Downhole tool sniffs out fractures
This article reports that a new tool has been designed and successfully tested that can designate which direction from a borehole a particular fracture is located. Albuquerque-based Sandia National Laboratories tested the new tool. The prototype was built by Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio. During field tests, the tool detected simulated fractures more than 30 ft away from a test borehole. It determines fracture direction by transmitting highly directional and powerful radar pulses in a known direction. The pulses last eight billionths of a second and their frequency spectrum range up to the VHF (very high frequency) band. Discontinuities in the rock interrupt and reflect radar signals so that a signal's return to the tool indicates the presence of fractures. The return signal's time delay translates into distance from the borehole. The transmitter and receiver rotate in place, permitting the tool to scan for fractures in all directions.
- OSTI ID:
- 5991941
- Journal Information:
- Drilling-DCW; (United States), Journal Name: Drilling-DCW; (United States) Vol. 48:3; ISSN DRDCD
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Geology
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BOREHOLES
CAVITIES
DESIGN
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
EXPLORATORY WELLS
FIELD TESTS
FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE
FREQUENCY RANGE
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MONITORING
MONITORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
ORIENTATION
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PULSES
RADAR
RADIO EQUIPMENT
RANGE FINDERS
RESOURCES
SANDIA LABORATORIES
SIMULATION
TESTING
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WELLS