Core orientation systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689256-B2
Application number	US-201213649918-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2012
Priority date	Oct 11, 2012
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for evaluating the subterranean formation of a wellbore are provided. In one embodiment, a geographical orientation of a downhole tool relative to Earth may be determined. The downhole tool may include a coring tool positioned to extract a core sample from a formation of the Earth. The orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool also may be determined. Further, based on the geographical orientation of the downhole tool and the orientation of the coring sample, a geographical orientation of the core sample with respect to the Earth may be determined.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining a geographical orientation of a downhole tool relative to Earth, wherein the downhole tool comprises a sidewall coring tool positioned to extract a core sample from a formation of the Earth;
determining an orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool;
marking the core sample with a marking device connected with a static sleeve;
determining, based on the geographical orientation of the downhole tool and the orientation of the coring sample, a geographical orientation of the core sample with respect to the Earth; and
displaying a graphical representation of the wellbore and the core sample, wherein the graphical representation comprises an image of the core sample with respect to the wellbore and the Earth, and wherein the graphical representation includes an x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, wherein the z-axis represents a wellbore diameter, and wherein the graphical representation displays core information comprising: a core label number, an azimuth angle, a deviation angle, a core length, and wellbore information comprising a porosity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a geographical orientation of a downhole tool comprises measuring a magnetic field position of the downhole tool and measuring a gravitational field position of the downhole tool.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining a geographical orientation comprises determining a depth of the downhole tool in a wellbore.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a geographical orientation of a downhole tool comprises determining a three-dimensional geographical orientation of the downhole tool.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining an orientation of the core sample comprises determining an angle of a coring bit of the coring tool.

6. A method comprising:
lowering a downhole tool into a wellbore, wherein the downhole tool comprises a housing, a measurement tool and a sidewall coring tool positioned to extract a core sample from a formation;
determining a geographical orientation of the downhole tool relative to Earth;
determining an inclination angle of the coring tool relative to the downhole tool;
extending the coring tool into the formation at the inclination angle to obtain a core sample of the formation;
marking the core sample to indicate a rotational position of the core sample in the formation while obtaining the core sample with a marking device connected with a static sleeve;
determining an orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool based on the inclination angle and the rotational position;
determining, based on the geographical orientation of the downhole tool and the orientation of the coring sample, a geographical orientation of the core sample with respect to the Earth; and
displaying a graphical representation of the wellbore and the core sample, wherein the graphical representation comprises an image of the core sample with respect to the wellbore and the Earth, and wherein the graphical representation includes an x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, wherein the z-axis represents a wellbore diameter, and wherein the graphical representation displays core information comprising: a core label number, an azimuth angle, a deviation angle, a core length, and wellbore information comprising a porosity.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining a geographical orientation of the downhole tool comprises measuring a deviation, azimuth, and relative bearing of a housing of the downhole tool.

8. The method of claim 6 , comprising measuring a property of the formation using the downhole tool and generating a graphical representation of the wellbore based on the measured property.

9. The method of claim 6 , comprising displaying geographical directions defining the geographical orientation of the core sample on the graphical representation.

10. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
removing the core sample from the downhole tool;
testing the core sample to determine a formation property, wherein the formation property is determined based at least in part on the geographical orientation of the core sample.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein testing the core sample comprises performing a flow test to determine a porosity of the formation, a permeability of the formation, or both.

12. A system comprising:
a downhole tool comprising:
an inclinometry tool for determining a geographical orientation of a downhole tool relative to Earth;
a sidewall coring tool positioned to extract a core sample from a formation of the Earth and configured to determining an orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool, wherein the sidewall coring tool comprises a marking tool connected with a static sleeve;

a controller configured to determine, based on the geographical orientation of the downhole tool and the orientation of the coring sample, a geographical orientation of the core sample with respect to the Earth; and
display a graphical representation of the wellbore and the core sample, wherein the graphical representation comprises an image of the core sample with respect to the wellbore and the Earth, and wherein the graphical representation includes an x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, wherein the z-axis represents a wellbore diameter, and wherein the graphical representation displays core information comprising: a core label number, an azimuth angle, a deviation angle, a core length, and wellbore information comprising a porosity.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the coring tool comprises a marking device configured to mark a rotational position of the core sample relative to the formation for determining the orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the coring tool comprises a sensor configured to measure an inclination angle of a coring bit of the coring tool for determining the orientation of the core sample with respect to the downhole tool.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the inclinometry tool comprises an accelerometer, a magnetometer, or both.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Tevis George Christopher
• Milkovisch Mark
• Hsu Kai

Classifications

• E21B47/026

  of penetrated ground layers · CPC title

• E21B47/024

  of devices in the borehole (determining slope or direction of the borehole E21B47/022) · CPC title

• E21B25/16 Primary

  for obtaining oriented cores · CPC title

• E21B49/06 Primary

  using side-wall drilling tools {pressing} or scrapers · CPC title