted to obtain measurements through
acquisition of measured
data associated with the subsurface formation and the associated modeling of
the data to identify
potential locations of hydrocarbon accumulations. Accordingly, hydrocarbon
exploration includes
acquiring measurement data, modeling of the measurement data to form
subsurface models, and
determining the likely locations for hydrocarbon reservoirs within the
subsurface. The
measurement data may include seismic data, gravity data, magnetic data,
electromagnetic data,
and the like. The hydrocarbon exploration activities may include drilling
exploratory wells.
[0037] As used herein, "hydrocarbon development" refers to any activity
associated with
planning of extraction and/or access to hydrocarbons in subsurface regions.
Hydrocarbon
development normally refers to any activity conducted to plan for access to
and/or for production
of hydrocarbons from the subsurface formation and the associated modeling of
the data to identify
preferred development approaches and methods. By way of example, hydrocarbon
development
may include modeling of the subsurface formation and extraction planning for
periods of
production, determining and planning equipment to be utilized and techniques
to be utilized in
extracting the hydrocarbons from the subsurface formation, and the like.
[0038] As used herein, "hydrocarbon fluids" refers to a hydrocarbon or
mixtures of
hydrocarbons that are gases or liquids. For example, hydrocarbon fluids may
include a
hydrocarbon or mixtures of hydrocarbons that are gases or liquids at formation
conditions, at
processing conditions, or at ambient conditions (20 Celsius (C) and 1
atmospheric (atm) pressure).
Hydrocarbon fluids may include, for example, oil, natural gas, gas
condensates, coal bed methane,
shale oil, shale gas, and other hydrocarbons that are in a gaseous or liquid
state.
[0039] As used herein, "hydrocarbon operations" refers to any activity
associated with
hydrocarbon exploration, hydrocarbon development, collection of wellbore data,
and/or
hydrocarbon production. It may also include the midstream pipelines and
storage tanks, or the
11
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
downstream refinery and distribution operations. By way of example, the
hydrocarbon operations
may include managing the communications for the wellbore through the
communication nodes by
utilizing the tubular members, such as drilling string and/or casing.
[0040] As used herein, "hydrocarbon production" refers to any activity
associated with
extracting hydrocarbons from subsurface location, such as a well or other
opening. Hydrocarbon
production normally refers to any activity conducted to form the wellbore
along with any activity
in or on the well after the well is completed. Accordingly, hydrocarbon
production or extraction
includes not only primary hydrocarbon extraction, but also secondary and
tertiary production
techniques, such as injection of gas or liquid for increasing drive pressure,
mobilizing the
hydrocarbon or treating by, for example, chemicals, hydraulic fracturing the
wellbore to promote
increased flow, well servicing, well logging, and other well and wellbore
treatments.
[0041] As used herein, "mode" refers to a setting or configuration
associated with the
operation of communication nodes in a communication network. For example, the
mode may
include a setting for acoustical compression wave, acoustical shear wave, or
any combination
thereof
[0042] As used herein, "monitored section" and "monitored sections" refer
to locations along
the tubular members that include sensors and/or are regions of interest.
[0043] As used herein, "unmonitored section" and "unmonitored sections"
refer to locations
along the tubular members that do not include sensors and/or are not regions
of interest.
100441 As used herein, "operatively connected" and/or "operatively coupled"
means directly
or indirectly connected for transmitting or conducting information, force,
energy, or matter.
[0045] As used herein, "optimal", "optimizing", "optimize", "optimality",
"optimization" (as
well as derivatives and other forms of those terms and linguistically related
words and phrases),
as used herein, are not intended to be limiting in the sense of requiring the
present invention to
find the best solution or to make the best decision. Although a mathematically
optimal solution
may in fact arrive at the best of all mathematically available possibilities,
real-world embodiments
of optimization routines, methods, models, and processes may work towards such
a goal without
ever actually achieving perfection. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the
art having benefit of
the present disclosure will appreciate that these terms, in the context of the
scope of the present
12
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
invention, are more general. The terms may describe one or more of: 1) working
towards a solution
which may be the best available solution, a preferred solution, or a solution
that offers a specific
benefit within a range of constraints; 2) continually improving; 3) refining;
4) searching for a high
point or a maximum for an objective; 5) processing to reduce a penalty
function; 6) seeking to
maximize one or more factors in light of competing and/or cooperative
interests in maximizing,
minimizing, or otherwise controlling one or more other factors, etc.
[00461 As used herein, "potting" refers to the encapsulation of electrical
components with
epoxy, elastomeric, silicone, or asphaltic or similar compounds for the
purpose of excluding
moisture or vapors. Potted components may or may not be hermetically sealed.
[0047] As used herein, "range" or "ranges", such as concentrations,
dimensions, amounts, and
other numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be
understood that such
range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be
interpreted flexibly to
include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the
range, but also to include
all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that
range as if each
numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a range of
about 1 to about 200
should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1
and about 200, but also
to include individual sizes such as 2, 3, 4, etc. and sub-ranges such as 10 to
50, 20 to 100, etc.
Similarly, it should be understood that when numerical ranges are provided,
such ranges are to be
construed as providing literal support for claim limitations that only recite
the lower value of the
range as well as claims limitation that only recite the upper value of the
range. For example, a
disclosed numerical range of 10 to 100 provides literal support for a claim
reciting ''greater than
10" (with no upper bounds) and a claim reciting "less than 100" (with no lower
bounds).
[0048] As used herein, "sealing material" refers to any material that can
seal a cover of a
housing to a body of a housing sufficient to withstand one or more downholc
conditions including
but not limited to, for example, temperature, humidity, soil composition,
corrosive elements, pH,
and pressure.
[0049] As used herein, "sensor" includes any electrical sensing device or
gauge. The sensor
may be capable of monitoring or detecting pressure, temperature, fluid flow,
vibration, resistivity,
or other formation data. Alternatively, the sensor may be a position sensor.
[0050] As used herein, "stream" refers to fluid (e.g., solids, liquid
and/or gas) being conducted
13
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
through various regions, such as equipment and/or a formation. The equipment
may include
conduits, vessels, manifolds, units or other suitable devices.
[0051] As used herein, ''subsurface" refers to geologic strata occurring
below the earth's
surface.
[0052] As used herein, "telemetry diagnostic data", "diagnostic telemetry
data", or "telemetry
data" refer to data associated with the communication nodes exchanging
information. The
telemetry data may be exchanged for the purpose of assessing and proving or
otherwise optimizing
the communication. By example, this may include frequency and/or amplitude
information.
[0053] As used herein, "physical layer" refers to the lowest layer of the
Open Systems
Interconnection model (OSI model) maintained by the identification ISO/IEC
7498-1. The OSI
model is a conceptual model that partitions a communication system into
abstraction layers. The
physical layer defines basic electrical and physical specifications of the
network such as acoustic
frequency band, radio-frequency (RF) frequency band, acoustic versus
electromagnetic
communication, and other electrical and physical aspects of the communication.
[0054] As used herein, "direct mapping" refers to establishing a
correspondence between
communication frequencies and symbolic information such that particular
communication
frequencies represent a particular piece of symbolic information. Examples of
symbolic
information include, but are not limited to, the letters in alphabet or
specific arrangements of bits
in a computer memory. By way of example, direct mapping in an acoustic
telemetry system may
include each 100 kHz tone representing the letter "A", each 102 kHz tone
representing the letter
"B", each 104 kHz tone representing the letter "C", and so on. By contrast,
"spread spectrum"
may involve a correspondence between communication frequencies and symbolic
information that
changes repeatedly and in rapid fashion, such that, by way of example, a 100
kHz tone may
represent the letter "A" and a 104 kHz tone may represent the letter "B" and a
102 kHz tone may
represent the letter "C", then a 110 kHz tone may represent the letter -A" and
a 112 kHz tone may
represent the letter "B" and a 114 kHz tone may represent the letter "C", then
a 90 kHz tone may
represent the letter "A" and a 84 kHz tone may represent the letter "B" and a
96 kHz tone may
represent the letter "C", and so on. In addition, the direct mapping may not
change, while spread
spectrum may change.
[0055] As used herein, "frequency combining" refers to aggregating similar
frequencies by
14
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
dividing the range of possible frequencies into a number of sections and
classifying all frequencies
within any one section as occurrences of a single frequency. It will be
apparent to a person skilled
in the computational arts that the totality of possible frequencies may be
excessively large, leading
to an excessive degree of computational complexity inherent in analysis of the
frequencies, and
that frequency combining can limit the number of possibilities to reduce the
computational
complexity inherent in analysis of the possibilities to an acceptable level.
The limited number of
possibilities resulting from frequency combining may be referred to as the
"combined
frequencies". The cadence of digital clock ticks acts as an upper bound on the
number of possible
combined frequencies in all cases.
[0056] As used herein, "signal strength" refers to a quantitative
assessment of the suitability
of a characteristic for a particular purpose. A characteristic may be an
amplitude, a Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) magnitude, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a zero crossing
(ZCX) quality, a
histogram quantity, an occurrence count, a margin or proportion above a
baseline, or any other
suitable measurement or calculation. By way of example, a histogram
representing ZCX
occurrence counts by period may assess ZCX signal strength for each period by
dividing the
occurrence count for each period by the maximum occurrence count in the
histogram such that the
ZCX signal strength for the period having the maximum occurrence count is 1
and this is the
highest ZCX signal strength among all the periods in the histogram.
[0057] As used herein, "tubular member", "tubular section" or "tubular
body'' refer to any pipe,
such as a joint of casing, a portion of a liner, a drill string, a production
tubing, an injection tubing,
a pup joint, a buried pipeline, underwater piping, or above-ground piping.
