Polymer Nano-Clay Tracers for Accurate Drill Cutting Depth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for tagging drill cuttings during drilling operations face inaccuracies in depth assignment, particularly in long horizontal sections, leading to uncertainties of more than ±20 feet in mud return trips longer than half an hour, which propagates errors in formation characterization.
Innovation Solution
Introducing a plurality of tags made of polymers embedded into clay nanoparticles into the drilling fluid, which interact with formation cuttings, allowing for accurate identification and correlation of tagged cuttings with drill depth by detecting the polymers on returned cuttings, enabling more precise depth determination and formation characterization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional mud tags are used to tag drill cuttings, then the circulation time can be determined, but the depth assignment accuracy deteriorates with longer mud return trips (uncertainty exceeds ±20 feet)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the tags by embedding polymers with different molecular weights into clay nanoparticles. This creates tags with distinct detectable characteristics that can be identified precisely regardless of circulation time, thereby maintaining depth assignment accuracy even for long mud return trips.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material structure consisting of polymer molecules embedded into clay nanoparticles. The polymer provides the detectable signature for identification while the clay nanoparticle carrier ensures the tag remains suspended in drilling fluid and attaches to cuttings, solving the depth correlation problem independent of circulation duration.
2Measurement precision
If multiple tags with different polymer molecular weights are used, then depth correlation precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal tagging system where clay nanoparticles serve as the common carrier for all tags, while only the polymer component varies to provide identification. This multi-functional approach allows a single tag type (clay nanoparticle carrier) to perform multiple functions (suspension, attachment, identification) through different polymer embeddings, improving depth correlation without proportionally increasing system complexity.
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 method provides accurate depth correlation of drill cuttings, enhancing the precision of formation characterization and reducing uncertainties in long horizontal sections by using polymers with different molecular weights embedded in clay nanoparticles to tag cuttings, facilitating improved logging and drilling operations.
Implementation Method 1
mixing clay nanoparticles in the polymer solution, waiting for an amount of adsorption of the first polymer molecules adsorbing onto the clay nanoparticles
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes introducing into a drilling fluid a plurality of tags having a first clay nanoparticle and a first polymer embedded into the clay nanoparticle and circulating the drilling fluid and tags through a well during a drilling operation that creates formation cuttings such that the tags interact with the formation cuttings, creating tagged cuttings. The returned cuttings are collected from the circulating drilling fluid at a surface of the well, and the tags on the returned cuttings are detected to identify the tagged cuttings. The method also includes correlating the tagged cuttings with a drill depth in the well from the drilling operation.