Wireless well fluid extraction monitoring system

• US 9,080,438 B1
• Filed: 04/02/2012
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James N. McCoy
• Original Assignee: James N. McCoy
• Inventors: McCoy, James N., Becker, Dieter J., Hathiram, Daraius K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lau, Kevin
• Application Number:
  US13/437,125
• Time in Patent Office: 1,198 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/008 Monitoring of down-hole pump systems, e.g. for the detection of "pumped-off" conditions
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/009 Monitoring of walking-beam pump systems
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/13 by electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/18 through the well fluid , e.g. mud pressure pulse telemetry

Abstract

A system for wirelessly monitoring a well fluid extraction process, which operates in conjunction with a host computer. The system includes a wireless base that has a base radio and a communication port to interface with the host computer. The system also has a first remote with a first remote radio that communicates with the base radio using a radio protocol. The first remote also has a first sensor interface that can receive a first sensor signal. The first remote digitally samples the first sensor signal at a predetermined sampling rate, and then communicates first sampled data to the wireless base through the radio protocol. A host software application, which executes on the host computer, receives the first sampled data from the wireless base communication port.

Claims

1. A wireless dynamometer system for monitoring a sucker rod driven pump operating in a well fluid extraction process, which operates in conjunction with a computer, the system comprising:

a host software application running on the computer;

a wireless base having a base radio transceiver coupled to a communication port for interface to the computer;

a wireless remote having a housing with a clamp for clamping onto the sucker rod and moving together therewith, said clamp including a tension adjustment actuator to vary pretension of said clamp about the sucker rod;

an accelerometer fixed to said housing, which outputs acceleration signals representative of instant acceleration rates of the sucker rod, coupled to a first converter that digitally samples said acceleration signals at a first sampling rate to generate a stream of acceleration data;

a strain gauge disposed about said clamp, which outputs load signals indicative of instant loads on the sucker rod in accordance with a calibration coefficient, coupled to a second converter that digitally samples said load signals at a second sampling rate to generate a stream of load data, and wherein said strain gauge includes a pretension circuit that outputs a calibration signal indicating said clamp pretension is within an operating range;

a remote radio transceiver coupled to said first convertor and said second convertor, which communicates with said base radio transceiver in accordance with a radio protocol to communicate host commands from said host software application to said wireless remote and remote commands from said wireless remote to said host software application, and to transfer said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data to said host software application, and wherein

said pretension circuit is coupled to communicate said calibration signal to said host software application via said radio protocol, and wherein said host software application transmits a synchronization pulse to said wireless remote to initiate and synchronize said first sampling rate and said second sampling rate, and wherein

said host software application processes said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data to generate, and displays on the computer, a real time surface dynagraph, and calculates and displays a real time down-hole pump dynagraph.

2. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said wireless remote includes an actuator coupled to said pretension circuit, wherein actuation of said actuator couples said calibration signal to said remote radio to transmit said calibration signal to said host software application, for display on the computer, thereby enabling visual confirmation said strain gauge pretension.

3. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said base radio transceiver and said remote radio transceiver are frequency agile between a configuration radio channel and data transfer radio channel, and wherein

said wireless remote operates on said configuration radio channel by default and changes to said data transfer radio channel upon receipt of a channel command from said host software application, through said wireless base radio transceiver.

4. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said host software application adds said unique identification code to a list of remote unique identification codes, thereby making said host software application aware of said wireless remote.

5. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said remote wireless transceiver periodically transmits an identity beacon that contains a unique identification code for said wireless remote, and wherein

said base transceiver couples said unique identification code to said host software application, thereby making said host software application aware of the availability of said wireless remote, and wherein

said wireless remote is subsequently addressed according to said unique identification code by said host software application.

6. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said first sampling rate and said second sampling rate are programmable by said host software application, and wherein

said host software application transmits a sampling rate command to said wireless remote to program said first sampling rate and said second sampling rate.

