Non-contact gyroscopic centralizer tools and methods of use

Abstract

A well system includes a wellhead installation arranged at a surface location, a wellbore extending from the wellhead installation and being at least partially lined with casing, a downhole tool arranged within the wellbore and attached to a conveyance extending from the wellhead installation, and a non-contact auto centralizer attached to the conveyance. The non-contact auto centralizer includes a detecting unit operable to detect a deviation of at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from a predefined center of the casing, and a re-centering unit including one or more propellers operable to re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A well system, comprising:
 a wellhead installation arranged at a surface location;   a wellbore extending from the wellhead installation and being at least partially lined with casing;   a downhole tool arranged within the wellbore and attached to a conveyance extending from the wellhead installation; and   a non-contact auto centralizer attached to the conveyance and including:
 a detecting unit operable to detect a deviation of at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from a predefined center of the casing; and 
 a re-centering unit including one or more propellers operable to re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center. 
   
     
     
         2 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the conveyance is selected from the group consisting of slickline, wireline, and coiled tubing. 
     
     
         3 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the detecting unit includes one or more gyroscopes operable to detect deviations of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from the predefined center of the casing. 
     
     
         4 . The well system of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more gyroscopes determine real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool as the downhole tool is conveyed into the wellbore. 
     
     
         5 . The well system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more gyroscopes include:
 one or more first gyroscopes arranged and configured to detect deviations of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool in the X direction; and   one or more second gyroscopes arranged and configured to detect deviations of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool in the Y direction.   
     
     
         6 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more propellers are selectively operated to individually re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center. 
     
     
         7 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more propellers comprise a plurality of propellers selectively operated simultaneously to cooperatively re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center. 
     
     
         8 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the non-contact auto centralizer further includes a control unit in communication with the detecting unit and the re-centering unit, the control unit being operable to control operation of the non-contact auto centralizer. 
     
     
         9 . The well system of  claim 8 , wherein the control unit is programmed to activate the one or more propellers to untwist the conveyance within the wellbore. 
     
     
         10 . The well system of  claim 8 , wherein the control unit is programmed to:
 determine real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool;   compare the real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool with reference X and Y coordinates of the casing; and   determine if the real-time X and Y coordinates deviate beyond a predetermined deviation threshold with respect to the reference X and Y coordinates.   
     
     
         11 . The well system of  claim 10 , wherein the control unit is programmed to activate the one or more propellers to re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center upon determining that the real-time X and Y coordinates deviate beyond the predetermined deviation threshold. 
     
     
         12 . The well system of  claim 1 , wherein the non-contact auto centralizer comprises a first non-contact auto centralizer attached to the conveyance at a first location, the well system further comprising a second non-contact auto centralizer attached to the conveyance at a second location axially offset from the first non-contact auto centralizer. 
     
     
         13 . A method for centralizing a conveyance in a wellbore during a wellbore intervention operation, the method comprising:
 introducing a downhole tool into a wellbore extending from a wellhead installation arranged at a surface location, the downhole tool being attached to the conveyance, and the wellbore being at least partially lined with casing;   introducing a non-contact auto centralizer attached to the conveyance simultaneously with the downhole tool, the non-contact auto centralizer including a detecting unit and a re-centering unit including one or more propellers;   detecting a deviation of at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from a predefined center of the casing with the detecting unit; and   operating the one or more propellers and thereby re-centering the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the detecting unit includes one or more gyroscopes, and wherein detecting the deviation of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from the predefined center comprises detecting deviations of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool from the predefined center with the one or more gyroscopes. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising determining real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool with the one or more gyroscopes determine as the downhole tool is conveyed into the wellbore. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the non-contact auto centralizer further includes a control unit in communication with the detecting unit and the re-centering unit, the method further comprising controlling operation of the non-contact auto centralizer with the control unit. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising activating the one or more propellers with the control unit to untwist the conveyance within the wellbore. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the control unit is programmed to:
 determine real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool;   compare the real-time X and Y coordinates of the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool with reference X and Y coordinates of the casing; and   determine if the real-time X and Y coordinates deviate beyond a predetermined deviation threshold with respect to the reference X and Y coordinates.   
     
     
         19 . The method of claim  19 , wherein the control unit is programmed to activate the one or more propellers to re-center the at least one of the conveyance and the downhole tool toward the predefined center upon determining that the real-time X and Y coordinates deviate beyond the predetermined deviation threshold.