Solid lines therein, and
any suitable number of such structures and/or features may be omitted from a
given embodiment
without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0058] As used herein, "wellbore" or "downhole" refers to a hole in the
subsurface made by
drilling or insertion of a conduit into the subsurface. A wellbore may have a
substantially circular
cross section, or other cross-sectional shape. As used herein, the term
"well," when referring to an
opening in the formation, may be used interchangeably with the term
"wellbore."
[0059] As used herein, "well data" may include seismic data,
electromagnetic data, resistivity
data, gravity data, well log data, core sample data, and combinations thereof
The well data may
be obtained from memory or from the equipment in the wellbore. The well data
may also include
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
the data associated with the equipment installed within the wellbore and the
configuration of the
wellbore equipment. For example, the well data may include the composition of
the tubular
members, thickness of the tubular members, length of the tubular members,
fluid composition
within the wellbore, formation properties, cementation within the wellbore
and/or other suitable
properties associated with the wellbore.
[0060] As used herein, "zone-, "region", "container", or "compartment" is a
defined space,
area, or volume contained in the framework or model, which may be bounded by
one or more
objects or a polygon encompassing an area or volume of interest. The volume
may include similar
properties.
100611 The exchange of information may be used to manage the operations for
different
technologies. By way of example, the communication network may include
communication nodes
disposed along one or more tubular members. The communication nodes may be
distributed along
casing or tubing within a wellbore, along a subsea conduit and/or along a
pipeline, to enhance
associated operations. To exchange information, the communication network may
include
physically connected communication nodes, wirelessly connected communication
nodes or a
combination of physically connected communication nodes and wirelessly
connected
communication nodes.
[0062] By way of example, the communication network may be used for data
exchanges of
operational data, which may be used for real-time or concurrent operations
involving hydrocarbon
exploration operations, hydrocarbon development operations, and/or hydrocarbon
production
operations, for example. In hydrocarbon operations, the system or method may
involve
communicating via a downhole network including various communication nodes
spaced-apart
along a length of tubular members, which may be a tone transmission medium
(e.g., conduits). In
addition, certain communication nodes, which are disposed near specific tools
or near certain
regions, may include one or more sensors. The communication nodes may
communicate with each
other to manage the exchange of data within the wellbore and with a computer
system that is
utilized to manage the hydrocarbon operations. By way of example, the
communication network
may involve transmitting and/or receiving signals or tones via one or more
frequencies of acoustic
tones in the form of data packets via the tone transmission medium. The
downhole wireless
communication through the tubular members, such as casing and/or production
tubing, may be
16
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
beneficial for enhancing hydrocarbon operations, such as monitoring and/or
optimizing the
cementing installation, managing the operation of the completions, and/or
monitoring the
operation of the well once the cement is installed. In such communications,
the communication
network may include communication nodes that include one or more sensors or
sensing
components to utilize ultrasonic acoustic frequencies to exchange information,
which may
simultaneously or concurrently performed with the cementing operations.
[0063] in certain configurations, the communication nodes may include a
housing that isolates
various components from the wellbore environment. In particular, the
communication nodes may
include one or more encoding components, which may be configured to generate
and/or to induce
one or more acoustic tones within tone transmission medium, such as a tubular
member or liquid
inside the tubular member. Alternately, conduit refers to an acoustic channel
of liquid which may,
for example, exist between the formation and a tubular member. In addition,
the communication
nodes may include one or more decoding components, which may be configured to
receive and/or
to decode acoustic tones from the tone transmission medium. The communication
nodes may
include one or more power supplies configured to supply energy to the other
components, such as
batteries. The communication nodes may include one or more sensors, which may
be configured
to obtain measurement data associated with the downhole environment and/or the
formation. In
particular, the one or more sensors may be used to monitor the cement
installation and/or the
composition of the fluids. The communication nodes may include relatively
small transducers to
lessen the size of the communication nodes, such that they may be disposed or
secured to locations
having limited clearance, such as on the surface of tubular members (e.g.,
internal surface and/or
outer surface), and/or between successive layers of downhole tubular members.
As an example,
small acoustic transducers may be configured to transmit and/or receive tones.
[0064] As noted above, the cementing operations may involve passing the
cement into the
wellbore and directing the cement to a specific location within the wellbore.
The cementing
operations may comprise displacing drilling fluid and filling part or all of
the volume between the
tubular member and the formation (e.g., hollow-cylindrical annular area
between the casing and
the borehole wall with cement). The combination of cement and tubular members
may be used to
strengthen the wellbore and may be used to facilitate the zonal fluid
isolation of specific sections
(e.g., monitored sections) of a hydrocarbon-producing formation. The present
techniques utilize
communication nodes to provide real-time or concurrent data associated with
the cementing
17
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
installation and may also be used to monitor the cement installation in the
subsurface region.
Beneficially, the use of the communication nodes may be used to monitor the
cementing
operations, which does not solely utilize estimations to perform the cementing
installation.
Accordingly, the present techniques may include concurrent and/or real-time
monitoring of
cementing installation and/or cement.
[0065] The communication nodes may be used to enhance the correct placement
of cement
with cementing operations. By using the sensors or sensing components in the
communication
nodes, the inaccuracy or uncertainty may be minimized or removed. The
communication nodes
may be programmed to transmit a signal (e.g., a notification associated with
the cementing
installation) to a control unit (e.g., topside communication node or other
computer system being
utilized with cementing operations). The communication nodes may include one
or more sensors
or sensing components, which may be used to monitor different properties and
may be used to
verify the different properties. The notification may include the detection of
a change in pressure,
a change in temperature, a change in density of the fluid and/or a change in
gamma ray emissions
of the fluid. By way of example, once the notification is transmitted to the
control unit, the control
unit may monitor the actual location of the cement along the tubular member.
With this
notification, the pumping of cement may be adjusted or stopped based on the
notification and/or
the pumping of a spacer fluid may start or be adjusted.
100661 The distribution and locations of the communication nodes may vary
based on the
cement locations and specific aspects of the wellbore. The distribution of the
communication
nodes may involve disposing more communication nodes within the monitored
sections of the
wellbore. This distribution of communication nodes may include disposing two
or more
communication nodes in a horizontal configuration or a circumferential
configuration, such as
substantially equidistantly around the outer surface of the tubular member. As
a specific example,
the communication nodes may include disposing four communication nodes
disposed around the
outer surface of the tubular members. Further, the distribution of
communication nodes may
include disposing two or more communication nodes in a vertical configuration
or a longitudinal
configuration, such as spaced along the surface of the tubular members. As a
specific example,
the communication nodes may include disposing four communication nodes
disposed around the
outer surface of the tubular member.
18
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
100671 The
configuration of the communication nodes into a communication network may
include disposing the communication nodes at specific locations based on the
proposed cement
locations, specific aspects associated with the wellbore and specific aspects
associated with the
wellbore. The present techniques may involve managing the cementing
installation operations
based on the measurements or notifications from the communication nodes and
associated
calculations to minimize uncertainty or risk in the cementing installation
operations. For example,
the present techniques may include determining the timing of different steps
in the cementing
operations. For example, the cementing installation operations may include
using different fluids,
which may be used to manage volume of cement and other fluids. In particular,
the cementing
operations may include disposing a first fluid into the wellbore. The first
fluid may include a first
property that may be measured by the communication nodes, such as density,
gamma ray
emissions, and/or a specific property. The first fluid may be used to dispose
a drilling fluid within
the wellbore. The first fluid may include viscosifiers, emulsifiers, weighting
material, water, oil.
The cementing operations may include disposing a second fluid into the
wellbore. The second
fluid may include a second property that may be measured by the communication
nodes, such as
density, gamma ray emissions, and/or a specific property. The second fluid may
be used to dispose
the first fluid within the wellbore. The second fluid may include
viscosifiers, emulsifiers,
weighting material, water, oil, and any combinations thereof Further, the
cementing operations
may include disposing cement or a cementing fluid into the wellbore. The
cementing fluid may
include a cement property that may be measured by the communication nodes,
such as density,
gamma ray emissions, and/ or a specific property. The cementing fluid may be
used to dispose
the second fluid within the wellbore. The cementing fluids may include lime,
silica, alumina and
iron oxide, gypsum, water, additives such as, but not limited to,
accelerators, retarders, extenders,
weighting agents, dispersants, fluid-loss control agents, lost-circulation
control agents, antifoam
agents and/or any combination thereof Also, the cementing operations may
include disposing a
third fluid into the wellbore. The third fluid may include a third property
that may be measured
by the communication nodes, such as density, gamma ray emissions, and/or a
specific property.
The third fluid may be used to dispose the cementing fluid within the
wellbore. The third fluids
may include spacer fluid, one or more viscosifiers, one or more emulsifiers,
one or more weighting
materials, and/or water. The third fluid may be include retarders to prevent
the hardening of the
cement in the wellbore. The communication nodes may also include one or more
sensors or
19
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
sensing components, which may be used to monitor two or more different
properties and the
different properties may be used to verify the different properties.
[0068] By way of example, the method may include performing a cementing
operations. The
method may include drilling a wellbore with a drilling fluid; determining a
communication
network comprising various communication nodes; configuring the communication
nodes and
installing the communication nodes on one or more tubular members; disposing
the one or more
tubular members into the wellbore; disposing or pumping a first fluid into the
wellbore to displace
the drilling fluid; disposing or pumping a cementing fluid into the wellbore
to displace the first
fluid; and/or disposing or pumping a second fluid into the wellbore to
displace the cementing fluid,
wherein the second fluid is used to displace the cementing fluid to the
cementing installation
location. The communication nodes may be configured to detect one or more
properties and
provide notifications associated with one or more of the fluids within the
wellbore. Further, the
first fluid, cementing fluid and/or second fluid may each include specific
properties that may be
detected by the communication nodes.
