An improved gamma controller health detection assembly to facilitate reliable downhole measurement of naturally occurring radiation is disclosed. The gamma controller assembly includes one or more gamma sensors, a micro-controller, memory, and input/output ports among other components. The gamma sen
An improved gamma controller health detection assembly to facilitate reliable downhole measurement of naturally occurring radiation is disclosed. The gamma controller assembly includes one or more gamma sensors, a micro-controller, memory, and input/output ports among other components. The gamma sensors detect radiation and output pulses that are received by the microcontroller. The sensor data can be checked, selected, and averaged by the microcontroller, and sent uphole to another microcontroller or computer that can then further process, communicate, and display the data. The sensor data can be averaged and stored to memory or stored as independent values to memory. The gamma controller health detection assembly can be configured to run algorithms that detect if one or more gamma sensors appear to be malfunctioning or have previously malfunctioned.
대표청구항▼
1. A downhole measurement assembly to facilitate the reliable downhole measurement of radiation given off by geological formations adjacent a wellbore, the downhole measurement assembly comprising: one or more gamma probes to sense radiation given off by downhole formations and to provide output pul
1. A downhole measurement assembly to facilitate the reliable downhole measurement of radiation given off by geological formations adjacent a wellbore, the downhole measurement assembly comprising: one or more gamma probes to sense radiation given off by downhole formations and to provide output pulses representative of the radiation,one or more microcontrollers, at least one of which is configured to receive the output pulses from the one or more of gamma probes, at least one microcontroller configured to detect when one of the one or more of gamma probes is providing output pulses that may indicate one or more probes has malfunctioned, the microcontroller configured to assign a representative data value to the output pulses of the one or more gamma probes, to calculate a differential diversion factor for each of the one or more gamma probes, and to determine when the one or more of the gamma probes differential diversion factor indicates the one or more gamma probes may be close to malfunctioning, andone or more memory elements to store gamma controller assembly executable code and gamma probe data. 2. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 1, further comprising: one or more power supplies to provide power to the one or more microcontrollers, the one or more gamma probes, and the one or more memory elements. 3. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 1, further comprising: one or more communications pathways between each of the one or more gamma probes and at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, wherein the output pulses of each of the one or more gamma probes are configured to be communicated on the one or more communications pathways to the at least one of the one or more microcontrollers for interpretation and logging to memory. 4. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more microcontrollers are configured to analyze the output pulses of each of the one or more gamma probes to determine if one or more probes has malfunctioned. 5. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more microcontrollers are configured to disqualify or disregard the output pulses from each of the one or more gamma probes, when the each of the one or more gamma probes is determined to be close to malfunctioning or determined to be malfunctioning. 6. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 5, wherein the one or more microcontrollers are configured to continue analyzing the output pulses from each of the one or more gamma probes that have been disqualified or disregarded and re-qualify each of the one or more gamma probes that have returned to acceptable operating parameters. 7. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 1, further comprising: one or more communication pathways to convey gamma probe data between the downhole measurement assembly and a remote computer. 8. A method of measuring radiation given off by geological formations downhole, the method including the following steps: deploying a radiation measurement assembly downhole, the radiation measurement assembly comprising: one or more gamma probes to sense radiation given off by downhole formations and provide output pulses representative of the radiation,one or more microcontrollers, at least one of which is configured to calculate differential diversion factors for the output pulses of the one or more gamma probes, andone or more memory elements for storing the gamma controller assembly executable program and for logging gamma probe data;sensing radiation given off downhole from formations by the one or more of gamma probes, the one or more of gamma probes each generating pulses that are communicated to at least one of the one or more microcontrollers;interpreting the pulses given off by each of the one or more of gamma probes by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers such that the pulses are each assigned representative data;calculating, by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, a differential diversion factor for each of the one or more gamma probes;determining if one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the one or more gamma probes may indicate that a particular one of the gamma probes may be close to malfunctioning; anddisqualifying one of the one or more of gamma probes, responsive to the determining step, such that the pulses output by the disqualified gamma probe are no longer considered valid. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of: determining of one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the one or more gamma probes indicates that a particular one of the gamma probes has malfunctioned. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: disqualifying or flagging previously gathered data associated with the one or more gamma probes that has been determined to have malfunctioned, at least for a time period over which the gamma probe was known to have been malfunctioning. 11. A downhole measurement assembly to facilitate the reliable downhole measurement of radiation given off by geological formations adjacent a wellbore, the downhole measurement assembly comprising: one or more of gamma probes to sense radiation given off by downhole formations and provide output pulses representative of the radiation,one or more microcontrollers, at least one of which is configured to detect when one of the one or more of gamma probes is providing output pulses that may indicate the probe has malfunctioned,a communication pathway between each of the one or more of gamma probes and at least one of the one or more microcontrollers wherein the output pulses of each of the one or more of gamma probes are communicated on the communication pathway to at least one of the one or more microcontrollers for interpretation and logging,one or more communication pathways to convey gamma probe data between the downhole measurement assembly and a remote computer, andnon-transitory computer-readable storage medium in communication with the one or more microcontrollers with an executable program stored thereon, the executable program comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the one or more microcontrollers, causes the one or more microcontrollers to perform the operations of: sensing radiation given off downhole from formations by the one or more of gamma probes, the one or more of gamma probes each generating pulses that are communicated to at least one of the one or more microcontrollers;interpreting the pulses given off by each of the one or more of gamma probes by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers such that the pulses are each assigned representative data;calculating, by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, a differential diversion factor for each of the one or more gamma probes;determining if one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the one or more gamma probes may indicate that a particular one of the gamma probes may be close to malfunctioning; anddisqualifying one of the one or more of gamma probes, responsive to the determining step, such that the pulses output by the disqualified gamma probe are no longer considered valid. 