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TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to monitoring and/or control systems that are used in high temperature down hole applications.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The control and monitoring of oil and gas wells have become increasingly complex. For example, wells under the control of a single company are being drilled throughout the world. Therefore, the need for central control and monitoring of wells that are widely dispersed geographically is becoming increasingly important. Such central control and monitoring requires the communication of sensor and logging information from the wells to the central controller and the communication of control information from the central controller to the wells.  
         [0003]     Moreover, the wells themselves have become increasingly more complex. For example, well holes are being drilled with multiple branches and are being divided into multiple production zones that discretely produce fluid or gas in either common or discrete production tubing. In order to effectively and efficiently control these multiple production zones, it is advantageous to position electronic control and monitoring equipment within the wells so that the zones can be controlled and monitored individually or in groups.  
         [0004]     It has been difficult to implement down hole electronic control and monitoring of wells because of the difficult temperature environment within the wells. Unless cooling is provided for the down hole electronic control and monitoring equipment that has been used to control and monitor well production within the well, this equipment has required frequent replacement because of the extreme temperature environment. Frequent replacement of the down hole electronic control and monitoring equipment means a resulting reduction in well production. On the other hand, cooling of the down hole electronic control and monitoring equipment results in higher operating costs. No practical solution to these problems is known today.  
         [0005]     The present invention addresses one or more of these problems by using, within the well, high temperature down hole electronic control and monitoring equipment that does not require cooling or frequent replacement.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a well control and monitoring system for the control and monitoring of a plurality of wells comprises a remote control center, a plurality of surface control and monitoring systems, and a plurality of down hole monitoring and control systems. Each of the wells is provided with a corresponding one of the surface control and monitoring systems, and the surface control and monitoring systems are in communication with the remote control center. Each of the wells is also provided with at least one of the down hole monitoring and control systems, and each of the down hole monitoring and control systems is in communication with at least one of the surface control and monitoring systems. Moreover, each of the down hole monitoring and control systems comprises a non-cooled, high temperature controller arranged to perform monitoring and control functions within a corresponding one of the wells.  
         [0007]     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a well control and monitoring system for the control and monitoring of a well comprises a first control and monitoring system located at the well and a second monitoring and control system provided within the well. The first control and monitoring system comprises a controller and a transceiver. The second monitoring and control system comprises a non-cooled, high temperature controller and a non-cooled, high temperature transceiver. The first and second control and monitoring systems communicate with one another through their respective transceivers.  
         [0008]     In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a down hole monitoring and control system is provided within a well and comprises a non-cooled, high temperature controller and a non-cooled, high temperature transceiver coupled to the non-cooled, high temperature controller. The non-cooled, high temperature transceiver transmits signals into the well and receives signals from the well 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     These and other features and advantages will become more apparent from a detailed consideration of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a monitoring and control system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a representative one of the surface monitoring and control systems shown in  FIG. 1 ; and,  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a representative one of the down hole monitoring and control systems shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0013]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a monitoring and control system  10  includes a remote control center  12  that communicates with a plurality of wells  14 . Although only three wells are shown in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that the monitoring and control system  10  may include any number of wells. Because the wells  14  may be geographically dispersed, the remote-control center  12  remotely communicates with the wells  14  using cellular transmissions, satellite transmissions, telephone lines, and/or the like.  
         [0014]     Each of the wells  14  is provided with a corresponding well platform  16  located at the surface of the corresponding one of the wells  14 . As shown, the wells  14  extend from the well platforms  16  downwardly into the earth. However, it should be understood that, while the wells  14  are shown over land, one or more of the wells  14  may instead extend down from offshore platforms or from platforms located on other planets.  
         [0015]     If desired, each of the wells  14  may be divided into a plurality of separate branches, although each of the wells  14  may instead comprise a single downwardly or laterally directed bore. In addition, it is possible to divide each of the wells  14  into multiple production zones that require separate and/or group monitoring and control for efficient production and management of the well.  