[0069] To manage the cementing installation operations, the present
techniques may include
obtaining measurements, using the measurements and/or providing notifications
associated with
the cementing operations. The communication nodes may provide signals or
notifications
associated with the properties of fluids within the wellbore. Based on the
notifications, the
calculations to detelinine the correct placement of cement may be enhanced to
lessen uncertainty
or risk. The calculations may include determining the volume of the first
fluid disposed in the
wellbore associated with the cement location, determining the volume of the
cementing fluid to
fill the volume at the cement location, and determining the volume of the
second fluid to dispose
the cementing fluid to the cement location; and determine the location of the
respective fluids
within the wellbore.
[0070] By way of example, the communication nodes may be configured to
manage the
cementing installation operations. A first set of communication node may be
disposed on tubular
members at a first sensor location within the wellbore that is upstream of the
location that cement
installation is to be positioned. The first sensor location may be determined
to provide appropriate
timing on the exchange of fluids in the cementing installation (e.g., the
changing of different fluids
to change the fluids being passed through the wellbore). A second set of
communication node
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
may be disposed on tubular members at a second sensor location within the
wellbore that is at a
location downstream of the first sensor location and upstream of the cement
installation location.
The second sensor location may be determined to provide appropriate timing on
the exchange of
fluids in the cementing installation (e.g., the changing of different fluids
to change the fluids being
passed through the wellbore). In addition, a third set of communication node
may be disposed on
tubular members at a third sensor location within the wellbore that is at a
location downstream of
the second sensor location and at the cement installation location. The third
sensor location may
be determined to provide appropriate timing on the exchange of fluids in the
cementing installation
(e.g., the changing of different fluids to change the fluids being passed
through the wellbore).
[0071] In certain configurations, the present techniques may include
cementing installation
system. The communication nodes may include one or more ultrasonic transducers
for
transmitting and receiving acoustic signals; electronic circuits for signal
processing and
computation; and/or batteries for power supply. Extra ultrasonic transducers
with same or different
operating frequencies may be included for sensing purposes. The communication
nodes may
include one or more sensing components installed on tubular member (e.g.,
casing and/or tubing,
such as a sand screen). The one or more sensing components may form a sensor
array for data
collection as well as communication. The measured data may be relayed back to
topside
equipment to a control unit. As cementing locations may be predefined (e.g.,
monitored sections),
one or more communication nodes may include dedicated sensors and may be
installed along
tubular members in the preferred configurations to monitor the cementing
installation locations
(e.g., distribution of communication nodes with sensors or distribution of a
communication node
with associated sensors). For other areas of the wellbore (e.g., unmonitored
sections), the
communication nodes are primarily used for data packet exchanges, which are
used to relay the
measured data or notifications to a control unit at the control unit.
[0072] In addition to the monitoring the cementing installation, the system
may include one or
more communication nodes having one or more sensors in a dense configuration
in the cement
location or area. The sensors may be configured to measure pressure,
temperature, gamma ray,
flow meter, resistivity, capacitance, stress, strain, density, vibration and
any combination thereof.
The sensors may be within the housing of the communication node or may include
individual
housings for the sensors and a controller that houses the other components.
The distributed sensors
provide localized measurement data about the existence of voids and/or gaps in
the cement
21
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
installation. The data may be combined, integrated and used to generate a 3D
cement installation
map associated with the cement installation in the monitored region. As a
result, the acoustic
attenuation between two sensors may also provide an indication of installation
indicator (e.g.,
quality indicator) for qualitative check.
[0073] In certain configurations, the communication nodes for the cementing
installation
operations may be pre-installed on the tubular member prior to disposing the
cementing fluid into
the wellbore. In such as configuration, the cement monitoring system (e.g.,
cementing installation
monitoring system) may be disposed at the cementing installation area to
monitor before the
cementing installation is provided to the area, during the cementing
installation, and even after the
cementing installation is installed. The monitoring may include measuring a
first property for the
cementing installation operations before the cementing installation and during
the cementing
installation operations and then may include measuring a second property for
the cementing
installation operations after the cementing installation. The measurements may
be transmitted to
the control unit or a processor in the communication node, which may be
configured to compare
the measurements for different time periods to determine information about the
progress of the
cementing installation. The comparisons may be used to determine if the
cementing installation
operations should be adjusted based on the measurement data.
[0074] In certain configurations, the cement monitoring system may include
one or more
communication nodes, which may include various sensors, configured to exchange
data packets
with a control unit. The communication nodes may be disposed on an interior
surface of the tubular
member, an external surface of the tubular member, and/or a combination
thereof. In the
communication nodes include one or more sensors, the sensors may be
distributed in individual
housings that communicate with a controller and/or a single housing. The
sensors may be disposed
on an interior surface of the tubular member, an external surface of the
tubular member, and/or a
combination thereof. The sensors may be used to acquire measurements
associated with the area
that the cement is to be installed, about the cementing installation, and/or
about the environment
or fluids after the cement is installed. The exchange of data with the control
unit from the
communication nodes may be performed in real time or concurrently with the
cementing
installation operations (e.g., exchanging of fluids near the cementing
installation area, disposing
cementing fluid into the cementing installation area, and/or removing other
fluid after installation
of the cement).
22
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
100751 The communication nodes may be configured to perform ultrasonic
telemetry and
sensing in specific frequency bands. As an example, the communication network
may utilize low-
frequency ranges and/or high-frequency ranges (e.g., may include low-frequency
communication
nodes and/or high-frequency communication nodes). The low-frequency
communication nodes
may be configured to transmit signals and to receive signals that are less
than or equal to (<) 200
kHz, < 100 kHz, < 50 kHz, or < 20 kHz. In particular, the low-frequency
communication nodes
may be configured to exchange signals in the range between 100 Hz and 20 kHz;
in the range
between 1 kHz and 20 kHz; and in the range between 5 kHz and 20 kHz. Other
configurations
may include low-frequency communication nodes, which may be configured to
exchange signals
in the range between 100 Hz and 200 kHz; in the range between 100 Hz and 100
kHz; in the range
between 1 kHz and 200 kHz; in the range between 1 kHz and 100 kHz; in the
range between 5
kHz and 100 kHz and in the range between 5 kHz and 200 kHz. The communication
nodes may
also include high-frequency communication nodes configured to transmit and
receive signals that
are greater than (>) 20 kHz, > 50 kHz, > 100 kHz or > 200 kHz. Also, the high-
frequency
communication nodes may be configured to exchange signals in the range between
greater than 20
kHz and 1 MHz, in the range between greater than 20 kHz and 750 kHz, in the
range between
greater than 20 kHz and 500 kHz. Other configurations may include high-
frequency
communication nodes, which may be configured to exchange signals in the range
between greater
than 100 kHz and 1 MHz; in the range between greater than 200 kHz and 1 MHz;
in the range
between greater than 100 kHz and 750 kHz; in the range between greater than
200 kHz and 750
kHz; in the range between greater than 100 kHz and 500 kHz; and in the range
between greater
than 200 kHz and 500 kHz.
10076] In addition, the communication nodes may operate with low frequency
bands and/or
high-frequency bands to enhance operations. The communication nodes may
include piezo
transducers that may be coupled to the environment to be sensed (e.g., pulse
echo from piezo
assembly behind a thin steel wall and thus proximate flowing media, hydrates,
sand, which may
be within the tubular member and/or external to the tubular member). The
configurations may
include the use of acoustic or other transducer arrays spaced on an azimuth.
Such transducer arrays
may be used to launch single mode acoustic or vibrational waves that may be
tailored for one or
more of: (i) long distance telemetry, (ii) focusing the acoustic energy in
steel tubular, or within
media, or outside of surface of tubular, (iii) for one or more piezoelectric
transducers, the
23
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
termination properties, coupling to adjoining tubular members, and preferable
acoustic wave
properties that may be enhanced by the radial design versus a point or wide
line attachment. The
communication nodes may be configured to detect the properties through a wall
or surface and/or
through exposure to the fluid adjacent to the communication node.
[0077] In still yet another configuration, the electronic circuits are
present within the
communication nodes (e.g., which may include sensors) to process the collected
measurement
data, store the data for transmission, and conduct necessary on-board
computation to simplify data
for transmission. Local detection of faulty data, data compression, and
automated communication
with neighboring sensors may be performed with the on-board electronics,
signal processing
components and microprocessor. In such a configuration, the communication
nodes of the cement
monitoring system (e.g., cementing installation monitoring system) may
efficiently manage the
exchange of measured data, which may be communicated in real time or
concurrently with the
installation of the cement within the subsurface region.
[0078] In another configuration, the communication node may be configured
to function as a
transmitter and/or receiver for data transmission to the control unit disposed
at the topside or other
devices within the wellbore. In other configurations, multiple different types
of devices may be
connected. For example, if it is an acoustic system, piezos may be facilitated
as a transmitter and
a receiver to relay data back to topside equipment or other communication
nodes. If it is an
electromagnetic system, then radio-frequency receivers with communication
frequency ranges
may be integrated.
[0079] In other configurations, the communication nodes may be configured
to function as a
transmitter and/or receiver and/or may be oriented to receive and/or transmit
inside the tubular
member, outside the tubular member and/or a combination thereof The range of
the
communication nodes may be extended by broadcasting directly into the tubular
member versus
receiving and transmitting on the exterior of the tubular member. In addition,
the reliability and
quality of the acoustic transmission when broadcasting into the tubular member
may be enhanced.
