What is Measuring While Drilling (MWD) ?

A drilling rig is used to create borehole or wells (also called a wellbore) in the earth's sub-
surface, for example in order to extract natural resources such as gas or oil. During such
drilling, data is acquired from the drilling rig sensors for a range of purposes such as:
decision-support to monitor and manage the smooth operation of drilling; to make detailed
records (or well log) of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole; to generate
operations statistics and performance benchmarks such that improvements can be identified,
and to provide well planners with accurate historical operations-performance data with which
to perform statistical risk analysis for future well operations. The measuring while
drilling(MWD) and Logging While Drilling (LWD) were applied but not consistently used .
The term LWD is also used more generically to cover both LWD and MWD.

MWD data are transmitted up the pipe by means of a pressure wave (mud pulsing) at 3 bits/s
and monitored in real time. MWD is basically a combo containing a survey tool that
measures wellbore trajectory, provides magnetic or gravity tool faces for directional control
and a telemetry system that pulses data up through the drill pipe as pressure waves. Surface
acquisition systems decode the signals using a various standard or patented detection
algorithms. Decoded information is then plotted on a log or displayed. Both systems share
this mode of communication to the surface and are combined as one string in a drilling
assembly.

How MWD works ?

As drilling has become more complex, with horizontal and directional drills increasing in
numbers, well logging has also had to adapt and improve. Measurement While Drilling
(MWD) is a type of well logging that incorporates the measurement tools into the drillstring
and provides real-time information to help with steering the drill.

Measurement While DrillingSource: Accu Tech The MWD Company

Once a well angle exceeds 60 degrees, the logging tools can no longer be pushed through the
well to retrieve information, making conventional logging tools ineffective. Originally
designed in the 1980s to overcome well logging challenges of wells being drilled at extreme
angles, MWD is a type of Logging While Drilling (LWD) where tools are in a single module
of the steering tool of the drillstring, at the end of the drilling apparatus (or the bottom hole
assembly).

Providing wellbore position, drill bit information and directional data, as well as real-time
drilling information, MWD uses gyroscopes, magnetometers and accelerometers to determine
borehole inclination and azimuth during the actual drilling. The data is then transmitted to the
surface through pulses through the mud column (mud pulse) and electromagnetic telemetry.
At the surface, the data can also be transmitted to an offsite location immediately. With such
precise wells being drilled, MWD aids drilling engineers with real-time information so that
they can make important decisions while drilling. Geosteering is a relatively new concept of
positioning wells according to the geological features in the reservoir obtained through
MWD. MWD tools are generally capable of taking directional surveys in real time. The tool
uses accelerometers and magnetometers to measure the inclination and azimuth of the
wellbore at that location, and they then transmit that information to the surface. So the
location of the wellbore can calculated.

Data transmission method

Mud-pulse telemetry

This is the most common method of data transmission used by MWD tools.
Downhole ,valve is operated to restrict the flow of the drilling fluid (Mud) according
to the digital information to be transmitted. This creates pressure fluctuations
representing the information. The pressure fluctuations propagate within the drilling
fluid towards the surface where they are received from pressure sensors. On the
surface, the received pressure signals are processed by computers to reconstruct the
information. There are three types of mud-pulse telemetry which are positive pulse,
negative pulse, and continuous wave.

Electromagnetic telemetry

These tools incorporate an electrical insulator in the drillstring, but due to the
challenges of receiving data through a good conductor (Salt Water) this approach is
largely confined to onshore areas. To transmit data, the tool generates an altered
voltage difference between the top part (the main drillstring, above the insulator), and
the bottom part (the drill bit, and other tools located below the insulator of the MWD
tool). On surface, a wire is attached to the wellhead, which makes contact with the
drillpipe at the surface.
Wired drill pipe

Several oilfield service companies are currently developing wired drill pipe systems,
though wired systems have been trialled for many decades. These systems use
electrical wires built into every component of the drillstring, which carry electrical
signals directly to the surface. These systems promise data transmission rates orders
of magnitude greater than anything possible with mud-pulse or electromagnetic
telemetry, both from the downhole tool to the surface and from the surface to the
downhole tool. The cost for the drillstring, and the complexity of deployment, make
this a more to used technology compared to mud pulse.

The MWD tool allows these measurements to be taken and evaluated while the well is being
drilled. This makes it possible to perform geosteering , or directional drilling based on
measured formation properties, rather than simply drilling into a preset target. Most MWD
tools contain an internal gamma ray sensor to measure natural gamma ray values. This is
because these sensors are compact, inexpensive, reliable, and can take measurements through
unmodified drill collars.

Measurement while drilling can be cost-effective in exploration wells, particularly in areas of

the Gulf of Mexico where wells are drilled in areas of salt diapirs. The resistivity log will
detect penetration into salt, and early detection prevents salt damage to bentonite drilling
mud.