Analysis of pressure wave signal generation in MPT: An integrated model and numerical simulation approach

Abstract

Mud pulse telemetry (MPT) is one of the essential means to ensure a high transmission rate of downhole data. Continuous-wave mud pulse has a high transmission rate, strong stability, and outstanding adaptability, the most widely used downhole data transmission mode. One factor that restricts the high transmission rate of downhole data is the quality of the pressure wave generation signal. However, there is a lack of complete mathematical modeling research methods. Based on CFD theory, a numerical model of the integration of pulse generator and upstream and downstream pipelines was established for the first time, as well as the corresponding grid division process, which was to simulate the pressure wave generation and propagation process under drilling conditions, and the sensitivity analysis of parameters was carried out. The results show that the pressure drop curve derived from the thin-wall throttling theory is not the actual pressure wave, so the optimization results have a particular theoretical error. In fact, with the periodic change of the flow area, the upstream and downstream synchronously generate compression waves and expansion waves, which propagate and gradually decay. The amplitude of pressure wave increases with the increase of displacement and density but decreases sharply with the increase of gap height. Meanwhile, the amplitude does not change with the frequency and viscosity, but it aggravates the propagation attenuation of the pressure wave. Moreover, it is observed that the pressure wave is not a perfect sine wave in the case of sinusoidal rotor rotation, which needs further study. The research results of this paper provide a technical means for the optimization of downhole pressure wave generation, transmission, and noise reduction and help improve the transmission rate of downhole data.