Schlumberger Technology Corporation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

James Miller

Nathan Wicks

Pedro Reis

Jahir A Pabon

Nathaniel Wicks

Tianxiang Su

A soft robotic bending actuator has a stiff layer bonded to a softer layer where the softer layer is a cellular solid with interconnected voids. The softer layer contracts under a negative pressure differential between the internal pressure of the actuator and its environment applied along its axial direction. The contraction results in a bending motion; i.e., an increased curvature away from the stiff layer.

Negative pressure actuated soft bending actuator

A method for extending reach of a coiled tubing string in a deviated wellbore includes vibrating the tubing string while the tubing string is injected into the wellbore at a first injection speed, finding the peak speed of lateral vibration of the tubing string, determining a second injection speed as a function of the obtained peak speed of lateral vibration, and adjusting the injection speed of the vibrating tubing string from the first injection speed to the determined second injection speed based on said function. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium to execute the foregoing method is provided, along with a system for extending reach of a coiled tubing string in a deviated wellbore.

Method and system for extending reach in deviated wellbores using selected injection speed

A method for extending reach of a coiled tubing string in a deviated wellbore includes determining a frequency of vibration of the tubing string based on a function of the bending resonance of the tubing string and vibrating the tubing string at the determined frequency while the tubing string is inside the wellbore. Embodiments may also include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium to execute the foregoing method and a system for extending reach of a coiled tubing string in a deviated wellbore.

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James Miller