Contact or proximity pad mounted sensor system for imaging cavity defects and delamination defects between layers in multilayered cylindrical structures in subsurface wells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11674377-B2
Application number	US-202117236438-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2021
Priority date	Apr 21, 2020
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

An apparatus for inspecting a well having nested multi-tubular structure, includes: an acoustic transducer conveyed in an inner-most tubular in the structure and configured to receive a return acoustic signal having a plurality of resonances due to the structure; an acoustic impedance matching material disposed on a sensing face of the acoustic transducer; a signal generator that generates a signal having a plurality of frequencies to drive the acoustic transducer; a signal shaper that modifies the signal to provide a drive signal to the acoustic transducer; and a processor configured to determine an annulus distance of any tubular in the structure with respect to an adjacent tubular using a time of flight of a transmitted acoustic signal, an acoustic speed in a component in the nested multi-tubular structure using the annulus distance and the plurality of resonances, and a characteristic of the component that corresponds with the acoustic speed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for inspecting a well having a nested multi-tubular structure, the apparatus comprising:
an acoustic transducer coupled to a mandrel configured to be conveyed in an inner-most tubular in the nested multi-tubular structure, the acoustic transducer configured to transmit an acoustic signal and receive a return acoustic signal having a plurality of resonances due to the multi-tubular structure;
an acoustic impedance matching material disposed on a sensing face of the acoustic transducer;
a signal generator that generates a signal having a plurality of frequencies to drive the acoustic transducer;
a signal shaper that modifies the signal by applying at least one of amplitude modulation and frequency modulation to provide a drive signal to the acoustic transducer; and
a processor configured to (i) determine an annulus distance of any tubular in the nested multi-tubular structure with respect to an adjacent tubular using a time of flight of the transmitted acoustic signal, (ii) determine an acoustic speed in a component in the nested multi-tubular structure using the annulus distance and the plurality of resonances, and (iii) determine a characteristic of the component that corresponds with the acoustic speed.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an extendable arm coupled to the mandrel and the acoustic transducer, wherein the acoustic sensor is extendable from the mandrel to be in contact with or close proximity to the inner-most tubular.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mandrel is configured to rotate to provide azimuthal scanning.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a carrier coupled to the mandrel, the carrier comprising a wireline or a drill tubular.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the signal is a signal pulse.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the acoustic transducer comprises a plurality of distributed acoustic transducers spaced apart from each other to form an acoustic transducer array.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the distributed acoustic sensors are distributed azimuthally and/or axially with respect to the inner-most tubular.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to (iv) determine an attenuation in amplitude or energy between return acoustic signals received by at least two acoustic transducers in the acoustic transducer array and (v) correlate the attenuation to a condition of a material in an annulus surrounding the inner-most tubular.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein at least one acoustic transducer in the acoustic transducer array is configured to: transmit a first acoustic signal to determine the annulus distance; transmit a second acoustic signal to determine the acoustic speed; and transmit a third acoustic signal to determine the attenuation; wherein the first, second, and third acoustic signals are transmitted in any order.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the drive signal is provided at least one of concurrently, coherently, or sequentially to the acoustic transducer array.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
detect return signals at a plurality of times;
process the return signals using a frequency transform to identify frequency peaks present in the return signal; and
correlate the identified peaks to a characteristic of the nested multi-tubular structure.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the acoustic transducer comprises an electric acoustic transducer and/or an electromagnetic acoustic transducer.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the acoustic transitional impedance matching material (ATIMM) comprises (a) a first acoustic impedance at the sensing face within a selected range of an acoustic impedance of the sensing face and (b) a second acoustic impedance within a selected range of an acoustic impedance of the inner-most tubular.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the ATIMM comprises a transitional acoustic impedance section disposed between two ends of the ATIMM, the transitional acoustic impedance section comprising a third acoustic impedance between the first acoustic impedance and the second acoustic impedance.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the ATIMM comprises a multilayer material having a machinable glass ceramic and titanium.

16. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the ATIMM comprises a multilayer structure defining an internal cell structure.

17. A method for inspecting a well having a nested multi-tubular structure, the method comprising:
generating a signal pulse having a plurality of frequencies using a signal generator;
modifying the signal pulse by applying at least one of amplitude modulation and frequency modulation using a signal shaper to provide a drive signal;
transmitting an acoustic signal based on the drive signal into an inner-most tubular of the nested multi-tubular structure using an acoustic transducer coupled to a mandrel configured to be conveyed in the inner-most tubular, the acoustic transducer being configured to transmit the acoustic signal and receive a return acoustic signal having a plurality of resonances due to the nested multi-tubular structure;
transitioning an acoustic impedance between the acoustic transducer and the inner-most tubular using an acoustic transition impedance matching material disposed on a sensing face of the acoustic transducer;
receiving the return acoustic signal having the plurality of resonances using the acoustic transducer;
determining an annulus distance of any tubular in the nested multi-tubular structure with respect to an adjacent tubular using a time of flight of the transmitted acoustic signal;
determining an acoustic speed in a component in the nested multi-tubular structure using the annulus distance and the plurality of resonances; and
determining a characteristic of the component that corresponds with the acoustic speed.

18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising extending the acoustic transducer from the mandrel to be in contact with or close proximity to the inner-most tubular.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the acoustic transducer comprises a plurality of distributed acoustic transducers to form an acoustic transducer array having at least two acoustic transducers spaced apart and the method further comprises determining an attenuation in amplitude or energy between return acoustic signals received by the at least two acoustic transducers and correlate the attenuation to a condition of material in an annulus surrounding the inner-most tubular.

20. The method according to claim 17 , wherein transmitting comprises transmitting a first acoustic signal to determine the annulus distance, transmitting a second acoustic signal to determine the acoustic speed; and transmitting a third acoustic signal to determine the attenuation; wherein the first, second, and third acoustic signals are transmitted in any order.

21. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising:
detecting return signals at a plurality of times;
processing the return signals using a frequency transform to identify frequency peaks present in the return signal; and
correlating the identified peaks to a characteristic of the nested multi-tubular structure.

22. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising dynamic focus

Assignees

• Yogeswaren Elan
• Maity Sandip
• Steinsiek Roger
• Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations Llc

Inventors

• Yogeswaren Elan
• Maity Sandip
• Steinsiek Roger

Classifications

• G01N29/12 Primary

  by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves {(measuring frequency or resonant frequency of mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in general G01H1/06, G01H3/04, G01H13/00; acoustic resonators G10K11/04; vibration or shock testing of structures G01M7/00)} · CPC title

• G01N2291/015

  Attenuation, scattering · CPC title

• G01N29/323

  compensating for pressure or tension variations · CPC title

• E21B47/005 Primary

  Monitoring or checking of cementation quality or level · CPC title

• G01H15/00

  Measuring mechanical or acoustic impedance · CPC title