| CPC E21B 47/047 (2020.05) [E21B 21/08 (2013.01); E21B 47/138 (2020.05)] | 19 Claims |
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1. A well tool system comprising:
a bell nipple attached to a well head of a wellbore at a surface;
a rotary table installed above the bell nipple such that the bell nipple is between the rotary table and the well head;
a flow line attached to a side surface of the bell nipple such that the flow line is between the rotary table and the well head, the flow line configured to permit flow of wellbore fluid into the bell nipple;
an ultrasonic transceiver attached to an inner surface of the bell nipple, the ultrasonic transceiver configured to transmit ultrasonic signals and receive ultrasonic response signals generated responsive to a reflection of the ultrasonic signals;
an alarm installed on the rotary table, the alarm operatively coupled to the ultrasonic transceiver; and
a control system operatively coupled to the ultrasonic transceiver and the alarm, the control system comprising:
one or more computers, and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
sending an instruction to the ultrasonic transceiver to transmit an ultrasonic signal into the bell nipple,
receiving a signal from the ultrasonic transceiver, the received signal representative of an ultrasonic response signal received by the ultrasonic transceiver responsive to a reflection of the transmitted ultrasonic signal by a wellbore fluid within the bell nipple, wherein the ultrasonic response signal represents a fluid level of the wellbore fluid within the bell nipple, and
determining, based on the transmitted ultrasonic signal and the received ultrasonic response signal, whether the fluid level within the bell nipple is static or mobile by determining whether a magnitude of the ultrasonic response signal remains constant over time or varies over time.
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