System and Method for Determining a Borehole Azimuth Using Gravity In-Field Referencing

摘要

A system and method are provided for determining borehole azimuth. The method comprises receiving a first set of data from a first sensor module, the first sensor module comprising a first plurality of accelerometers; receiving a second set of data from a second sensor module, the second sensor module comprising a second plurality of accelerometers, the second sensor module being positioned further downhole than the first sensor module; determining a first set of gravity components using the first set of data and a second set of gravity components using the second set of data; determining a bend angle and a tilt angle using the first and second sets of gravity components; determining a change in azimuth using the bend and tilt angles; and providing an output indicative of the change in azimuth. The system and method may also use a crustal gravity vector to correct the computed azimuth.