         [0016]     A surface monitoring and control system  20  is provided at each of the well platforms  16 . Also, a down hole monitoring and control system  22  is provided within each of the wells  14  and, if desired, within each of the production zones of each of the wells  14 .  
         [0017]     The surface monitoring and control system  20  is arranged to communicate with the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within its corresponding well. For example, the surface monitoring and control system  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  associated with a corresponding one of the wells  14  may be arranged to communicate with one another through the use of acoustic signals. However, other types of signals, such as electrical or magnetic signals, may be used to communicate control and monitoring information between the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22 .  
         [0018]     Moreover, the surface monitoring and control system  20  mounted on one of the well platforms  16  may be further arranged to communicate with the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within one or more of the other wells  14  in order to provide redundant monitoring and control of each of the wells  14  from the surface. For example, the surface monitoring and control system  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  associated with different ones of the wells  14  may be arranged to communicate with one another through the use of acoustic signals or pulses, although other types of signals may be used.  
         [0019]     Likewise, the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within each of the wells  14  may be arranged to communicate with the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  in one or more of the other wells  14  in order to provide additional redundancy. For example, the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  of different ones of the wells  14  may communicate with one another through the use of acoustic signals, although other types of signals may be used.  
         [0020]     Furthermore, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  mounted on the well platforms  16  may be arranged to communicate with the remote control center  12  and with one another. In this case, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  may communicate with the remote control center  12  and with one another using cellular transmissions, satellite transmission, telephone lines, and/or the like.  
         [0021]     A representative one of the surface monitoring and control systems  20  is shown in  FIG. 2 . Accordingly, each of the surface monitoring and control systems  20  includes a controller  30 , a memory  32 , a transceiver  34 , and signal transducers  36 . The controller  30  and/or the surface monitoring and control systems  20  may include signal conditioning and/or one or more sensor transducers.  
         [0022]     The controller  30 , for example, may be a microprocessor programmed to acquire sensor and logging information from the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within its corresponding well  14 . As discussed above, the controller  30  may also be arranged to acquire sensor and logging information (or other attribute that is needed for control and/or monitoring so that higher performance is achieved) from the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within others of the wells  14 . The controller  30  may further be arranged to communicate control information to the down hole monitoring and control system  22  within its corresponding well  14  and to the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within others of the wells  14 . In addition, the controller  30  may be arranged to communicate control information to, and receive sensor and logging information from, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  on other well platforms  16  and the remote control center  12 .  
         [0023]     The controller  30  controls the transceiver  34  to transmit information to the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within the wells  14 . The controller  30  may employ any addressing scheme to transmit this information to a specific one or group of the down hole monitoring and control systems  22 . The controller  30  may also include its own address in the information that it transmits. The signal transducers  36  converts the electrical signals from the transceiver  34  to acoustic signals and directs the acoustic signals through the well and/or earth. These acoustic signals convey information to the desired destination and/or origin of transmission. The signal transducers  36 , for example, may be a piezoelectric transducer and may be provided with an anechoic coating. The signal transducers  36  further converts the acoustic signals transmitted by other devices to corresponding electrical signals for processing by the transceiver  34  and the controller  30 .  
         [0024]     Additional transceivers may be provided to permit the controller  30  to transmit and receive information to and from the surface monitoring and control systems  20  at other well platforms  16  and to and from the remote control center  12 .  
         [0025]     The memory  32  of the surface monitoring and control system  20  stores the sensor and logging information received from the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  (which can have high temperature memory). The memory  32  also stores the communication programming necessary to communicate with the down hole monitoring and control systems  22 , the surface monitoring and control systems  20  on other well platforms  16 , and the remote control center  12 . The memory  32  further stores the control programming necessary to control the down hole monitoring and control systems  22 .  
         [0026]     A representative one of the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  is shown in  FIG. 3 . Thus, each of the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  includes a controller  50 , a memory  52 , a transceiver  54 , and signal transducers  56 . The controller  50  and/or the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  may include signal conditioning and/or one or more sensor transducers.  