[0080] In addition, other configurations may include communications nodes
and associated
sensors integrated into an array, such as a collar and/or even within joints
or tubular members.
Such an integration may save time by avoiding an added step of clamping the
communication
nodes onto the tubular members prior to installation. This integration may
include enhancing
24
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
reliability by eliminating the field installation and potential of improper or
poor mating of the
communication nodes to the tubular member. The integration may avoid cost
and/or the
complexity of external communication nodes, which may be necessary for measure
of pressure
directly in flow zone or annulus. Telemetry electronics and/or hardware along
with sensors in an
integrated package that may maintain communication node physical integrity,
while enhancing
accuracy of in-flow zone measurements and/or exterior materials.
[0081] In addition to the variations on the configurations, the
communication node may
include different types of sensors, such as sonic logging components and/or an
imaging
measurement components. In such configurations, the communication nodes may
include
additional power supplies, such as batteries, to drive an array of acoustic
sources or a single
acoustic source to generate sufficient acoustic energy to perform sonic
logging or obtaining
imaging measurements, where the source may be triggered by a communication
node. By way of
example, the communication nodes may include one or more sensors that may
include a sonic log
component. The sonic log component may operate by emitting a large acoustic
pulse on the
communication node, which is disposed near the sand screen. The sonic logging
techniques may
include an acoustic wave that may travel along the tubular members and any
associated formation,
with sufficient energy to be detected by the communication nodes. Using sonic
logging
interpretation techniques, the measured data may be used to evaluate voids or
gaps (e.g.,
permeability, porosity, lithology, or fluid type in the nearby formation),
and/or to evaluate the
cementing installation before and after the cementing installation operations.
Assessing some of
these properties may involve additional data or knowledge of the system (e.g.,
well data).
[0082] To manage the transmission and reception of signals, the processor
in the
communication node may operate at one or more effective clock speeds. The
presence of a clock
in a digital system, such as a communication node, results in discrete (not
continuous) sampling,
and is frequency combining (e.g., any frequency that falls between clock ticks
is detected at the
higher tick or lower tick (because fractional ticks are not permitted), so in
a sense, the frequencies
that fall between clock ticks result in combined frequencies. The
communication nodes may
operate at a high-frequency effective clock speed and/or a low-frequency
effective clock speed.
The effective clock speed is the clock speed at which the processor operates
after inclusion of
applicable clock multipliers or clock dividers. As a result, the sampling
frequency is equal to the
effective clock speed, while the telemetry frequency is the frequency of a
given telemetry tone.
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
By way of example, the telemetry frequency may be less than or equal to 200
kHz, less than or
equal to 150 kHz, less than or equal to 75 kHz or less than or equal to 50
kHz, or even the range
may be between greater than 20 kHz and 1 MHz, in the range between greater
than 20 kHz and
750 kHz, in the range between greater than 20 kHz and 500 kHz. The high-
frequency effective
clock speed may be may be greater than 200 kHz, greater than or equal to 500
kHz, greater than
or equal to 1 MHz, greater than or equal to 10 MHz or greater than or equal to
100 MHz.
[0083] Downhole communications along the tubular members, such as casing
and/or
production tubing, may be beneficial for enhancing hydrocarbon operations,
such as optimizing or
monitoring cementing installation operations and monitoring the production of
fluids after the
cementing installation for well management. The present techniques may include
various
enhancements, such as frequency selection, which may utilize laboratory and/or
surface testing
facilities and acoustic waveguide theory. Another enhancement may include
frequency
optimization, which involves broadcast broadband signals locally between
downhole neighboring
communication nodes. For the frequency optimization, only the strongest
acoustic signals may be
selected and may be used for communication between each pair of communication
nodes. Also,
acoustic signals may be the same or different among different pairs of
communication nodes in
the system. As yet another enhancement, adaptive coding methods may be
selected to support
communication based on the selected number of acoustic frequencies. For one
example, the
communication may be successful when the right coding method is selected if
the number of
acoustic frequencies is limited (e.g., one frequency). However, the
communication data rate may
be compromised once the number of acoustic frequencies becomes limited.
Further, the set of
acoustic frequencies and coding method may also be re-evaluated and updated at
various time
intervals and/or as acoustic condition changes.
[0084] The communication network may include different types of wireless
communication
nodes that form respective wireless communication networks. The wireless
networks may include
long-range communication nodes (e.g., having a range between about 1 foot to
about 1,000 feet,
in a range between about 100 feet to 500 feet or even up to 1,000 feet). The
long-range
communication nodes may be formed into communication networks (e.g., an
ultrasonic acoustic
communication network) that may involve using a multiple frequency shift
keying (MFSK)
communication configuration. In MFSK communication configurations, reliable
detection and
decoding of the acoustic signal frequencies is the basis for this type of
communication. As noted
26
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
above, the unknown and unpredictable downhole acoustic conditions may be
defined from the
formation, cementation, and/or composition (e.g., gas, water and/or oil).
Accordingly, it may be
difficult to select the frequencies for acoustic signals to be utilized
between the communication
nodes prior to deployment within the wellbore to support a desired
communication (e.g., long
range communication) with minimum power consumption.
[0085] As another enhancement, the frequency ranges utilized for the
communication network
may be adjusted dynamically. In particular, the acoustic communication channel
between each
pair of communication nodes may be variable over a small frequency range. The
frequency
selectivity is a result of the coupling of acoustic signals to the tubular
members from individual
communication nodes, which may be influenced by the installation, but also may
be influenced by
conditions, such as the acoustic signal propagation path variations along the
wellbore (e.g.,
formation, cement, casing, and/or composition of gas, water, and oil). As a
further influence, the
coupling and propagation of an acoustic signal may be disrupted after
performing hydrocarbon
operations (e.g., perforating or cementing installation operations in the
wells). As a result,
selecting one pre-selected set of acoustic frequencies for the entire
communication system
operational life is likely to be limiting.
[0086] By selecting and optimizing the acoustic frequencies in combination
with adaptive
coding methods between each pair of communication nodes, the present
techniques provide a
system and method to support reliable long range communication along tubular
members, such as
in the downhole environment. The frequency band selection method for
communication networks
may utilize laboratory and/or surface testing facilities and acoustic
waveguide theory. Then, if
needed, the individual acoustic frequencies may be further optimized after the
communication
nodes are deployed along the tubular members, such as once disposed into the
wellbore. The
acoustic signals with the highest signal strength in a broad frequency band
are selected and used
for communication between each pair of communication nodes, and they may be
the same or
different among different pairs of communication nodes in the system. After
the frequencies are
selected, one of several coding methods may be selected and adapted to support
communication
based on the selected number of acoustic frequencies. Within a specific time
and/or condition
changes, the set of acoustic frequencies and coding methods may be re-
evaluated and updated to
re-optimize system's communication reliability and speed.
27
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
[0087] Further, the acoustic communication band optimization may also
include selecting a
tone detection method. The tone detection method may include a fast Fourier
transform (FFT),
zero crossing (ZCX) and any combination thereof. The tones may be defined as
decoded or
detected if FFT recognizes the correct frequencies or ZCX recognizes the
correct periods. The
FFT and/or ZCX may be selected depending on computational power and energy
efficiency of the
microcontroller deployed in the communication node. For FFT, tone selection
may be based on
the relative magnitude of each tone. FFT may involve greater computational
power, but is more
able to handle background noise. For ZCX, tone selection may be based on
normalized period of
zero crossings of each tone. ZCX may involve less computational power, but may
be vulnerable
to misdetections due to background noise. Further, FFT may be supplemented by
post processing
curve fitting and ZCX may be implemented in a variety of different methods.
Both methods may
only involve a tone to be detected within a specific range rather than an
exact frequency.
[0088] In another configuration, a method of performing cementing
operations by
communicating data among a plurality of communication nodes is described. The
method
comprising: obtaining well data for a subsurface region; determining a
communication network
based on the obtained well data, wherein the communication network includes a
plurality of
communication nodes; installing the plurality of communication nodes into a
wellbore and a
cement monitoring system, wherein one or more communication nodes of the
plurality of
communication nodes are configured to obtain measurements associated with
fluids within the
wellbore and to transmit the measurement data to other communication nodes in
the
communication network; performing cementing installation operations to install
cement at a
cement location, wherein the performing cementing installation operations
include: obtaining
measurements from one of the one or more communication nodes during the
cementing installation
operations; and transmitting data packets associated with the obtained
measurements from the one
of the one or more communication nodes to a control unit via the communication
network during
the cementing installation operations; and performing hydrocarbon operations
in the wellbore after
the cement is installed at the cement location.
