Method and apparatus for determining the temperature of subterranean wells using fiber optic cable
First Claim
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1. A wellhead spool comprising:
- a connection to a wellhead;
a sealed spool for storing fiber optic cable to be disposed down a wellbore; and
an anchor coupled to the fiber optic cable, wherein the anchor is placed in an opening of the well head, and the fiber optic cable is released from the spool.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatuses to determine the temperature profile of a wellbore using a fiber optic cable and an anchor are disclosed. Furthermore, a pressurized wellhead spool that couples to a standard Christmas tree structure on a well head to facilitate the injection of fiber optic cable into an oil and gas well is disclosed. The wellhead spool is portable and may be connected to fiber optic cable already located at the site, for quick connection to on-site instrumentation. A method of using the apparatuses disclosed to measure wellbore temperature at multiple depths of investigation is also disclosed.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A wellhead spool comprising:
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a connection to a wellhead;
a sealed spool for storing fiber optic cable to be disposed down a wellbore; and
an anchor coupled to the fiber optic cable, wherein the anchor is placed in an opening of the well head, and the fiber optic cable is released from the spool. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
a piston coupled to a wall engagement mechanism; and
a weight.
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14. The wellhead spool of claim 1, wherein the anchor is remotely selectively engageable to a wall of the wellbore.
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15. The wellhead spool of claim 1, wherein the wellhead is a subsea wellhead.
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16. An apparatus to determine the temperature of a wellbore comprising:
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a fiber optic cable to be disposed down the wellbore;
an anchor coupled to the fiber optic cable;
wherein the anchor is selectively engageable to a wall of the wellbore; and
wherein the fiber optic cable is adapted to measure the temperature along the length of the cable. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method comprising:
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mounting a wellhead spool in a sealable housing, the spool providing a fiber optic cable;
coupling the fiber optic cable to an anchor;
engaging the sealable housing to a wellhead of a well;
opening a valve to a wellbore of the well;
deploying the anchor and the fiber optic cable into the well bore; and
coupling the fiber optic cable to a measuring instrument. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
connecting the wellhead spool to a motor; and
operating the motor to wind and unwind the wellhead spool.
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39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:
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returning the fiber optic cable to the wellhead spool; and
removing the wellhead spool from the well head.
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40. The method of claim 32, further comprising dispersing a solvent upon the fiber optic cable.
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41. A method for determining the temperature of a wellbore, the method comprising:
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deploying a fiber optic cable assembly into the wellbore, the fiber optic cable assembly including an anchor and a conduit for transmitting optical energy, the anchor configured to engage and disengage the wellbore to restrict or allow movement of the cable assembly therethrough;
engaging the wellbore with the anchor at a desired depth of investigation;
measuring the temperature along the length of the conduit; and
disengaging the anchor from the wellbore. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method to measure the temperature of a wellbore at multiple depths of investigation, the method comprising:
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attaching an anchor to a fiber optic cable;
the anchor configured to engage and disengage the wellbore to restrict or allow movement of the cable therethrough;
deploying the fiber optic cable down the wellbore;
engaging the wellbore with the anchor at a desired depth of investigation;
pulsing light at a fixed wavelength from the fiber optic cable;
measuring back-scattered wavelengths of the pulsed light;
analyzing the wavelengths to determine a temperature profile at the desired depth of investigation; and
disengaging the anchor from the wellbore.
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Specification