Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Mark Vincent Collins

Arthur Cheng

Brian Edward Hornby

Chung Lung Chang

Wei Zhang

Ruijia Wang

Yinghui Lu

Avinash Vinayak Taware

Umut Zalluhoglu

Paul Andrew Cooper

Amit Padhi

Yibing Zheng

Kristoffer Thomas Walker

Srinivasan Jagannathan

Philip William Tracadas

Baichun Sun

Qingtao Sun

Joonshik Kim

George Stevenson

Systems and methods of evaluating well cementation are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a tool is lowered into a casing surrounded by an annular material within a wellbore. An emitter of the tool emits an acoustic signal at a first pitch angle selected to excite a mixed-mode Lamb wave comprising a symmetric extensional (Sn) mode and an asymmetric flexural (An) mode of a Lamb wave in the casing. A receiver of the tool that is disposed at a first distance from the emitter receives a portion of the Lamb wave that has leaked from the casing at approximately the first distance.

Cement evaluation

This disclosure presents a method and process to improve the accuracy of the calculations for true vertical depth and Eastings and Northings pair of a borehole while drilling operations are in progress. The method utilizes continuous survey parameters that are collected while drilling operations are in progress, and that have been collected between two neighboring stationary survey parameters. The stationary survey parameters are assumed to be ground truth and are fused with an invertible solution to a low order polynomial to generate the true vertical depth and an Eastings and Northings pair at each continuous survey location. An objective function can be used to optimize and solve the polynomial. The method can be performed on a well site controller, a geo-steering system, a bottom hole assembly, or other computing system capable of receiving the collected measurements, performing the method steps, and communicating the resultant borehole position parameters to other systems.

Estimating borehole shape between stationary survey locations

Systems and methods are provided for identifying one or more properties of a rock formation. A system may be configured to receive sensor data obtained from one or more sensors, the sensor data generated from drilling operations performed in a wellbore, generate stress metrics and strain metrics for the sensor data based on a calibrated stress and strain map, and identify one or more properties of a rock formation based on the stress metrics and the strain metrics.

Estimation of formation elastic constants from drilling data

A method evaluating borehole subsurface geologies can include receiving a total response signal by a sensor array disposed in a borehole, the response signal represents a pressure wave propagating in the borehole. A secondary signal can be extracted from the total response signal and a depth location for at least one secondary source that corresponds to the secondary signal is determined. An estimated reflectivity response for the secondary signal as a function of frequency is determined and the estimated reflectivity response is inverted to determine the secondary source includes at least one of a potential fracture or a potential washout. The at least one of a fracture conductivity or a washout volume for the secondary source is compared to one or more borehole images corresponding to the depth location of the secondary source to determine the potential fracture is an actual fracture or the potential washout is an actual washout.

Techniques for evaluating borehole subsurface geologies using Stoneley waves

A portion of an anisotropy formation through which a wellbore is formed can be identified. An estimate of an elastic anisotropy parameter for the portion can be adjusted based on a first quality control analysis using the elastic anisotropy parameter for the portion. The first signal representing the elastic anisotropy parameter for the portion. The estimate of the elastic anisotropy parameter for the portion can be adjusted based on a second quality control analysis using estimates for the elastic anisotropy parameters for two or more portions of the anisotropy formation.

Verifying measurements of elastic anisotropy parameters in an anisotropic wellbore environment

Estimation of formation elastic constants from drilling

An acoustic logging method that may comprise acquiring waveforms for multiple acoustic wave modes as a function of tool position in a borehole; deriving position-dependent mode dispersion curves from the waveforms; accessing a computed library of dispersion curves for a vertical shear slowness (s) and a Thomsen gamma (&#x3b3;) of a given acoustic wave mode as a function of frequency; interpolating dispersion curves in the computed library to an assumed known compressional wave slowness, a borehole radius, a formation density, a mud density, and a mud slowness; computing an adaptive weight; and inverting dispersion curve modes jointly for a shear wave anisotropy, a vertical shear wave slowness, an inverted mud slowness, and an inverted mud density as a function of depth. An acoustic logging system may comprise a logging tool, a conveyance attached to the logging tool, at least one sensor, and at least one processor.

