Cementing methods and systems employing a smart plug

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10196308-B2
Application number	US-201515552048-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2015
Priority date	Mar 17, 2015
Publication date	Feb 5, 2019
Grant date	Feb 5, 2019

Abstract

A cementing method includes positioning a bottom plug at a casing shoe, rupturing the bottom plug, signaling when a top plug reaches a target position, and releasing a chemical into a cement slurry below the top plug in response to the signaling. The signal may comprise a mechanical trigger changing its position due to movement of the top plug past the target position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cementing method, comprising:
positioning a bottom plug at a casing shoe;
rupturing the bottom plug;
signaling when a top plug reaches a target position relative to the bottom plug; and
releasing a chemical into a cement slurry below said top plug in response to said signaling, wherein said signaling or said releasing involves an electronic signaling interface included with at least one of the bottom plug and the top plug, and wherein said releasing is performed by a casing segment or a casing shoe in response to a mechanical trigger changing its position due to movement of the top plug past the target position.

2. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said signaling comprising conveying an electromagnetic or acoustic signal between the bottom plug and the top plug.

3. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said signaling comprising conveying an electromagnetic or acoustic signal between the top plug and a casing segment.

4. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said signaling comprising conveying an electromagnetic or acoustic signal between a casing segment and the bottom plug.

5. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said signaling involves using at least one mechanical switch integrated with a casing segment to mark when the top plug reaches the target position.

6. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said signaling involves using at least one wireless signal interface integrated with a casing segment to mark when the top plug reaches the target position.

7. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said releasing is performed by the bottom plug in response to a signal received from the top plug or a casing segment.

8. The cementing method of claim 7 , wherein said releasing comprises an actuator opening a passage in the bottom plug or forcing the chemical out of the passage to expose the cement slurry to the chemical.

9. The cementing method of claim 1 , wherein said releasing is performed by a casing segment or the casing shoe in response to a signal emitted by the bottom plug or the top plug.

10. A cementing system, comprising:
a top plug position interface that identifies when a top plug reaches a target position relative to a bottom plug; and
a chemical release interface that releases a chemical into a cement slurry below said top plug in response to a release signal from the top plug position interface, wherein the top plug position interface or the chemical release interface includes an electronic signaling interface integrated with at least one of the top plug and a bottom plug, wherein the top plug position interface comprises a proximity sensor integrated with a casing segment, and wherein the proximity sensor comprises a mechanical switch configured to mark when the top plug reaches the target location.

11. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the top plug comprises an electronic signaling interface configured to transmit a proximity signal to a casing segment or the bottom plug.

12. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the electronic signaling interface includes an acoustic transducer.

13. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the proximity sensor further comprises a wireless signal interface configured to mark when the top plug reaches the target location.

14. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the top plug position interface comprises electronic signaling interfaces integrated with both the top plug and the bottom plug.

15. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the bottom plug comprises an electronic signaling interface configured to receive the release signal from the top plug or a casing segment, and wherein the bottom plug further comprises an actuator that exposes the cement slurry to the chemical.

16. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the chemical release interface comprises a chemical reservoir integrated with a casing segment or casing shoe.

17. The cementing system of claim 10 , wherein the chemical is a liquid, paste, or solid that accelerates a curing time for the cement slurry.

18. A cementing method, comprising:
signaling when a top plug reaches a target position relative to a position in a wellbore; and
releasing a chemical into a cement slurry below said top plug in response to said signaling, wherein said signaling or said releasing involves an electronic signaling interface included with the top plug, and wherein said releasing is performed by a casing segment or a casing shoe in response to a mechanical trigger changing its position due to movement of the top plug past the target position.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Gupta Vijay
• Roberson Mark
• Myers David F
• Davis James Lynn
• Dausch David

Classifications

• C04B28/02 Primary

  containing hydraulic cements other than calcium sulfates · CPC title

• C04B40/0641

  Mechanical separation of ingredients, e.g. accelerator in breakable microcapsules · CPC title

• C04B40/0032

  Controlling the process of mixing, e.g. adding ingredients in a quantity depending on a measured or desired value (B28C7/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C09K8/42

  Compositions for cementing, e.g. for cementing casings into boreholes; Compositions for plugging, e.g. for killing wells (compositions for plastering C09K8/50) · CPC title

• C04B40/0028

  Aspects relating to the mixing step of the mortar preparation · CPC title