Modern bottom-hole assemblies are equipped with various sensors which measure the geological and directional information of the borehole while drilling. It is very crucial to get the measured downhole information to the surface in real time in order to be able to monitor, steer and optimize the drilling process while drilling. The transmission of the information to the surface is most commonly carried out by coded pressure pulses (the technology called mud pulse telemetry) which propagate through the drilling mud inside the drill string towards the surface. However, hardly any specific experimental research on the hydraulic data transmission can be found in the literature. Moreover, it is essential to use a reliable model/simulation tool which can more accurately simulate the pressure pulse propagation in fluids inside drill strings under various drilling operation conditions in order to improve the performance of the data transmission process. The aims of this study are to develop and test a laboratory experimental setup, a simulation model and a novel method for detecting and decoding of measurement while drilling pressure pulse propagation in fluids inside drill strings. This thesis presents a laboratory experimental setup for investigating the process of data transmission in boreholes by mud pulse telemetry. The test facility includes a flow loop, a centrifugal pump, a positive mud pulser or alternatively a mud siren, pressure transducers at four different locations along the flow loop and a data collection system. Moreover, it includes an “actuator system” for the simulation of typical noise patterns created by the common duplex or triplex mud pumps. This laboratory setup with great capabilities opens the way for testing and developing new concepts for data transmission. A theoretical model using ANSYS CFX11 (Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial code) was successfully developed to simulate dynamic pressure pulse transmission behavior in the fluid inside the flow loop. The collected laboratory data which simulate various data transmission processes in boreholes were used to verify and calibrate the theoretical method. A pretty good agreement is achieved between the predicted and measured pressure pulses at different locations along the flow loop for positive pulses with various durations using different flow rates and for continuous pressure pulses using different carrier frequencies. A novel approach (continuous wavelet transformation) for detecting and decoding the received continuous pressure pulses in a noisy environment was applied to various simulated drilling operation conditions for data transmission in boreholes in the laboratory. The concept was registered at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) for a patent in 2011. The results indicate that the continuous wavelet transformation can be used to clearly identify and better detect the continuous pressure pulse periods, frequencies and discontinuity positions in the time domain compared to the conventional method (Fourier transformation). This method will contribute to the possibility of transmitting the data at higher rates and over longer distances. A concept for developing an innovative pulser using electrical discharge or acoustic sources for inducing pulses keeping the drill strings fully open (eliminating the problem of plugging the pulser by pumped lost circulation materials) and without any mechanical moving parts (eliminating the failure related to the pulser moving parts) was also registered at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) for a patent in 2012. With this pulser, it is expected that it would be possible to transmit the data over longer distances and at higher rates. Realizing the concept of the new pulser and using continuous wavelet transformation for detecting and decoding the pulser signal are recommended for future work.

Modern bottom-hole assemblies are equipped with various sensors which measure the geological and directional information of the borehole while drilling. It is very crucial to get the measured downhole information to the surface in real time in order to be able to monitor, steer and optimize the drilling process while drilling. The transmission of the information to the surface is most commonly carried out by coded pressure pulses (the technology called mud pulse telemetry) which propagate through the drilling mud inside the drill string towards the surface. However, hardly any specific experimental research on the hydraulic data transmission can be found in the literature. Moreover, it is essential to use a reliable model/simulation tool which can more accurately simulate the pressure pulse propagation in fluids inside drill strings under various drilling operation conditions in order to improve the performance of the data transmission process. The aims of this study are to develop and test a laboratory experimental setup, a simulation model and a novel method for detecting and decoding of measurement while drilling pressure pulse propagation in fluids inside drill strings. This thesis presents a laboratory experimental setup for investigating the process of data transmission in boreholes by mud pulse telemetry. The test facility includes a flow loop, a centrifugal pump, a positive mud pulser or alternatively a mud siren, pressure transducers at four different locations along the flow loop and a data collection system. Moreover, it includes an “actuator system” for the simulation of typical noise patterns created by the common duplex or triplex mud pumps. This laboratory setup with great capabilities opens the way for testing and developing new concepts for data transmission. A theoretical model using ANSYS CFX11 (Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial code) was successfully developed to simulate dynamic pressure pulse transmission behavior in the fluid inside the flow loop. The collected laboratory data which simulate various data transmission processes in boreholes were used to verify and calibrate the theoretical method. A pretty good agreement is achieved between the predicted and measured pressure pulses at different locations along the flow loop for positive pulses with various durations using different flow rates and for continuous pressure pulses using different carrier frequencies. A novel approach (continuous wavelet transformation) for detecting and decoding the received continuous pressure pulses in a noisy environment was applied to various simulated drilling operation conditions for data transmission in boreholes in the laboratory. The concept was registered at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) for a patent in 2011. The results indicate that the continuous wavelet transformation can be used to clearly identify and better detect the continuous pressure pulse periods, frequencies and discontinuity positions in the time domain compared to the conventional method (Fourier transformation). This method will contribute to the possibility of transmitting the data at higher rates and over longer distances. A concept for developing an innovative pulser using electrical discharge or acoustic sources for inducing pulses keeping the drill strings fully open (eliminating the problem of plugging the pulser by pumped lost circulation materials) and without any mechanical moving parts (eliminating the failure related to the pulser moving parts) was also registered at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) for a patent in 2012. With this pulser, it is expected that it would be possible to transmit the data over longer distances and at higher rates. Realizing the concept of the new pulser and using continuous wavelet transformation for detecting and decoding the pulser signal are recommended for future work.