Managing storage of water

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11028561-B2
Application number	US-201816037023-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2018
Priority date	Jul 17, 2018
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

An example system is configured to manage the storage of water underground using a sensor-based grid system. The example system includes wells, each of which is between a surface and an underground formation capable of storing water received from the surface. The example system includes pumps, at least of which is associated with each well to force water from the surface, through the well, into the underground formation. The example system includes sensors, at least of which is associated with each well. The sensors are configured to communicate sensor data wirelessly. The example system also includes a computing system configured to receive sensor data from each of the sensors and to control operations of one or more of the pumps based on the sensor data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
wells, each well being between a surface and an underground formation capable of storing water received from the surface;
pumps, at least one pump being associated with each well to force water from the surface, through the well, into the underground formation;
sensors, at least one sensor being associated with each well, the sensors being configured to communicate sensor data wirelessly; and
a computing system configured to receive sensor data from each of the sensors and to control operations of one or more of the pumps based on the sensor data,
where at least some of the sensors are located near at least one of a well pump and a well valve on the ground surface, and configured to detect a temperature at a location of a well, the sensor data representing the temperature,
where the computing system is configured to receive meteorological data, and to control operations of one or more of the pumps based on the meteorological data, and
where the computing system is further configured to execute a code to estimate a level of fill of the underground formation, and to control one or more of the pumps to force water into parts of the underground formation that are at or below a predefined level of fill.

2. The system of claim 1 , where at least some of the sensors are located downhole and are configured to detect a depth of water at a location of a well, the sensor data representing the depth of the water;
where the computing system is further configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the sensor data,
where the wells are within a geographic area and are connected in a sensor-based grid, and
where the sensor-based grid uses a communications protocol to enable communications to and from the sensors in different locations.

3. The system of claim 1 , where the sensors are configured to detect a rate of rainfall at a location of a well, the sensor data representing the rate of rainfall; and
where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the sensor data.

4. The system of claim 1 ,
where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the sensor data.

5. The system of claim 1 , where the sensors are configured to detect a wind speed at a location of a well, the sensor data representing the wind speed, at least one sensor located at the surface; and
where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the wind speed.

6. The system of claim 1 , where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of one or more of the pumps to pump water at greater rates for wells that are subjected to greater rates of rainfall than for wells that are subjected to lesser rates of rainfall,
where a code is executed to control a first pump that extends to the underground formation to operate at a greater rate than a second pump that extends to the underground formation,
where the first pump that extends to the underground formation has more unused capacity than the second pump that extends to the underground formation,
where the sensors at the well pump are configured to detect a pressure at the wells, and
where the code is executed to stop operation of the one of more of the pumps upon detecting the pressure at the wells above a threshold.

7. The system of claim 1 , where the underground formation comprises a lost circulation zone; and
where the computing system is configured to identify the lost circulation zone based on geological data representing at least an area of the lost circulation zone.

8. The system of claim 7 , where the computing system is configured to control operations of two or more pumps differently based on pump sensor data received from the two or more pumps or sensor data received from wells associated with the two or more pumps, and
where at least some of the sensors are configured to detect a rate of rainfall at a location of a well, the sensor data representing the rate of rainfall.

9. The system of claim 8 , where the computing system comprises memory and one or more processing devices, the one or more processing devices being configured to store, in memory, a record of water pumped for each well and a record of rainfall in a vicinity of each well, and
where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the sensor data representing the rate of rainfall.

10. The system of claim 7 , where the computing system and the sensors define a grid over an area containing the wells;
where controlling operation of pumps within the grid comprises coordinating operation of the pumps to regulate storage of groundwater within the underground formation and other underground formations,
where the area is localized, and
where the area spans 1000 square kilometers.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more conduits between two or more of the wells, the one or more conduits being connected to one or more of the pumps and being configured to transport water over a geographic area; and
where the computing system is configured to control a pump to transport water through a conduit from a first well to a second well,
where the one or more conduits transport water over meters, tens of meters, tens of kilometers, or hundreds of kilometers.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more nested casing segments,
where each downhole casing segment is suspended from an immediately-preceding uphole casing segment.

13. A system comprising:
wells, each well being between a surface and an underground formation capable of holding water received from the surface;
pumps, at least one pump being associated with each well to force water from the surface, through the well, into the underground formation;
sensors, at least one sensor being associated with each well, the sensors being configured to communicate sensor data wirelessly; and
a computing system configured to receive sensor data from each of the sensors and to control operations of the pumps based on the sensor data,
where at least some of the sensors are configured to detect a rate of rainfall at the location of a well, the sensor data representing the rate of rainfall;
where the computing system is configured to control a rate of operation of the pumps based on the sensor data representing the rate of rainfall;
where controlling a rate of operation of the pumps comprises selectively adjusting at least one of the speed and output while the pumps are in operation;
where the computing system is configured to estimate a level of fill of the underground formation, and to control the pumps to force water into parts of the underground formation that are at or below a predefined level of fill, and
where a suction pipe is disposed between the pumps and the ground water.

14. A method comprising:
detecting environmental conditions in vicinities of wells using sensors associated with respective wells, each well being between a surface and an underground formation capable of storing water received from the surface;
coordinating operation of pumps associated with respective wells based on the environmental conditions detected, each pump being configured to force water from a surface, through a well, to an underground formation;
executing a code to estimate a level of fill of the underground formation; and
executing the code to control a first pump that extends to the underground formation to operate at a greater rate than a second pump that extends to the underground formation,
where operation of

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Azzouni Suliman M

Classifications

• E21B43/12

  Methods or apparatus for controlling the flow of the obtained fluid to or in wells (E21B43/25 takes precedence; valve arrangements E21B34/00) · CPC title

• E03F5/10

  Collecting-tanks; Equalising-tanks for regulating the run-off; Laying-up basins · CPC title

• G06Q10/06

  Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• B65G5/00

  Storing fluids in natural or artificial cavities or chambers in the earth · CPC title

• E03B3/03

  Special vessels for collecting or storing rain-water for use in the household, e.g. water-butts {(containers for storage, in general, B65D)} · CPC title