Active RFID tag arrangements for actuation of downhole equipment in well fluids

• Main Authors: Ownby, John, Jacob, Jobby T, Evans, Eric R, Sharma, Rupa, Knight, Matthew, Dalzell, Richard
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 10.03.2020
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS; MEASURING; MINING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS; PHYSICS; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECOGNITION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; TESTING

A first RFID tag arrangement for actuating a downhole tool includes a non-metallic housing enclosing a passive RFID tag, power source, pulsed oscillator circuit, and energizer coil. The pulsed oscillator circuit drives the energizer coil to stimulate and activate the tag such that it can be read by an external reader. A second RFID tag arrangement includes a non-metallic housing enclosing a power source, a transmission circuit, and a transmitter coil. The transmission circuit can drive the transmitter coil to transmit a payload stored in the transmission circuit such that the payload is delivered to an external reader. A method of actuating a downhole tool includes placing the tool's RFID tag reader in listen only mode, introducing into the wellbore an active RFID tag that transmits its payload to the reader, and optionally configuring the reader to reprogram the tag when it receives the payload therefrom.