Monitoring system for well casing

• US 9,574,434 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2015
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shell USA Incorporated (Shell Plc)
• Original Assignee: Shell Oil Company (Shell Plc)
• Inventors: Albrecht, Michele Scott, Pearce, Jeremiah Glen, Rambow, Frederick Henry Kreisler, Stewart, David Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Fitzgerald, John
• Application Number:
  US14/617,720
• Publication Number:
  US 20150176391A1
• Time in Patent Office: 743 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/007 Measuring stresses in a pipe string or casing for locating blocked portions of pipes E21B47/09
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/01 Devices for supporting measuring instruments on drill bits, pipes, rods or wirelines; Protecting measuring instruments in boreholes against heat, shock, pressure or the like

Abstract

A system for use in a wellbore, comprises a length of casing, a structure that is configured to deform with deformation of the casing, said structure being affixed to the length of casing at substantially the same radial position along the length of casing, and a sensing device that is configured to measure deformation of the structure, said device comprising a plurality of sensors that are distributed with respect to at least one of the length of said structure and the periphery of said structure.

Claims

1. A system for use in a well in a formation, comprising:

a length of casing configured to reinforce a wall of the well;

a structure that is configured to deform with deformation of the casing, said structure being affixed to the length of casing at substantially the same radial position along the length of casing, whereby the structure and the casing have substantially parallel longitudinal axes; and

a sensing device that is configured to measure deformation of the structure, said device comprising a string of sensors wrapped around the structure such that the sensors are distributed along both the length of said structure and the perimeter of said structure.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the structure is in contact with the casing.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the structure is attached to the casing.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein deformation of the casing comprises axial strain and the structure is configured such that the axial strain of the structure is a function of the axial strain of the casing.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the structure is configured such that the radius of curvature of the structure is a function of the radius of curvature of the casing.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the structure is arranged such that at least a longitudinal half of the casing is free of the structure such that a perforating operation in said longitudinal half would not damage such structure.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the structure includes at least one groove and the at least one string of sensors is at least partially recessed in the at least one groove of the structure.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the string is substantially helically wrapped around the structure.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the casing supports the wall of the well.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors includes an optical fiber that includes periodically written wavelength reflectors.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the periodically written wavelength reflectors are reflective gratings.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the wavelength reflectors are fiber Bragg gratings.

13. A method of detecting deformation of a casing, comprising deploying the system of claim 1 a well in a formation, and processing measurements representing deformation of the structure, wherein the structure is configured to deform along with deformation of the casing such that at least a second parameter that represents the deformation of the structure is a function of at least a first parameter that represents the deformation of the casing.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the processing step comprises determining a value of the first parameter that represents the deformation of the casing.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the first parameter and the second parameter each comprise one of fiber strain, bending angle, axial strain, and radius of curvature.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising obtaining strain measurements at positions that are distributed with respect to the length and perimeter of the structure.