Wall contact caliper instruments for use in a drill string
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsJames C. Brannigan, Raymond V. Nold, III, John Rasmus, Fernando Garcia-Osuna, Alexander Zazovsky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drill string caliper includes a mandrel configured to be coupled within a drill string. At least one laterally extensible arm is coupled to an exterior of the mandrel. A biasing device is configured to urge the at least one arm into contact with a wall of a wellbore. A sensor is configured to generate an output signal corresponding to a lateral extent of the at least one arm.
Claims19
A mechanical drill string caliper, comprising:
- a mandrel configured to be coupled within a drill string wherein the mandrel is positioned between a first drill pipe and a second drill pipe of the drill string, at least one of the first drill pipe and the second drill pipe being a wired drill pipe;
- at least one laterally extensible arm coupled to an exterior of the mandrel;
- a biasing device configured to urge the at least one arm into contact with a wall of a wellbore;
- and
- a sensor configured to generate an output signal corresponding to a lateral extent of the at least one arm wherein the signal is in communication with the wired drill pipe to communicate the signal to the Earth's surface.
A method for measuring an internal size of a wellbore, comprising:
- moving a drill string through a wellbore drilled through subsurface formations, wherein at least a section of the drill string comprises wired drill pipe having one or more signal repeaters;
- urging at least one contact arm extending laterally from the drill string into contact with a wall of the wellbore;
- translating an amount of lateral extension of the arm into corresponding movement of a sensor to generate a signal corresponding to the amount of lateral extension;
- and
- transmitting power from at least one of the one or more signal repeaters to the sensor or the at least one contact arm.
A system for measuring a an internal size of a wellbore, comprising:
- deploying a drill string having a bottom hole assembly at a bottom end of the drill string into the wellbore, wherein at least a portion of the drill string comprises wired drill pipe communicatively coupled;
- positioning a caliper instrument along the drill string in communication with at least one wired drill pipe and between a first drill pipe and a second drill pipe;
- activating the caliper instrument to measure the internal size of the wellbore;
- and
- transmitting a signal or measurement to the Earth's surface related to the internal size of the wellbore with the drill string remaining in the wellbore.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.