         [0027]     The controller  50  controls the transceiver  54  to transmit information to other down hole monitoring and control systems  22  and to the surface monitoring and control systems  20 . The controller  50  may employ any addressing scheme, such as those described above, to transmit information to a specific one or group of destinations. The controller  50  may also include its own address in the information that it transmits.  
         [0028]     The signal transducers  56  converts the electrical signals from the transceiver  54  to acoustic signals and directs the acoustic signals through the well. These acoustic signals convey information to the desired destination. The signal transducers  56 , for example, may be a piezoelectric transducer and may be provided with an anechoic coating. The signal transducers  56  also converts the acoustic signals transmitted by other devices to corresponding electrical signals for processing by the transceiver  54  and the controller  50 .  
         [0029]     The controller  50  may be arranged to acquire and log sensor information from a plurality of sensors such as sensors  58  and  60  located in the down hole. The sensors  58  and  60  may be selected to sense any pertinent conditions within the well, such as pressure, temperature, flow, density, and/or other conditions. The sensors  58  and  60  are coupled to a multiplexer  62  that selects the sensors  58  and  60  one at a time for coupling to an amplifier  64 . The output of the amplifier  64  is converted to a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter  66  and the resulting digital signal is then supplied to the controller  50 .  
         [0030]     As discussed above, the controller  50  may also be arranged to perform control operations within a down hole. Therefore, the controller  50 , which may be a smart controller, may also be coupled to one or more electromechanical devices such as an electromechanical device  68 . These electromechanical devices may include one or more valves and/or one or more pumps, and/or one or more other devices as may be necessary to implement the desired control functions within the wells  14 . The electromechanical device  68  may be a simple on/off device, in which case a digital-to-analog converter is unnecessary. On the other hand, if the electromechanical device  68  is an analog device, a digital-to-analog converter may be provided between the controller  50  and the electromechanical device  68 .  
         [0031]     The controller  50  may further be arranged to communicate control information to other down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within its corresponding well  14  and to the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  within others of the wells  14 . In addition, the controller  50  may be arranged to communicate sensor and logging information to, and receive control information from, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  on its corresponding well platform  16  and on other well platforms  16 .  
         [0032]     The memory  52  of the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  stores the sensor and logging information. The memory  52  also stores the communication programming necessary to communicate with other down hole monitoring and control systems  22  and with the surface monitoring and control systems  20 . The memory  52  further stores the control programming necessary to perform the required control functions.  
         [0033]     In order to survive the high temperatures within wells for extended periods of time without cooling, it is necessary for the controller  50 , the memory  52 , the transceiver  54 , the multiplexer  62 , the amplifier  64 , and the analog-to-digital converter  66  to be high temperature devices. For example, the controller  50  may be a high temperature processor such as a Honeywell HT83C51, the memory  52  may be a high temperature memory such as a Honeywell HT6256, the transceiver  54  may be a high temperature protocol controller such as a Honeywell HT1553P, the multiplexer  62  may be a high temperature monolithic multiplexer such as a Honeywell HT506 or a Honeywell HT507 depending on the number of inputs to be switched, the amplifier  64  may be a monolithic operational amplifier such as a Honeywell HT1104 or a Honeywell HT1104Z, and the analog-to-digital converter  66  may be a high temperature successive approximation A/D converter such as a Honeywell HT574. These devices are specified to operate over a nominal temperature range of −55° C. to +225° C. However, these devices can operate up to 100 years at temperatures as high as 125° C., for 15 to 20 years at temperatures as high as 150° C., for 10 to 15 years at temperatures as high as 175° C., for 5 years at temperatures as high as 225° C., and for a year or more at temperatures as high as 300° C.  
