US 12,467,337 B2
Autonomous wellbore cleaning system
Michael Linley Fripp, Singapore (SG); Mark S. Holly, Singapore (SG); Wei Zhang, Houston, TX (US); and Aswin Balasubramanian, Spring, TX (US)
Assigned to Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Filed by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Aug. 16, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/450,922.
Prior Publication US 2025/0059853 A1, Feb. 20, 2025
Int. Cl. E21B 37/02 (2006.01); E21B 47/00 (2012.01)
CPC E21B 37/02 (2013.01) [E21B 47/006 (2020.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for cleaning a wellbore, the apparatus comprising:
an autonomous robot, wherein the robot is self-propelled;
a power source for the robot;
a motor for propelling the robot axially within the wellbore;
at least one cleaning tool positioned on the robot;
at least one sensor to detect an initiate-cleaning attribute downhole in the wellbore; and
a processor to direct the robot to initiate a cleaning operation in response to the initiate-cleaning attribute exceeding a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of a depth of scale, an amount of coverage of scale, a change in an electrical reading, or a change in speed of movement.