Use of acoustic emission technology in oilfield tubular make ups

A power tong assembly for making up connections of tubulars comprising:

• a backup tong operable to extend about and fixedly clamp a first tubular;
• a power tong spaced from the backup tong, the power tong including a rotary drive system operable to retain and rotate a second tubular relative to the first tubular forming a made up threaded connection;
• and
• a make up monitoring system operatively connected to at least one of the backup tong and the power tong, the make up monitoring system comprising:
• an acoustic emission transducer positioned to capture an acoustic signature associated with forming the made up threaded connection between the first tubular and the second tubular;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the acoustic emission transducer, the controller being operable to receive a signal from the acoustic emission transducer embodying the acoustic signature, the controller being operable to output a signal indicating whether the acoustic signature represents a properly made up threaded connection of the first tubular and the second tubular or whether the acoustic signature represents an improperly made up threaded connection of the first tubular and the second tubular.

A resource exploration system comprising:

• a downhole portion including a downhole string having one or more tubulars extending into a formation;
• and
• an uphole portion including a support structure and a power tong assembly supported relative to the support structure, the power tong assembly comprising:
• a backup tong operable to extend about and fixedly clamp an uppermost one of the one or more tubulars;
• a power tong spaced from the backup tong, the power tong including a rotary drive system operable to retain and rotate a non-deployed tubular relative to the uppermost one of the one or more tubulars;
• and
• a make up monitoring system operatively connected to at least one of the backup tong and the power tong, the make up monitoring system comprising:
• an acoustic emission transducer operatively connected to one of the backup tong and the power tong, the acoustic emission transducer operable to capture an acoustic signature associated with joining the non-deployed tubular and the uppermost one of the one or more tubulars to form a threaded connection;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the acoustic emission transducer, the controller being operable to receive a signal from the acoustic emission transducer embodying the acoustic signature, the controller being operable to output a signal indicating whether the acoustic signature represents a properly made up threaded connection of the non-deployed tubular and the uppermost one of the one or more tubulars or whether the acoustic signature represents an improperly made up threaded connection of the non-deployed tubular and the uppermost one of the one or more tubulars.

A method of monitoring make up between two members comprising:

• aligning a first member having a thread with a second member having a mating thread;
• clamping the first member;
• gripping the second member;
• rotating the second member relative to the first member;
• coupling the thread with the mating thread through a threading portion to a shouldering point to form a threaded connection;
• capturing an acoustic signature during at least one of the threading portion and the shouldering point;
• determining whether the acoustic signature represents a first type indicating a properly made up connection of the second member and the first member or whether the acoustic signature represents a second type indicating an improperly made up connection of the second member and the first member;
• and
• providing an output signal indicating whether the acoustic signature is one of the first type and the second type.