The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 01, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 10, 2001
Thierry Botrel, Pau, FR;
Elf Exploration Production, Courbevoie, FR;
Abstract
A method for detecting inflow of fluid in a well while drilling, wherein the drilling is carried out using an installation including a hollow cylindrical drill string ( ) wherein is injected fresh mud, a tubing ( ) defining with the drill string ( ) an annular space ( ) through which the loaded mud rises; it involves continuously measuring a heat flow; then continuously calculating on the basis of the quantity the value of a characteristic representing a thermal equilibrium obtained in the absence of a fluid occurrence formation; and detecting variations in the characteristic, the variations representing a thermal imbalance, resulting from inflow of fluid in the well ( ). The invention is particular by applicable in operating oil drilling installations particularly deep at sea.