ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING THE COMMUNICATION SIGNAL OF THE BOTTOM SENSOR AND TESTER OF THE COMMUNICATION MODULE/MMI WITH THE BOTTOM SENSOR IN OIL WELLS OPERATING WITH SCP

Abstract

The present invention proposes an electronic system capable of assuming the role of master module before the proprietary module of the manufacturer of the SCP system, in the absence of a response to the first request from the supervisory system, or when the proposed module detects that the original module is inappropriately carrying out the PCM signal decoding. The system is further capable of monitoring new variables available at the bottomhole, regardless of the limited set of variables provided by the original module of the SCP system.

The invention aims at covering a hitherto unsolved technical gap (signal loss between the bottom sensors and the surface panels) and add a set of possibilities that can be taken advantage of to increase well production performance and increase medium time between failures (MTBF—Medium Time Between Failures), with the development of specific know-how for SCP systems.

Claims

1. An electronic system for recovering the communication signal of the bottom sensor and tester of the communication module/MMI with the bottom sensor in oil wells operating with SCP, characterized in that it comprises 3 electronic boards: one for power, one for signal acquisition, and one for signal processing.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the power board is responsible by powering the bottom sensor.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the power board supplies a voltage of 60 to 90 VDC, with a maximum current of approximately 67 mA.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the power board supplies power to the internal circuits, with voltages of ±10 VDC.

5. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal acquisition board is responsible for acquiring the signal from the bottom sensor.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that the signal acquisition board comprises a microcontroller (U4 (5)), an active analog filter (IC1D (10)), a gain control circuit (IC1C (12)), offset (IC1B (11)), a relay (K1 (7)), and a resistor (R10 (9)).

7. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that the voltage variation in the resistor of the signal acquisition board is treated through an active filter (10) and amplifiers with gain adjustment (12).

8. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal processing board is responsible for interpreting the signal coming from the acquisition board and providing the user with the values sent by the bottom sensor.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that the provision of the bottom sensor values is by means of emulation of the bottomhole sensor, through an electronic load, or through a touchscreen display or resident web page and available via Wi-Fi.

10. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that the signal processing board comprises a microcontroller (U1 (5)), a touchscreen display (DSP1 (15)) and a MOSFET transistor (Q1 (14)).

11. The system of claim 1, characterized in that the communication between the acquisition and processing boards takes place through a serial port using UART protocol, with a rate of 14400 bps.

12. The system of claim 1, characterized in that it has an operating mode in the bottom sensor communication signal regenerator function and an operating mode in the bottom sensor emulator function.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] The present invention will be described in more detail below, with reference to the attached figures which, in a schematic form and not limiting the inventive scope, represent examples of its embodiment. In the drawings, there are:

[0021] FIG. 1, which illustrates the main functional blocks that make up an information communication system based on Shannon's model for data communication.

[0022] FIG. 2, which illustrates the power board diagram, where there are represented: 90 to 240 VAC Source (1), Differential Source±10 V (2), Source+10 V (3);

[0023] FIG. 3, which illustrates the schematic of the acquisition board, where there are represented: Power from the source board (4), Microcontroller (5), Communication with the processing board (6), Relay (7), Connection with sensor (8), Resistor R10 (9), Analog Filter (10), Offset Control (11), Gain Control (12).

[0024] FIG. 4, which illustrates the schematic of the processing board, where there are represented: Power from the source board (4), Microcontroller (5), Communication with the acquisition board (13), MOSFET Transistor (14), Display (15).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] There follows below a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, by way of example and in no way limiting. Nevertheless, it will become clear to one skilled in the art, from reading this description, possible further embodiments of the present invention still comprised by the essential and optional features below.

[0026] The present invention addresses to an electronic system (hardware/firmware) consisting of two modes of operation: (a) operating mode in the function of regenerator of the communication signal of the bottom sensor to increase the ability to maintain communication between the surface supervisory equipment with the SCP system bottom sensor and (b) operating mode in the bottom sensor emulator function to test the SCP system surface supervisory equipment.

[0027] It is worth to emphasize that the emulator function of the bottom sensor electronics does not correct or diagnose the problems of surface supervisory equipment. This function generates pre-defined information on the variables of a bottom sensor, and it is up to the operator to identify whether the information configured in the electronic system is correctly visualized in the man-machine interfaces of the manufacturers' commercial systems and, with that, to assess the condition of the supervisory equipment of surface.

[0028] The electronic system of the invention behaves as an intelligent voltage source, which offers a stabilized output voltage between 60 and 90 VDC, with a maximum output current around 67 mA to power the bottom sensor and provide the extra current for possible leakage currents in the power cable.

