U.S. patent application number 13/666009 was filed with the patent office on 2013-02-28 for fiber deployment assembly and method.
The applicant listed for this patent is Carl Stoesz, Paul S. Zerwekh. Invention is credited to Carl Stoesz, Paul S. Zerwekh.
Application Number | 20130051739 13/666009 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41133373 |
Filed Date | 2013-02-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130051739 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Stoesz; Carl ; et
al. |
February 28, 2013 |
FIBER DEPLOYMENT ASSEMBLY AND METHOD
Abstract
A hydrocarbon recovery tubular system including one or more
axially elongated tubulars arranged to receive a hydrocarbon
bearing fluid therein. One or more helically curved conduits are
positioned radially adjacent a surface of the one or more tubulars.
One or more fibers are disposed in the one or more helically curved
conduits and are immovably positioned at a shortest pathway through
the one or more helically curved conduits.
Inventors: |
Stoesz; Carl; (Houston,
TX) ; Zerwekh; Paul S.; (Shawsville, VA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Stoesz; Carl
Zerwekh; Paul S. |
Houston
Shawsville |
TX
VA |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
41133373 |
Appl. No.: |
13/666009 |
Filed: |
November 1, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12062588 |
Apr 4, 2008 |
8326103 |
|
|
13666009 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
385/100 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 6/02209 20130101;
G02B 6/449 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
385/100 |
International
Class: |
G02B 6/44 20060101
G02B006/44 |
Claims
1. A hydrocarbon recovery tubular system comprising: one or more
axially elongated tubulars arranged to receive a hydrocarbon
bearing fluid therein; one or more helically curved conduits
positioned radially adjacent a surface of the one or more tubulars;
and one or more fibers disposed in the one or more helically curved
conduits and immovably positioned at a shortest pathway through the
one or more helically curved conduits.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more fibers are
optical fibers.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the surface is an outer surface
of the one or more tubulars.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the surface is an inner surface
of the one or more tubulars.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more
fibers is immovably positioned at an inside surface of the one or
more conduits.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the system further includes a
hardenable material disposed in the one or more conduits to affix
the at least one fiber to the inside surface.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the hardenable material is a
material containing epoxy.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the hardenable material is
thinned with a thinner.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the thinner is acetone.
10. The system of claim 6, wherein the hardenable material is
configured as a coating on the inside surface of the one or more
conduits.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the coating defines an open
passageway that is receptive to a communication fluid.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein hardenable material is
configured as a plurality of stacked coatings on the inside surface
of the one or more conduits.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more fibers include
one or more fiber bragg gratings therein.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more tubulars form at
least a portion of a casing of the hydrocarbon recovery tubular
system.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional
application Ser. No. 12/062,588 filed Apr. 4, 2008, published as
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0252463, the contents of which are
incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Real time casing imaging (RTCI) is known in the hydrocarbon
recovery arts and comprises an optic fiber with fiber bragg
gratings (FBG) disposed within a conduit. The conduit is commonly
composed of a metallic material and may be a control line. The
fiber is fixed within the conduit using a hardenable material such
as epoxy to promote the transfer of strain in the conduit to the
fiber, where that strain can be measured. Traditionally, the fiber
is pumped into the conduit with a pumping fluid or with the epoxy
itself. Pumping is done while the conduit is straight to reduce the
pumping pressures necessary to move the fiber to an end of the
conduit opposite the end thereof used for entry of the fiber. The
completed conduit is then bent into a shape conducive to the
imaging task it is meant to discharge. Alternately the fiber can be
installed inside a polymer and encased within tubing during the
tubing manufacturing process. While these systems work well enough
to have been accepted by the art, they are not entirely reliable.
The art would therefore well receive improvements.