12. A downhole measurement assembly as defined in claim 11, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further comprises a set of instructions that when executed by the one or more microcontrollers, causes the one or more microcontrollers to perform the operations of: interpreting the pulses given off by at least one of the disqualified gamma probes by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers such that the pulses are each assigned representative data;calculating, by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, a differential diversion factor for each of the at least one disqualified gamma probes;determining if one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the at least one disqualified gamma probes may indicate that a particular one of the disqualified gamma probes has resumed functioning within predetermined bounds; andre-qualifying one of the disqualified gamma probes, responsive to the determining step, such that the pulses output by the re-qualified gamma probe are considered valid. 13. A downhole measurement assembly as defined in claim 11, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further comprises a set of instructions that when executed by the one or more microcontrollers, causes the one or more microcontrollers to perform the operations of: logging representative data to memory by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers. 14. A computer-implemented method to facilitate the reliable downhole measurement of radiation given off by geological formations adjacent a wellbore, the computer-implemented method comprising the following steps: sensing radiation given off downhole from formations by the one or more of gamma probes, the one or more of gamma probes each generating pulses that are communicated to at least one of the one or more microcontrollers;interpreting the pulses given off by each of the one or more of gamma probes by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers such that the pulses are each assigned representative data;calculating, by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, a differential diversion factor for each of the one or more gamma probes;determining if one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the one or more gamma probes may indicate that a particular one of the gamma probes may be close to malfunctioning; anddisqualifying one of the one or more of gamma probes, responsive to the determining step, such that the pulses output by the disqualified gamma probe are no longer considered valid. 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: interpreting the pulses given off by at least one of the disqualified gamma probes by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers such that the pulses are each assigned representative data;calculating, by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, a differential diversion factor for each of the at least one disqualified gamma probes;determining if one or more of the differential diversion factors calculated for each of the at least one disqualified gamma probes may indicate that a particular one of the disqualified gamma probes has resumed functioning within predetermined bounds; andre-qualifying one of the disqualified gamma probes, responsive to the determining step, such that the pulses output by the re-qualified gamma probe are considered valid. 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: logging representative data to memory by at least one of the one or more microcontrollers. 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: indicating to a remote computer at the surface when one or more of the gamma probes has been disqualified. 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: indicating to a remote computer at the surface when one or more of the gamma probes has been re-qualified. 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: communicating to a measurement while drilling tool, by the one or more microcontrollers, representative data of the measurements taken by the one or more gamma probes. 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises the following steps: communicating to a measurement while drilling tool, the calculated differential diversion factors associated with the one or more gamma probes. 21. A system to facilitate the reliable measurement and analysis of radiation given off by geological formations adjacent a wellbore, the system comprising: a downhole measurement assembly, comprising: one or more gamma probes to sense radiation given off by downhole formations and to provide output pulses representative of the radiation,one or more memory elements to store gamma controller assembly executable code and gamma probe data, andone or more microcontrollers, at least one of which is configured to receive the output pulses from the one or more of gamma probes, the at least one microcontroller configured to assign a representative data value to the output pulses of the one or more gamma probes and write the representative data value to the one or more memory elements, thereby logging the representative data, the logged representative data forming the gamma probe data;a surface assembly, comprising: one or more computers configured to process the gamma probe data either in real-time or by post-processing the data to detect when the gamma probe data may indicate that one or more probes has malfunctioned, the one or more computers configured to calculate a differential diversion factor for each of the one or more gamma probes over a pre-determined period of time, the one or more computers further configured to determine when the one or more of the gamma probes differential diversion factor indicates the one or more gamma probes may be close to malfunctioning or malfunctioning. 22. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 21, further comprising: one or more power supplies to provide power to the one or more microcontrollers, the one or more gamma probes, and the one or more memory elements. 23. The downhole measurement assembly of claim 21, further comprising: one or more communications pathways between each of the one or more gamma probes and at least one of the one or more microcontrollers, wherein the output pulses of each of the one or more gamma probes are configured to be communicated on the one or more communications pathways to the at least one of the one or more microcontrollers for interpretation and logging to memory. 24. The surface assembly of claim 21, wherein the one or more computers are configured to analyze the gamma probe data in realtime to determine if one or more gamma probes has malfunctioned. 25. The surface assembly of claim 21, wherein the one or more computers are configured to disqualify or disregard the gamma probe data from each of the one or more gamma probes, when the each of the one or more gamma probes is determined to be close to malfunctioning or determined to be malfunctioning. 26. The surface assembly of claim 25, wherein the one or more microcontrollers are configured to continue analyzing the gamma probe data from each of the one or more gamma probes that have been disqualified or disregarded and re-qualify each of the one or more gamma probes that have returned to acceptable operating parameters. 27. The system of claim 21, further comprising: one or more communication pathways to convey gamma probe data in real-time between the downhole measurement assembly and the surface assembly. 28. The system of claim 21, further comprising: one or more systems to convey gamma probe data between the downhole measurement assembly and the surface assembly for post-processing of the gamma probe data at the surface.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (2)
Flowers, Joseph K.; Smith, Michael L.; Beckel, Jeffrey; Adnan, Sarmad; Leising, Lawrence J., Downhole fluid pressure signal generation and transmission.
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