Borehole acoustic noise measurement and processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10215884-B2
Application number	US-201114237240-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2011
Priority date	Aug 17, 2011
Publication date	Feb 26, 2019
Grant date	Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

In some embodiments, an apparatus and a system, as well as a method and an article, may operate to acquire acoustic noise data by one or more receivers, the acoustic noise provided by a passive source comprising a down hole tool body moving within a borehole, and/or a positioning device or a measurement device attached to the tool body. Additional operations may include processing the acoustic noise data to determine receiver calibration parameters, and/or formation properties. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
generating acoustic noise by a passive source comprising at least one of a body of an acoustic tool within a borehole, a positioning device attached to the body, and a measurement device attached to the body;
receiving and recording acoustic noise data at a sampling rate and over a period during movement of the body by at least one receiver attached to the body, wherein the sampling rate is based on a first recorded acoustic frequency and the period is based on a second recorded acoustic frequency that is lower than the first recorded acoustic frequency; and
processing the recorded acoustic noise data to determine a calibration parameter of the at least one receiver.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving and recording further comprises:
simultaneously receiving and recording the acoustic noise data from a first direction along the body and from a second direction along the body, the second direction being substantially opposite the first direction.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
increasing azimuthal pressure applied to a wall of the borehole by at least one of the positioning device and the measurement device during said receiving and recording.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
increasing an amplitude of the acoustic noise data by increasing logging speed of the down hole tool.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
increasing the amplitude of the acoustic noise data by increasing a cross-sectional area of at least one of the down hole tool, the positioning device, and the measurement device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises:
determining the calibration parameter by estimating a gain of the at least one receiver.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calibrating the at least one receiver by applying at least one of a static gain correction parameter corresponding to the acoustic noise data obtained over a cased distance of the borehole and a dynamic gain correction parameter corresponding to the acoustic noise data obtained over an uncased distance of the borehole.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing comprises:
applying at least one of a time semblance method and a frequency semblance method to the acoustic noise data to determine the formation property.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing the recorded acoustic noise data using a two-sided frequency semblance method to generate two-sided frequency semblance data; and
converting two-sided frequency semblance data to one-sided frequency semblance data using an absolute value of negative slowness values.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein
at least one of the positioning device and the measurement device is configured as a symmetrical device to excite resonant monopole modes.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first recorded acoustic frequency is a highest recorded acoustic frequency and the second recorded acoustic frequency is a lowest recorded acoustic frequency.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating gain for the at least one receiver without using the calibration parameter.

13. An apparatus, comprising:
a passive source configured to generate acoustic noise during movement of the passive source within a borehole, said passive source comprising at least one of a body of an acoustic tool within a borehole, a positioning device attached to the body, and a measurement device attached to the body;
at least one receiver attached to the body and configured to receive and record acoustic noise data at a sampling rate and over a period during movement of the body, wherein the sampling rate is based on a first recorded acoustic frequency and the period is based on a second recorded acoustic frequency that is lower than the first recorded acoustic frequency; and
a processor configured to process the recorded acoustic noise data to determine a calibration parameter of the at least one receiver.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first recorded acoustic frequency is a highest recorded acoustic frequency and the second recorded acoustic frequency is a lowest recorded acoustic frequency.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to process the recorded acoustic noise data using a two-sided frequency semblance method to generate two-sided frequency semblance data, and convert the two-sided frequency semblance data to one-sided frequency semblance data using an absolute value of negative slowness values.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the measurement device comprises a caliper and wherein the positioning device comprises a centralizer.

17. A system, comprising:
an acoustic tool;
an apparatus attached to a tool body of the acoustic tool comprising,
a passive source configured to generate acoustic noise during movement of the passive source within a borehole, said passive source comprising at least one of the tool body, a positioning device attached to the tool body, and a measurement device attached to the tool body; and
at least one receiver configured to receive and record acoustic noise data at a sampling rate and over a period during movement of the tool body, wherein the sampling rate is based on a first recorded acoustic frequency and the period is based on a second recorded acoustic frequency that is lower than the first recorded acoustic frequency; and

a processor configured to process the recorded acoustic noise data to determine a calibration parameter of the at least one receiver.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to process the recorded acoustic noise data using a two-sided frequency semblance method to generate two-sided frequency semblance data, and convert the two-sided frequency semblance data to one-sided frequency semblance data using an absolute value of negative slowness values.

19. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
at least one acoustic noise isolator attached to the tool body, proximate to the at least one receiver.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the passive source comprises:
at least one of the positioning device and the measurement device configured as an asymmetrical device to excite resonant dipole modes.

Assignees

• Donderici Burkay
• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Donderici Burkay

Classifications

• G01V1/40

  specially adapted for well-logging · CPC title

• G01V13/00 Primary

  Manufacturing, calibrating, cleaning, or repairing instruments or devices covered by groups G01V1/00 – G01V11/00 · CPC title

• G01V1/48 Primary

  Processing data · CPC title