Patents by Inventor Dan Thomas Mueller

Dan Thomas Mueller has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7743674
    Abstract: An apparatus that can determine the water wettability of fluid at simulate downhole conditions. For example, a spacer fluid and a drilling mud mixture can be tested under a specified pressure and a specified temperature that simulate downhole conditions. Additionally, a shear rate may be applied to the fluid mixture that is substantially identical to the shear rate that will be exerted on the mixture due to downhole geometries and conditions. The apparatus may also provide the viscosity of the fluid under the designated pressure, at the specific temperature, and under the specified shear rate. The apparatus may also be used to determine the amount of spacer fluid that would need to be added to a drilling mud to improve the rheological properties of the mixture to provide adequate water wettability as well as the displacement of the mixture during the cementing process of a wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: BJ Services Company
    Inventors: Virgilio Go Boncan, Dan Thomas Mueller
  • Patent number: 7647970
    Abstract: A cement composition is provided including a cement and a low reactivity particle coated with a swellable polymeric material. The low reactivity particle is coated with a swellable polymeric material at a concentration of about 10 weight percent to about 50 weight percent, based on the weight of the cement. The swellable polymeric material swells to a larger volume when exposed to one or more hydrocarbons, depending on the selected polymeric material. The cement composition is used in a method as a self-sealing cement for cementing an oil and gas well, thereby minimizing or mitigating the unwanted migration of water or hydrocarbons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2010
    Assignee: BJ Services Company
    Inventors: Dan Thomas Mueller, Harold Dean Brannon, Windell Scott Bray
  • Publication number: 20080163703
    Abstract: An apparatus that can determine the water wettability of fluid at simulate downhole conditions. For example, a spacer fluid and a drilling mud mixture can be tested under a specified pressure and a specified temperature that simulate downhole conditions. Additionally, a shear rate may be applied to the fluid mixture that is substantially identical to the shear rate that will be exerted on the mixture due to downhole geometries and conditions. The apparatus may also provide the viscosity of the fluid under the designated pressure, at the specific temperature, and under the specified shear rate. The apparatus may also be used to determine the amount of spacer fluid that would need to be added to a drilling mud to improve the rheological properties of the mixture to provide adequate water wettability as well as the displacement of the mixture during the cementing process of a wellbore.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2007
    Publication date: July 10, 2008
    Inventors: Virgilio Go Boncan, Dan Thomas Mueller