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US 2022/0018241 A1Published application
Analysis of drilling slurry solids by image processing
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsMichael Affleck, Arturo Magana Mora, Chinthaka Pasan Gooneratne, William Contreras Otalvora, Pratyush Singh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Analysis of drilling slurry solids by image processing includes receiving images of a solid slurry including a mixture of wellbore drilling mud and solid objects found in the wellbore while drilling the wellbore through a subterranean zone. The solid objects include drill cuttings and non-drilled solids. By implementing image processing techniques on the images, the solids in the solid slurry are classified a drill cutting or as a non-drilled solid.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a digital imaging device mounted to a non-vibrating member of a shale shaker of a wellbore drilling assembly, the shale shaker positioned at a surface of the Earth adjacent a wellbore and configured to receive a solid slurry comprising a mixture of wellbore drilling mud and solid objects found in the wellbore while drilling the wellbore through a subterranean zone, the solid objects comprising drill cuttings and non-drilled solids, the digital imaging device oriented to face a portion of the shale shaker that receives the solid slurry, the digital imaging device configured to capture digital images of the solid objects while the solid slurry is received by the shale shaker;
- and
- a computer system operatively coupled to the digital imaging device, the computer system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- a computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- receiving the images captured by the digital imaging device;
- and
- by implementing image processing techniques on the images, classifying a first solid object captured in a first image as a drill cutting and a second solid object captured in a second image as a non-drilled solid.
6 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving, by one or more processors, images captured by a digital imaging device mounted to a non-vibrating member of a shale shaker of a wellbore drilling assembly, the shale shaker positioned at a surface of the Earth adjacent a wellbore and configured to receive a solid slurry comprising a mixture of wellbore drilling mud and solid objects found in the wellbore while drilling the wellbore through a subterranean zone, the solid objects comprising drill cuttings and non-drilled solids, the digital imaging device oriented to face a portion of the shale shaker that receives the solid slurry, the digital imaging device configured to capture digital images of the solid objects while the solid slurry is received by the shale shaker;
- and
- by implementing image processing techniques on the images:
- classifying, by the one or more processors, a first solid object captured in a first image as a drill cutting, and
- classifying, by the one or more processors, a second solid object captured in a second image as a non-drilled solid.
2 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- receiving images captured by a digital imaging device mounted to a non-vibrating member of a shale shaker of a wellbore drilling assembly, the shale shaker positioned at a surface of the Earth adjacent a wellbore and configured to receive a solid slurry comprising a mixture of wellbore drilling mud and solid objects found in the wellbore while drilling the wellbore through a subterranean zone, the solid objects comprising drill cuttings and non-drilled solids, the digital imaging device oriented to face a portion of the shale shaker that receives the solid slurry, the digital imaging device configured to capture digital images of the solid objects while the solid slurry is received by the shale shaker;
- and
- by implementing image processing techniques on the images:
- classifying a first solid object captured in a first image as a drill cutting, and
- classifying a second solid object captured in a second image as a non-drilled solid.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.