[0089] The method may include various enhancements. The method may further
comprising
adjusting cementing installation operations based on the transmitted data
packets associated with
the obtained measurements; further comprising determining changes in density
of fluids adjacent
to the one or more communication nodes during the cementing installation
operations; further
28
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
comprising determining changes in gamma ray of fluids adjacent to the one or
more
communication nodes during the cementing installation operations; further
comprising
configuring the plurality of the communication nodes based on a communication
network
configuration; wherein the communication network configuration comprises
selecting one of one
or more frequency bands, one or more individual tones, one or more coding
methods, and any
combination thereof; further comprising producing hydrocarbons from the
wellbore; wherein the
transmitting data packets comprises transmitting high-frequency signals that
are greater than (>)
20 kilohertz; wherein the transmitting data packets comprises transmitting
high-frequency signals
that are in the range between greater than 20 kilohertz and 1 megahertz;
wherein the performing
cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a cementing fluid into the
wellbore,
disposing the cementing fluid adjacent to the tubular member within the
wellbore, and setting the
cementing fluid within the wellbore to form the cement at the cement location;
wherein the
performing cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a first fluid
into the wellbore
prior to the pumping the cementing fluid into the wellbore; wherein the first
fluid comprises one
or more of viscosifier, emulsifier, weighting material, water, oil and any
combination thereof
further comprising: obtaining measurements from the one or more communication
nodes
associated with the first fluid during the cementing installation operations,
and transmitting data
packets associated with the obtained first fluid measurements from the one or
more communication
nodes to the control unit via the communication network during the cementing
installation
operations; wherein the performing cementing installation operations comprise:
pumping a first
fluid into the wellbore prior to the pumping the cementing fluid into the
wellbore; further
comprising: obtaining measurements from the one or more communication nodes
associated with
the cementing fluid during the cementing installation operations, and
transmitting data packets
associated with the obtained cementing fluid measurements from the one or more
communication
nodes to the control unit via the communication network during the cementing
installation
operations; wherein the cementing fluid comprise one or more of lime, silica,
alumina, iron oxide,
gypsum, water, additives and any combination thereof wherein the additives
comprises one or
more of accelerators, retarders, extenders, weighting agents, dispersants,
fluid-loss control agents,
lost-circulation control agents, antifoam agents and any combination thereof;
wherein the
performing cementing installation operations comprise: pumping a second fluid
into the wellbore
after the pumping the cementing fluid into the wellbore; further comprising:
obtaining
29
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
measurements from the one or more communication nodes associated with the
second fluid during
the cementing installation operations, and transmitting data packets
associated with the obtained
second fluid measurements from the one or more communication nodes to the
control unit via the
communication network during the cementing installation operations.
[0090] A hydrocarbon system is described. The hydrocarbon system comprises:
a wellbore in
a hydrocarbon system; a plurality of tubular members disposed in the wellbore;
a communication
network associated with the hydrocarbon system, wherein the communication
network comprises
a plurality of communication nodes that are configured to communicate
operational data between
two or more of the plurality of communication nodes during operations; and a
cement monitoring
system, wherein one or more communication nodes of the plurality of
communication nodes are
configured to obtain measurements associated with fluids within the wellbore,
to transmit the
measurement data to other communication nodes in the communication network and
to monitor
the cementing operations.
[0091] The system may include various enhancements. The system may include
wherein the
one or more communication nodes of the plurality of communication nodes are
configured to
measure changes in density of fluids adjacent to the one or more communication
nodes during the
cementing installation operations; wherein the one or more communication nodes
of the plurality
of communication nodes are configured to measure changes in gamma ray of
fluids adjacent to the
one or more communication nodes during the cementing installation operations;
wherein the
plurality of communication nodes are configured to transmit high-frequency
signals that are
greater than (>) 20 kilohertz; and/or wherein the plurality of communication
nodes are configured
to transmit high-frequency signals that arc in the range between greater than
20 kilohertz and 1
megahertz.
[0092] Beneficially, the present techniques provide various enhancements to
the operations.
The present techniques provide enhancements to enhance calculation or
determination of the
volume of cement slurry to be pumped downhole into the wellbore. The present
techniques may
enhance the cementing operations; zonal isolation, structural support for
tubular member, protect
tubular members from corrosion, isolate tubular member for subsequent
drilling. The sensors in
the communication node may be used before the cementing operations to
determine whether the
tubular member is centralized, to check the downhole temperature, which may be
used to optimize
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
the cementing fluid as far as the cementing fluid thickening time, rheology,
set time and
compressive-strength development. Additionally, enhancements to the
determination of the
volume of cementing fluid to be pump into the cement location may be estimated
based on previous
fluid change outs. The cementing operations may lessen the amount of cementing
fluid that is
pumped and may reduce the drill rig time to perform the cementing operations.
Accordingly, the
present techniques may be further understood with reference to Figures 1 to 3,
which are described
further below.
100931 Figure 1 is an exemplary schematic representation of a well 100
configured to utilize a
communication network having a cement monitoring system that includes one or
more
communication nodes in accordance with certain aspects of the present
techniques. The cement
monitoring system may be used to provide a mechanism to monitor the
installation of cement
within the wellbore and/or monitoring hydrocarbon operations, such as the
cement and/or fluids.
The monitoring may be performed concurrently, simultaneously and/or in real-
time with the
performance of the hydrocarbon operations, such as cementing installation
operations.
[0094] Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a well 100 configured that
utilizes a network
having the proposed configuration of a cement monitoring system that includes
one or more
communication nodes. The well includes a wellbore 102 that extends from
surface equipment 120
to a subsurface region 128 and a wellbore 162 that extends from surface
equipment 160 to the
subsurface region 128. Wellbores 102 and 162 also may be referred to herein as
extending between
a surface region 126 and subsurface region 128 and/or as extending within a
subterranean
formation 124 that extends within the subsurface region. The wellbores 102 and
162 may include
a plurality of tubular sections, which may be formed of carbon steel, such as
a casing or liner.
Subterranean formation 124 may include hydrocarbons. The well 100 may be used
as a
hydrocarbon well, a production well, and/or an injection well.
[0095] Well system also includes an acoustic wireless communication
network. The acoustic
wireless network also may be referred to herein as a dovvnhole acoustic
wireless network that
includes various communication nodes 114 and a topside communication node
and/or control unit
132. The communication nodes 114 may be spaced-apart along a tone transmission
medium that
extends along a length of wellbore 102 and 162. The communication nodes 114
may be disposed
on the interior surface of the tubular members and/or the sensors may be
configured to be in contact
31
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
with the interior surface to monitor or measure the fluid as it passes. In the
context of wellbore
102, the tone transmission medium may include a downhole tubular 110 that may
extend within
wellbore 102, a wellbore fluid 104 that may extend within wellbore 102, a
portion of subsurface
region 128 that is proximal wellbore 102, a portion of subterranean formation
124 that is proximal
wellbore 102 and/or that may extend within an annular region between wellbore
102 and downhole
tubular 110. Downhole tubular 110 may define a fluid conduit 108. In the
context of wellbore
162, the tone transmission medium may include a downhole tubular 164 that may
extend within
wellbore 162, a wellbore fluid 166 that may extend within wellbore 162, a
portion of subsurface
region 128 that is proximal wellbore 162, a portion of subterranean formation
124 that is proximal
wellbore 162 that may extend within wellbore 162 and/or that may extend within
an annular region
between wellbore 162 and downhole tubular 164. Downhole tubular 164 may define
a fluid
conduit within the casing 168.
[0096] Communication nodes 114 and 148 may include various components to
manage
communication and monitor the wellbore. By way of example, the communication
nodes 114 may
include one or more encoding components 116, which may be configured to
generate an acoustic
tone, such as acoustic tone, and/or to induce the acoustic tone within tone
transmission medium.
Communication nodes 114 also may include one or more decoding components 118,
which may
be configured to receive acoustic tone from the tone transmission medium. The
communication
nodes 114 may function as both an encoding component 116 and a decoding
component 118
depending upon whether the given node is transmitting an acoustic tone (e.g.,
functioning as the
encoding component) or receiving the acoustic tone (e.g., functioning as the
decoding component).
The communication nodes 114 and 148 may include both encoding and decoding
functionality, or
structures, with these structures being selectively utilized depending upon
whether or not the given
communication node is encoding the acoustic tone or decoding the acoustic
tone. In addition, the
communication nodes 114 and 148 may optionally include sensing components that
are utilized to
measure, control, and monitor conditions within the respective wellbore, such
as wellbore 102 and
162.
[0097] In well, transmission of acoustic tone may be along a length of
wellbore along a fluid
within the wellbore or tubular member. As such, the transmission of the
acoustic tone is
substantially axial along the tubular member, and/or directed, such as by tone
transmission
medium. Such a configuration may be in contrast to more conventional wireless
communication
32
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
methodologies, which generally may transmit a corresponding wireless signal in
a plurality of
directions, or even in every direction.
100981 To install cement in the portion of subterranean formation 124 that
is proximal wellbore
102 and 162, cementing installation operations may be utilized. For the
wellbore 102, the
cementing installation operations may include cement monitoring system 140 may
include
communication nodes 114 and 148 along with a cross over tool 142, packer 144
and a tubular
member 146, while the cementing installation operations of the wellbore 162
may include a cement
monitoring system may include communication nodes 114 and 148 along with
tubular members
164. The communication nodes 114 and 148 may include sensing components, which
may be
within the communication node housing or may be in contact with the
communication node. The
sensing components may include communication nodes 114 and 148 that are used
to monitor
different properties and the different properties may be used to verify the
measured properties.
100991 The cement monitoring system may also include communication nodes
148, which may
include similar components to the communication nodes 114 and be configured to
exchange data
packets with the communication nodes 114 and the control unit 132. The
communication nodes
148 may further include one or more sensors that are configured to measure
certain properties
associated with the cement area or cement location or other locations upstream
of the cement
location.
101001 The cementing installation operations may include passing cementing
fluid 130 into
the respective wellbores 102 and 162. For the wellbore 102, the cementing
installation operations
may include passing cementing fluid 130 through the interior regions of the
downhole tubular 110
and tubular member 146. The cementing fluid 130 may be conducted away from the
interior region
of the tubular member 146 and along the exterior surface of the tubular member
146 (e.g., pumped
into the volume between the tubular member 146 and the wellbore 102). As the
cementing fluid
passes each of the communication nodes 148, a notification or signal may be
transmitted from the
respective communication node 148 to the control unit 132, which may pass
through the other
communication nodes 114 and 148. In addition, other configurations may include
communication
nodes 114 and 148 that are disposed within the tubular members 110, 146, and
164 that are utilized
to transmit a notification or signal from the respective communication node
114 or 148 to the
control unit 132.
