A Perturbation Method to Model Electromagnetic Well-Logging Tools in Curved Boreholes

Logging-while-drilling (LWD) or measuring-while-drilling tools are routinely used to guide well placement during exploration of hydrocarbons reservoirs. These tools have become fundamental for directional and horizontal drilling operations. In this paper, we present a perturbation method to model electromagnetic fields produced by time-harmonic sources in radially stratified and axially toroidal structures describing LWD tools inside curved boreholes (i.e., boreholes with axial bending). The proposed formulation is validated against brute-force finite-difference results in various representative scenarios. Numerical results indicate that the proposed perturbative approach can provide a reduction in the computational effort required to analyze this class of problems of several orders of magnitude versus brute-force approaches.

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