Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
073152580 | Using vibration | 30 |
20090133487 | Downhole Communication Method and System - A system and method is provided for communicating with a device disposed in a wellbore. Signals are sent through the Earth via signal pulses. The pulses are created by a seismic vibrator and processed by a receiver disposed in the wellbore. The receiver is in communication with the device and transfers data, such as command and control signal, to the device. | 05-28-2009 |
20090320584 | ROTARY DRILL BITS AND SYSTEMS FOR INSPECTING ROTARY DRILL BITS - A method for conducting nondestructive internal inspection of a rotary drill bit used for drilling subterranean formations comprises communicating ultrasonic waves into a drill bit and detecting ultrasonic waves that are reflected by at least a portion of the drill bit. In some embodiments, the waves may be directed into the drill bit from within a longitudinal bore thereof. Reflected waves also may be detected from within the bore. The methods may be used to develop threshold acceptance criteria for classifying drill bits as acceptable or unacceptable to prevent catastrophic failures of drill bits during use. Systems and apparatuses are disclosed for conducting nondestructive ultrasonic inspection of a drill bit used for drilling subterranean formations. The systems and apparatuses may comprise an ultrasonic probe configured for insertion within an internal longitudinal bore of a drill bit. Drill bits are disclosed that are configured to facilitate nondestructive ultrasonic inspection thereof. | 12-31-2009 |
20100095760 | SHOCK AND VIBRATION ENVIRONMENTAL RECORDER FOR WELLBORE INSTRUMENTS - A wellbore instrument includes a housing configured to traverse a subsurface wellbore. A shock and vibration sensor disposed in the housing and is mounted on a carrier disposed in the housing. The carrier includes at least two, laterally movable elements each having an outer surface configured to contact an inner surface of the housing. The carrier includes an adjustable wedge disposed between the opposed elements. The wedge is arranged such that longitudinal movement thereof causes lateral separation of the laterally movable elements into frictional engagement with the inner surface of the housing. | 04-22-2010 |
20110061454 | SENSOR HOUSING APPARATUS - A sensor apparatus includes a first elongated housing to at least partially enclose a sensor device and a second elongated housing coupled longitudinally to the first elongated housing. The second elongated housing includes at least one radial port extending from an inner surface to an outer surface of the second elongated housing to allow a first material received through an opening of the second elongated housing to flow through the second elongated housing and out the radial port in the vicinity of the sensor apparatus. | 03-17-2011 |
20110192222 | PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATOR FOR DOWNHOLE APPLICATIONS - A transducer for use with a downhole tool, where the transducer includes concentric piezoelectric elements coupled with a member that extends from the top surface of one element to the bottom surface of another element. The elements expand and contract to vibrate by applying electrical potential to the elements. The element having the member on its bottom surface expands and contracts with applied electrical potential and also is urged upward, by the coupling member, an amount equal to the vertical displacement of the element having the member on its top surface. Thus the element having the member on its bottom surface is vertically displaced by an amount substantially equal to the expansion of the elements. | 08-11-2011 |
20110219867 | Measuring Apparatus with AE Sensor, Installing Method Thereof, and Set of the Measuring Apparatus - Provided is a measuring apparatus with AE sensors, which detects the same AE signals with respect to the same events that damage a geotechnical structure, regardless of ground conditions and formations in the geotechnical structure, thereby collecting reliable AE signals. Also, provided is(are) an installing method of the measuring apparatus with the AE sensor, and a set of the measuring apparatus with the AE sensor. | 09-15-2011 |
20120055243 | Acoustic Transducers Using Quantum Tunneling Composite Active Elements - In one aspect, the disclosure provides an apparatus for use downhole that includes at least one acoustic sensor. In one aspect, the acoustic sensor includes a chamber and an active element comprised of a quantum tunneling composite in the chamber. In another aspect, the acoustic sensor may further include a pair of conductive layers on a pair of sides of the active element. The chamber is filled with an electrically non-conductive fluid. The active element may be placed in the chamber in a manner that causes the active element to be responsive to acoustic waves along a selected direction or in a manner that enables the active element to be non-directional. | 03-08-2012 |