33
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
[0101] The plurality of frequencies, which are utilized in the
communication nodes 114 and
148, may include the first frequency for a first type of communication node
type and/or a second
frequency for a second type of communication node type. Each of the wireless
network types may
be utilized in different configurations to provide the communication for the
hydrocarbon
operations. The respective frequency ranges may be any suitable values. As
examples, each
frequency in the plurality of high-frequency ranges may be at least 20
kilohertz (kHz), at least 25
kHz, at least 50 Id Iz, at least 60 kHz, at least 70 kHz, at least 80 kHz, at
least 90 kHz, at least 100
kHz, at least 200 kHz, at least 250 kHz, at least 400 kHz, at least 500 kHz,
and/or at least 600 kHz.
Additionally or alternatively, each frequency in the plurality of high-
frequency ranges may be at
most 1,000 kHz (1 megahertz (MHz)), at most 800 kHz, at most 750 kHz, at most
600 kHz, at
most 500 kHz, at most 400 kHz, at most 200 kHz, at most 150 kHz, at most 100
kHz, and/or at
most 80 kHz. Further, each frequency in the low-frequency ranges may be at
least 20 hertz (Hz),
at least 50 Hz, at least 100 Hz, at least 150 Hz, at least 200 Hz, at least
500 Hz, at least 1 kHz, at
least 2 kHz, at least 3 kHz, at least 4 kHz, and/or at least 5 kHz.
Additionally or alternatively, each
frequency in the high-frequency ranges may be at most 10 kHz, at most 12 kHz,
at most 14 kHz,
at most 15 kHz, at most 16 kHz, at most 17 kHz, at most 18 kHz, and/or at most
20 kHz.
[0102] The communication nodes 114 and 148 may include various
configurations, such as
those described in Figures 2A and 2B. The communications node may be disposed
on a conduit
and/or a tubular section within the respective wellbore, such as wellbore 102
and 162 and may be
disposed along or near a tubular member, such as tubular member 146 and 164
associated with a
cement location and/or may be disposed upstream of the cement location on
tubular members 110,
146 and 164. The communication nodes may be associated with equipment, may be
associated
with tubular members and/or may be associated with the surface equipment. The
communication
nodes may also be configured to attach at joints, internal or external
surfaces of tubular members,
surfaces within the wellbore, or to equipment.
101031 As a specific example, the communications nodes may be structured
and arranged to
attach to the surface (e.g., internal or external surface) of conduits at a
selected location. This type
of communication node may be disposed in a wellbore environment as a
communications node
(e.g., an intermediate node between the surface and any communication nodes
associated with the
equipment and/or sensors). The communication nodes, which are primarily used
for exchanging
data packets within the wellbore, may be disposed on each tubular member, or
may be disposed
34
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
on alternative tubular members, while other communication nodes, which are
primarily used for
obtaining measurements and then exchanging data packets with other
communication nodes within
the wellbore, may be disposed on tubular members or other wellbore equipment.
By way of
example, the communications node may be welded onto the respective surface or
may be secured
with a fastener to the tubular member (e.g., may be selectively attachable to
or detachable from
tubular member). The fastener may include the use of clamps (not shown), an
epoxy or other
suitable acoustic couplant may be used for chemical bonding. By attaching to
the external surface
of the tubular member, the communication nodes may lessen interfere with the
flow of fluids
within the internal bore of the tubular section. Further, the communication
nodes may be
integrated into a joint, a tubular member and/or equipment.
[0104] Figure 2A is a diagram 200 of an exemplary communication node. The
communication
node 200 may include a housing 202 along with a central processing unit (CPU)
204, memory 206,
which may include instructions or software to be executed by the CPU 204 one
or more encoding
components 208, one or more decoding components 210, a power component 212
and/or one or
more sensing components 214, which communicate via a bus 216. The central
processing unit
(CPU) 204 may be any general-purpose CPU, although other types of
architectures of CPU 204
may be used as long as CPU 204 supports the inventive operations as described
herein. The CPU
204 may contain two or more microprocessors and may be a system on chip (SOC),
digital signal
processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), and field
programmable gate
array (FPGA). The CPU 204 may execute the various logical instructions
according to disclosed
aspects and methodologies. For example, the CPU 204 may execute machine-level
instructions
for performing processing according to aspects and methodologies disclosed
herein. The memory
206 may include random access memory (RAM), such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic
RAM
(DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), or the like, read-only memory (ROM), such as
programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electronically erasable PROM
(EEPROM), or the like. In addition, the memory 206 may include NAND flash
and/or NOR flash.
Further, the power component 212 may be disposed in the housing 202 and may be
configured to
provide power to the other components. The power component 212 may include one
or more
batteries.
[0105] To manage the communications, the communication node 200 may utilize
the one or
more encoding components 208 and one or more decoding components 210 within
the housing
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
202. The encoding components 208, which may include one or more transducers,
may be disposed
within the housing 202 and may be configured to generate an acoustic tones
and/or to induce the
acoustic tone on a tone transmission medium. The one or more decoding
components 210, which
may include one or more transducers, may be disposed within the housing 202
and may be
configured to receive acoustic tones from the tone transmission medium. The
encoding and
decoding components 208 and 210 may include instructions stored in memory and
utilized to
perform the generation of the acoustic tones or decoding of the acoustic tones
along with
compression or decompression of the data packets into the acoustic tones. The
encoding
component 208 and decoding component 210 may utilize the same transducer in
certain
configurations.
101061 The one and/or more sensing components 214 (e.g., sensors, which may
be used to
obtain properties of the fluid in the wellbore) may be configured to obtain
sensing data and
communicate the obtained measurement data to other communication nodes. By way
of example,
the sensing components 214 may be configured to obtain pressure measurements,
temperature
measurements, fluid flow measurements, vibration measurements, resistivity
measurements,
capacitance measurements, strain measurements, acoustics measurements,
stimulation and/or
hydraulic fracture properties measurements, chemicals measurements, position
measurements and
other suitable measurements. By way of example, the sensing components 214 may
be configured
to obtain measurements associated with the detection of changes in density,
changes in gamma ray
emissions, changes in temperature, changes in pressure and/or specific
property to monitor the
location of the cementing fluid and/or other fluids used for cementing
installations. In addition,
the sensing component may be used to detect voids or gaps in the cement, as
well.
101071 In yet another exemplary configuration, Figure 2B is an exemplary
cross sectional
diagram of a communications node 250 that may be used in the system. The view
of the
communication node 250 is along the longitudinal axis. The communications node
250 includes
a housing 252, which may be fabricated from carbon steel or other suitable
material to avoid
corrosion at the coupling. The housing 252 is dimensioned to provide
sufficient structural strength
to protect internal components and other electronics disposed within the
interior region. By way
of example, the housing 252 has an outer wall 260, which may be about 0.2
inches (0.51
centimeters (cm)) in thickness. A cavity 262 houses the electronics,
including, by way of example
and not of limitation, a power source 254 (e.g., one or more batteries), a
power supply wire 264, a
36
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
first electro-acoustic transducer 256, a second electro-acoustic transducer
258, and a circuit board
266. The circuit board 266 may preferably include a micro-processor or
electronics module that
processes acoustic signals.
[0108] For communication between communication nodes, the first transducer
256 and the
second transducer 258, which may each be electro-acoustic transducers, are
provided to convert
acoustical energy to electrical energy (or vice-versa) and are coupled with
outer wall 260 on the
side attached to the tubular member. As an example, the first transducer 256,
which may be
configured to receive acoustic signals, and a second transducer 258, which may
be configured to
transmit acoustic signals, are disposed in the cavity 262 of the housing 252.
The first and second
transducers 256 and 258 provide a mechanism for acoustic signals to be
transmitted and received
from node-to-node, either up the wellbore or down the wellbore. In certain
configurations, the
second electro-acoustic transducer 258, configured to serve as a transmitter,
of intermediate
communications nodes 250 may also produce acoustic telemetry signals. Also, an
electrical signal
is delivered to the second transducer 258 via a driver circuit. By way of
example, a signal
generated in one of the transducers, such as the second transducer 258, passes
through the housing
252 to the tubular member, and propagates along the tubular member to other
communications
nodes. As a result, the transducers that generates or receives acoustic
signals may be a
magnetostrictive transducer (e.g., including a coil wrapped around a core)
and/or a piezoelectric
ceramic transducer. Regardless of the specific type of transducer, the
electrically encoded data are
transformed into a sonic wave that is carried through the walls of a tubular
member in the wellbore.
In certain configurations, a single transducer may serve as both the
transmitter and receiver.
[0109] Further, the internals of communications nodes 250 may include a
protective layer 268.
The protective layer 268 resides internal to the wall 260 and provides an
additional thin layer of
protection for the electronics. This protective layer provides additional
mechanical durability and
moisture isolation. The intermediate communications nodes 250 may also be
fluid sealed with the
housing 252 to protect the internal electronics. One form of protection for
the internal electronics
is available using a potting material.
[0110] To secure the communication node to the tubular member, the
intermediate
communications nodes 250 may also optionally include a shoe 270. More
specifically, the
intermediate communications nodes 250 may include a pair of shoes 270 disposed
at opposing
37
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
ends of the wall 260. Each of the shoes 270 provides a beveled face that helps
prevent the node
250 from hanging up on an external tubular body or the surrounding earth
formation, as the case
may be, during run-in or pull-out.
