High speed cement bond logging and interactive targeted intervention

Abstract

A method for cement bond logging and targeted intervention, including lowering a cylindrical n×m array of ultrasound (US) transducers into a well, firing the US transducers to transmit US signals into a well casing, converting reflected US signals received by the transducers into electronic form and transmit the converted signals to a control unit, analyzing the converted signals to detect holidays, if a holiday is detected, determining a position and angle of the holiday with respect to the transducers, and applying a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) signal to the well casing to fill the holiday.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for cement bond logging and targeted intervention, comprising the steps of:
 lowering a cylindrical n×m array of ultrasound (US) transducers into a well;   firing the US transducers to transmit US signals into a well casing;   converting reflected US signals received by the transducers into electronic form and transmit the converted signals to a control unit;   analyzing the converted signals to detect holidays;   if a holiday is detected, determining a position and angle of the holiday with respect to the transducers; and   applying a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) signal to the well casing to fill the holiday.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein multiple simultaneous US signals are transmitted into the well casing. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the US transducers are fired according to a schedule that minimizes interference among the transducers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the HIFU signal is focused upon a point in an annulus formed between a borehole of the well and the well casing. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the converted signals are analyzed by classifiers trained to detect holidays. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the HIFU signal is applied manually. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the HIFU signal is automatically applied by a control program. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executed by the computer to perform the method steps for cement bond logging and targeted intervention, the method comprising the steps of:
 lowering a cylindrical n×m array of ultrasound (US) transducers into a well;   firing the US transducers to transmit US signals into a well casing;   converting reflected US signals received by the transducers into electronic form and transmit the converted signals to a control unit;   analyzing the converted signals to detect holidays;   if a holiday is detected, determining a position and angle of the holiday with respect to the transducers; and   applying a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) signal to the well casing to fill the holiday.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein multiple simultaneous US signals are transmitted into the well casing. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the US transducers are fired according to a schedule that minimizes interference among the transducers. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the HIFU signal is focused upon a point in an annulus formed between a borehole of the well and the well casing. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the converted signals are analyzed by classifiers trained to detect holidays. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the HIFU signal is applied manually. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the HIFU signal is automatically applied by a control program. 
     
     
         15 . A system for cement bond logging and targeted intervention, comprising
 a cylindrical n×m array of solid state ultrasound (US) transducers;   a connector that connects the transducer array to a motorized winch; and   a control program of instructions in signal communication with the transducer array and executable by a computer tangibly embodied in one or more computer readable program storage devices that perform the method steps for cement bond logging and targeted intervention, the method comprising the steps of:   lowering the cylindrical n×m array of ultrasound (US) transducers into a well;   firing the US transducers to transmit US signals into a well casing;   converting reflected US signals received by the transducers into electronic form and transmit the converted signals to the control program;   analyzing the converted signals to detect holidays;   if a holiday is detected, determining a position and angle of the holiday with respect to the transducers; and   applying a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) signal to the well casing to fill the holiday.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the cylindrical n×m array of US transducers are arranged about a device axis. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the device contains a plurality of levels of US transducer. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the transducer array includes transducers for imaging the holidays, and transducers for applying the HIFU signal. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the signal communication between the control program of instructions and the transducer array comprises a wireless connection. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the signal communication between the control program of instructions and the transducer array comprises a wire included with the connector.