Depth-dependent mud density determination and processing for horizontal shear slowness in vertical transverse isotropy environment using full-waveform sonic data

An acoustic tool, system, and method for performing down-hole measurements. An encoded pulse sequence is transmitted from an acoustic tool. First reflections are received from the encoded pulse sequences. The first reflections from the encoded pulse sequence are identified from a number of reflections of the encoded pulse sequence. Measurements are performed utilizing the first reflections of the encoded pulse sequence. Other systems and methods are presented.

Encoded driving pulses for a range finder

A method for operation of an acoustic tool, having a plurality of acoustic sensors, may include receiving acoustic waves from an acoustic source located at a depth in a borehole. A selected location (e.g., central location) of the acoustic sensor array may be positioned substantially at the depth of the acoustic source based on a symmetricity of an upper and lower section of a frequency-wavenumber (f-k) transform pattern with respect to a selected wavenumber. A radial distance from the acoustic source to the acoustic tool may be determined based on a theoretical f-k transform pattern used as a mask to filter measured data in the f-k domain.

Downhole acoustic source localization

An acoustic logging method includes obtaining first horizontal transverse isotropy ('HTI') angles resulting from a time domain HTI algorithm. The method further includes obtaining one or more second HTI angles resulting from a frequency domain HTI algorithm. The method further includes generating a first HTI anisotropy log including a relative angle log based on the first and second HTI angles. The method further includes generating a first color map of the first HTI anisotropy log and displaying the first color map.

Acoustic anisotropy log visualization

Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to estimate formation mobility from Stoneley waveforms. An objective function can be generated that represents misfit between measured Stoneley pressure values and synthetic pressure values. A minimization process can be applied to the objective function to estimate formation mobility and intrinsic attenuation. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Estimate of formation mobility from Stoneley waveforms

Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to extract reflections from acoustic array data collected from a receiver array. A beam-former can be generated to detect a reflection wave in the presence of a direct wave identified from collected waveforms, where the beam-former can be correlated to receiver and depth for the array. The direct wave and the reflection wave can be separated to extract the reflection wave, where the separation is correlated to receiver and depth for the array. The extracted reflected wave can be used to image and/or analyze entities associated with the borehole. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Apparatus and methods of extracting reflections from acoustic array data

Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to operate to record a plurality of acoustic waveforms, to generate an objective function based on the plurality of acoustic waveforms, and to estimate a global minimum of the objective function. The plurality of acoustic waveforms can correspond to a plurality of acoustic dipole receivers azimuthally disposed around a tool to which the receivers are attached. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Estimation of fast shear azimuth, methods and apparatus

Acoustic logging systems and methods are provided with multi-mode inversion for at least vertical shear slowness and shear anisotropy. At least some method embodiments acquire waveforms for multiple acoustic wave modes as a function of tool position in a borehole, derive position-dependent mode dispersion curves from the waveforms, match the derived dispersion curves with parameterized dispersion curves to determine a vertical shear slowness and a shear anisotropy as a function of position, and displaying a borehole log that represents at least one of the vertical shear slowness and the shear anisotropy as a function of position. The objective function employed for the inversion is evaluated across multiple wave propagation modes and mud slownesses and may employ an adaptive, frequency-dependent weighting based on distance between the derived dispersion curves and the parameterized dispersion curves.

Acoustic logging systems and methods employing multi-mode inversion for anisotropy and shear slowness

In some embodiments, apparatus and systems, as well as methods, may operate to record a plurality of acoustic waveforms comprising cross-dipole waveforms and corresponding to acoustic waves received 5 at azimuthally orthogonal dipole receiver arrays surrounded by a geological formation, the waves being generated by azimuthally orthogonal dipole transmitter arrays. Further activity may include defining an objective function dependent on the cross-dipole waveforms, eigenvalues, an azimuth angle corresponding to an 10 orientation of the transmitter and receiver arrays; minimizing the objective function with respect to said angle and the set of auxiliary parameters; and determining at least one property of the geological formation based on the global minimum. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

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Spring, TX, United States of America

Mark Vincent Collins