20130000399 | DOWNHOLE SENSORS IMPREGNATED WITH HYDROPHOBIC MATERIAL, TOOLS INCLUDING SAME, AND RELATED METHODS - A downhole tool includes a sensor having a sensitive component, a polymer that at least partially covers the sensitive component, and a hydrophobic material impregnated within the polymer and/or the sensitive component of the sensor. Methods of forming the downhole tool include covering a portion of the sensor with a polymer and impregnating a hydrophobic material within the polymer and/or the sensitive component of the sensor. | 01-03-2013 |
20130167628 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AN ACOUSTIC EVENT ALONG A CHANNEL - The present disclosure is directed at methods, apparatuses, and techniques for detecting an acoustic event along a channel. Different wavelengths of an optical signal are multiplexed along a fiber optic strand extending along the channel. The strand has groups of transducers located along its length, and all of the transducers in any one of the groups reflect a tuned wavelength when not under strain. The wavelength that the transducers reflect changes in response to strain. Optical signal processing equipment receives reflected optical signals from the groups of transducers, and determines, for each of the groups of transducers, differences between wavelengths of the optical signals reflected by the transducers of that group and the tuned wavelength for that group. The differences correspond to the loudness of the event measured by that group of transducers, which can then be graphically represented to a person for analysis. | 07-04-2013 |
20130327139 | ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER WITH IMPEDANCE MATCHING LAYER - A device includes a piezoelectric transducer. The transducer has N independent transducer regions. N is an integer. Each of the N independent transducer regions has a thickness. Each of the N independent transducer regions has an acoustic impedance AIT. Each of the N independent transducer regions is independently excitable to oscillate in the thickness mode when electrically excited by a potential difference applied across the thickness. The device further includes a first impedance matching layer having an acoustic impedance AI1 and AIT and a borehole fluid acoustic impedance AIBF. The first impedance matching layer is situated such that an acoustic signal emitted by the piezoelectric transducer will pass through the second impedance matching layer. The device further includes a second impedance matching layer having an acoustic impedance AI2 between AI1 and AIBF. The second impedance matching layer is situated in the device such that an acoustic signal emitted by the transducer will pass through the second impedance matching layer after it passes through the first impedance matching layer. | 12-12-2013 |
20140123748 | Borehole Microseismic Systems and Methods - Devices and methods for borehole seismic investigation. The devices can include a first sensor for acquiring data relating to a microseismic event, a second sensor for detecting the start of a microseismic event and a command module for activating the first sensor to transmit data when the second sensor detects the start of the microseismic event. The methods can include activating a first sensor to transmit data relating to a microseismic event when a second sensor detects the start of the microseismic event. The method can also include deactivating the first sensor, or stopping data transmission substantially when the microseismic event ends. | 05-08-2014 |
20140202242 | DOWNHOLE TOOL FOR DETERMINING LATERALS - The present invention relates to a downhole tool ( | 07-24-2014 |
20140208843 | Determining Perforation Orientation - A method and apparatus for determining the relative orientation of objects downwell, and especially to determining perforator orientation, involves varying the orientation of an object, such as a perforator gun ( | 07-31-2014 |
20140260591 | Protection of Electronic Devices Used with Perforating Guns - In an embodiment, a sensing subassembly for use with a downhole tool comprises a housing, a cavity extending into the housing, a sensor disposed at least partially within the cavity, a shock mitigating member disposed between at least one end of the sensor and the housing, and at least one seal member disposed between the sensor and the housing. At least a portion of the sensor is in fluid communication with an exterior of the housing, and the shock mitigating member is configured to attenuate at least a portion of a shock wave between the housing and the sensor. | 09-18-2014 |
20140290352 | Protection of Electronic Devices Used with Perforating Guns - A sensing subassembly for use with a downhole tool comprises a housing, a cavity disposed within the housing, at least one electronic component disposed within the cavity, and at least one isolating member disposed within the cavity. The at least one isolating member is configured to attenuate at least a portion of frequency components of a mechanical wave above a threshold and transmit at least a portion of frequency components below the threshold to the at least one electronic device. | 10-02-2014 |