         [0034]     The signal transducers  36  and/or  56  may be piezoelectric transducers and/or may be provided with an anechoic coating. As is known, anechoic coatings are coatings that modify the interface between the transmission media and the transducer in order to reduce reflected signals and to enhance the desired acoustic signals. The thickness of the anechoic coating is selected to be a suitable fraction or multiple of the wavelength that is selected for the acoustic signals transmitted through the well and/or earth. For example, the thickness of the anechoic coating may be selected to be ½ of the wavelength of the acoustic signal. Alternatively, the thickness of the anechoic coating may be selected to be a multiple of the wavelength of the acoustic signal. The specific wavelength will depend upon the exact nature of the substances through which the acoustic signal must travel. These substances generally are petrochemicals, water, and earth, but other substances such as various acids and contaminants may also be present.  
         [0035]     In any event, the thickness should be chosen so as minimize the effect of acoustic signal impairments, such as echoes, flow and machine noise, and reverberations, on the transducers used to transmit and receive communication signals as described above. Also, it is preferable that the specific material of the anechoic coating provided for the transducers should be selected to withstand the oils, acids, other substances, and high temperatures in the particular well hole that is encountered. Accordingly, the anechoic material may change from hole to hole depending upon the particular mixture of substances found in the specific well hole. Generally, these anechoic materials are some form of rubber or rubber-like material selected for long wear, for adhesion to the transducer interface, and for substantial imperviousness to the substances that are likely to be encountered.  
         [0036]     For example, the anechoic coating used with the signal transducers  36  and/or  56  may be an elastomeric or elastomeric polymer, such as silicone, polyurethane, and/or polybutadiene based polymers, bonded to the external surface of the transducers. Particles may be provided in these substances in order to enhance the acoustic signal, and an organic or inorganic cover may be provided. Acoustic energy that arises from acoustic signal impairments, such as echoes, flow and machine noise, and reverberations, and that is incident upon the anechoic coating deform the material of the anechoic coating in order to dissipate this acoustic energy.  
         [0037]     Certain modifications of the present invention have been discussed above. Other modifications will occur to those practicing in the art of the present invention. For example, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  are provided with transceivers in order to transmit and receive signals. However, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  may be provided with separate transmitters and receivers in order to transmit and receive signals. Alternatively, any of the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  may be provided with only a transmitter or only a receiver if it is desired that the corresponding system only transmit or receive signals. Additionally, the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  may be powered by light, through electrical wires, or by down hole energy sources.  
         [0038]     Moreover, in the case where the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  are provided with separate transmitters and receivers, a single transducer may serve both the transmitter and the receiver of a system or separate transducers may be provided for the transmitter and receiver of a system.  
         [0039]     Furthermore, although transceivers or separate transmitters and receivers may be used as discussed above, it should be understood that the transceivers or the separate transmitters and receivers may be incorporated into the controllers. In this case, the controllers may be coupled directly to the transducers, or the controllers may be coupled to the transducers through other devices such as D/A converters, and/or multiplexers, and/or the like.  
         [0040]     In addition, each of the wells  14  as described above is provided with a corresponding one of the surface monitoring and control systems  20 . However, fewer surface monitoring and control systems  20  may be used so that at least one of the surface monitoring and control systems  20  covers more than one of the wells  14 .  
         [0041]     Also, the signal transducers  36  and  56  emit and receive acoustic signals in order to support communications between the surface monitoring and control systems  20  and the down hole monitoring and control systems  22  and between the down hole monitoring and control systems  22 . Instead, the signal transducers  36  and  56  may be arranged to emit and receive other types of signals if acoustic signals are not used to support communications. Moreover, the signal transducers may be turned on and off by signals from their corresponding transceivers.  
         [0042]     Accordingly, the description of the present invention is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the invention. The details may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the exclusive use of all modifications which are within the scope of the appended claims is reserved.

Summary:
A remote control center controls and monitors a plurality of wells. A surface control and monitoring system is located at each of the wells, and each of the surface control and monitoring systems is in communication with a remote control center. Also, a down hole monitoring and control system is provided within each of the wells, and each of the down hole monitoring and control systems is in communication with at least one of the surface control and monitoring systems. Each of the down hole monitoring and control systems comprises non-cooled, high temperature electronic equipment that can withstand the high temperature environment within the corresponding well.