[0111] To enhance the performance, the communication nodes may be
configured to manage
different types of wireless networks. For example, a communication node may be
configured to
operate with different types of networks and may use different frequencies to
exchange data, such
as low frequencies, high frequencies and/or radio frequencies. Accordingly,
the communication
nodes may be configured to communicate with each of the types of communication
networks
and/or may be configured to transmit with one type of communication network
and receive with
another type of communication network. In certain configurations, the acoustic
waves may be
communicated in asynchronous packets of information comprising various
separate tones. In other
configurations, the acoustic telemetry data transfer may involve multiple
frequency shift keying
(MFSK). Any extraneous noise in the signal is moderated by using well-known
analog and/or
digital signal processing methods. This noise removal and signal enhancement
may involve
conveying the acoustic signal through a signal conditioning circuit using, for
example, one or more
bandpass filters.
[0112] As may be appreciated, the method of cementing installation may
include monitoring
the process to enhance the operations. The monitoring of the cementing
installation may be
performed in real time or may be performed concurrently or simultaneously with
the cementing
installation. Further, the monitoring may include obtaining measurement data
adjacent to the
communication node, determining one or more properties of the fluids adjacent
to the
communication node; determining whether to transmit one or more notifications
based on the
determined measurement data or determined properties, optionally visualizing
the cementing fluid
and/or another fluid within the wellbore and adjusting cementing installation
operations based on
the notifications. The determining one or more properties may include
computing changes in
density, changes in gamma ray emissions, changes in temperature, changes in
pressure and/or
changes in specific properties, which may be used to monitor the location of
the cementing fluid
and/or other fluids used for cementing installations. In other configurations,
the monitoring may
include determining voids or gaps in the cement installation based on the
measured properties,
optionally visualizing a portion of the cement and adjusting hydrocarbon
operations based on the
determined voids or gaps in the cement. The determining voids or gaps in the
installed cement
38
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
may include computing changes in density, changes in gamma ray emissions,
changes in
temperature, changes in pressure and/or changes in specific properties, which
may be used to
monitor the location of the cementing fluid and/or other fluids used for
cementing installations. In
other configurations, the communication nodes may be configured to exchange
data packets with
other devices, such as one or more hydrophones or other equipment.
[0113] Figure 3 is an exemplary flow chart 300 in accordance with an
embodiment of the
present techniques. The flow chart 300 is a method for creating, installing
and using a
communication network in a wellbore associated with hydrocarbon operations,
which include
installing cement within the wellbore. The method may include creating a
communication network
and installing the communication network in a wellbore along with a cement
monitoring system,
as shown in blocks 302 to 310. Then, the communication network may be
monitored and
hydrocarbon operations are performed, as shown in blocks 312 to 322.
[0114] To begin, the method involves creating, installing and using a
wireless network for a
wellbore along with a cement monitoring system, as shown in blocks 302 to 310.
At block 302,
well data for a subsurface region is obtained. The well data may include
seismic data,
electromagnetic data, resistivity data, gravity data, well log data, core
sample data, and
combinations thereof The well data may be obtained from memory or from the
equipment in the
wellbore. The well data may also include the data associated with the
equipment installed within
the wellbore and the configuration of the wellbore equipment and/or hardware
capabilities. For
example, the well data may include the composition of the tubular members,
thickness of the
tubular members, length of the tubular members, fluid composition within the
wellbore, formation
properties, cementation within the wellbore and/or other suitable properties
associated with the
wellbore. At block 304, properties and/or a cement location are identified.
The cementing
locations may be identified based on the predetermined locations near a
subsurface region, which
is determined to be unstable or near a location determined to provide
additional structural support.
The properties may be identified because they may be used to monitor the
fluids, such as cementing
fluid and/or other fluids used in the cementing installation operations. The
one or more properties
may include density, temperature, gamma ray, flow meter, resistivity,
capacitance, stress, strain,
vibration and any combination thereof.
[0115] Then, at block 306, a communication network configuration is
determined based on the
39
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
obtained well data, properties and/or cementing location. The determining the
communication
network configuration may include determining locations for sensing
properties, spacing of
communication nodes, and one or more communication configuration settings. The
creation of
the communication network may include selecting acoustic frequency band and
individual
frequencies; optimizing the acoustic communication band for each pair of
communication nodes;
determining coding method for the network and/or determining selective modes
for the network.
Further, the communication network may be configured to manage different
wireless network
types. For example, a communication node may be configured to operate with
different wireless
network types, such as low frequency, high frequency and/or radio frequency.
The creation of the
communication network may include performing a simulation with a configuration
of
communication nodes, which may include modeling specific frequencies and/or
use of certain
wireless communication node types within specific zones or segments of the
wellbore. The
simulation may include modeling the tubular members, the communication of
signals between
communication nodes, the sensor locations and associated data and/or other
aspects. The
simulation results may include the computation of time-varying fluid pressure
and fluid
compositions and the prediction of signal travel times within the wellbore.
Performing the
simulation may also include modeling fluid, modeling signal transmissions
and/or structural
changes based on the network. In addition, the creation of the wireless
network may include
installing and configuring the communication nodes in the wireless network in
a testing unit, which
may include one or more tubular members and the associated communication nodes
distributed
along the tubular members within a housing or support structure (e.g., a
testing unit disposed above
and/or external to the wellbore). The testing unit may also contain a fluid
disposed around the
tubular member within the housing. The modeling may include theoretical work
based on acoustic
waveguide theory and/or a scale above grade lab system tests. Further, the
modeling and/or
historical experience may provide an estimate for the frequency ranges
including the preferred
tonal frequency separation. The tonal frequencies may not have to be equally
spaced. The
frequency range bandwidth may be constrained by both the acoustics of the
channel and the
capability of the transmission and reception electronics, including transmit
and receive
transducers. Likewise, the frequency spacing of the MFSK tones may be
constrained by the tonal
purity of the transmitted tone and resolution of the receiver decoder.
101161 Then,
the communication nodes are configured based on the communication network
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
configuration, as shown in block 308. The configuration of the communication
nodes may include
programming or storing instructions into the respective communication nodes
and any associated
sensors to monitor operations, such as the cementing installation, and
exchange data packets
associated with the operations near the cement location. At block 310, the
communication nodes
and cement monitoring system are installed into the wellbore based on the
communication network
configuration. The installation of the communication nodes in the network may
include disposing
the communication nodes within the wellbore, which may be secured to tubular
members and/or
equipment. The installation of the communication network, which may include
one or more
wireless networks, may include verification of the communication network by
performing testing,
may include distribution of the sensors and/or verification of the
communication nodes in the
proposed network configuration.
[0117] Then,
the communication network may be monitored and hydrocarbon operations are
performed, as shown in blocks 312 to 322. At block 312, the data packets are
exchanged during
cementing installation operations. The exchange of data packets may involve
the transmission of
commands for equipment and/or measurement data and the associated reception of
the
transmissions. During the cementing installation operations may include
activities during
preparation of the communication nodes prior to installation into the wellbore
or while the
equipment is being run into the wellbore, activities prior to and during the
disposing of the
cementing fluid into the wellbore adjacent to the tubular members, and/or
after the installation of
the cement. At block 314, one or more properties are determined for cementing
installation
operations. The determination of one or more properties may include computing
comparisons of
the measurement data obtained from one or more sensors. These computations may
be associated
with the density of the fluid adjacent to the communication nodes. At block
316, a determination
is made whether an adjustment is needed for cementing installation operations.
The determination
may include determining location of properties associated with the different
fluids being passed
through the wellbore by the communication node. The determination may include
transmitting a
notification to indicate that an adjustment is needed or that a specific fluid
is adjacent to the
communication node. The communication nodes may be configured be configured to
monitor the
materials (e.g., fluids) within the tubular member, materials (e.g., fluids)
and/or outside the tubular
member. If an adjustment is needed, the cementing installation operations may
be adjusted, as
shown in block 318. The adjustment to the cementing installation operations
may include
41
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
adjusting the fluid being pumped down the wellbore, adjusting the frequencies
of the signals being
transmitted, adjusting the properties that the communication node is
monitoring, adjusting the
pressure and/or flow rate of the fluid being pumped into the wellbore. For
example, as the volume
inside the tubular member is known, the detection of a fluid passing the
communication node may
change or may be adjusted.
[01181 If an adjustment is not needed, a determination is made whether
cementing installation
operations are complete in block 320. The determination of cementing
installation operations
being complete may include the top plug has reached the bottom plug located
just above the bottom
of the wellbore at the float collar, the downhole communication nodes may
detect a change of
property of the fluid passing by communication node. If the cementing
installation operations are
not complete, the data packets may continue to be exchanged during cementing
installation
operations, as shown in block 312. If the cementing installation operations
are complete, the
hydrocarbon operations may be performed, as shown in block 322. The
hydrocarbon operations
may involve using the wellbore and associated cement to recovery hydrocarbons
from the
subsurface region. The hydrocarbon operations may include hydrocarbon
exploration operations,
hydrocarbon development operations, collection of wellbore data, and/or
hydrocarbon production
operations. For example, the communication network may be used to enhance the
cementing
installation operations and/or composition of the fluids being produced from
the well. As another
example, the communication network may be used to adjust hydrocarbon
production operations,
such as installing or modifying equipment for a completion associated with the
cementing
installation, which may be based on the produced fluids. Further, the
communication network may
be utilized to predict hydrocarbon accumulation within the subsurface region
based on the
monitored produced fluids; to provide an estimated recovery factor; and/or to
determine rates of
fluid flow for a subsurface region. The production facility may include one or
more units to
process and manage the flow of production fluids, such as hydrocarbons and/or
water, from the
formation.
