Self-Propelling Fiber Optic Deployment Device for Wellbores
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for deploying and monitoring fiber optic lines in wellbores are time-consuming, expensive, prone to damage, and limited to vertical wells, making them inefficient for hydraulic fracturing processes.
Innovation Solution
A fiber optic deployment device with self-propelling canisters containing spools of fiber optic lines, coupled to a bridge plug and a cable, allows for quick and efficient deployment by securing the bridge plug within the wellbore and pulling the cable to the surface, enabling monitoring and control of fracturing operations in both vertical and horizontal wells.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional methods are used to deploy fiber optic lines in the annular space between wellbore and casing, then fiber optic monitoring can be achieved, but the deployment is time-consuming and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber optic line deployment is extracted from the conventional annular space method and relocated inside the casing through a wireline deployment system. The fiber optic cable is attached to a deployment device that is lowered through the wireline into the wellbore, allowing the fiber to be laid inside the casing rather than in the annular space, thereby enabling faster and more controlled deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
A deployment device serving as an intermediary is introduced between the surface equipment and the fiber optic cable. This device includes a spool mechanism that pays out the fiber optic cable as it is lowered into the wellbore, facilitating controlled deployment and enabling the fiber to be positioned accurately inside the casing without requiring complex annular space maneuvers.
2Reliability
If conventional fiber optic deployment in annular space is used, then monitoring is possible, but the system is subject to damage and limited to vertical wells
Solution Approach 1:
The wireline-based fiber optic deployment system provides universal applicability across different well geometries. The same deployment mechanism can be used in vertical, deviated, and horizontal wells, as the wireline and deployment device can navigate various wellbore configurations. This eliminates the limitation to vertical wells while maintaining reliable fiber optic monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The fiber optic cable is segmented into manageable sections that are paid out from the spool as the deployment device descends. This segmentation allows the fiber to be deployed in controlled increments that can adapt to different well geometries, enabling the system to handle vertical, deviated, and horizontal sections effectively while protecting the fiber from damage.
3Reliability
If conventional annular space deployment is used, then fiber optic lines can be installed, but the process is expensive and limited by annular space size
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of deploying the fiber optic cable from the annular space outward, the system inverts the approach by deploying the fiber inside the casing from the surface downward through the wireline. This reversal of deployment direction eliminates the need to maneuver equipment in the constrained annular space, reducing deployment complexity and cost while enabling installation in a broader range of well configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject technology relate to systems and methods for deploying fiber optic lines in a wellbore using a fiber optic deployment device. The device can include at least one fiber optic spool forming a canister. The canister can be operable to self-propel through at least a portion of the wellbore. Each of the at least one fiber optic spool can comprising one or more fiber optic lines. Each of the one or more fiber optic lines can be coupled to a bridge plug at a first end and coupled to a cable at a second end opposite the first end. The device can include a sleeve covering the at least one fiber optic spool.