System for detecting blow out and lost circulation in a borehole

• US 4,527,425 A
• Filed: 12/10/1982
• Issued: 07/09/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Baroid Technology Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Original Assignee: NL Industries Incorporated (Valhi Holding Company)
• Inventors: Stockton, James G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Birmiel, Howard A.
• Application Number:
  US06/448,531
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 73/155, 73/861.28, 73/861.29, 175/48
• US Class Current: 73/152.21
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 21/08 Controlling or monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid, e.g. automatic filling of boreholes, automatic control of bottom pressure valve arrangements therefor E21B21/10
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/107 using acoustic means
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/663 by measuring Doppler frequency shift

Abstract

A drilling mud flow rate detector, including a sub adapted for being positioned in the drill string, having a sonic signal generator located near the center of the sub in both the incoming mud flow path and the return mud flow path. A set of sonic signal receivers is located at both ends of the sub in both the mud input flow path and the mud return flow path and corresponding sets of sonic signal transmitters are located near the center of the sub. The distance between the transmitting transducers at the center of the sub and the receiving transducers located at each end of the sub are equal so that under a condition of no mud flow, the sonic signals arrive at each end of the sub simultaneously. During mud flow, "doppler effect" will produce phase shifts in the sonic signals which are proportional to the direction and the rate of mud flow. Signals received by the receiving transducers are processed to produce an input mud flow rate signal and an output mud flow rate signal which are then compared. The occurrence of a change in the ratio of mud input flow to mud output flow above a preselected value will trigger an alarm indicative of the commencement of either a rapid influx of fluids from the formation into the mud stream, known as a "blow-out", or a rapid outflow of mud into the formation, known as "lost circulation".

Claims

1. A method of detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising the steps of:

transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of f1ow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportiona1 thereto;

accumulating said first electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said transducing steps comprise generating at a selected point within the borehole a sonic signal within the flowing streams of drilling fluid;

receiving the sonic signals at a first point located a selected distance above said selected point and at a second point located the same selected distance below said selected point;

measuring the time difference between reception of the sonic signal at said first and second points in the incoming fluid stream and transducing said first electrical signal in proportion thereto and in the outgoing fluid stream and transducing said second electrical signal in proportion thereto, and wherein said measuring step comprises triggering the generation of a ramp function simultaneously with the generation of said first sonic signal;

accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said first point and accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said second point;

comparing the value of said ramp functions after accumulation of each; and

producing a first time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said accumulated ramp function values.

2. A method of detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising the steps of:

transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said first electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said transducing steps comprise generating at a selected point within the borehole a sonic signal within the flowing streams of drilling fluid;

receiving the sonic signals at a first point located a selected distance above said selected point and at a second point located the same selected distance below said selected point;

measuring the time difference between reception of the sonic signal at said first and second points in the incoming fluid stream and transducing said first electrical signal in proportion thereto and in the outgoing fluid stream and transducing said second electrical signal in proportion thereto, and wherein said measuring step comprises triggering the generation of a pair of ramp functions having identical slope simultaneously with the generation of said first sonic signal;

interrupting one of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said first point and interrupting the other of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said second point;

comparing the value of said one of said ramp functions with said other of said ramp functions after interruption of each; and

producing a first

time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said first and second ramp functions.

3. A method of detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising the steps of:

transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said first electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected vertical location;

measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference and wherein said second electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at said selected location within the borehole a plurality of sonic signals within the stream of drilling fluid flowing out of the borehole, each of said plurality of second sonic signals being generated at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within the annular region through which drilling fluid flows toward the surface;

receiving each of said plurality of second sonic signals at a first location spaced a selected distance downstream of said selected location, each of said plurality of sonic signals being received at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within said annular region and in axial alignment with the respective points of generation;

receiving each of said plurality of second sonic signals at a second location spaced said selected distance upstream of said location, each of said plurality of sonic signals being received at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within said annular region and in axial alignment with the respective points of generation;

measuring second time differences between reception of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first and second locations;

averaging said time differences; and

producing said second electrical signal proportional to the average time difference.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said second time difference measuring step comprises:

