Monitoring of Wells to Detect the Composition of Matter in Boreholes and Propped Fractures
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a processor; and
an interrogator configured to interrogate a channel associated with an oil well borehole using a frequency-modulated RF signal such that the frequency-modulated RF signal covers an expected range of resonant frequencies for resonant tags within the channel, and wherein the processor is configured to characterize a dielectric constant for a medium in the channel using resonant reflections received by the interrogator from the resonant tags in the channel.
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Abstract
There is provided a system and method for monitoring of fractured wells and conventional wells to detect leaks. The method comprises interrogating a plurality of resonant tags using a modulated RF signal transmitted from an interrogator, wherein the plurality of resonant tags are dispersed within a channel.
58 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a processor; and an interrogator configured to interrogate a channel associated with an oil well borehole using a frequency-modulated RF signal such that the frequency-modulated RF signal covers an expected range of resonant frequencies for resonant tags within the channel, and wherein the processor is configured to characterize a dielectric constant for a medium in the channel using resonant reflections received by the interrogator from the resonant tags in the channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6)
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5. The system of claim 5, wherein the resonant tag is configured to be resonant in the terahertz region.
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8. A method comprising:
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interrogating a channel using a frequency-modulated RF signal transmitted from an interrogator such that the frequency-modulated RF signal covers an expected range of resonant frequencies for interrogated resonant tags within the channel; determining a strength for reflected resonant signals from the interrogated resonant tags; and characterizing a dielectric constant for a material filling the channel using the determined signal strengths. - View Dependent Claims (7, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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advancing an interrogator through an oil well borehole to sampled locations within the borehole, wherein the borehole includes a well casing having a plurality of resonant tags lining a borehole-facing wall for the well casing; at each sampled location, interrogating resonant tags at the sampled location to characterize a dielectric constant for a channel between the interrogator and the interrogated resonant tags at the sampled location; and based upon the characterized dielectric constants for the channels at the sampled locations, determining whether the well casing is compromised. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification