Logging while raising a drill string
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorEarly B. Denison
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In logging a well substantially as soon as it is drilled, at least one measuring transducer and a transducer-moving system are mounted within a lower portion of a segmented electrically-conductive drill string. At least one downhole transducer is moved in response to an electrical command and is held near or against the borehole wall while the drill string is raised and a recording is made of electrical signals indicative of both the downhole transducer measurements and the distance the drill string is raised.
Claims10
A process for drilling and logging a downwardly extending well borehole comprising:
- drilling the borehole with a signal transmissive drill string which contains a magnitude-responsive transducer which, during the drilling, is kept at least substantially within the external confines of the drill string;
- movably-mounting said transducer within a lower portion of the drill string and mechanically connecting it to a motion-imparting means which is capable of being actuated by a command signal transmitted along the drill string to urge the transducer toward or away from an extended position at least substantially in contact with the wall of a borehole drilled by the drill string or a retracted position at least substantially within the exterior confines of the drill string;
- stopping the drill string and transmitting along it a command signal that initiates the urging of the magnitude-responsive transducer toward its extended position;
- raising the drill string while transmitting along it a signal indicative of the magnitude at which a subterranean physical or chemical property is encountered by the magnitude-responsive transducer while it is in contact with, or in close proximity to, the borehole wall;
- operating a movement-responsive transducer to provide a signal indicative of the distance by which the drill string is raised;
- providing a record of the variation with depth in said subterranean property;
- and,
- stopping the drill string and transmitting along it a command signal that initiates the urging of the magnitude-responsive transducer toward its retracted position.
A well logging instrument-containing drill collar section which is capable of being incorporated into a signal-transmissive drill string containing a plurality of drill pipe and collar sections, comprising:
- a drill collar section which contains an internal fluid passageway and at least one groove extending longitudinally along the exterior of the section;
- within said groove, a movably-mounted magnitude-responsive transducer which is mechanically connected to a motion-imparting means which is capable of being actuated by command signal transmitted along the drill string to urge the transducer toward or away from an extended position at least substantially in contact with the wall of the borehole drilled by the drill string or a retracted position at least substantially within the external confines of the drill string;
- within said drill collar section, a signal-transmissive means for transmitting to the motion-imparting means the signals from a means for transmitting along the drill string a command signal for initiating the urging of the magnitude-responsive transducer toward its extended position;
- and
- within said drill collar section, a signal-transmissive means for transmitting along the drill string a signal indicative of the magnitude of a subterranean property encountered by the magnitude-responsive transducer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.