System and Method for Determining the Rotational Alignment of Drillstring Elements
AssigneeBaker Hughes Incorporated
InventorAndreas Peter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotational alignment system determines the angular relationship between two or more elements of a drill string using one or more sensors that detect one or more reference objects positioned on the drill string. A control unit determines the rotational or angular offset between two or more elements on the drill string using measurements made by the sensor(s). In one application, rotational offset values are used by a surface logging computer to correlate sensor data provided by a logging tool.
Claims20
An apparatus for determining a relative rotational position of two or more elements of a wellbore tool, comprising:
- (a) at least one sensor sensing a section of the wellbore tool having the two or more elements and generating a responsive signal;
- and
- (b) a processor configured to receive the responsive signal from the at least one sensor and determine the relative rotational position using the responsive signal.
A method for determining a relative rotational position of two or more elements of a wellbore tool, comprising:
- (a) sensing a section of the wellbore tool having the two or more elements with at least one sensor;
- (b) generating a signal in response to the sensed section of the wellbore tool;
- and
- (c) determining the relative rotational position using the responsive signal using a processor.
A system for determining a relative rotational position of two or more elements of a wellbore tool, comprising:
- (a) a rig at a surface location configured to convey the wellbore tool into a wellbore;
- (b) at least one sensor positioned on the rig, the at least one sensor configured to sense a section of the wellbore tool having the two or more elements and generate a responsive signal;
- and
- (c) a processor configured to receive the responsive signal from the at least one sensor and determine the relative rotational position using the responsive signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.