Optimal Energy Transfer Pipe Arrangement for Acoustic Drill String Telemetry

Drill string acoustic telemetry is an effective transmission method to retrieve downhole data. Finite-difference simulations produce the comb-filter-like channel response (patterns of pass bands and stop bands) due to the presence of coupling joints in the metallic drill string. Practical pipes used for drilling deep wells have slight variation in length. The selection and arrangement of downhole pipes is important for improving the transmission efficiency of extensional waves transmitted through the drill string. Downhole drill string channel is studied using the transmission coefficients calculated from the transmission matrix method, and the resultant transfer function produces identical results similar to the finite-difference simulations. Reciprocity of the drill string structure is proved by comparing the pass band responses using the ascend-only (AO) and descend-only pipe arrangements. Transferred energies calculated up to 180 pipes of random length at the end of the drill strings using transmission coefficients for the three different pipe arrangements, namely, AO, descend-then-ascend, and ascend-then-descend (ATD), are compared to find the optimal pipe arrangement for single measurement. For the situations when pipes are distributed in sets, multiple measurements are required. In this paper, two sets of AO and two sets of ATD arrangements are analyzed for multiple measurements. ATD and nxATD arrangements are proposed as optimal pipe arrangements to produce the best possible telemetry performance in terms of optimal acoustic energy transfer via one- and two-way acoustic communication for single and multiple measurements, respectively.

[1]  Mahsa Memarzadeh.  Optimal borehole communication using multicarrier modulation , 2007 .

[2]  Volker Jungnickel,et al.  Acoustic broadband communications over deep drill strings using adaptive OFDM , 2013, 2013 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC).

[3]  Ding Tianhuai,et al.  Signal wireless transmission behaviors along the drillstring using extensional stress waves , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Intelligent Systems.

[4]  Wallace R. Gardner,et al.  Limits on Data Communication Along the Drillstring Using Acoustic Waves , 2005 .

[5]  D. Drumheller.  Attenuation of sound waves in drill strings , 1993 .

[6]  Wei-Qiang Zhang,et al.  Using Transfer Matrix Method to Study the Acoustic Property of Drill Strings , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Signal Processing and Information Technology.

[7]  Douglas S. Drumheller,et al.  The propagation of sound waves in drill strings , 1995 .

[8]  Y. L. Guan,et al.  Downhole pipe selection and arrangement for acoustic drillstring telemetry , 2012, 2012 7th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA).

[9]  Robert Dondelinger.  Telemetry systems. , 2013, Biomedical instrumentation & technology.

[10]  Ananth Srinivasan,et al.  High Speed Telemetry Drill Pipe Network Optimizes Drilling Dynamics And Wellbore Placement , 2008 .

[11]  Wallace R. Gardner,et al.  Acoustic Telemetry Delivers More Real-Time Downhole Data in Underbalanced Drilling Operations , 2006 .

[12]  Zhi Chuan Guan,et al.  Discussion on Commonly Methods for Analysis of Drill String Acoustic Spectral Characteristics , 2012 .

[13]  Wallace R. Gardner,et al.  Limits on Data Communication Along the Drillstring Using Acoustic Waves , 2008 .

[14]  D. Drumheller.  Acoustical properties of drill strings , 1989 .

[15]  R. Kaul,et al.  Microwave engineering , 1989, IEEE Potentials.

[16]  Shao Ying Huang,et al.  Tapered dual-plane compact electromagnetic bandgap microstrip filter structures , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[17]  José M. Carcione,et al.  A telegrapher equation for electric - telemetering in drill strings , 2002, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[18]  T. G. Barnes,et al.  Passbands for Acoustic Transmission in an Idealized Drill String , 1972 .