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US 10,156,649 B2Granted
Dual core locking geophone
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsR. Niemar, Wei Hsuan Huang, Yee Siang Teh, YongAn Yan
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Abstract
A dual core geophone includes a dual magnetic core packaged in a housing providing higher sensitivity and a reduction of electric wires in the device. The geophone includes a locking mechanism for the dual magnetic core to protect the device from strong vibrations when the device is not in use. A method for measuring acoustic vibrations in a downhole with a dual core geophone as above includes locking the dual magnetic core when the geophone is not detecting acoustic vibrations.
Claims26
A device, comprising:
- a housing enclosing a core aligned with a sensing axis;
- a first magnet disposed on the core with a polarity aligned with the sensing axis;
- a first coil set disposed around the core and overlapping the first magnet along the sensing axis, the first coil set being mechanically coupled to the housing with a first spring;
- a second magnet disposed on the core and axially offset from the first magnet with a polarity aligned parallel with the polarity of the first magnet;
- and
- a second coil set disposed around the core and overlapping the second magnet along the sensing axis, the second coil set being mechanically coupled to the housing with a second spring, wherein the first coil set and the second coil set are electrically coupled in series, and the core is mechanically coupled to the first coil set through a third spring and mechanically coupled to the second coil set through a fourth spring.
3 more elements
An acoustic sensor comprising:
- a first geophone having a first sensing axis;
- and
- a second geophone having a second sensing axis perpendicular to the first sensing axis, wherein at least the first geophone comprises:
- a housing enclosing a core aligned with a sensing axis;
- a first magnet disposed on the core with a polarity aligned with the sensing axis;
- a first coil set disposed around the core and overlapping the first magnet along the sensing axis, the first coil set being mechanically coupled to the housing with a first spring;
- a second magnet disposed on the core and axially offset from the first magnet with a polarity aligned parallel with the polarity of the first magnet;
- and
- a second coil set disposed around the core and overlapping the second magnet along the sensing axis, the second coil set being mechanically coupled to the housing with a second spring, wherein the first coil set and the second coil set are electrically coupled in series, and the core is mechanically coupled to the first coil set through a third spring and mechanically coupled to the second coil set through a fourth spring.
6 more elements
A method, comprising:
- locking a geophone to prevent internal coil sets from moving relative to a core;
- introducing the geophone into a wellbore;
- releasing a geophone locking mechanism;
- measuring an acoustic signal based on a vibration;
- determining whether the vibration exceeds a threshold;
- and
- if the vibration exceeds the threshold, locking the geophone with the geophone locking mechanism to prevent the internal coil sets from moving relative to the core.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.