Cuttings imaging for determining geological properties
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorSimone Di Santo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Digital image processing a digital image of sample drill cuttings retrieved from a geological formation and related methods include identifying individual zones in the image that depict at least a predetermined minimum heterogeneity of a first physical property, extracting particles in each identified zone that depict a second physical property within a predetermined quantitative range, and measuring a third physical property of each extracted particle. The first physical property may be texture, size, color, or spectral response within the zone. The second physical property may be brightness, color, contrast, hue, saturation, or wavelet energy. The third physical property may be size or color.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- processing a digital image of a sample plurality of drill cuttings retrieved from a geological formation, wherein the digital image processing comprises:
- segmenting the digital image based on detected boundaries between each drill cutting of the sample plurality of drill cuttings to generate a plurality of segments, wherein the detected boundaries follow contours of each drill cutting of the sample plurality of drill cuttings;
- classifying each segment of the plurality of segments as one classification of a plurality of classifications based on each segment depicting at least a predetermined minimum heterogeneity of a first physical property;
- identifying individual zones in the digital image, wherein each of the individual zones comprises one or more segments of the plurality of segments of a same classification of the plurality of classifications;
- in each of the individual zones, extracting particles that depict a second physical property within a predetermined quantitative range;
- and
- measuring a third physical property of each extracted particle.
An apparatus comprising:
- a processing system comprising a processor and a memory storing an executable computer program code that, when executed by the processor, processes a digital image of a sample plurality of drill cuttings retrieved from a geological formation, wherein the digital image processing comprises:
- segmenting the digital image based on detected boundaries between each drill cutting of the sample plurality of drill cuttings to generate a plurality of segments, wherein the detected boundaries follow contours of each drill cutting of the sample plurality of drill cuttings;
- classifying each segment of the plurality of segments as one classification of a plurality of classifications based on each segment depicting at least a predetermined minimum heterogeneity of a first physical property;
- identifying individual zones in the digital image, wherein each of the individual zones comprise one or more segments of the plurality of segments of a same classification of the plurality of classifications;
- in each of the individual zones, extracting particles that depict a second physical property within a predetermined quantitative range;
- and
- measuring a third physical property of each extracted particle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.