[01191 Beneficially, the method provides an enhancement in the production,
development,
and/or exploration of hydrocarbons. In particular, the method may be utilized
to enhance
communication within the wellbore by providing a specific configuration that
optimizes
communication for cementing installation operations. Further, as the
communication is provided
in real time, simultaneously or concurrently with cementing installation
operations, the
42
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
communication network may provide enhancements to production at lower costs
and lower risk.
As a result, the present techniques lessen completion time due to monitoring
the cementing
installation in real time, simultaneously or concurrently with the
installation of the cement.
[0120] As may be appreciated, the blocks of Figure 3 may be omitted,
repeated, performed in
a different order, or augmented with additional steps not shown. Some steps
may be performed
sequentially, while others may be executed simultaneously or concurrently in
parallel. By way of
example, the communication network may be adjusted or modified while the data
packets are
exchanged by performing various steps. For example, the method may include
performing
adjustments or modification of the selected acoustic frequency bands and
individual frequencies.
The acoustic frequency band and individual frequencies may include each
frequency in the
plurality of high-frequency ranges, which may be at least 20 kilohertz (kHz),
at least 25 kHz, at
least 50 kiIz, at least 60 kHz, at least 70 kHz, at least 80 kHz, at least 90
kHz, at least 100 kHz, at
least 200 kHz, at least 250 kHz, at least 400 kHz, at least 500 kHz, and/or at
least 600 kHz.
Additionally or alternatively, each frequency in the plurality of high-
frequency ranges may be at
most 1,000 kHz (1 megahertz (MHz)), at most 800 kHz, at most 750 kHz, at most
600 kHz, at
most 500 kI lz, at most 400 kHz, at most 200 kHz, at most 150 kHz, at most 100
kHz, and/or at
most 80 kHz. Further, each frequency in the low-frequency ranges may be at
least 20 hertz (Hz),
at least 50 Hz, at least 100 Hz, at least 150 Hz, at least 200 Hz, at least
500 Hz, at least 1 kHz, at
least 2 kHz, at least 3 kHz, at least 4 kHz, and/or at least 5 kHz.
Additionally or alternatively, each
frequency in the high-frequency ranges may be at most 10 kHz, at most 12 kHz,
at most 14 kHz,
at most 15 kHz, at most 16 kHz, at most 17 kHz, at most 18 kHz, and/or at most
20 kHz. Further,
the acoustic communication bands and individual frequencies for each pair of
communication
nodes may be optimized, which may include determining the explicit MFSK
frequencies. Also,
the coding methods for the communication network may be determined. In
addition, the clock
ticks may be optimized to maximize data communication rate. For example, the
coding method
may be selected based on availability of frequency bands and/or communication
rates may be
compromised if the frequency band is limited. In certain configurations, the
coding method may
include performing frequency combining based on one or more clock ticks per
tone (e.g., one clock
tick per tone, two clock ticks per tone, three clock ticks per tone, and/or
more clock ticks per tone)
to achieve more or fewer tones within a frequency band.
[0121] Further, as communication nodes may be configured with a setting or
profile, the
43
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
settings may include various parameters. The settings may include acoustic
frequency band and
individual frequencies (e.g., acoustic communication band and individual
frequencies for each pair
of communication nodes); and/or coding methods (e.g., establishing how many
tones to use for
MFSK (2, 4, 8, ...) and/or whether to use direct mapping or spread spectrum),
and/or tone detection
method, such as FFT, ZCR and other methods. The settings may include frequency
combining
using one or more clock ticks per tone. The tones may be selected to
compensate for poor acoustic
propagation.
[0122] Persons skilled in the technical field will readily recognize that
in practical applications
of the disclosed methodology, it is partially performed on a computer,
typically a suitably
programmed digital computer or processor based device. Further, some portions
of the detailed
descriptions which follow are presented in terms of procedures, steps, logic
blocks, processing and
other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer
memory. These
descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the
data processing arts to
most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the
art. In the present
application, a procedure, step, logic block, process, or the like, is
conceived to be a self-consistent
sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are
those requiring physical
manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessarily, these
quantities take the
form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,
combined, compared,
and otherwise manipulated in a computer system.
[0123] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar
terms are to be
associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient
labels applied to
these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the
following discussions,
it is appreciated that throughout the present application, discussions
utilizing the terms such as
"processing" or "computing", "calculating", "comparing", "determining",
"displaying",
"copying," "producing," "storing," "adding," "applying," "executing,"
"maintaining," "updating,"
"creating," "constructing" "generating" or the like, refer to the action and
processes of a computer
system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and
transforms data represented
as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and
memories into other
data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system
memories or registers
or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.
44
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
[0124] Embodiments of the present techniques also relate to an apparatus
for performing the
operations herein, such as monitoring and communicating. This apparatus, such
as the control unit
or the communication nodes, may be specially constructed for the required
purposes, or it may
comprise a general-purpose computer or processor based device selectively
activated or
reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer (e.g., one or more
sets of instructions).
Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable medium. A
computer-readable
medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a
form readable by a
machine (e.g., a computer). For example, but not limited to, a computer-
readable (e.g., machine-
readable) medium includes a machine (e.g., a computer) readable storage medium
(e.g., read only
memory ("ROM"), random access memory ("RAM"), NAND flash, NOR flash, magnetic
disk
storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, etc.), and a
machine (e.g., computer)
readable transmission medium (electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of
propagated signals
(e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.)).
[0125] Furthermore, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the
relevant art, the modules,
features, attributes, methodologies, and other aspects of the invention can be
implemented as
software, hardware, firmware or any combination of the three. Of course,
wherever a component
of the present invention is implemented as software, the component can be
implemented as a
standalone program, as part of a larger program, as a plurality of separate
programs, as a statically
or dynamically linked library, as a kernel loadable module, as a device
driver, and/or in every and
any other way known now or in the future to those of skill in the art of
computer programming.
Additionally, the present techniques are in no way limited to implementation
in any specific
operating system or environment.
[0126] By way of example, the control unit may include a computer system
that may be used
to perform any of the methods disclosed herein. A central processing unit
(CPU) is coupled to
system bus. The CPU may be any general-purpose CPU, although other types of
architectures of
CPU (or other components of exemplary system) may be used as long as CPU (and
other
components of system) supports the inventive operations as described herein.
The CPU may
contain two or more microprocessors and may be a system on chip (SOC), digital
signal processor
(DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), and field programmable
gate array (FPGA).
The CPU may execute the various logical instructions according to disclosed
aspects and
methodologies. For example, the CPU may execute machine-level instructions for
performing
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
processing according to aspects and methodologies disclosed herein.
[0127] The computer system may also include computer components such as a
random access
memory (RAM), which may be SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, or the like. The computer system
may
also include read-only memory (ROM), which may be PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or the
like.
RAM and ROM, which may also include NAND flash and/or NOR flash, hold user and
system
data and programs, as is known in the art. The computer system may also
include an input/output
(I/O) adapter, a graphical processing unit (GPU), a communications adapter, a
user interface
adapter, and a display adapter. The I/O adapter, the user interface adapter,
and/or communications
adapter may, in certain aspects and techniques, enable a user to interact with
computer system to
input information.
[0128] The I/O adapter preferably connects a storage device(s), such as one
or more of hard
drive, compact disc (CD) drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, etc. to
computer system. The storage
device(s) may be used when RAM is insufficient for the memory requirements
associated with
storing data for operations of embodiments of the present techniques. The data
storage of the
computer system may be used for storing information and/or other data used or
generated as
disclosed herein. The communications adapter may couple the computer system to
a network (not
shown), which may include the network for the wellbore and a separate network
to communicate
with remote locations), which may enable information to be input to and/or
output from system
via the network (for example, a wide-area network, a local-area network, a
wireless network, any
combination of the foregoing). User interface adapter couples user input
devices, such as a
keyboard, a pointing device, and the like, to computer system. The display
adapter is driven by
the CPU to control, through a display driver, the display on a display device.
[0129] The architecture of system may be varied as desired. For example,
any suitable
processor-based device may be used, including without limitation personal
computers, laptop
computers, computer workstations, and multi-processor servers. Moreover,
embodiments may be
implemented on application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or very large
scale integrated
(VLSI) circuits. In fact, persons of ordinary skill in the art may use any
number of suitable
structures capable of executing logical operations according to the
embodiments.
[0130] As may be appreciated, the method may be implemented in machine-
readable logic,
such that a set of instructions or code that, when executed, performs the
instructions or operations
46
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
from memory. By way of example, the computer system includes a processor; an
input device and
memory. The input device is in communication with the processor and is
configured to receive
input data associated with a subsurface region. The memory is in communication
with the
processor and the memory has a set of instructions, wherein the set of
instructions, when executed,
are configured to: perform certain operations.
[0131] It
should be understood that the preceding is merely a detailed description of
specific
embodiments of the invention and that numerous changes, modifications, and
alternatives to the
disclosed embodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure here
without departing from
the scope of the invention. The preceding description, therefore, is not meant
to limit the scope of
the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined only by
the appended claims
and their equivalents. It is also contemplated that structures and features
embodied in the present
examples can be altered, rearranged, substituted, deleted, duplicated,
combined, or added to each
other. As such, it will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that
many modifications and
variations to the embodiments described herein are possible. All such
modifications and variations
are intended to be within the scope of the present invention, as defined by
the appended claims.
47
CA 3024467 2018-11-16
