Wired Pipe Wall Channels for Embedded Signal Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wired pipe configurations in the drilling and completion industry face challenges in efficiently transmitting power and communication signals due to obstacles such as protective steel tubings that hinder fluid flow and require complex manufacturing processes, while existing solutions for embedding conductors like wires or optical fibers within pipes do not adequately address the need for efficient signal transmission and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
A tubular pipe body with a metal material and integrated helical wire channels formed during extrusion, allowing for the direct embedding of transmission lines like electrical conductors or optical fibers, which have a melting temperature equal to or greater than the pipe material, ensuring structural integrity and efficient signal transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If protective steel tubings are used to protect conductors, then conductor protection is improved, but fluid flow efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the separate protective tubing from the system by integrating conductor protection directly into the pipe wall structure. Conductors are embedded within channels formed in the pipe wall itself, eliminating the need for additional protective tubings that would obstruct fluid flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of structural support, fluid conveyance, and conductor protection into a single integrated pipe structure. The channels for conducting signals are formed directly within the pipe wall, merging previously separate functions into one unified component.
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex manufacturing processes are used to embed conductors, then conductor embedding capability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates conductor channels into the pipe structure during the initial extrusion or forming process, before the pipe is assembled or installed. This preliminary integration of channels simplifies subsequent manufacturing steps and eliminates the need for complex post-processing to embed conductors.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipe structure is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: structural support, fluid conveyance, and signal transmission. The integrated channels allow the same pipe structure to handle both hydraulic flow and electrical/optical signals, reducing the need for separate systems.
3Device complexity
If transmission lines are embedded during extrusion, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but transmission line temperature resistance requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies that transmission lines must have melting temperatures substantially equal to or greater than the pipe material's melting temperature. This parameter requirement ensures that conductors can withstand the high temperatures of the extrusion process without deforming or failing, enabling direct embedding during manufacturing.
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 solution enables efficient signal transmission and structural integrity by embedding transmission lines within the pipe body during extrusion, reducing manufacturing complexity and maintaining pipe dimensions, while ensuring the transmission lines can withstand the high temperatures involved in the process.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one transmission line is extruded with the pipe body
Data Source
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AI summary
A wired pipe includes a tubular pipe body having a wall. The wall including an inner surface, a flow channel formed by the inner surface, an outer surface, and at least one channel integrally formed within a thickness of the wall and between the inner and outer surfaces of the wall. Also included is a method of forming a wired pipe.