triggering the operation of a ramp function simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of sonic signals;

accumulating a plurality of values of said ramp function in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location, each of said values of said ramp function being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

accumulating a plurality of values of said ramp function in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location, each of said values of said ramp function being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

comparing the averaged value associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged value associated with sonic signal second reception at the second location; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared averaged values.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said second time difference measuring step comprises:

triggering the operation of a plurality of pairs of ramp functions simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of sonic signal, each of said pairs of ramp functions being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

interrupting one of each of said plurality of pairs of ramp functions in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location;

interrupting the other ones of each of said plurality of pairs of ramp functions in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location;

averaging the values of each of the ramp functions associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

averaging the values of each of the ramp functions associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

comparing the averaged value associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged value associated with sonic second reception at the second location; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared average values.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein said second time difference measuring step comprises:

triggering the operation of a plurality of digital counters simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of second sonic signals;

accumulating the value of said counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location, each of said values being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

accumulating the value of said counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location, each of said values being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of said sonic signals at said first location;

averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of said sonic signals at said second location;

comparing the averaged accumulated values associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged accumulated values associated with sonic signal reception at the second location; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared averaged accumulated values.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein said second time difference measuring step comprises:

triggering the operation of a plurality of pairs of digital counters being driven by a common clock simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of second sonic signals, each of said pairs of counters being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

interrupting one of each of said plurality of pairs of counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location;

interrupting the other one of each of said plurality of pairs of counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location;

averaging the values of the counts contained in each of the counters associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

averaging the values of the counts contained in each of the counters associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

comparing the averaged counts associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged count associated with sonic signal reception at the second location; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared counts.

8. A method of detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising the steps of:

transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said first electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected vertical location;

measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference and wherein said second electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at said selected location within the borehole a second sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow out of the borehole;

receiving the second sonic signal at a first point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

measuring a second time difference between reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

producing said second electrical signal proportional to the second time difference, and wherein said second difference measuring step comprises triggering the generation of ramp functions simultaneously with the generation of said second sonic signal;

accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said second point;

comparing the values of said second ramp function after accumulation of each; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said accumulated ramp functions.

9. A method of detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising the steps of:

transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said first electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected vertical location;

measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference and wherein said second electrical signal transducing step comprises generating at said selected location within the borehole a second sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow out of the borehole;

receiving the second sonic signal at a first point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

measuring a second time difference between reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

producing said second electrical signal proportional to the second time difference, and wherein said second time difference measuring step comprises triggering the generation of a pair of ramp functions having identical slope simultaneously with the generation of said second sonic signal;

interrupting one of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and interrupting the other of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said second point;

comparing the value of said first and second ramp functions after interruption of each; and

producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said first and second ramp functions.

10. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising:

means for transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said first electrical signal over a selected interval of time;

means for transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

means for comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

means for measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

means for producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference, wherein said first time difference measuring means comprises means for triggering the generation of a ramp function simultaneously with the generation of said first sonic signal;

means for accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said first point;

means for accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said second point;

means for comparing the accumulated values; and

means for producing a first time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared accumulated values.

11. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising:

means for transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said first electrical signal over a selected interval of time;

means for transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

means for comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

means for measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

means for producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference, and wherein said first time difference measuring means comprises means for triggering the generation of a pair of ramp functions having identical slopes simultaneously with the generation of said first sonic signal;

means for interrupting one of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said first point;

means for interrupting the other of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said first sonic signal at said second point;

means for comparing the value of said one of said other ramp functions after interruption of each; and

means for producing a first time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said first and second ramp functions.

12. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising:

means for transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said first electrical signal over a selected interval of time;

means for transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

means for comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

means for measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

means for producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference, and wherein said second electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at said selected location within the borehole a plurality of sonic signals within the stream of drilling fluid flow out of the borehole, each of said plurality of second sonic signals being generated at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within the annular region through which drilling fluid flows toward the surface;

means for receiving each of said plurality of second sonic signals at a first location spaced at a selected distance downstream of said selected location, each of said plurality of sonic signals being received at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within said annular region and in axial alignment with the respective points of generation;

means for receiving each of said plurality of second sonic signals at a second location spaced said selected distance upstream of said selected location, each of said plurality of sonic signals being received at points equally circumferentially spaced from one another within said annular region and in axial alignment with the respective points of generation;

means for measuring the time differences between reception of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first and second locations;

means for averaging said time differences; and

means for producing said second electrical signal proportional to the average time difference.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said second time difference measuring means comprises:

means for triggering the operation of a ramp function simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of sonic signals;

means for accumulating the value of said ramp function in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location, each of said plurality of ramp functions being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for accumulating the value of said ramp functions in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location, each of said plurality of ramp functions being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for averaging the values of said accumulations associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

means for averaging the values of said accumulations associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

means for comparing the averaged accumulated values associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged accumulated value associated with the sonic signal reception at the second location; and

means for producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared averaged accumulated values.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein said second time difference measuring means comprises:

means for triggering the operation of a plurality of pairs of ramp functions simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of sonic signals, each of said pairs of ramp functions being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for interrupting one of each of said plurality of pairs of ramp functions in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location;

means for interrupting the other ones of each of said plurality of pairs of ramp functions in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location;

means for averaging the values of each of the ramp functions associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

means for averaging the values of each of the ramp functions associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

means for comparing the averaged value associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged value associated with sonic signal reception at the second location; and

means for producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared averaged values.

15. The System of claim 12 wherein said second time difference measuring means comprises:

means for triggering the operation of a plurality of digital counters simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of second sonic signals;

means for accumulating the value of said counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location, each of said counters being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for accumulating the value of said counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location, each of said counters being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

means for averaging the accumulated values associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

means for comparing the averaged accumulated values associated with the sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged accumulated values associated with sonic signal reception at the second location; and

means for producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared accumulated values.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein said second time difference measuring means comprises:

means for triggering the operation of a plurality of pairs of digital counters driven by a common clock simultaneously with the generation of said plurality of second sonic signals, each of said pairs of counters being associated with one of said plurality of circumferentially spaced second sonic signal generation points;

means for interrupting one of each of said plurality of pairs of counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said first location;

means for interrupting the other one of each of said plurality of pairs of counters in response to reception of the associated one of each of said plurality of second sonic signals at said second location;

means for averaging the values of the counts contained in each of the counters associated with reception of sonic signals at said first location;

means for averaging the values of the counts contained in each of the counters associated with reception of sonic signals at said second location;

means for comparing the averaged counts associated with sonic signal reception at the first location with the averaged count associated with sonic signal reception at the second location; and

means for producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in said compared counts.

17. The system of claim 16 further including means for shifting the phase of said accumulation of second electrical signals until it is in phase with said accumulation of first electrical signals.

18. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, comprising:

means for transducing at a selected location within the borehole the rate of flow of the drilling fluid into the borehole into a first electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said first electrical signal over a selected interval of time;

means for transducing, at said selected location within the borehole, the rate of flow of the drilling fluid out of the borehole into a second electrical signal proportional thereto;

means for accumulating said second electrical signals over a selected interval of time;

means for comparing the accumulation of said first electrical signals with the accumulation of said second electrical signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blow out and lost circulation, wherein said first electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at a selected location within the borehole a first sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow into the borehole;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a first point located a selected distance downstream of said selected location;

means for receiving the first sonic signal at a second point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

means for measuring a first time difference between reception of the first sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

means for producing said first electrical signal proportional to the first time difference, wherein said second electrical signal transducing means comprises means for generating at said selected location within the borehole a second sonic signal within the stream of drilling fluid flow out of the borehole;

means for receiving the second sonic signal at a first point located said selected distance upstream of said selected location;

means for measuring a second time difference between reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and at said second point;

means for producing said second electrical signal proportional to the second time difference, and wherein said second time difference measuring means comprises means for triggering the generation of a pair of ramp functions having identical slope simultaneously with the generation of said second sonic signal;

means for interrupting one of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said first point and interrupting the other of said pair of ramp functions in response to reception of said second sonic signal at said second point;

means for comparing the value of said first and second ramp functions after interruption of each; and

means for producing a second time difference signal proportional to the difference in the compared values of said first and second ramp functions.

