Imploding oil well data collection device earns patent for Bellaire man

A Bellaire man is part of a team that received a U.S. patent last week for the invention of a device designed to collect better data on pressure in oil wells.

According to the patent, the device will contribute to engineers' ongoing attempts to track pressure conditions in wells in real time. The invention consists of a collapsing container that is sent down into the well. At a certain pressure level, the canister implodes and sends signals called tubewaves to the surface, where they can be incorporated into a pressure profile of the well.

The inventors credited with the device are Philip Sullivan of Bellaire; Francois Auzerais of Houston; Richard Timothy Coates of Middlebury, Connecticut; Douglas E. Miller of Sandy Hook, Connecticut; and Tarek M. Habasy of Burlington, Massachusetts. The patent's official number is 7,874,362 and it was originally filed on March 26, 2007. The owner of the patent is listed as the Cambridge, Massachusetts, offices of Schlumberger Technology Corp.

Schlumberger is an oilfield services company with operations in approximately 80 countries. Its principal offices are located in Houston.