Downhole Seismic Trace Compression for Mud-Pulse Telemetry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional seismic-while-drilling methods face challenges in achieving high-speed data transfer from downhole locations to the surface during seismic-while-drilling operations, leading to poor spatial accuracy and resolution of subsurface images due to long travel paths and low velocity through absorptive near-surface layers.
Innovation Solution
Activating a seismic source at a surface location, defining a seismic trace of the seismic wave received at a downhole location, and compressing the seismic trace using a downhole processor to reduce data size and sampling rate, allowing for efficient data transmission via mud-pulse telemetry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is stored at the bottomhole sensor and obtained when the BHA is tripped to the surface, then data can be collected continuously, but long delays occur while the BHA is lowered and raised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing data compression at the downhole location before data transmission. The downhole processor compresses the seismic trace data in real-time during drilling operations, preparing the data in advance for efficient transmission via mud-pulse telemetry when the BHA is moved to the surface, thereby reducing the overall time loss during tripping operations
2Ease of operation
If mud pulse telemetry is used to transmit data from the BHA, then data can be obtained without removing the sensor, but the data transmission rate is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by transforming the data format through compression. The downhole processor reduces the data size and modifies the sampling rate of seismic traces before transmission, changing the physical parameters of the data to enable faster transmission through the limited-bandwidth mud-pulse telemetry system while maintaining essential information quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential information from the full seismic data by applying compression algorithms that remove redundant data while preserving critical seismic characteristics. This extraction process allows the limited mud-pulse telemetry system to transmit the most important data at the highest possible rate
3Speed
If data is transmitted at high speed, then transmission time is reduced, but data size and sampling rate need to be managed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by reducing both the data size and sampling rate through compression algorithms. The downhole processor modifies these parameters to enable faster transmission speeds through the mud-pulse telemetry system while maintaining the essential seismic information needed for accurate subsurface imaging
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and computer-readable medium for acquiring seismic data, which includes activating a seismic source at a surface location; defining a seismic trace of a seismic wave received at a downhole location on a bottomhole assembly in a borehole in response to the activation of the seismic source; compressing the seismic trace; and recording the compressed seismic trace to a storage medium.