Wireline logging in horizontal wells
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsAhmed Al-Ghamdi, Hisham Al-Daroura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wellbore logging system includes a wireline extending into a wellbore, a sonde including at least one logging instrument, a canopy coupled to the sonde and an actuator operable to move the canopy from a retracted configuration to a radially extended configuration. The canopy includes a central shaft, a plurality of ribs pivotally coupled to the central shaft, and a plurality of flexible panels extending between each of the plurality of ribs to circumscribe the central shaft. A carrier fluid may be pumped against the canopy in the radially extended configuration to advance the sonde along inclined and horizontal portions of a wellbore.
Claims13
A wellbore logging system, comprising:
- a wireline extending from a surface location into a wellbore;
- a sonde coupled the wireline in the wellbore, the sonde including at least one logging instrument for detecting one or more properties of the wellbore or a geologic formation penetrated by the wellbore, as a function of depth;
- and
- a canopy coupled to the sonde, the canopy comprising:
- a central shaft;
- a plurality of ribs pivotally coupled to the central shaft and pivotable between a retracted configuration and a radially extended configuration with respect to the central shaft;
- a plurality of flexible panels constructed of a flexible material and circumferentially spanning between each of the plurality of ribs to circumscribe the central shaft, the flexible panels extendable with the plurality of ribs pivoting to the radially extended configuration to thereby expand the canopy into a convex shape circumscribing the central shaft;
- and
- an actuator operably coupled to the wireline and the plurality of ribs, the actuator responsive to a signal transmitted through the wireline to move the plurality of ribs from the retracted configuration to the radially extended configuration.
A logging tool comprising:
- a sonde including a connector for coupling the sonde to a wireline, the sonde operable to detect one or more properties of a wellbore or a geologic formation penetrated by the wellbore, as a function of depth;
- a central shaft fixedly coupled to the sonde;
- a plurality of ribs pivotally coupled to the central shaft and pivotable between a retracted configuration and a radially extended configuration with respect to the central shaft;
- a plurality of flexible panels constructed of a flexible material and circumferentially spanning between each of the plurality of ribs to circumscribe the central shaft, the flexible panels extendable with the plurality of ribs pivoting to the radially extended configuration to thereby expand a canopy coupled to the sonde into a convex shape circumscribing the central shaft;
- and
- an actuator operably coupled to the plurality of ribs to move the plurality of ribs from the retracted configuration to the radially extended configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.