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US 10,472,956 B2Granted
Mud pulse telemetry
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsBipin K. Pillai, Laban M. Marsh, James H. Dudley, Ronald L. Spross
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Abstract
Mud pulse telemetry. The various embodiments are directed to methods and systems of encoding data in a mud pulse telemetry system, where at least a portion of the data is encoded the time between pressure transitions. Moreover, the various embodiments are directed to detection methods and systems that detect the pressure transitions at the surface.
Claims8
A telemetry method comprising:
- inducing a pressure pulse in drilling fluid within a drill string, the pressure pulse has a pulse time duration from a predefined set of possible pulse time durations;
- reading, at a first location displaced from a reflective device, pressure variations caused by passage of the pressure pulse, the reading creates a first pressure signal;
- reading, at a second location displaced from the reflective device, pressure variations caused by passage of the pressure pulse, the reading at the second location creates a second pressure signal;
- determining the pulse duration of the pressure pulse by:
- correlating the first pressure signal to a first test pressure signal, the first test pressure signal represents an expected waveform for a first pulse duration of the predefined set of possible pulse time durations;
- correlating the second pressure signal to a second test pressure signal, the second test pressure signal represents an expected waveform for a second pulse duration of the predefined set of possible pulse time durations;
- and
- establishing the pulse time duration of the pressure pulse based on the correlating;
- and
- using the pulse time duration of the pressure pulse to perform a telemetry operation.
7 more elements
A telemetry system comprising:
- a down hole device that creates a pressure pulse in drilling fluid within a drill string, the pressure pulse has a pulse length selected from a predefined set of pulse lengths that comprises a first pulse length and a second pulse length longer than the first pulse length, and the pulse length selected based on the data encoded in the pressure pulse;
- a first transducer that reads pressure variations in the drilling fluid and thereby creates a first pressure signal, the first transducer at a first location that is substantially half the first pulse length from a reflective device;
- a second transducer that reads pressure variations in the drilling fluid to create a second pressure signal, the second transducer at a second location that is substantially half the second pulse length from a reflective device;
- a computer system coupled to the first and second transducers, the computer system has a processor and a memory device coupled to the processor, and the memory device stores a program that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
- read the first and second pressure signals;
- correlate the first pressure signal to a first test pressure signal, the first test pressure signal represents an expected waveform at the first location if the pressure pulse has the first pulse length;
- correlate the second pressure signal to a second test pressure signal, the second test pressure signal represents an expected waveform at the second location if the pressure pulse has the second pulse length;
- and
- determine the pulse length based on the correlating of the first and second pressure signals to the respective first and second test pressure signals.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.