Published January 2026, Pg. 27-32

Section: Well drilling

UOT: 622.244.442

DOI: 10.37474/0365-8554/2026-01-27-32

On the determining the velocity of elastic waves during well drilling

F.A. Akhundov Cand. in Tech. Sc. - Institute of oil and gas

This article presents a method for determining the velocity of elastic waves in drill pipes and in the annulus of a well being drilled. Without knowledge of these values, it is impossible to determine the location of complications during well drilling.
In this regard, based on an analysis of previous studies, it was found that by determining the time of double travel of an elastic pulse, it is possible to determine the velocity of elastic waves in a well. As a result, the resulting echogram records numerous oscillations resulting from the reflection of the sound wave from pipe joints, multiple repeated reflections from a benchmark, and from the liquid level. Recording these oscillations is a serious obstacle to interpreting echograms. To eliminate this, the echosounder measurement operation must be repeated multiple times, and, by comparing several echograms, random noise must be discarded. Other studies suggest the need to use specialized devices to generate a shock wave (pulse) at the wellhead, as well as perform additional, non-productive operations to determine the velocity of elastic wave propagation directly along the wellbore.
This paper proposes recording the time between the increase in drilling fluid flow rate at the outlet of the circulation system and the drop in pressure at the mud pump discharge, which will allow for the time-efficient determination of the depth of gas fluid entry into the wellbore.

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