IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,435,622
Granted Patent B2
US 12,435,622 · App. 18/453,635 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Identifying drill cuttings with tracer pills

Inventors: Vera Solovyeva (Moscow, RU); Vladimir Khmelnitskiy (Moscow, RU); Vyacheslav Grokhovsky (Moscow, RU); Nouf AlJabri (Dhahran, SA)
Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
E21B47/11
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,435,622
App. No.
18/453,635
Granted
Oct 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Techniques for identifying drill cuttings include drilling a wellbore; during the drilling, circulating a drilling fluid that includes a plurality of tracer pills, where each tracer pill includes a shell or coating formed of a thermoresponsive material and a tracer material enclosed within the shell; during the drilling, removing cuttings such that the cuttings become entrained within the drilling fluid; attaching the tracer material of the tracer pills to the cuttings entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the tracer material from the shells; and circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings with the attached tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward a terranean surface.

Claims (69)

1. A method of identifying drill cuttings, comprising:

drilling at least a portion of a wellbore from a terranean surface and into a subterranean formation by rotating a drill bit on a drill string;

during the drilling, circulating a drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of a thermoresponsive material and a tracer material enclosed within the shell, the thermoresponsive material comprising a thermoplastic polymer selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, fluoropolymer, polyvinyl chloride, neoprene, silicone elastomer, and Viton;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from the subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings become entrained within the drilling fluid;

attaching the tracer material of at least some of the plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the tracer material from the shells by degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills based on a temperature within the wellbore at the subterranean formation; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings with the attached tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising analyzing the cuttings with the attached tracer material at the terranean surface through an optical analyzer.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of tracer pills are a first plurality of tracer pills, the tracer material is a first tracer material having a first color, and the subterranean formation is a first subterranean formation at a first depth, the method further comprising:

during the drilling, circulating the drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a second plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of the thermoresponsive material and a second tracer material enclosed within the shell, the second tracer material having a second color different than the first color;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from a second subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings of the second subterranean formation become entrained within the drilling fluid, the second subterranean formation at a second depth different than the first depth;

attaching the second tracer material of at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings from the second subterranean formation entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the second tracer material from the shells; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

analyzing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation with the attached first tracer material at the terranean surface through an optical analyzer;

analyzing the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material at the terranean surface through the optical analyzer; and

distinguishing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation from the cuttings from the second subterranean formation based on the difference between the first and second colors.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein releasing the first tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the first plurality of tracer pills based on a first temperature within the wellbore at the first subterranean formation, and

releasing the second tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills based on a second temperature within the wellbore at the second subterranean formation that is different than the first temperature.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises:

opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the cuttings with the attached tracer material at the terranean surface through an optical analyzer.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tracer pills are a first plurality of tracer pills, the tracer material is a first tracer material having a first color, and the subterranean formation is a first subterranean formation at a first depth, the method further comprising:

during the drilling, circulating the drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a second plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of the thermoresponsive material and a second tracer material enclosed within the shell, the second tracer material having a second color different than the first color;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from a second subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings of the second subterranean formation become entrained within the drilling fluid, the second subterranean formation at a second depth different than the first depth;

attaching the second tracer material of at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings from the second subterranean formation entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the second tracer material from the shells; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

analyzing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation with the attached first tracer material at the terranean surface through an optical analyzer;

analyzing the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material at the terranean surface through the optical analyzer; and

distinguishing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation from the cuttings from the second subterranean formation based on the difference between the first and second colors.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein releasing the first tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the first plurality of tracer pills based on a first temperature within the wellbore at the first subterranean formation, and

releasing the second tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills based on a second temperature within the wellbore at the second subterranean formation that is different than the first temperature.

