Acoustic Gas Kick Detection With Wellhead Sonar

Abstract

A copy~ht i 994, Society of Petroleum Enginears, Inc. -This papa wa$ prepared fw presentation at the SPE 691h Annual Tec-hnlcal"&&enrn and .%hlb[ll.i hdd In &v Orleans, LA, LLSA.. &28 SoPtember 1994. This paw was selected for qremn!allon by am SPE Prcgram Comm[ttne fd!owlng review of Mormatkm mntalnad in.. abstrati submlt!ti by the author(s). Contents of the PaPar, as presented, have not been r&lewad by tie SCCMY of Pelm!e.m Ecglneers and ar8 subject !0 conectlcm by lk+ author(s). The materral, as pre$enled, does not .Ecassarlly reflsc! .w' pmitb! of the Sc+fwy of @rcde.m Enginews, its oflicws, or Inembms. Papws prnsented at SPE mea!lngs we wbleet !. publicatto" mvhw by Edh.M.l Commlnem of the Society .1 Pebdeum E.ginewe. Perrnlsslonto ccw' 18restricted to a" abs+rmt of cot mm thaX?QOwords. l[lustm!ionsmay not be COPiti. The abstmc! should contain Wn$Pbucas acknotiedgment of whore and)y whom the-papw !s Presented. WJite Librarian, SPE, P.O. Sax SS3836, RlchHd.son, TX 7506~W6. U.S.A. To!%, 1~>$ SpE!?T. AbstractAn acoustic gas kick detection sys~m h~" been successfully tested in Ml-scale experiments. The principle of operation is similar to that of an echo-sounder system. The method is neither dependent on "mud circulation, nor does it require the presence of the drillpipe. It can be applied to both platforms and floating rigs. Furthermore, only surface equipment is required for its operation. In the experiments 150 to 6001. of gas was injectd at a depth of 1210 m both in water and in wdter-based drilling fluid. The results show that the changes caused by the presence of free gas in ihe well are easily and instantly detected, > . SPE 28317J. BANG ET AL. 3

Determining Coalbed Methane Production and Composition from Individual Stacked Coal Seams in a Multi-Zone Completed Gas Well

“…The Echometer can compute the distance down-hole to the surface of the liquid in between the annulus of the tubing and the casing. This is accomplished by using the speed of sound of the carrier gas based on the principle of creating a sound wave that travels from the surface, down the casing, reflects off the surface of the fluid, and bounces back to the top of the well where the sound wave is picked up by a sensitive pressure transducer [20,21]. By combining a gas flowmeter and natural gas chromatography analysis of the produced gas from the CBM well, the gas production and composition contributed by each coal seam can be determined.…”