Publications

Abstract not provided.

Broadcasting messages through the earth is a daunting task. Indeed, broadcasting a normal telephone conversion through the earth by wireless means is impossible with todays technology. Most of us don't care, but some do. Industries that drill into the earth need wireless communication to broadcast navigation parameters. This allows them to steer their drill bits. They also need information about the natural formation that they are drilling. Measurements of parameters such as pressure, temperature, and gamma radiation levels can tell them if they have found a valuable resource such as a geothermal reservoir or a stratum bearing natural gas. Wireless communication methods are available to the drilling industry. Information is broadcast via either pressure waves in the drilling fluid or electromagnetic waves in the earth and well tubing. Data transmission can only travel one way at rates around a few baud. Given that normal Internet telephone modems operate near 20,000 baud, these data rates are truly very slow. Moreover, communication is often interrupted or permanently blocked by drilling conditions or natural formation properties. Here we describe a tool that communicates with stress waves traveling through the steel drill pipe and production tubing in the well. It's based on an old idea called Acoustic Telemetry. But what we present here is more than an idea. This tool exists, it's drilled several wells, and it works. Currently, it's the first and only acoustic telemetry tool that can withstand the drilling environment. It broadcasts one way over a limited range at much faster rates than existing methods, but we also know how build a system that can communicate both up and down wells of indefinite length.