Acoustic method of connecting boreholes for multi-lateral completion
First Claim
1. A method for locating signal source position, comprising:
- providing a signal source at a first position;
providing a signal receiver at a second position proximate a wellbore;
transmitting from said signal source an acoustic homing signal;
receiving said homing signal emitted by said signal source at said signal receiver,identifying the position of said signal source based upon the homing signal received at said signal receiver;
extending said wellbore based upon said position of said signal source.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is a device and related method of finding from at least one receiver the location of a source of a transmitted acoustic signal. Both signal source and signal receiver are downhole. The invention uses either or both the triangulation method and the holographic method to determine signal location.
The triangulation technique uses the relationships existing in Pythagorean'"'"'s theorem to find source location. In contrast, the holographic technique uses a known velocity structure to assign propagation velocities to volume cells surrounding the receiver. By variational calculus, a ray path and start time may be assigned to a hypothetical source location for a particular receiver position. This is repeated for each receiver position. Where the hypothetical source locations and start times match for multiple receiver locations, the likely position of a source has been found.
77 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for locating signal source position, comprising:
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providing a signal source at a first position; providing a signal receiver at a second position proximate a wellbore; transmitting from said signal source an acoustic homing signal; receiving said homing signal emitted by said signal source at said signal receiver, identifying the position of said signal source based upon the homing signal received at said signal receiver; extending said wellbore based upon said position of said signal source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A device for locating a subterranean source from a subterranean receiver comprising:
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at least one receiver for receiving an acoustic signal; a filter associated with said receiver to filter said acoustic signal; and
,a processor, said processor finding source position from said signal by calculating the ray trace and travel time from at least one hypothetical source position to said at least one receiver. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for locating signal source position, comprising:
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providing a signal source at a first position; providing a signal receiver at a second position; transmitting from said signal source homing signal; receiving said homing signal emitted by said signal source at said signal receiver, identifying the position of said signal source based upon the homing signal received at said signal receiver, including; dividing the area surrounding said signal receiver into one or more three dimensional volumes; assigning a propagation velocity to each volume; selecting a hypothetical source location; deriving a ray trace between said hypothetical source location and said signal receiver; and calculating travel time from said hypothetical source position to said signal receiver based on said propagation velocities and said ray trace.
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20. A method for locating wellbore position, comprising:
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providing a signal source at a first position; providing a signal receiver at a second position; transmitting from said signal source homing signal; receiving said homing signal emitted by said signal source at said signal receiver, identifying the position of said signal source based upon the homing signal received at said signal receiver, including; transforming said homing signal received at said signal receiver into the wave number domain; dividing the area surrounding said signal receiver into one or more three dimensional volumes; assigning a propagation velocity to each volume; selecting a hypothetical source location; deriving a ray trace between said hypothetical source location and said signal receiver; and calculating travel time from said hypothetical source position to said signal receiver based on said propagation velocities and said ray trace.
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21. A device for locating a subterranean source from a subterranean receiver, comprising:
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at least one receiver for receiving an acoustic signal, said receivers being located along a drill string body; a filter associated with said receiver to filter said acoustic signal; and
,a processor, said processor finding source position from said signal.
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Specification