Patents by Inventor Jorge Louis Lopez
Jorge Louis Lopez 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).
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Patent number: 10139269Abstract: A distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing system includes a cable having a cable length. The cable has an elongated body having an outer surface, and at least one straight optical fiber extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of the cable along the cable length; and one or more non-straight optical fibers, such as two orthogonal sinusoidal optical fibers extending along the cable length, or a helically wrapped optical fiber extending along the cable length. The sensing system further has light transmitting and receiving means optically connected to the optical fibers.Type: GrantFiled: August 15, 2017Date of Patent: November 27, 2018Assignee: SHELL OIL COMPANYInventors: Johannis Josephus Den Boer, Albena Alexandrova Mateeva, Jeremiah Glen Pearce, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, William Birch, Jorge Louis Lopez, Johan Cornelis Hornman, Boris Nikolaevich Kuvshinov
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Publication number: 20170370767Abstract: A distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing system comprises an elongate body having an outer surface, an optical fiber disposed on the outer surface at a first predetermined wrap angle, and light transmitting and receiving means optically connected to the fiber for. The elongate body may include at least one substantially flat face, and/or a layer of swellable elastomer surrounding the body, and/or an outer elastomeric tube surrounding the elastomer layer. There may be at least one sensor pad disposed in the outer layer, the sensor pad comprising a stiffener and at least one longitudinal fiber affixed thereto or embedded therein. There may be a body of protective material surrounding the tube, which may have an outer surface that includes at least one substantially flat face and at least one sensor pad disposed in the body.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 15, 2017Publication date: December 28, 2017Inventors: Johannis Josephus DEN BOER, Albena Alexandrova MATEEVA, Jeremiah Glen PEARCE, Jeffery Joseph MESTAYER, William BIRCH, Jorge Louis LOPEZ, Johan Cornelis HORNMAN, Boris Nikolaevich KUVSHINOV
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Patent number: 9766119Abstract: A method of distributed acoustic sensing includes providing a fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing system having a cable. A straight optical fiber extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of the cable along the cable length. A helically wrapped optical fiber extends along the cable length. The method includes transmitting optical signals into and receiving backscattered signals out of the optical fibers consisting of a component of said optical signals which component has been backscattered from impurities or inhomogeneities in the optical fibers, observing changes in the backscattered signals caused by axial stretching and compressing of the optical fibers caused by an incident wave, comparing the backscattered signals of the straight optical fiber and the helically wrapped fiber, and determining, based on the comparing of the backscattered signals, a direction of wave propagation of the incident wave with respect to the fiber axis for detecting broadside waves and axial waves distinguishably.Type: GrantFiled: September 8, 2016Date of Patent: September 19, 2017Assignee: SHELL OIL COMPANYInventors: Johannis Josephus Den Boer, Albena Alexandrova Mateeva, Jeremiah Glen Pearce, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, William Birch, Jorge Louis Lopez, Johan Cornelis Hornman, Boris Nikolaevich Kuvshinov
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Patent number: 9581709Abstract: A method for generating an image of a subsurface feature, comprises providing seismic data containing information about the feature, comprising i) a first dataset comprising a first up-going wave-field and a first down-going wave-field, ii) a second dataset comprising a second up-going wave-field and a second down-going wave-field, wherein the second dataset is collected at a time that is later than the first dataset by a time interval, creating an up-going 4D difference dataset U by subtracting one of the first and second up-going wave-fields from the other and creating a down-going 4D difference dataset D by subtracting one of the first and second down-going wave-fields from the other, creating a weighting function W that is a function of the similarity of the difference datasets, and creating an image of the feature by generating a 4D similarity stack, where the 4D similarity stack is defined as (U+D)*W/2.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 2012Date of Patent: February 28, 2017Assignee: SHELL OIL COMPANYInventors: Paul James Hatchell, Jorge Louis Lopez, Johan Cornelis Hornman
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Publication number: 20160377476Abstract: A distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing system comprises an elongate body having an outer surface, an optical fiber disposed on the outer surface at a first predetermined wrap angle, and light transmitting and receiving means optically connected to the fiber for. The elongate body may include at least one substantially flat face, and/or a layer of swellable elastomer surrounding the body, and/or an outer elastomeric tube surrounding the elastomer layer. There may be at least one sensor pad disposed in the outer layer, the sensor pad comprising a stiffener and at least one longitudinal fiber affixed thereto or embedded therein. There may be a body of protective material surrounding the tube, which may have an outer surface that includes at least one substantially flat face and at least one sensor pad disposed in the body.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 8, 2016Publication date: December 29, 2016Inventors: Johannis Josephus DEN BOER, Albena Alexandrova MATEEVA, Jeremiah Glen PEARCE, Jeffery Joseph MESTAYER, William BIRCH, Jorge Louis LOPEZ, Johan Cornelis HORNMAN, Boris Nikolaevich KUVSHINOV
