NVision HandHeld Scanner Helps Increase Life of Hydraulic Fracturing Tools

A major manufacturer of hydraulic fracturing tools for theoil and gas industry is using NVision'sHandHeld laser scanner to increase the performance and life of its products bygaining a clearer picture of erosion patterns. The company previously usedultrasonic sensors to measure discrete points in a gridded pattern aftererosion testing with proppant. The HandHeld Scanner provides a much clearerunderstanding of erosion patterns by measuring millions of points and providinga comparison of the geometry before and after testing with color deviationmodels showing the amount of material that has been eroded in each area of thetool. This information helps engineers gain an intuitive understanding of toolperformance, which in turn helps improve design and substantially increase toollife.

Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping a fracturing fluidinto a well bore at a high enough level of pressure to cause the formation tocrack, enhancing the flow of oil and gas from the formation to the well. A slurrymaterial called proppant, which commonly consists primarily of sand or ceramicmaterial, is then injected into the fracture to prop it open, thereby increasingthe flow of formation fluids. However, the proppant is highly abrasive anderodes the casing and tools. After they have eroded to a certain point, the equipmentneeds to be replaced, which is expensive in terms of labor and tool cost, butmost important delays the completion process.

After some investigation, the manufacturer decided toperform the erosion measurements with the NVision HandHeld Scanner. A keyadvantage of the HandHeld Scanner is that it is mounted on a mechanical arm soit can move freely around tools of any size. The mechanical arm keeps track ofthe scanner's location so all data is collected within the same coordinatesystem. As technicians inspect the tool, the scanner generates a point cloud consistingof millions points each with x, y, z coordinates and i, j, k vectors. The laserscanner also provides accuracy to a few thousandths of an inch.