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US 6,686,589 B2Granted
Fluid density monitor
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorJohn Barry Fitzgerald
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of monitoring the density of a subterranean fluid comprises the steps of: using a subterranean radiation detector to obtain measurements over a plurality of time intervals of the amount of natural background radiation traversing said fluid, and calculating the relative density of said fluid at each of said time intervals from said measurements.
Claims28
A method of monitoring the density of a subterranean fluid, comprising the steps of:
- (a) using a subterranean radiation detector to obtain measurements over a plurality of time intervals of the amount of radiation from natural background radioactivity in the formation traversing said fluid, and
- (b) calculating the relative density of said fluid at each of said time intervals from said measurements.
A method of locating the position of a subterranean fluid front, comprising the steps of:
- (a) using a plurality of spaced subterranean radiation detectors to obtain respective measurements of the amount of radiation from natural background radioactivity in the formation traversing said fluid during a time interval,
- (b) calculating a relative density of said fluid from each of said measurements, and
- (c) correlating the position of a change in the relative density of said fluid with the position of said fluid front.
An apparatus for monitoring the density of a subterranean fluid, comprising:
- a radiation detector;
- and
- a signal processor, said radiation detector being adapted to obtain measurements over a plurality of time intervals of the amount of radiation from natural background radioactivity in the formation traversing said fluid, and being further adapted to send corresponding measurement signals to said signal processor, and said signal processor being adapted to receive said measurement signals and configured to calculate the relative density of said fluid at each of said time intervals from said measurement signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.