Housing for downhole measurement

Abstract

Systems, methods and devices for equipping a rotatable drill string with measurement equipment. The system includes a removable carriage unit arranged and designed to be disposed within a bore of a removable section of the rotatable drill string. The removable carriage unit has measurement equipment disposed within a cavity thereof. The method includes disposing measurement equipment in the cavity of the removable carriage unit, coupling the removable carriage unit with a first end portion of the removable section of the rotatable drill string after disposing the measurement equipment in the cavity, and coupling a second end portion of the removable section with a shaft of the rotatable drill string.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of equipping a rotatable drill string with measurement equipment, the method comprising:
 disposing measurement equipment in a cavity in a removable carriage unit;   coupling the removable carriage unit with a first end portion of a removable section of a rotatable drill string after disposing the measurement equipment in the cavity; and   coupling a second end portion of the removable section with a shaft of the rotatable drill string.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising securing a cover over the cavity before coupling the removable carriage unit with the first end portion of the removable section of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein coupling the removable carriage unit with the first end portion of the removable section includes threadingly engaging the removable carriage unit with the first end portion of the removable section of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising decoupling the removable carriage unit from within the removable section of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising removing a cover from the removable carriage unit, thereby exposing the cavity in the removable carriage unit. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising removing a component of the measurement equipment from within the cavity of the removable carriage unit. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising replacing the component of the measurement equipment with a replacement component of measurement equipment in the cavity of the removable carriage unit. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement equipment includes at least one of a power supply, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, or a manometer. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising measuring at least one of shaft rotating speed of the rotatable drill string, drill bit rotating speed of the rotatable drill string, drill bit position of the rotatable drill string, or magnitude and direction of axial and lateral movement of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         10 . A drilling system comprising:
 a rotatable drill string;   a removable section of the rotatable drill string, the removable section having an end portion coupled to a shaft of the rotatable drill string; and   a removable carriage unit arranged and designed to be disposed within a bore of the removable section, the bore disposed in another end portion of the removable section, the removable carriage unit having a cavity therein and measurement equipment disposed within the cavity.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising a removable cover disposed over the cavity. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the removable carriage unit is threadingly engaged with the removable section of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the shaft of the rotatable drill string is threadingly engaged with the end portion of the removable section of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the measurement equipment is configured to measure at least one of shaft rotating speed of the rotatable drill string, drill bit rotating speed of the rotatable drill string, drill bit position of the rotatable drill string, and the magnitude and direction of axial and lateral movement of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the removable carriage unit is mass-balanced about a central axis of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the removable carriage unit includes a first seal and a second seal, the first seal being coupled to a first end portion of the removable carriage unit and the second seal being coupled to a second end portion of the removable carriage unit. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein one or more of the first and second seals comprises an O-ring. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the measurement equipment is embedded in one of a resin or a gel mitigating vibration of the measurement equipment during rotation of the rotatable drill string. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the removable carriage unit includes a groove disposed in a first end portion of the removable carriage unit, the groove arranged and designed to cooperate with a retrieval apparatus pulling the removable carriage unit away from the removable section. 
     
     
         20 . A drilling system comprising:
 a rotatable drill string for drilling a borehole, the rotatable drill string having a shaft; and   a removable carriage unit arranged and designed to be disposed within a bore of the shaft, the bore disposed in an end portion of the shaft, the removable carriage unit having a cavity therein and measurement equipment disposed within the cavity.