SUMMARY
[0003] A hydrocarbon recovery tubular system including one or more
axially elongated tubulars arranged to receive a hydrocarbon
bearing fluid therein; one or more helically curved conduits
positioned radially adjacent a surface of the one or more tubulars;
and one or more fibers disposed in the one or more helically curved
conduits and immovably positioned at a shortest pathway through the
one or more helically curved conduits.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are
numbered alike in the several Figures:
[0005] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a tubular
having a Fiber deployment assembly disposed thereat in accordance
with the disclosure hereof;
[0006] FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of a Fiber deployment
assembly in a helix within a tubular; and
[0007] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional representation of a Fiber
deployment assembly having a plurality of hardenable material
layers therein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0008] Referring to FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that a Fiber
deployment assembly 10 is illustrated as disposed at an inside
surface 12 of a tubular 14 and another Fiber deployment assembly 16
is disposed at an outside surface 18 of the tubular 14. These are
alternative locations for the Fiber deployment assembly or they may
both be used as desired. For purposes of discussion, the cable 10
at the inside surface will be addressed more specifically. Cable 10
comprises a conduit 20 that may be constructed of any material
having properties consistent with the intended use of the Fiber
deployment assembly in a downhole environment. One such material is
metal and thus hydraulic control line can be used. Within the
conduit 20 is illustrated a fiber 22 (one or more could be used).
The fiber selected for the Fiber deployment assembly is to be one
that is sensitive to strain such that strain may be measured
thereon from a remote location. In one embodiment, the fiber will
be a fiber with one or more fiber bragg gratings (FBG). The fiber
22 is to be relatively rigidly retained in place within the conduit
20 by a hardenable material to ensure that the fiber will "see" any
strain that is placed upon the conduit 20 by the environment or
other well equipment.
[0009] In one iteration, the hardenable material is initially
flowable such that it can be pumped into the conduit 20 after
installation of the fiber. While it is also possible to actually
pump the fiber 22 with the hardenable material, it is less
efficient for the overall process due to the volume of material
needed to pump the fiber and the higher cost of the hardenable
material. In the pumping process, a substantial amount of the
hardenable material would be wasted flowing out the other end of
the conduit 20.
[0010] The conduit 20 is caused to have a curvature prior to
installation of the fiber 22, which curvature may be a simple or
complex curve providing that it continues in a general direction
such that a clearly definable shortest path can be observed
therein. In one embodiment, the curvature is a helix. This creates
a condition between the conduit 20 and the fiber 22 that ensures
that the fiber 22 is in a consistent position within the conduit 20
along the length of the Fiber deployment assembly 10. Consistent
positioning of the fiber 22 within the conduit 20 is caused by the
natural tendency of the fiber to take the shortest path, that path
having been dictated by the curvature created in the conduit.
Consistent positioning of the fiber overcomes reliability problems
of the prior art thereby rendering the Fiber deployment assembly 10
disclosed herein superior to the prior art.
[0011] The shortest path through a helical conduit, for example, is
the path with the smallest radius, therefore, an inside surface 24
of the conduit 20 having the smallest radius to a central axis 26
(see FIG. 2) of the helix will define the shortest path for the
fiber 22 extending through the conduit 20. Because of the nature of
an elongate fiber to take and remain in the position that is
shortest from its origin point to its termination point, it is
axiomatic that the fiber will locate itself in that position. This
is a significant advantage over the prior art technique as related
above because in the prior art technique, the fiber will
necessarily wander through the conduit due to flow of the pumping
fluid. Since no significant change in the length of the run is
dictated by the conduit due to teachings that the conduit be
straight for pumping fiber, it necessarily will be inconsistently
located. This has been determined by the present inventor to be a
significant source of error introduction into the system.
Therefore, the removal of the wandering path of the fiber is of
great benefit to the art.
