Identification of Casing Collars While Drilling and Post Drilling Using LWD and Wireline Measurements

Abstract

Systems and methods identify and/or detect one or more features of a well casing by utilizing one or more downhole measurements obtainable by a downhole component. The one or more features of the well casing are identifiable and/or detectable from the one or more measurements associated with one or more properties of the one or more features of the well casing. The one or more measurements for indentifying and/or detecting a presence and/or a location of the one or more features of the well casing include sonic measurements, nuclear measurements, gamma ray measurements, photoelectric measurements, resistivity measurements and/or combinations thereof

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for identifying a feature of a well casing located within a wellbore, the method comprising:
 positioning a downhole component within the wellbore;   obtaining one or more measurements associated with the feature of the well casing via the downhole component, wherein the one or more measurements is selected from the group consisting of sonic measurements, nuclear measurements, photoelectric measurements, resistivity measurements and combinations thereof;   identifying a location of the feature of the well casing based on the one or more measurements;   determining a measured depth based on the location of the feature; and   performing a downhole action based on the measure depth.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the downhole action is selected from the group consisting of positioning a perforation tool, side tracking a well and positioning a whipstock. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the feature of the well casing is selected from a group consisting of a casing collar joint, a top end of cement located adjacent to the well casing, a degree of cement bonding adjacent to the well casing and an air gap associated with the casing collar joint. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning the downhole component on drill pipe.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting the one or more measurements from the downhole component uphole via a communication link, wherein the communication link is a wired drill pipe or a telemetry module.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising:
 electrically connecting the downhole component to an uphole controller via the communication link, wherein the controller identifies the feature of the well casing based on the one or more measurements associated with the feature of the well casing.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying the location of the feature of the well casing based on sonic measurements obtained by the downhole component, wherein the feature of the well casing is selected from a group consisting of a casing collar joint, a top end of cement located adjacent to the well casing and a degree of cement bond located adjacent to the well casing.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the downhole component is a logging-while-drilling tool or a wireline configurable tool.