Wellbore Gauge Cutter with Integrated Sampling Chamber
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wellbore tools require multiple trips to dislodge and sample debris, leading to inefficiencies and potential sample contamination during transportation to the surface, as they lack integrated sampling capabilities that protect the collected particles for accurate analysis.
Innovation Solution
A wellbore gauge cutter apparatus with a sampling body and a gauge cutter that dislodges particles from the wellbore walls, using fluid-permeable screens to collect and separate debris in a single trip, allowing for efficient sampling and protection of the sample during transportation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate tools are used for gauge cutting and debris sampling, then each tool can be optimized for its specific function, but multiple trips are required and sample contamination may occur during transportation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the gauge cutter and debris sampler into a single integrated tool. The gauge cutter body includes an integrated sampling chamber with permeable screens that allow debris collection during the same operational trip, eliminating the need for separate tools and multiple trips while preventing sample contamination through protected collection within the same tool housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The gauge cutter is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: cutting debris from wellbore walls and sampling the debris through integrated permeable screens in the sampling chamber. This multi-functional design allows the tool to both remove and collect particles in a single operation, improving efficiency and reliability.
2Ease of operation
If debris is collected without protected sampling chambers, then collection is simpler, but sample contamination occurs during transportation to the surface
Solution Approach 1:
The sampling chamber is nested within the gauge cutter body structure. The permeable screens are positioned inside the sealed sampling chamber, which itself is contained within the gauge cutter housing. This nested arrangement provides protected collection space that isolates the sample from external contamination sources during transportation while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The permeable screens act as an intermediary element between the debris environment and the sampling chamber. These screens allow particle collection while maintaining a sealed protected environment within the chamber, preventing contamination during transportation while keeping the collection process simple and effective.
3Productivity
If integrated sampling is implemented in a single tool, then sampling efficiency increases and transportation contamination is prevented, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated tool is segmented into distinct functional zones: the gauge cutting section for debris removal and the sampling chamber section with permeable screens for particle collection. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while maintaining overall integration, improving productivity without creating excessive complexity through modular functional separation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus enables faster cutting and debris sampling with reduced errors by integrating sampling and collection in a single tool, protecting the sample and allowing for accurate chemical composition analysis, facilitating targeted well intervention based on the debris characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid permeable screen arranged in either a first flow path or the second flow path. The fluid permeable screen is configured to collect a portion the particles dislodged by the gauge cutter
Data Source
AI summary
A wellbore gauge cutter apparatus includes a sampling body defining a central recess extending from an inlet at a first end to an outlet at a second end. The apparatus further includes a gauge cutter connected to the sampling body configured to dislodge particles from an inner wall of a wellbore. The sampling body includes an inner wall defining the central recess, a hollow cylindrical divider having a central aperture, a first flow path defined in the central aperture of the hollow cylindrical divider, a second flow path defined between an outer wall of the hollow cylindrical divider and the inner wall of the sampling body, and a fluid permeable screen arranged in the first flow path or the second flow The fluid permeable screen is configured to collect a portion the particles dislodged by the gauge cutter.