19. A system for detecting the commencement for blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated, including a sub having a coupling on each end for incorporation into the drill pipe string of a borehole drilling rig, said sub including an upper end, a lower end, a generally cylindrical outer surface, and a central axial passageway for conducting the flow of drilling into the borehole, said system comprising:

an inner sonic transducer positioned at a central location within the sub within the central passageway for transmitting a sonic signal through the downwardly flowing drilling fluid toward both the upper and lower ends of the sub;

a pair of inner sonic receivers for detecting the sonic signal transmitted from said inner transducer, one of said receivers being located within the central passageway near the upper end of the sub a selected distance from the inner transmitter and the other receiver being located within the central passageway near the lower end of the sub said selected distance from the inner transmitter;

an outer sonic transducing means positioned at said central location of the sub on the cylindrical outer surface for transmitting a sonic signal through the upwardly flowing drilling fluid toward both the upper and lower ends of the sub;

a pair of outer sonic receiving means for detecting the sonic signal transmitted by said outer transducing means, one of said receiving means being located on the outer surface of the sub near the upper end said selected distance from the outer transmitter and the other receiving means also being located on the outer surface of the sub near the lower end of the sub said selected distance from the outer transmitter;

means for measuring a first time difference between reception of the inner sonic signal by the lower inside receiver and by the upper inside receiver;

means for producing an input fluid flow rate signal proportional to said first time difference;

means for measuring a second time difference between reception of the outer sonic signal by the lower outer receiving means and by the upper outer receiving means;

means for producing an output fluid flow rate signal proportional to said second time difference;

means for accumulating input flow rate signals and output flow rate signals; and

means for comparing said accumulation of input flow rate signals and said accumulation of output flow rate signals to determine the differences in value therebetween, a preselected difference between the compared values being indicative of the commencement of one of a blowout and lost circulation.

20. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated as set forth in claim 19 wherein;

said outer sonic transmitting means comprises a plurality of sonic transmitters equally circumferentially spaced from one another around the cylindrical outer surface of the sub;

said pair of outer sonic receiving means comprises a plurality of pairs of sonic receivers, the receivers of said pairs at each end of the sub being equally circumferentially spaced from one another around the cylindrical outer surface of the sub and each receiver being in axial alignment with an associated transmitter and an associated receiver at the other end of the sub; and

said second time difference measuring means includes means for averaging the time differences between reception of the outer sonic signals by each of the plurality of pairs of sonic receivers to produce said second time difference.

21. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated as set forth in claim 19 which also includes;

means for shifting the phase of said accumulation of output flow rate signals; and

means responsive to coincidence of phase between the accumulations of input and output flow rate signals for actuating said comparing means.

22. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated as set forth in claim 19 wherein said first time difference measuring means includes:

a ramp generator being actuated simultaneously with the transmission of the inner sonic signal; and

means for accumulating the value of said generator upon reception of the inner sonic signal by one of said inner sonic receivers and accumulating the value of said generator upon reception of the inner sonic signal by the other of said inner sonic receivers, said first time difference being proportional to the difference in accumulated values.

23. A system for detecting the commencement of blowouts and lost circulation in a borehole in which a drilling fluid is being circulated as set forth in claim 19 wherein said first time difference measuring means includes:

a pair of ramp generators having identical slope, both of said generators being actuated simultaneously with the transmission of the inner sonic signal; and

means for interrupting the operation of one of said generators upon reception of the inner sonic signal by one of said inner sonic receivers and interrupting the operation of the others of said generators upon reception of the inner sonic signal by the other of said inner sonic receivers, said first time difference being proportional to the difference in signal values in each of the two ramp generators after interruption.