Real time tracking of bending forces and fatigue in a tubing guide

Abstract

A coiled tubing deployment system includes an offshore rig having a reel positioned thereon and coiled tubing wound on the reel. A tubing guide is operatively coupled to receive the coiled tubing and to direct the coiled tubing into the water, with a weight sensor positioned to measure the weight of the portion of coiled tubing deployed into the water. A first set of bend sensors are positioned at a first location on the tubing guide to measure a real-time strain assumed by the tubing guide at the first location. A data acquisition system is communicably coupled to the weight sensor and the first set of bend sensors, and receives and processes weight measurement signals and bend sensor signals in order to provide an output signal indicative of a real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide.

1 . A coiled tubing deployment system, comprising:
 a coiled tubing positionable on an offshore rig, the offshore rig being deployable on water;   a tubing guide operatively coupled to receive the coiled tubing and to direct the coiled tubing into the water;   a weight sensor positioned at a fixed point relative to the coiled tubing to measure a weight of the coiled tubing and to generate one or more weight measurement signals;   a first set of bend sensors positioned at a first location on the tubing guide to measure a real-time strain assumed by the tubing guide at the first location and thereby generate one or more first bend sensor signals; and   a data acquisition system communicably coupled to the weight sensor and the first set of bend sensors to receive and process the one or more weight measurement signals and the one or more first bend sensor signals, the data acquisition system providing an output signal indicative of a real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at select locations along the tubing guide.   
     
     
         2 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , wherein a reel is positioned on the offshore rig and the coiled tubing is wound on the reel. 
     
     
         3 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more first bend sensor signals and the output signal indicative of real-time bending fatigue are stored in a memory of the data acquisition system as a fatigue history file for the tubing guide and used to calculate a fatigue of the tubing guide. 
     
     
         4 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 3 , further comprising a second set of bend sensors positioned at a second location on the tubing guide to measure a real-time strain assumed by the tubing guide at the second location and thereby generate one or more second bend sensor signals to be received and processed by the data acquisition system and used in determining a real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at select locations along the tubing guide. 
     
     
         5 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 4 , wherein the first set of bend sensors and the second set of bend sensors include at least one of a strain sensor or a gyroscopic sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , wherein the tubing guide includes a flange and a body that extends from the flange, and wherein the first set of bend sensors is coupled to the body. 
     
     
         7 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , wherein construction parameters for the coiled tubing and the tubing guide are stored in the memory of the data acquisition system, and wherein the construction parameters are used to determine the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide. 
     
     
         8 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , further comprising a set of reference sensors coupled to the offshore rig at a fixed surface point to monitor and detect heave and movement of the offshore rig and generate reference signals, wherein the data acquisition system receives and processes the reference signals to remove motion effects of the offshore rig from the one or more first bend sensor signals in determining the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide. 
     
     
         9 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 8 , wherein the set of reference sensors includes at least one of an accelerometer, a strain sensor, and a gyroscopic sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , further comprising an accelerometer being fixedly attached anywhere on the offshore rig to detect the heave and movement of the offshore rig and generate an accelerometer signal, wherein the data acquisition system receives and processes the accelerometer signal to estimate the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide. 
     
     
         11 . The coiled tubing deployment system of  claim 1 , further comprising a peripheral device communicably coupled to the data acquisition system to receive the output signal and provide a graphical output corresponding to the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at the select locations along the tubing guide. 
     
     
         12 . A method, comprising:
 deploying coiled tubing from an offshore rig;   receiving the coiled tubing with a tubing guide and directing the coiled tubing from the tubing guide into water below the offshore rig;   measuring a weight of the coiled tubing with a weight sensor positioned at a fixed point relative to the coiled tubing and thereby generating one or more weight measurement signals;   measuring a real-time strain assumed by the tubing guide at a first location on the tubing guide with a first set of bend sensors positioned at the first location and thereby generating one or more first bend sensor signals;   receiving and processing the one or more weight measurement signals and the one or more first bend sensor signals with a data acquisition system communicably coupled to the weight sensor and the first set of bend sensors; and   generating an output signal with the data acquisition system indicative of real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at select locations along the tubing guide.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising storing in a memory of the data acquisition system the one or more first bend sensor signals and the output signal indicative of real-time bending in order to obtain a fatigue history file for the tubing guide. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 measuring a real-time strain assumed by the tubing guide at a second location on the tubing guide with a second set of bend sensors positioned at the second location and thereby generating one or more second bend sensor signals; and   receiving and processing the one or more second bend sensor signals with the data acquisition system to determine the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at select locations along the tubing guide.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the first set of bend sensors and the second set of bend sensors include at least one of a strain sensor or a gyroscopic sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein construction parameters for the coiled tubing and the tubing guide are stored in the memory of the data acquisition system, the method further comprising accessing the construction parameters in determining the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 monitoring and detecting real-time heave and movement of the offshore rig with a set of reference sensors coupled to the offshore rig at a fixed surface point;   generating reference signals with the set of reference sensors indicative of the real-time heave and movement of the offshore rig; and   receiving and processing the reference signals with the data acquisition system and thereby removing motion effects of the offshore rig from the one or more first bend sensor signals in determining the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 monitoring and detecting real-time heave and movement of the offshore rig with an accelerometer fixedly attached anywhere on the offshore rig;   generating an accelerometer signal indicative of the real-time heave and movement of the offshore rig; and   receiving and processing the accelerometer signal with the data acquisition system and thereby estimating the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 receiving the output signal with a peripheral device communicably coupled to the data acquisition system; and   generating a graphical output corresponding to the real-time bending fatigue of the tubing guide at the select locations along the tubing guide.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising using the fatigue history file and generating a map of the fatigue on the tubing guide at the select locations along the tubing guide.