[0029] This system can be fully applied in four operating conditions of a SCP system, which are: [0030] a) Preventive application in signal regenerator function: A commercial SCP system is installed in a well and operating without any restrictions regarding the bottomhole sensor communication signal with SCP. In this scenario, the electronic module in the signal regenerator function is preventively installed in the well to guarantee and maintain the bottomhole sensor operating even in high leakage current conditions. This preventive application is justified in wells that indicate symptoms of degradation of the electric cable insulation, even allowing for monitoring and following the evolution of this deterioration. [0031] b) Corrective application in signal regenerator function: A commercial SCP system is installed in a well and operating without communication with the bottomhole sensor. In this scenario, the electronic system in the function of signal regenerator is installed in the well, post-diagnosis of the problem (corrective action) to eliminate the problem of loss of communication of the bottomhole sensor, even operating permanently in high leakage current conditions. The electronics module guarantees a higher current supply capacity (up to 3.5 times more) when compared to a commercial SCP system. [0032] c) Application of the bottom sensor emulator to test the surface supervisory equipment of the commercial SCP system: In this scenario, the surface supervisory equipment is only tested directly in the field. The electronics in the bottom sensor emulator function also allows testing the surface supervisory equipment of the SCP system in the workshop/laboratory. [0033] d) Application in monitoring downhole variables in inactive wells. For continuous monitoring, the variables obtained by the equipment can be made available to any surface systems that have the capacity to store historical data. For planned monitoring, with a single piece of equipment, the user can visit several wells over the course of a day, just to collect the information and then make it available to those requesting the information.

[0034] The electronic system of the invention essentially consists of three electronic boards: one for power supply, one for signal acquisition, and one for signal processing.

[0035] The power board, as shown in FIG. 2, is responsible for powering the bottom sensor, at a voltage of 60 to 90 VDC, with a maximum current of approximately 67 mA. It also supplies power to the internal circuits, with voltages of ±10 VDC. This board's main component is a flyback, step-up (60 to 90 V) and step-down (±10 V) switching power supply.

[0036] The signal acquisition board, as shown in FIG. 3, has the function of acquiring the signal from the bottom sensor. The acquisition takes place by inserting a resistor (9) between the source and the sensor. The voltage variation in the resistor (9) is treated through an active filter (10) and amplifiers with gain adjustment (12), and delivered to the ADC (Analog To Digital Converter) of the microcontroller (5). This microcontroller (5) is dedicated to the tasks of acquisition, control of signal conditioning, digital filtering, and on-off control of the voltage supply to the bottom sensor. The main components of the acquisition board are: microcontroller (U4 (5)), active analog filter (IC1D (10)), gain control circuit (IC1C (12)), offset (IC1B (11)), relay (K1 (7)), and resistor (R10 (9)).

[0037] The signal processing board, as shown in FIG. 4, has the function of interpreting the signal from the acquisition board and providing the user with the values sent by the bottom sensor. The supply can take place in three ways: through bottomhole sensor emulation, through an electronic load (MOSFET), or through a touchscreen display or resident web page and available via Wi-Fi. These tasks are performed by a microcontroller. The main components of the processing board are: microcontroller (U1 (5)), touchscreen display (DSP1 (15)), and MOSFET transistor (Q1 (14)).

[0038] With the regenerator connected and the bottomhole sensor energized, the acquisition of the voltage signal in the resistor (R10 (9)) begins. Initially, there is a wait for the synchronism signal sent by the sensor. From this, the microcontroller (U4 (5)) acts on the gain (12) and offset (11) control, in order to mitigate noise, aiming at avoiding errors in the readings of the data to come. A digital filtering of the signal is performed before sending the same to the processing board.

[0039] The communication between the acquisition and processing boards takes place through a serial port using UART protocol, with a rate of 14400 bps. The signal is interpreted by the processing board. The microcontroller (U1 (5)) checks the consistency and acts on the decoding of the received data packets. In case of successful decoding, the microcontroller (5) makes the information available on the display and on the resident web server. If the equipment is in regeneration mode (default), the information is sent to the electronic load (MOSFET transistor (14)) to emulate the bottom sensor. The processing board also has an operating mode that allows the user to create simulated values of variables, a useful action for testing the surface supervisory system. In this case, there is no need for the bottom sensor to be connected.

[0040] The electronic system of the present invention allows the reestablishment of SCP measurements that were lost due to leakage currents resulting from damage to electric cables. By retrieving this information, it is possible to operate the well with SCP properly, increasing the productivity. Without the measurements, the SCP well is operated improperly, which can lead to large financial losses.