Systems and methods for measuring fluid additive concentrations for real time drilling fluid management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9567852-B2
Application number	US-201213713529-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2012
Priority date	Dec 13, 2012
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for monitoring drilling fluid components in real time. One system includes a flow path fluidly coupled to a borehole and containing a drilling fluid having at least one component present therein, an optical computing device arranged in the flow path and having at least one integrated computational element configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid and thereby generate optically interacted light, and at least one detector arranged to receive the optically interacted light and generate an output signal corresponding to a characteristic of the at least one component.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a flow path containing a drilling fluid and providing at least a first monitoring location and a second monitoring location, the drilling fluid having at least one component present therein and the flow path facilitating the circulation of the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole;
a first optical computing device arranged at the first monitoring location and having:
a first integrated computational element (ICE) configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the first monitoring location via a first electromagnetic radiation generated by a first electromagnetic radiation source and convey modified electromagnetic radiation to a first detector which generates a first output signal corresponding to a characteristic of the at least one component at the first monitoring location, and
a second detector configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the first monitoring location via at least a portion of the first electromagnetic radiation prior to the first electromagnetic radiation optically interacting with the first ICE and generate a first compensating signal corresponding to radiating deviations of the first electromagnetic radiation source;

a second optical computing device arranged at the second monitoring location and having:
a second ICE configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the second monitoring location via a second electromagnetic radiation generated by a second electromagnetic radiation source and convey modified electromagnetic radiation to a third detector which generates a second output signal corresponding to the characteristic of the at least one component at the second monitoring location, and
a fourth detector configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the second monitoring location via at least a portion of the second electromagnetic radiation prior to the second electromagnetic radiation optically interacting with the second ICE and generate a second compensating signal corresponding to radiating deviations of the second electromagnetic radiation source, and wherein the first and second ICEs each include a plurality of alternating layers of materials that exhibit varying indices of refraction; and

a signal processor communicably coupled to the first and third detectors and configured to receive the first and second output signals and determine a difference between the first and second output signals.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first monitoring location is situated in the flow path at or near an outlet of the borehole where the drilling fluid exits the borehole, and the second monitoring location is situated in the flow path at or near an inlet to the borehole where the drilling fluid is conveyed into the borehole.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the flow path at the first or second monitoring locations is a retention pit configured to receive the drilling fluid.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the flow path at the first monitoring location is a flow line that receives the drilling fluid from the borehole and the flow path at the second monitoring location is a feed pipe extending to a drill string for conveying the drilling fluid into the borehole for a drilling operation.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one component comprises at least one of a gelling agent, an emulsifier, proppants or other solid particulates, a clay control agent, a clay stabilizer, a clay inhibitor, a chelating agent, a flocculant, a viscosifier, a weighting material, a base fluid, and a rheology control agent.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the at least one component is a concentration of the at least one component in the drilling fluid.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the difference between the first and second output signals is indicative of how a concentration of the at least one component changed between the first and second monitoring locations.

8. A method of monitoring a drilling fluid for component depletion, comprising:
containing the drilling fluid within a flow path that provides at least a first monitoring location and a second monitoring location, the drilling fluid having at least one component present therein and the flow path facilitating the circulation of the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole;
generating a first output signal corresponding to a characteristic of the at least one component at the first monitoring location with a first optical computing device;
generating a first compensating signal corresponding to radiating deviations of a first electromagnetic radiation source with the first optical computing device, the first electromagnetic radiation source generating a first electromagnetic radiation that interacts with the drilling fluid at the first monitoring location, wherein the first optical computing device includes:
a first integrated computational element (ICE) configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the first monitoring location via the first electromagnetic radiation and thereby convey modified electromagnetic radiation to a first detector which generates the first output signal, and
a second detector configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the first monitoring location via at least a portion of the first electromagnetic radiation prior to the first electromagnetic radiation optically interacting with the first ICE and thereby generate the first compensating signal;

generating a second output signal corresponding to a characteristic of the at least one component at the second monitoring location with a second optical computing device;
generating a second compensating signal corresponding to radiating deviations of a second electromagnetic radiation source with the second optical computing device, the second electromagnetic radiation source generating a second electromagnetic radiation that interacts with the drilling fluid at the second monitoring location, wherein the second optical computing device includes:
a second ICE configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the second monitoring location via the second electromagnetic radiation and thereby convey modified electromagnetic radiation to a third detector which generates the second output signal, and
a fourth detector configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid at the second monitoring location via at least a portion of the second electromagnetic radiation prior to the second electromagnetic radiation optically interacting with the second ICE and thereby generate the second compensating signal, and wherein the first and second ICEs each include a plurality of alternating layers of materials that exhibit varying indices of refraction;

receiving the first and second output signals with a signal processor; and
determining a difference between the first and second output signals with the signal processor.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the difference between the first and second output signals further comprises determining how the characteristic of the at least one component changed between the first and second monitoring locations.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising undertaking at least one corrective action when the characteristic of the at least one component surpasses a predetermined range of suitable operation for the drilling fluid.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein undertaking the at least one corrective action comprises adding additional amounts of the at least one component to the drilling fluid.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining the characteristic of the at least one compon

Assignees

• Jamison Dale E
• Almond Stephen W
• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Jamison Dale E
• Almond Stephen W

Classifications

• E21B49/08 Primary

  Obtaining fluid samples or testing fluids, in boreholes or wells · CPC title

• E21B47/00

  Survey of boreholes or wells (monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid E21B21/08) · CPC title

• E21B47/102

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E21B2049/085

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E21B49/0875

  determining specific fluid parameters · CPC title