US 11,674,387 B2
Instrumented packer having distributed fiber optic sensor
Hugues Dupont, Abbeville (FR); Thomas Berard, Clamart (FR); Colin Allan Wilson, Sugar Land, TX (US); and Pierre-Yves Corre, Abbeville (FR)
Assigned to SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, Sugar Land, TX (US)
Filed by Schlumberger Technology Corporation, Sugar Land, TX (US)
Filed on Feb. 22, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/180,923.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/978,956, filed on Feb. 20, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0262343 A1, Aug. 26, 2021
Int. Cl. E21B 47/135 (2012.01); E21B 33/127 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 47/135 (2020.05) [E21B 33/127 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of evaluating characteristics of an earth formation, comprising:
deploying a packer assembly in a borehole penetrating an earth formation, the packer assembly comprising an instrumented inflatable packer element including fiber optic sensors, wherein the packer assembly is deployed in the borehole in a deflated configuration, wherein the fiber optic sensors comprise optical fibers set in the instrumented inflatable packer elements, wherein the instrumented inflatable packer element comprises an inflatable section extending between a first end and a second end, the inflatable section made of an elastomeric material reinforced with a plurality of cables, wherein the optical fiber is set within the elastomeric material between adjacent cables, and wherein the optical fiber and the cables extend essentially along a longitudinal axis of the packer element;
inflating the instrumented inflatable packer elements;
detecting, using the fiber optic sensors, events occurring in the earth formation; and
transmitting data corresponding to the detected events to a surface processing system.