13. A system, comprising:

a drilling sub-system configured to drill at least a portion of a wellbore from a terranean surface toward a subterranean formation by rotating a drill bit on a drill string; and

a drilling fluid circulation sub-system configured to perform operations comprising:

during the drilling, circulating a drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of a thermoresponsive material and a tracer material enclosed within the shell, the thermoresponsive material comprising a thermoplastic polymer selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, fluoropolymer, polyvinyl chloride, neoprene, silicone elastomer, and Viton;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from the subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings become entrained within the drilling fluid;

attaching the tracer material of at least some of the plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the tracer material from the shells by degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills based on a temperature within the wellbore at the subterranean formation; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings with the attached tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

16. The system of claim 14 , further comprising an optical analyzer configured to analyze the cuttings with the attached tracer material at the terranean surface.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of tracer pills are a first plurality of tracer pills, the tracer material is a first tracer material having a first color, and the subterranean formation is a first subterranean formation at a first depth, the drilling fluid circulation sub-system further configured to perform operations comprising:

during the drilling, circulating the drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a second plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of the thermoresponsive material and a second tracer material enclosed within the shell, the second tracer material having a second color different than the first color;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from a second subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings of the second subterranean formation become entrained within the drilling fluid, the second subterranean formation at a second depth different than the first depth;

attaching the second tracer material of at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings from the second subterranean formation entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the second tracer material from the shells; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising an optical analyzer configured to perform operations comprising:

analyzing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation with the attached first tracer material at the terranean surface;

analyzing the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material at the terranean surface; and

distinguishing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation from the cuttings from the second subterranean formation based on the difference between the first and second colors.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein releasing the first tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the first plurality of tracer pills based on a first temperature within the wellbore at the first subterranean formation, and

releasing the second tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills based on a second temperature within the wellbore at the second subterranean formation that is different than the first temperature.

20. The system of claim 13 , wherein releasing the tracer material comprises:

opening the shell of the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills through contact between the at least some of the plurality of tracer pills and at least one of the drill bit or the subterranean formation.

21. The system of claim 13 , further comprising an optical analyzer configured to analyze the cuttings with the attached tracer material at the terranean surface.

22. The system of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of tracer pills are a first plurality of tracer pills, the tracer material is a first tracer material having a first color, and the subterranean formation is a first subterranean formation at a first depth, the drilling fluid circulation sub-system further configured to perform operations comprising:

during the drilling, circulating the drilling fluid through the drill string and the drill bit, the drilling fluid comprising a second plurality of tracer pills, each tracer pill comprising a shell or coating formed of the thermoresponsive material and a second tracer material enclosed within the shell, the second tracer material having a second color different than the first color;

during the drilling, removing cuttings from a second subterranean formation with the rotating drill bit such that the cuttings of the second subterranean formation become entrained within the drilling fluid, the second subterranean formation at a second depth different than the first depth;

attaching the second tracer material of at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills to the cuttings from the second subterranean formation entrained within the drilling fluid by releasing the second tracer material from the shells; and

circulating the drilling fluid including the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material through the wellbore and uphole toward the terranean surface.

23. The system of claim 22 , further comprising an optical analyzer configured to perform operations comprising:

analyzing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation with the attached first tracer material at the terranean surface;

analyzing the cuttings from the second subterranean formation with the attached second tracer material at the terranean surface; and

distinguishing the cuttings from the first subterranean formation from the cuttings from the second subterranean formation based on the difference between the first and second colors.

24. The system of claim 22 , wherein releasing the first tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the first plurality of tracer pills based on a first temperature within the wellbore at the first subterranean formation, and

releasing the second tracer material comprises degrading or dissolving the thermoresponsive material of the shells of the at least some of the second plurality of tracer pills based on a second temperature within the wellbore at the second subterranean formation that is different than the first temperature.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 20, 2026
From: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY; SOLOVYEVA, VERA
To: ARAMCO INNOVATIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 074134/0844 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 17, 2023
From: SOLOVYEVA, VERA; KHMELNITSKIY, VLADIMIR; GROKHOVSKY, VYACHESLAV; ALJABRI, NOUF
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 065594/0410 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250067169A1 · Feb 27, 2025
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