20140352422 | Sensor pod housing assembly and apparatus - A sensor pod housing assembly for placement within a borehole includes a housing, a selectively operable first hydraulic actuator supported by the housing and adapted to act in a first direction and a selectively operable second hydraulic actuator supported by the housing and adapted to act in a second direction which is substantially parallel to and opposite the first direction. The sensor pod housing assembly further includes a sensor pod adapted to contact a wall of the borehole when deployed to substantially immobilize the sensor pod relative to the borehole. A first substantially rigid link pivotally connects the first hydraulic actuator and the sensor pod, and a second substantially rigid link pivotally connects the second hydraulic actuator and the sensor pod. | 12-04-2014 |
20140373619 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING DEFORMATION OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIALS - A method for measuring the deformation of elastomeric materials using acoustic signals involves obtaining a sample, positioning the sample in a sealable chamber, sealing the chamber, and setting a temperature and pressure inside the chamber. A test fluid may be introduced to the chamber. An acoustic signal is used to measure a characteristic of the sample, such as a dimension or a modulus. Repeated measurements may be made overtime to monitor changes in the sample in response to temperature and pressure. The acoustic signal may be generated by an acoustic transducer including a backing component including a fluorine-containing polymer in which metal particles are incorporated. The sample may be a non-metallic material. Conditions inside the chamber may be set to simulate a wellbore environment. | 12-25-2014 |
20150075275 | ACOUSTIC SENSING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ACOUSTICALLY MONITORING A TOOL - An acoustic sensing system includes, an optical fiber, a plurality of pairs of reflectors distributed along the optical fiber at specific areas where acoustic energy data is sought, a source of coherent radiation in operable communication with the optical fiber, and a detector in operable communication with the optical fiber configured to detect a different wavelength of coherent radiation reflected from each of the plurality of pairs of reflectors including a portion of the coherent radiation reflected from the reflector nearer the detector after having reflected from the reflector further from the detector that define one of the pairs of reflectors. | 03-19-2015 |
20150075276 | FIBER OPTIC VIBRATION MONITORING - An apparatus for monitoring vibration of a downhole component includes an optical fiber sensor including at least one optical fiber operably connected to an interrogation unit. The at least one optical fiber has a resonant segment that is fixedly attached to the component via attachment points on the component, the resonant segment between the attachment points being separate from the component and having a resonant frequency based at least on the length of the resonant segment. | 03-19-2015 |
20150135819 | MICROSEISMIC MONITORING WITH FIBER-OPTIC NOISE MAPPING - The combination of one or more 3-component microseismic sensors deployed into a wellbore adjacent a microseismic event and a linear array of distributed fiber optic acoustic sensors deployed uphole thereof provides two sets of data for establishing noise-free signals for locating the microseismic event in the formation about the wellbore. The distributed fiber optic signals monitor noise transmitted along coiled tubing used to pump a completion operation or as a result of the fluid flowing through the casing or coiled tubing, or along wireline used to deploy the microseismic sensors. The noise is mapped and extrapolated for estimating noise at the 3-component sensors. The estimated noise is removed from the 3-component sensor data for producing clean signals representing the location of the microseismic events. | 05-21-2015 |
20150143888 | Wide Bandwidth Borehole Dipole Source - A dipole source for borehole acoustic logging is provided, including a cylindrical shell, a center beam coupled to the cylindrical shell and a movable projector inside the cylindrical shell to impact the center beam. The dipole source includes a cavity acoustically insulating the interior of the cylindrical shell from the exterior of the cylindrical shell. An acoustic logging tool for making measurements of a substrate surrounding a borehole with a body insertable in the borehole is also provided. The body includes an acoustic detector and a dipole source as above, along the axial length. The acoustic logging tool may include a control unit to process data collected from the acoustic detector and obtain information about the substrate surrounding the borehole. According to embodiments disclosed herein, a method for operating a dipole source and an acoustic logging tool as above is provided. | 05-28-2015 |
