A Pressure Activated Deployment System for Openhole Memory Logging Tools and its Application in Directional Wells

Abstract

fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractOpenhole memory logging was introduced in 1999 as a more efficient alternative to pipe conveyed wireline logging. It was developed subsequently into a shuttle system that conveys logging tools inside drillpipe, and which provides formation evaluation logs after drilling to supplement basic real-time logging-while-drilling (LWD) data. The original shuttle design used a dart pumped from surface to move the logging string into open hole after the assembly reached TD. In a new development, the dart has been eliminated together with the associated pumping time. In its place is an electro-mechanical pressure activated release mechanism capable of simple twoway communication. The method has been used in trials to activate and deploy logging tools downhole, and to return status information to surface. It has the potential to be developed further for post-drilling real-time data transmission, and is a key component in a repeat formation pressure tester being developed for memory operations.