[0012] In addition to the foregoing, it is further noted that the
fiber in the helical configuration has no appreciable stress
therein. This is because the FBG is put into compression on one
side of the neutral axis of the fiber while it is put under tension
on the other side of the neutral axis. The stresses cancel one
another leaving the fiber in an optimum condition to sense
externally induced strain. Another benefit to the positioning of
the fiber in the shortest path is that the bend radius of the fiber
is necessarily smaller. This causes the fiber to be more sensitive
to strain changes and therefore more specific. Because the bend
radius does have a significant effect for sensitivity of the Fiber
deployment assembly, it will be appreciated that the fiber
positioned at the inside surface 12 of tubular 14 will be more
sensitive to strain than the Fiber deployment assembly 16 at the
outside surface 18. Due to the end radius effect, it is desirable,
though not required, to place the Fiber deployment assembly 10 at
the inside surface 12 of the tubular 14 that it is intended to
measure. Because of the intended pathway of the fiber in the
conduit, the fiber will necessarily be as far from the inside
surface of the tubular 14 as possible consistent with each possible
connection technique. More specifically, if the Fiber deployment
assembly 10 is directly affixed to the tubular 14, then the fiber
is spaced from the tubular by the diameter of the conduit 20 minus
one wall thickness thereof. A greater distance from the tubular can
be created by adding a spacer (not shown) between the Fiber
deployment assembly 10 and the inside surface 12 if desired.
Beneficial effects from these constructions all are based upon the
bend radius of the fiber and thus design considerations should take
this into account.
[0013] While the fiber 22 is reliably located within the conduit 20
and is likely to stay in that position even without any affixation
within the conduit, simply because for it to move to move would
require that the fiber stretch, it is still desirable to affix the
fiber 22 to the inside wall of the conduit 20. This is done with a
hardenable material 28 (see FIG. 3) such as, but not limited to, a
material containing epoxy. The material is pumped into the conduit
20 as noted above and allowed to harden. In the hardened state, all
strain imparted to the conduit is transmitted to the fiber 22. The
hardenable material may completely fill the conduit, substantially
completely fill the conduit, or may be configured as a tube itself
In the first and second iterations, the material is simply pumped
though the conduit and allowed to harden when the conduit is full
or substantially full. In the third noted iteration, however, the
material is first pumped through the conduit 20 to coat the inside
surface thereof and then the excess is pumped out of the fiber
using a gas such as air. The coating is sufficient to affix the
fiber 22 to the conduit 20 while creating another tubular structure
within the conduit 20. This can be repeated to add layers of fibers
and "coating tubulars" stacked within conduit 20 (additional layer
indicated with primes as 22' and 28'), if desired, or
alternatively, the open central tubular may be used as a control
conduit, which may be filled with a communication fluid, for
example, a hydraulic fluid. In such an embodiment, the control line
may be employed for any use to which a prior art control line may
be put. Too, the open inside of the hardenable material tubular may
be used to house one or more non-affixed fibers that might be used
for temperature sensing, for example. Temperature sensing fibers
need not be affixed, as affixation does not affect specificity of
the fibers for such purpose. In an embodiment with both a strain
sensing fiber and a temperature sensing fiber, a temperature
compensated strain measurement is possible for even greater
accuracy in overall information obtained about the conditions
within the well.
[0014] In embodiments where the conduit is particularly long, the
friction of the hardenable material may be undesirably hard on the
one or more fibers. More particularly, the friction may put an
undue strain in the one or more fibers. In such case, it is
beneficial to thin the hardenable material with a thinner. In the
case of an epoxy containing hardenable material, the thinner may be
acetone or Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) for example. This reduces
pumping pressures needed to move the material through the conduit
20 and reduces frictional stresses on the one or more fiber. The
thinned epoxy is pumped through the conduit 20 as noted above and
in embodiments where a coating is to be formed and the material is
to be cored to create a tubular, the gas pumped through after the
hardenable material functions to open the inside of the hardenable
material tubular and to help evaporate the thinner (acetone, MEK,
etc.).
[0015] In another embodiment, the one or more fibers are metalized
in known ways so that the fiber itself is wettable by a solder. The
fiber may then be affixed by heating the conduit to above the
melting temperature of the solder and flowing solder into the
conduit. Subsequent cooling of the conduit solidifies the solder
thus permanently affixing the one or more fibers to the
conduit.
[0016] While preferred embodiments have been shown and described,
modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly,
it is to be understood that the present invention has been
described by way of illustrations and not limitation.
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