20150346370 | METHOD OF CALIBRATION FOR DOWNHOLE FIBER OPTIC DISTRIBUTED ACOUSTIC SENSING - A method of operating a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system and a DAS system are described. The method includes disposing the DAS system to measure acoustic signals in a borehole, positioning a vibration tool at a specified depth in the borehole, and obtaining two or more DAS signals, obtaining at least one of the two or more DAS signals while the vibration tool is activated at a respective specified frequency and a respective specified amplitude. The method also includes calibrating the DAS system based on the two or more DAS signals, and the specified depth, the respective specified frequency, and the respective specified amplitude. | 12-03-2015 |
20160003033 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING THE RETRIEVAL OF A WELL TOOL - A system to monitor the retrieval of a well tool from a wellbore comprises a deployment member coupled to the well tool to retrievably insert the well tool in the wellbore. At least one first identification transducer is coupled to a top end of the well tool to transmit an identification signal during retrieval of the well tool. At least one second identification transducer is located at at least one axial location along a surface pressure control assembly to detect the identification signal. A controller is in data communication with the at least one second identification transducer to determine the position of the well tool relative to the pressure control assembly, and to output at least one command related to the position of the well tool relative to the pressure control assembly. | 01-07-2016 |
20160047227 | Device for High-Temperature Applications - A device for high-temperature applications is provided. The device includes a base member and at least one electrically conducting layer. The electrically conducting layer is made of polycrystalline of a first metal doped with at least one second metal different from the first metal and formed on or above the base member as electrodes for bulk acoustic vibration and/or resonance or as at least one temperature-sensitive element for sensing temperature. | 02-18-2016 |
20160102547 | RESONATOR ASSEMBLY LIMITING MAGNETIC PARTICLE ACCUMULATION FROM WELL FLUIDS - Systems, devices and methods for determining a parameter of interest of a well fluid relating to a well intersecting a subterranean formation using resonant vibration. The apparatus may include a resonator assembly. The resonator assembly may comprise a plurality of resonant tines structurally coupled to behave as a single resonator. At least one resonant tine of the plurality of resonant tines may include a soft magnetic tine head comprising soft magnetic material uncontained by a supporting surface. Each corresponding tine of the plurality of resonant tines may be formed by at least the resonant tine head and a tine shaft. Each corresponding tine may have a cross section perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the corresponding tine, the cross section including a tine head, where the cross section has a substantially continuous material composition. Each tine shaft may terminate at the tine head. | 04-14-2016 |
20160109603 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARACTERIZING ELASTIC ANISOTROPY FOR TRANSVERSELY ISOTROPIC UNCONVENTIONAL SHALE - A method for estimating elastic properties of a subsurface material having a bedding plane includes disposing a single sample of the subsurface material in a core holder, the core holder having (i) a first acoustic transducer set having a first acoustic source and a first acoustic receiver and (ii) a second acoustic transducer set having a second acoustic source and a second acoustic receiver. The method also includes performing at least five acoustic wave velocity measurements on the single sample that include compressional acoustic wave velocities and shear wave acoustic velocities with a certain direction of shear acoustic wave polarization using the first set of acoustic transducers and the second set of acoustic transducers, estimating, with a controller, the elastic properties using the at least five acoustic wave velocity measurements, and providing an output signal having the elastic properties to an output signal receiving device. | 04-21-2016 |
20160154142 | ACOUSTIC SENSOR METADATA DUBBING CHANNEL | 06-02-2016 |
20160170081 | DISTRIBUTED ACOUSTIC SENSING SYSTEM WITH VARIABLE SPATIAL RESOLUTION | 06-16-2016 |
20160202387 | BEHIND PIPE EVALUATION TECHNIQUES FOR WELL ABANDONMENT AND COMPLEX ANNULAR ENVIRONMENTS | 07-14-2016 |
20190146107 | ARRAYED DISTRIBUTED ACOUSTIC SENSING USING SINGLE-PHOTON DETECTORS | 05-16-2019 |