Reservoir formation characterization using a downhole wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10465505-B2
Application number	US-201715666312-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2017
Priority date	Aug 30, 2016
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

A system for reservoir formation characterization with a downhole wireless telemetry system, including at least one sensor disposed along a tubular body; at least one sensor communications node placed along the tubular body and affixed to a wall of the tubular body, the sensor communications node being in communication with the at least one sensor and configured to receive signals therefrom; a topside communications node placed proximate a surface; a plurality of intermediate communications nodes spaced along the tubular body and attached to a wall of the tubular body, wherein the intermediate communications nodes are configured to transmit signals received from the at least one sensor communications node to the topside communications node in substantially a node-to-node arrangement; a receiver at the surface configured to receive signals from the topside communications node; and a topside data acquisition system structured and arranged to communicate with the topside communications node. A method for reservoir formation characterization is also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A downhole wireless telemetry system, comprising:
at least one sensor disposed along a tubular body;
at least one sensor communications node placed along the tubular body and affixed to a wall of the tubular body, the sensor communications node being in electrical communication with the at least one sensor and configured to receive signals therefrom;
a topside communications node placed proximate a surface;
a plurality of electro-acoustic communications nodes spaced along the tubular body and attached to a wall of the tubular body, each electro-acoustic communications node comprising a housing having a mounting face for mounting to a surface of the tubular body;
a piezoelectric receiver positioned within the housing, the piezoelectric receiver structured and arranged to receive acoustic waves that propagate through the tubular body;
a piezoelectric transmitter positioned within the housing, the piezoelectric transmitter structured and arranged to transmit acoustic waves through the tubular body; and
a power source comprising one or more batteries positioned within the housing;
wherein the electro-acoustic communications nodes are configured to transmit signals received from the at least one sensor communications node to the topside communications node in a substantially node-to-node arrangement; and
wherein at least one of the piezoelectric transmitter and the piezoelectric receiver comprises multiple piezoelectric disks, each piezoelectric disk having at least a pair of electrodes connected in series with an adjacent piezoelectric disk.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the sensor communication nodes uses a fiber-based sensor system to sense one or more reservoir formation parameters.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the transmitter, the transceiver, and at least one of the plurality of electro-acoustic communications nodes further comprises the fiber-based sensor system to transmit sensed signals.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the fiber-based sensor system comprises a fiber optic sensor to sense acoustic signals.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the fiber optic sensor comprises fiber Bragg grating.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein acoustic signals are received on both the fiber-based sensor system and on a piezo-electric acoustic transducer receiver, and wherein both received signals are transmitted using at least one of a fiber optics system, a radio frequency system, and an acoustic system to transmit a received signal to a communications node.

7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising sending an acoustic signal from at least one acoustic telemetry node at a frequency in or below the ultrasound frequency band and recording the acoustic signal sent using the fiber-based sensor system.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electro-acoustic communications nodes are configured to transmit acoustic waves, radio waves, low frequency electromagnetic waves, inductive electromagnetic waves, light, or combinations thereof.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one sensor communications node is configured to transmit acoustic waves, radio waves, low frequency electromagnetic waves, inductive electromagnetic waves, light, or combinations thereof.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one sensor communications node are configured to transmit acoustic waves, providing real-time information to the topside data acquisition system.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of electro-acoustic communications nodes comprises at least one electro-acoustic transducer.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor communications node comprises: a sealed housing; a power source residing within the housing; and at least one electro-acoustic transducer.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one sensor communications node further comprises a transceiver or a separate transmitter and receiver associated with the at least one electro-acoustic transducer that is structured and arranged to communicate with the at least one sensor and transmit acoustic waves in response thereto.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the acoustic waves represent asynchronous packets of information comprising a plurality of separate tones, with at least some of the acoustic waves being indicative of one or more reservoir formation parameters indicative of at least one reservoir formation property.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises one or more sensors selected from a fluid density sensor, a fluid resistivity sensor, a fluid velocity sensor, a pressure drop sensor, a scintillation detector, a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor; a pressure sensor; a microphone; an ultrasound sensor; a Doppler shift sensor; a chemical sensor; an imaging device; an impedance sensor; an attenuation sensor;
and combinations thereof.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor employs passive acoustic monitoring, active acoustic measurements, electromagnetic signature detection, sonar monitoring, radar monitoring, or radiation monitoring.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein permeability is determined using a model employing pressure, vibration, and temperature measurements.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reservoir formation property is permeability and/or porosity.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more reservoir formation parameters are pressure, vibration, and temperature which are used to determine permeability.

21. The system of claim 1 , wherein data transmitted topside is utilized by the topside data acquisition system for reservoir formation characterization and production optimization.

22. The system of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric receiver also functions as a power receiver to convert sound and vibration energy into electrical power via an energy harvesting electronics.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the energy harvesting electronics includes a super-capacitor or chargeable batteries.

24. The system of claim 1 , wherein a single voltage is applied equally to each piezoelectric disk.

25. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mechanical output of the piezoelectric transmitter is increased by increasing the number of disks while applying the same voltage.

26. The system of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric receiver comprises a single piezoelectric disk, the single piezoelectric disk having a thickness equivalent to the total thickness of the multiple piezoelectric disks.

27. The system of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a first end and a second end, each of which have a clamp associated therewith for clamping to an outer surface of the tubular body.

28. A method for reservoir formation characterization of a well, comprising:
sensing one or more reservoir formation parameters indicative of at least one reservoir formation property via one or more sensors positioned along a tubular body;
receiving signals from the one or more sensors with at least one sensor communications node;
transmitting those signals via a transmitter or transceiver to one of a plurality of electro-acoustic communications nodes attached to a wall of the tubular body;
transmitting signals received by the

Assignees

• Disko Mark M
• Song Limin
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• Disko Mark M
• Song Limin

Classifications

• E21B47/14 Primary

  using acoustic waves · CPC title

• E21B49/087

  Well testing, e.g. testing for reservoir productivity or formation parameters · CPC title

• E21B47/017

  Protecting measuring instruments · CPC title

• E21B47/12

  Means for transmitting measuring-signals or control signals from the well to the surface, or from the surface to the well, e.g. for logging while drilling · CPC title