Loss circulation detection during cementing operations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11846174-B2
Application number	US-202017020402-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2020
Priority date	Feb 1, 2020
Publication date	Dec 19, 2023
Grant date	Dec 19, 2023

Abstract

Locating a loss zone while cementing a well casing in a well bore includes: inserting a fiber-optic cable into the well bore, wherein the fiber optic cable is part of one or more Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) systems; detecting a loss circulation signature, while cementing the well casing, at a point along the fiber-optic cable by at least one of the one or more DFOS systems; and locating the loss zone within the well bore based on the point along the fiber-optic cable at which the loss circulation signature was detected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for locating a loss zone while cementing a well casing in a wellbore with cement, the method comprising:
inserting a fiber-optic cable into the wellbore, wherein the fiber-optic cable is part of one or more Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) systems;
comparing, based on operation of a machine learning (ML) system, data received from the one or more DFOS systems with a plurality of different loss circulation signatures;
identifying, based on the operation of the ML system, that the data received from the one or more DFOS systems corresponds to a loss circulation signature of the plurality of different loss circulation signatures while the well casing is cemented, wherein the loss circulation signature is associated with a point along the fiber-optic cable;
locating the loss zone within the wellbore based on the loss circulation signature being associated with the point along the fiber-optic cable at which the loss circulation signature was identified; and
adjusting, based on the operation of the ML system, a property of the cement to mitigate losses of the loss zone.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more DFOS systems comprises one or more of a Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system, a Distributed Strain Sensing (DSS) system, and a Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) system.

3. The method of claim 1 , where the loss circulation signature comprises one or more of:
a temperature signature detected by a Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system,
a strain signature detected by a Distributed Strain Sensing (DSS) system,
a strain signature detected by a Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) system,
a micro-seismic signature detected and processed with data from the DAS system,
a pressure signature detected by a pressure sensor, or
an interferometric signature detected by an interferometric sensing system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the point along the fiber-optic cable corresponds to a maximum detected acoustic signature.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the property of the cement is at least one of a cement density, a cement composition, or a cement retarder concentration.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ML system comprises a neural network.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the loss circulation signature is identified based on the plurality of different loss circulation signatures being associated with one or more stored profiles of known loss zone characteristics.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the data received from the one or more DFOS systems is compared by a processor with the one or more stored profiles.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the loss circulation signature is identified based on comparing input from the one or more DFOS systems with one or more stored profiles generated by the ML system based on previously discovered loss zones.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an amount of losses based on one or more characteristics of the loss circulation signature.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein inserting the fiber-optic cable into the wellbore comprises inserting the fiber-optic cable into the well casing.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein inserting the fiber-optic cable into the well casing comprises coupling the fiber-optic cable to a cementing top plug inserted into the well casing before pumping the cement into the well casing, and the loss zone is located based on a location of the cementing top plug when the loss circulation signature is detected.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein inserting the fiber-optic cable into the wellbore comprises inserting the fiber-optic cable into an annulus around the well casing in the wellbore.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein inserting the fiber-optic cable into the annulus comprises:
clamping the fiber-optic cable on an outside surface of the well casing.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein inserting the fiber-optic cable into the annulus comprises:
securing the fiber-optic cable within permanently installed sensors that are cemented in place in the annulus.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
notifying a cementer about the loss zone in real-time.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the notifying comprises:
transmitting information about the loss zone to one or more of a computer terminal, tablet, cell phone, and/or and a smart watch associated with the cementer.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting information about the loss zone to a cementing control system; and
automatically controlling, via the cementing control system, at least one parameter of a cementing operation in real-time based on information about the loss zone.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one parameter comprises one or more of pumping pressure or a flow rate.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing an indication of the loss zone for use in subsequent well planning.

21. A system for locating a loss zone while cementing a well casing in a wellbore, the system comprising:
one or more Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) systems comprising a fiber-optic cable;
a memory; and
a processor that executes instructions of a machine learning (ML) system out of the memory to:
compare data received from the one or more DFOS systems with a plurality of different loss circulation signatures,
identify that the data received from the one or more DFOS systems corresponds to a loss circulation signature of the plurality of different loss circulation signatures while the well casing is cemented, wherein the loss circulation signature is associated with a point along the fiber-optic cable, and
locate the loss zone within the wellbore based on the loss circulation signature being associated with the point along the fiber-optic cable at which the loss circulation signature was identified, wherein a property of the cement is adjusted to mitigate losses of the loss zone based on operation of the ML system.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions of a machine learning (ML) system that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for locating a loss zone while cementing a well casing in a wellbore, the method comprising:
comparing, based on operation of a machine learning (ML) system, data received from one or more Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) systems with a plurality of different loss circulation signatures;
identifying, based on the operation of the ML system, that the data received from the one or more DFOS systems corresponds to a loss circulation signature of the plurality of different loss circulation signatures while the well casing is cemented, wherein the loss circulation signature is associated with a point along a fiber-optic cable; and
locating the loss zone within the wellbore based on the loss circulation signature being associated with the point along the fiber-optic cable at which the loss circulation signature was identified, wherein a property of the cement is adjusted to mitigate losses of the loss zone based on the operation of the ML system.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Singh John Paul Bir
• Jaaskelainen Mikko
• Maida John L
• Yerubandi Krishna Babu

Classifications

• G06N3/0499

  Feedforward networks · CPC title

• G06N3/09

  Supervised learning · CPC title

• E21B47/005 Primary

  Monitoring or checking of cementation quality or level · CPC title

• E21B21/003 Primary

  Means for stopping loss of drilling fluid (plastering the borehole wall E21B33/138) · CPC title

• E21B33/14

  for cementing casings into boreholes · CPC title