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Patent number: 9494461Abstract: A distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing system comprises an elongate body having an outer surface, an optical fiber disposed on the outer surface at a first predetermined wrap angle, and light transmitting and receiving means optically connected to the fiber for. The elongate body may include at least one substantially flat face, and/or a layer of swellable elastomer surrounding the body, and/or an outer elastomeric tube surrounding the elastomer layer. There may be at least one sensor pad disposed in the outer layer, the sensor pad comprising a stiffener and at least one longitudinal fiber affixed thereto or embedded therein. There may be a body of protective material surrounding the tube, which may have an outer surface that includes at least one substantially flat face and at least one sensor pad disposed in the body.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 2012Date of Patent: November 15, 2016Assignee: Shell Oil CompanyInventors: Kees Hornman, Albena Alexandrova Mateeva, Jeremiah Glen Pearce, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, William Birch, Jorge Louis Lopez, Johannis Josephus Den Boer, Boris Nikolaevich Kuvshinov
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Patent number: 9347313Abstract: A method for obtaining information about a hydraulic fracturing operation in a fracture zone in a well, comprises a) providing at least one acoustic sensor in the well and at least one acoustic source, b) injecting fracturing fluid into the well so as to cause fractures in a fracture zone in the surrounding formation, c) using the acoustic source to send an acoustic signal and using the acoustic receiver to receive the signal, d) repeating step c) at least once, and e) processing the received signals using a microprocessor so as to obtain information about the fractures. The source may be at the earth's surface or in a second well. Step e) may comprise measuring first-arriving acoustic waves or measuring reflected or diffracted acoustic waves. The information gained in step e) may be used to control the injection of fracturing fluid or detect out-of-zone water injection.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2012Date of Patent: May 24, 2016Assignee: Shell Oil CompanyInventors: Peter Berkeley Wills, Samantha Grandi Karam, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, Gustavo Antonio Ugueto, Jorge Louis Lopez
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Patent number: 9140815Abstract: A method for obtaining information about a subsurface formation from acoustic signals that contain information about the subsurface formation, comprises a) transmitting an optical signal into a fiber optic cable (14) that includes a sensing apparatus (20) comprising a plurality of substantially parallel fiber lengths (24), b) collecting from the sensing apparatus a plurality of received optical signals, each received signal comprising a portion of the transmitted signal that has been reflected from a different segment of a cable length, wherein the different segments are each in different cable lengths and correspond to a single selected location along the sensing cable, and c) processing the collected signals so as to obtain information about an acoustic signal received at the different segments. The cable may be ribbon cable and the lateral distance between the different segments may be less than 10 meters.Type: GrantFiled: June 22, 2011Date of Patent: September 22, 2015Assignee: Shell Oil CompanyInventors: Jorge Louis Lopez, Johannes Hubertus Hyacinthus Maria Potters, Peter Berkeley Wills
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Publication number: 20150168575Abstract: A method for generating an image of a subsurface feature, comprises providing seismic data containing information about the feature, comprising i) a first dataset comprising a first up-going wave-field and a first down-going wave-field, ii) a second dataset comprising a second up-going wave-field and a second down-going wave-field, wherein the second dataset is collected at a time that is later than the first dataset by a time interval, creating an up-going 4D difference dataset U by subtracting one of the first and second up-going wave-fields from the other and creating a down-going 4D difference dataset D by subtracting one of the first and second down-going wave-fields from the other, creating a weighting function W that is a function of the similarity of the difference datasets, and creating an image of the feature by generating a 4D similarity stack, where the 4D similarity stack is defined as (U+D)*W/2.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 17, 2012Publication date: June 18, 2015Inventors: Paul James Hatchell, Jorge Louis Lopez, Johan Cornelis Hornman
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Patent number: 9003888Abstract: A method for obtaining seismic information about a subsurface formation using at least one fiber optic cable having its proximal end coupled to a light source and a photodetector comprises: transmitting into the cable at least one light pulse; receiving at the photodetector a first and second light signals indicative of the physical status of at least one first cable section and at least one second cable section, respectively, wherein the first and second sections are selected so as to provide first and second information items, respectively; optionally, further processing at least one of the first and second information items so as to produce derivative information; and outputting at least one of the first, second, and derivative information items to a display; wherein the second item differs from the first item in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: resolution, area, and location.Type: GrantFiled: October 15, 2009Date of Patent: April 14, 2015Assignee: Shell Oil CompanyInventors: Jorge Louis Lopez, Peter Berkeley Wills, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer
