RFID-Activated Circulating Tool for Closed-Wellbore Formation Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing controlled pressure drilling technologies face challenges in managing wellbore pressure during drilling through sensitive formations with small pressure differentials, particularly in maintaining balanced flow and detecting fluid influxes or losses.
Innovation Solution
A drilling system with an automated choke manifold and control system that uses real-time pressure and flow data to manage wellbore pressure, incorporating RFID tags to control fluid communication in the drill string and packer, enabling formation testing and fluid sampling while maintaining a closed wellbore environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If controlled pressure drilling is used to drill through sensitive formations with small pressure differentials, then wellbore pressure can be maintained just greater than pore pressure but less than fracture pressure, but managing balanced flow and detecting fluid influxes or losses becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors wellbore pressure, flow rate, and other parameters to detect changes that indicate fluid influx or loss. Real-time feedback from sensors allows the control system to adjust drilling parameters and alert operators to maintain balanced flow conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary devices such as chokes and flow control mechanisms that mediate between the drilling mud system and the formation. These intermediaries help control and balance the flow of drilling fluids while enabling detection of abnormal conditions through pressure and flow measurements.
2Manufacturing precision
If the wellbore is isolated from the atmosphere at the surface to be treated as a closed fluid system, then wellbore pressure can be precisely controlled, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drilling system is designed with multi-functional components that serve both pressure control and detection functions. The same closed wellbore configuration used for pressure control also enables formation testing, fluid sampling, and monitoring operations, reducing the need for separate specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The closed wellbore system is designed to be self-monitoring and self-regulating through integrated sensors and control mechanisms that automatically detect and respond to pressure changes, flow variations, and other parameters without requiring constant external intervention.
3Loss of information
If formed testing and fluid sampling are performed in sensitive formations, then valuable formation data can be obtained, but the risk of losing control of wellbore pressure increases
Solution Approach 1:
Before performing formation testing or fluid sampling operations, the system pre-establishes controlled pressure conditions and monitors baseline parameters. This preliminary action ensures that the wellbore is in a stable state and allows for rapid detection if pressure control is compromised during subsequent testing operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A formation testing method can include deploying a drill string including a packer and a circulating tool into a well, setting the packer, thereby blocking fluid flow through an annulus, and opening the circulating tool, thereby permitting fluid communication between the annulus and an interior flow passage of the drill string. The opening step can include displacing a radio frequency identification tag into the circulating tool. A formation testing system can include a drill string with a drill bit, a circulating tool and a packer. The packer is configured to seal off an annulus, and the circulating tool is selectively operable to permit fluid communication between the annulus and an interior flow passage of the drill string in response to a radio frequency identification tag being deployed into the circulating tool.