7. The system of claim 1, and wherein

said synchronization pulse is referenced to a hardware timing circuit in said wireless base, thereby eliminating timing jitter and clock drift caused by software latency or clock instability.

8. The system of claim 1, and further comprising:

a second wireless remote having a second remote radio transceiver that communicates with said base radio transceiver using said radio protocol, and having a sensor interface to receive a stream of sensor signals, and wherein said second wireless remote digitally samples said stream of sensor signals and communicates second sampled data to said host software application through said wireless base.

9. The system of claim 1, and wherein:

said host software application conducts further analysis of said sampled acceleration data and said sampled load data to generate a graphical animation of a down hole portion of the sucker rod driven pump.

10. The system of claim 1, and wherein;

said wireless remote includes at least a first actuator coupled to said remote radio transceiver, and wherein

actuation of said actuator causes said wireless remote to transmit an actuation command to said wireless base within said remote portion of said timing frames.

11. The system of claim 10, and wherein;

said actuation command is coupled from said wireless base to said host software application and causes said host software application to send a begin acquisition host command to said wireless remote to begin acquisition and processing of said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data sensor data.

12. The system of claim 1, and wherein

said radio protocol establishes timing frames having a data portion for the transmission of said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data, and a base portion for the transmission of host commands from said wireless base to said wireless remote, and a remote portion for the communication of remote commands from said wireless remote to said wireless base.

13. The system of claim 12, and wherein

said host software application divides said data portion of said timing frames into plural remote data slots, and assigns a first remote data slot to said wireless remote for the transmission of said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data, and reserves an additional portion of said data portion for additional wireless remotes.

14. The system of claim 12, and wherein;

said host commands include an acquisition command for said wireless remote to begin, and a cease acquisition command for said first remote to terminate, said digital sampling and communication of said stream of acceleration data and said stream of load data.

15. The system of claim 12, and wherein;

said wireless remote includes a visual indicator coupled to said remote radio transceiver, and wherein

said wireless remote is responsive to receipt of a base command received in said base portion of said timing frames to activate said visual indicator, and wherein

said base command originates in said host software application.

16. The system of claim 12, and wherein;

said host commands include a sampling rate command, which is sent to said wireless remote and defines said first predetermined sampling rate and said second predetermined sampling rate.

17. The system of claim 12, and wherein:

said first predetermined sampling rate and said second predetermined sampling rate are independently programmable by said host software application, and are communicated to said wireless remote through said wireless base using said base portion of said timing frames.

18. The system of claim 8, and wherein the wireless dynamometer system is further adapted to take acoustic echo readings through a well bore coupling in a well bore of the well fluid extraction process, the system further comprising:

an acoustic gun assembly having a gas pressure reservoir gated with a solenoid valve to selectively release a shock wave of gas pressure to the well bore interface port;

a solenoid drive circuit coupled to open said solenoid valve in response to a fire command;

a microphone acoustically coupled to the well bore interface port to receive echo signals resulting from said shock wave;

a microphone convertor coupled to output a digital microphone signal;

a gun assembly radio transceiver coupled to said microphone convertor and said solenoid drive circuit, and adapted to communicate with said base radio transceiver according to said radio protocol, and wherein

said host software application communicates said fire command within said base portion of said timing frames to activate said solenoid valve to release said shock wave, and wherein

said gun assembly radio transceiver communicates said digital microphone signal within said data portion of said timing frames, thereby providing echo signals for analysis by said host software application.

19. The system of claim 18, and wherein:

said host software application detects said shock wave of gas pressure within said digital microphone signal to establish a reference time for acoustic echo readings, also within said digital microphone signal.

20. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a pressure transducer coupled to sense well pressure, and coupled to a pressure convertor that produces pressure data, which is communicated to said host computer through said radio protocol.

21. The system of claim 20, and wherein:

said host software application utilizes said digital microphone signal and said pressure data to calculate a pressure gradient of a gas column and liquid column in the well bore.