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Publication number: 20150071034Abstract: A method for collecting information about a subsurface region, comprises a) providing a set of data comprising a plurality of scattered signals, where each scattered signal is a portion of an acoustic seismic signal that has been scattered by and at least one scatterer and received at a receiver, b) using spatial deconvolution to process the scattered signals so as generate a coherent arrival, and c) using the coherent arrival to output human readable information about the subsurface region. The receiver may be a geophone or a fiber optic distributed acoustic sensor and may be in a borehole or at the surface. The acoustic seismic signal may originate at the surface or below the surface and may be an active or passive source.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 26, 2012Publication date: March 12, 2015Inventors: Peter Berkeley Wills, Michael Scott Costello, Jorge Louis Lopez, Kurang Jvalant Mehta
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Publication number: 20140345388Abstract: A distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing system comprises an elongate body having an outer surface, an optical fiber disposed on the outer surface at a first predetermined wrap angle, and light transmitting and receiving means optically connected to the fiber for. The elongate body may include at least one substantially flat face, and/or a layer of swellable elastomer surrounding the body, and/or an outer elastomeric tube surrounding the elastomer layer. There may be at least one sensor pad disposed in the outer layer, the sensor pad comprising a stiffener and at least one longitudinal fiber affixed thereto or embedded therein. There may be a body of protective material surrounding the tube, which may have an outer surface that includes at least one substantially flat face and at least one sensor pad disposed in the body.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 13, 2012Publication date: November 27, 2014Inventors: Johannis Josephus Den Boer, Albena Alexandrova Mateeva, Jeremiah Glen Pearce, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, William Birch, Jorge Louis Lopez, Kees Hornman
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Publication number: 20140290936Abstract: A method for obtaining information about a hydraulic fracturing operation in a fracture zone in a well, comprises a) providing at least one acoustic sensor in the well and at least one acoustic source, b) injecting fracturing fluid into the well so as to cause fractures in a fracture zone in the surrounding formation, c) using the acoustic source to send an acoustic signal and using the acoustic receiver to receive the signal, d) repeating step c) at least once, and e) processing the received signals using a microprocessor so as to obtain information about the fractures. The source may be at the earth's surface or in a second well. Step e) may comprise measuring first-arriving acoustic waves or measuring reflected or diffracted acoustic waves. The information gained in step e) may be used to control the injection of fracturing fluid or detect out-of-zone water injection.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 11, 2012Publication date: October 2, 2014Inventors: Peter Berkeley Wills, Samamtha Grandi Karam, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer, Gustavo Antonio Ugueto, Jorge Louis Lopez
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Publication number: 20130100768Abstract: A method for obtaining information about a subsurface formation from acoustic signals that contain information about the subsurface formation, comprises a) transmitting an optical signal into a fiber optic cable (14) that includes a sensing apparatus (20) comprising a plurality of substantially parallel fiber lengths (24), b) collecting from the sensing apparatus a plurality of received optical signals, each received signal comprising a portion of the transmitted signal that has been reflected from a different segment of a cable length, wherein the different segments are each in different cable lengths and correspond to a single selected location along the sensing cable, and c) processing the collected signals so as to obtain information about an acoustic signal received at the different segments. The cable may be ribbon cable and the lateral distance between the different segments may be less than 10 meters.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 22, 2011Publication date: April 25, 2013Inventors: Jorge Louis Lopez, Johannes Hubertus Hyacinthus Maria Potters, Peter Berkeley Wills
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Publication number: 20120024051Abstract: A method for obtaining seismic information about a subsurface formation using at least one fiber optic cable having its proximal end coupled to a light source and a photodetector comprises: transmitting into the cable at least one light pulse; receiving at the photodetector a first and second light signals indicative of the physical status of at least one first cable section and at least one second cable section, respectively, wherein the first and second sections are selected so as to provide first and second information items, respectively; optionally, further processing at least one of the first and second information items so as to produce derivative information; and outputting at least one of the first, second, and derivative information items to a display; wherein the second item differs from the first item in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: resolution, area, and location.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 15, 2009Publication date: February 2, 2012Inventors: Jorge Louis Lopez, Peter Berkeley Wills, Jeffery Joseph Mestayer