Polymer-Clay Composite Tracers for Cutting Origin Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accurately determining the origin depth of subterranean cuttings produced during drilling is challenging due to uncertainties in lag time, especially in wells with long horizontal sections or lengthy return trips, leading to errors in characterizing the formation.
Innovation Solution
A polymer-clay composite tag is used, where nanoclay with intercalated fluorescent polymer is mixed with drilling mud, allowing for accurate tagging and rapid detection of cuttings, enabling precise determination of the origin location through fluorescence and mass spectrometry analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional mud tracers are used to determine circulation time, then the circulation time can be measured, but the depth of cutting origin cannot be accurately determined due to lag time uncertainties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-tagging cuttings at the drill bit with fluorescent markers before they enter the annulus. This allows the cuttings to carry their origin depth information throughout their journey to the surface, eliminating the need to calculate depth based on circulation time and thereby resolving the lag time uncertainty problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/time-based depth determination method with an optical detection system. Instead of calculating depth from circulation time measurements, the system uses fluorescent tags that can be optically detected to directly identify cutting origin depth, substituting a mechanical measurement approach with an optical field-based approach.
2Measurement precision
If circulation time is used to estimate cutting depth, then a calculation can be made, but depth uncertainties increase significantly in wells with long horizontal sections or lengthy return trips
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the depth determination function from the complex circulation time calculation process. By attaching fluorescent tags directly to cuttings at the drill bit, the system removes the need to account for wellbore configuration complexity, horizontal sections, and return trip variations in the depth calculation, as the tags provide direct origin depth information.
3Productivity
If traditional tracer detection methods are used, then detection can be performed, but the detection speed and accuracy are insufficient for rapid drilling operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses fluorescent color changes as a detection mechanism. The fluorescent tags emit specific wavelengths of light when excited, providing a rapid and highly accurate visual signal that can be detected by optical sensors. This color-based detection method enables both high speed and high precision in cutting origin identification, resolving the contradiction between detection speed and accuracy.
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
This method provides accurate and rapid identification of cutting origins, reducing depth uncertainties and enhancing drilling operations by enabling real-time data-driven decisions.
Implementation Method 1
The polymer is functionalized with a fluorescent dye
Data Source
AI summary
Compositions and methods for determining the origin location of a subterranean sample are provided. Compositions include a polymer-clay composite tag. The tag includes a nanoclay including a plurality of layers, and a polymer intercalated between the layers of the nanoclay. The polymer is functionalized with a fluorescent dye. A method to determine the origin location of a subterranean sample includes mixing a barcoded polymer-clay composite tag into a fluid, flowing the fluid through a work string into a subterranean formation, recovering subterranean samples from the subterranean formation, and determining the origin location of the subterranean sample by detecting the presence of the barcoded polymer-clay composite tag.