Abstract:
A product consisting of a plurality of thermocouple cables braided or wound and covered with protective armour, thereby forming a braided bundle. The product is used in accordance with a method involving a further step of inserting the braided bundle into a well.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a thermocouple cable bundle, developed to facilitate insertion of more than one thermocouple cable concurrently into a well.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Thermocouple cables are only capable of recording temperature at between one and three points along their length. In order to monitor more than three sensing points, more than one thermocouple cable is required. It is not unusual for fifty sensing points to be required, when monitoring an oil or gas well.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a product consisting of a plurality of thermocouple cables braided or wound and covered with protective armour, thereby forming a braided bundle.  
         [0004]     According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method. A first step of the method involves providing the above described product in the form of a braided or wound bundle. A second step of the method involves inserting the braided or wound bundle into a well, by one of several techniques which will hereinafter be further described. The braided or wound bundle facilitates sealing and provides mechanical protection for the thermocouple cables, as they are inserted into the well. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]     These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a simplified side elevation view, in section, of thermocouple cables formed into a braided bundle.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a side elevation view of the braided bundle illustrated in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is an end elevation view of the braided bundle illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a side elevation view, in section, of a well, illustrating a “pump in” method of inserting thermocouple cables into a well as a braided bundle in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a side elevation view, in section, of a well, illustrating a “piggy back” method of inserting thermocouple cables into a well as a braided bundle in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a side elevation view, in section, of a well, illustrating the method of removing the thermocouple cables from the well. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]     A preferred embodiment of thermocouple cable bundle, generally identified by reference numeral  12 , will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 through 6 .  
         [0013]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , thermocouple cable bundle  12  consists of a number of thermocouple cables  14 . Each thermocouple cable  14  is individually encased in an outer metal sheath  16 . The thermocouple cables  14  are braided or wound to provide them with additional strength and then covered with a protective armour  18 . When the term ‘braided’ is used, it will be understood that other means of combining, such as winding or twisting may be used instead. Referring to  FIG. 2 , it is preferred that thermocouple bundle  12  be covered with braided metal protective armour  18  to form a substantially round braided bundle  20 . The metal may be selected from any variation of a metal compound such as carbon steel, stainless steel, galvanized steel or incoloy.  
         [0014]     There are other secondary enhancements which may be added to thermocouple cable bundle  12 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , a pressure monitoring capilliary tube  22  may added to braided bundle  20 , thereby providing pressure monitoring capability. A conductive power wire  24  may also be added to braided bundle  20 , thereby providing power transmission capability. An optical fibre  26  may be added to braided bundle  20 , thereby providing optical signal transmission capability. Referring to  FIG. 1 , thermocouple cable bundle  12  may have sensing points  27  at intervals along its length.  
         [0015]     Thermocouple cable bundle  12  was developed for insertion into a well, typically an oil or gas well. There are a number of ways this insertion can be accomplished. Referring to  FIG. 4 , one method is a “pump in” method. Braided bundle  20  is packed off and injected into an oil well  28  under pressure in accordance with established techniques used to inject wireline into an oil well. For this method a plug or “pig” (not shown) is attached to a remote end of braided bundle  20  in order to provide a surface for the carrier fluid to act against. A grease injector and lubricator  32  or a stuffing box are required to provided pressure control during “pump in” insertion into pressured or live wells. Referring to  FIG. 5 , another method is a “piggy back” method. This method involves affixing braided bundle  20  onto another tubular  34 , which is being inserted into the well. It will be appreciated that this could involve any tubular inserted into the well, such as coil tubing, production tubing, or casing. Referring to  FIG. 6 , once braided bundle  20  has served its purpose, it may then be removed from well  28  by exerting an upward force to pull braided bundle  20  from well  28 .  
         [0016]     In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.  
         [0017]     It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.