Granted Patent B2

US 12,435,616 · App. 18/753,233 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Inventors: Laslo Olah (Richardson, TX); Kirk Lane Harris (Lafayette, LA); Gergely Sebestyen (Budapest, HU)

Assignee: Texas Institute of Science, Inc.

E21B47/005G06F17/40

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A computer-program product for bond-log analysis, embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising program instructions executable by a processor of a computer system to:

receive, from a digital log file, a single Cement Bond Log (CBL) of a wellbore casing that includes Variable Density Log (VDL) data and at least one Secondary Data Track (SDT) recorded concurrently with the VDL data;

for each of a plurality of discrete depths represented in the VDL data, perform an initial VDL-only assessment that classifies the depth as clear or possible discontinuity present;

tag every depth classified as having a possible discontinuity;

initiate a rolling investigation that sequentially analyzes depths immediately above and below each tagged depth until two consecutive clear depths are found in each direction;

for every depth examined during the rolling investigation, analyze at least one SDT in conjunction with the VDL data;

dynamically update the depth queue during the rolling investigation when subsequent SDT analyses change a depth's status from clear to imperfect, or vice versa;

for each tagged or updated depth, analyze the corresponding SDT data together with the VDL data to:

determine a probable cause of the possible discontinuity, and

re-classify the depth as clear or confirm the possible discontinuity;

compare and group the depths whose discontinuities are confirmed according to their vertical positions in the CBL to delineate one or more imperfect intervals;

rank the intervals by severity before generating a report; and

generate the report that synthesizes results from the VDL and SDT analyses and summarizes cement integrity of the wellbore casing.

2. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the initial VDL-only assessment further comprises analyzing amplitude and frequency variations of each VDL waveform to enhance detection of possible discontinuities.

3. The computer-program product of claim 2 , wherein the amplitude-and frequency-based findings are compared with thresholds held in a library derived from historical bond-log data and expert knowledge.

4. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the VDL-only assessment is executed on uniform, predetermined depth blocks, each block having a fixed vertical length.

5. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the VDL data and the at least one SDT are acquired during a single logging pass of the CBL tool.

6. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one SDT comprises two or more tracks selected from amplitude, gamma-ray, resistivity, tension, neutron-density, or acoustic-impedance data.

7. The computer-program product of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to classify each depth into categories of good cement bond, transition or mixed condition, and confirmed imperfect interval.

8. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the analysis of the SDT data further comprises signal processing techniques applied to the SDT data include filtering, noise reduction, and signal enhancement methods to improve the clarity and reliability of the analysis.

9. The computer-program product of claim 1 , wherein the report includes visual representations of the VDL and SDT data selected from charts, color maps, graphs, or annotated depth tracks.

10. A method for rolling-depth bond-log evaluation, comprising:

receiving a single Cement Bond Log (CBL) that contains Variable Density Log (VDL) data and at least one Secondary Data Track (SDT) recorded during the same logging run;

performing, for each discrete depth, an initial VDL-only assessment that flags the depth as clear or possibly imperfect;

tagging each flagged depth;

initiating a rolling investigation that sequentially analyses depths immediately above and below each tagged depth until two consecutive clear depths are found in each direction;

for every depth examined during the rolling investigation, analyzing at least one SDT in conjunction with the VDL data;

compiling confirmed imperfect depths into intervals;

assigning a composite severity score to each interval based on VDL amplitude loss, SDT attenuation, and interval length; and

ranking the intervals by severity before generating an integrity report.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the rolling investigation utilizes historical bond-log patterns stored in a library to predict a likely vertical range of imperfections and to prioritize depth order.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising classifying each depth into categories of good cement bond, transition or mixed condition, and confirmed imperfect interval.

13. A method for rolling-depth bond-log evaluation, comprising:

receiving a single Cement Bond Log (CBL) that contains Variable Density Log (VDL) data and at least one Secondary Data Track (SDT) recorded during the same logging run;

performing, for each discrete depth, an initial VDL-only assessment that flags the depth as clear or possibly imperfect;

tagging each flagged depth;

initiating a rolling investigation that sequentially analyses depths immediately above and below each tagged depth until two consecutive clear depths are found in each direction;

for every depth examined during the rolling investigation, analyzing at least one SDT in conjunction with the VDL data;

compiling confirmed imperfect depths into intervals;

ranking the intervals by severity before generating an integrity report; and

automatically generating an alert when any single imperfect interval exceeds a predetermined vertical-length threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the rolling investigation utilizes historical bond-log patterns stored in a library to predict a likely vertical range of imperfections and to prioritize depth order.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising classifying each depth into categories of good cement bond, transition or mixed condition, and confirmed imperfect interval.

16. A method for rolling-depth bond-log evaluation, comprising:

receiving a single Cement Bond Log (CBL) that contains Variable Density Log (VDL) data and at least one Secondary Data Track (SDT) recorded during the same logging run;

performing, for each discrete depth, an initial VDL-only assessment that flags the depth as clear or possibly imperfect;

tagging each flagged depth;

initiating a rolling investigation that sequentially analyses depths immediately above and below each tagged depth until two consecutive clear depths are found in each direction;

for every depth examined during the rolling investigation, analyzing at least one SDT in conjunction with the VDL data;

dynamically updating the depth queue during the rolling investigation when subsequent SDT analyses change a depth's status from clear to imperfect, or vice versa;

compiling confirmed imperfect depths into intervals; and

ranking the intervals by severity before generating an integrity report.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the rolling investigation utilizes historical bond-log patterns stored in a library to predict a likely vertical range of imperfections and to prioritize depth order.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising classifying each depth into categories of good cement bond, transition or mixed condition, and confirmed imperfect interval.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (21)