Patent Shines Light on Drill Activities
Posted: 02 May 2005
Shiv Dasgupta and Aldo Vesnaver of Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Technology were granted U.S. Patent No. 6,868,037 in March for their invention "Use of Drill Bit Energy for Tomographic Modeling of Near Surface Layers," also known as Seismic While Drilling, or SWD.
Major challenges in the Arabian Peninsula as in other arid regions are the shallow underground caverns that can cause drilling hazards and seismic imaging problems. "Seeing" these near-surface cavities is impossible when the imaging is done with a conventional seismic source.
It's akin to a miner relying on one lamp to illuminate the way in darkness. If the miner were to shine multiple lamps on the target, visibility would improve significantly. Instead of illuminating with light, this new invention uses multi-component seismic waves generated by a drill bit, not unlike a medical ultrasound.
Multiple elastic waves that are generated by the grinding and shattering action of the drill bit as it penetrates the rock layers are applied to produce an image of the rock layers below the drill bit. That is the basic idea behind the invention.
Saudi Aramco will benefit from this technology because it mitigates the drilling hazards in cavernous trouble spots (called karsts), which are common in the Arabian Peninsula. The system also enhances precision in positioning the bit at great depths, which is becoming more common in the exploration and production of oil and gas.
The SWD technique works in real-time, alerting drilling engineers about the rock conditions they will encounter immediately ahead of the drill bit. The engineers then can take corrective actions such as adjusting the well casing plan or changing the drill path. The technology's potential in real drilling conditions has been tested in the field.
Dasgupta is a geophysical consultant and Vesnaver a geophysical specialist in the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Technology Department.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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