Wirelessly powered and activated electromagnetic transmitters behind casing for reservoir monitoring
Described herein are systems and techniques for monitoring substances that are injected into an Earth formation whether that be CO2 from a carbon capture and storage (CCS) process, or water or steam injected for an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process. Components located on an outside of a wellbore casing may be electrically isolated from components located on the inside of the wellbore casing. Data and/or power may be transferred through the wellbore casing wirelessly in order to increase the reliability of a data collection system because the need for wires to be placed on the outside surface of a wellbore casing is eliminated. The components located on the outside of the casing may receive electromagnetic (EM) or transmit EM fields as part of a system that collects data about substances that are injected into Earth formations during a CCS or EOR process.
1 . A system comprising:
a first transceiver that transmits a first signal into a ground formation, wherein the first transceiver is disposed along an outer surface of a wellbore casing;
a second transceiver that receives energy from the first signal transmitted into the ground formation by the first transceiver, wherein the received energy is converted into a second signal that is provided to a computer such that the computer can perform an evaluation on the second signal to identify a property of the ground formation;
a first contactless communication element (CCE) located inside of the wellbore casing; and
a second CCE located on the outer surface of the wellbore casing, wherein:
power is wirelessly coupled from the first CCE to the second CCE;
an operational frequency that wirelessly couples signals between first CCE and the second CCE is tuned based on a characteristic of the wellbore casing; and
the second CCE is configured to receive a communication, as part of the signals, from the first CCE to trigger the first transceiver to transmit the first signal into the ground formation.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication is sent to the second CCE from the first CCE as part of the power that is wirelessly coupled between the first CCE and the second CCE.
3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising one or more electronic components coupled to the second CCE that are powered by a voltage generated by stimulation of a piezoelectric device, inductive coupling, or capacitive coupling.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first transceiver transmits the first signal into the ground formation without direct electrical contact being made with the ground formation,
the second transceiver receives the energy without making direct electrical contact with the ground formation, and
an operational frequency used to wirelessly couple signals between the first CCE and the second CCE is tuned based either or both of a number of layers of the casing and a thickness of the casing.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver and the second transceiver include one or more respective inductors, the first signal is transmitted via an electromagnetic (EM) field, and the second signal is generated based on receiving the energy via EM induction.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first signal is transmitted based on galvanic excitation and the energy is received via galvanic action.
7 . A method comprising:
wirelessly coupling power from a first contactless communication element (CCE) located inside of a wellbore casing to a second CCE located on an outer surface of the wellbore casing;
tuning an operational frequency that wirelessly couples signals between the first CCE and the second CCEE based on a characteristic of the wellbore casing;
transmitting a communication, as part of the signals, from the first CCE to the second CCE, wherein the communication triggers the first transceiver to transmit a first signal into a ground formation in proximity to the wellbore casing;
transmitting the first signal into the ground formation by the first transceiver in response to the communication transmitted from the first CCE to the second CCE, wherein the first transceiver is disposed along an outer surface of a wellbore casing; and
receiving, by a second transceiver, energy from the from the first signal transmitted into the ground formation by the first transceiver, wherein the received energy is converted into a second signal that is provided to a computer such that the computer can perform an evaluation on the second signal to identify a property of the ground formation.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the communication is sent to the second CCE from the first CCE as part of the power that is wirelessly coupled between the first CCE and the second CCE.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising generating a voltage that powers one or more components coupled to the second CCE based on piezoelectric device stimulation, inductive coupling, or capacitive coupling.
10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein:
the first transceiver transmits the first signal into the ground formation without direct electrical contact being made with the ground formation,
the second transceiver receives the energy without making direct electrical contact with the ground formation, and
an operational frequency is used to wirelessly couple signals between the first CCE and the second CCE is tuned based on either or both of a number of layers of the casing and a thickness of the casing.
11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first transceiver and the second transceiver include one or more respective inductors, the first signal is transmitted via an electromagnetic (EM) field, and the second signal is generated based on receiving the energy via EM induction.
12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first signal is transmitted based on galvanic excitation and the energy is received via galvanic action.
13 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage media having embodied thereon instructions that when executed by one or more processors to implement a method comprising:
wirelessly coupling power from a first contactless communication element (CCE) located inside of a wellbore casing to a second CCE located on an outer surface of the wellbore casing;
tuning an operational frequency that wirelessly couples signals between the first CCE and the second CCEE based on a characteristic of the wellbore casing;
transmitting a communication from the first CCE to the second CCE, wherein the communication triggers the first transceiver to transmit a first signal into a ground formation in proximity to the wellbore casing;
transmitting the first signal into the ground formation by the first transceiver in response to the communication transmitted from the first CCE to the second CCE, wherein the first transceiver is disposed along an outer surface of a wellbore casing; and
receiving, by a second transceiver, energy from the from the first signal transmitted into the ground formation by the first transceiver, wherein the received energy is converted into a second signal that is provided to a computer such that the computer can perform an evaluation on the second signal to identify a property of the ground formation.
14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to perform the evaluation.
15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein the communication is sent to the second CCE from the first CCE as part of the power that is wirelessly coupled between the first CCE and the second CCE.
16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to generate a voltage that powers one or more components coupled to the second CCE based on piezoelectric device stimulation, inductive coupling, or capacitive coupling.
17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein the first transceiver and the second transceiver include one or more respective inductors, the first signal is transmitted via an electromagnetic (EM) field, and the second signal is generated based on receiving the energy via EM induction.