Is a Steel-Cased Borehole an Electrical Transmission Line?

Aldridge, David F.; Weiss, Chester J.; Knox, H. A.; Schramm, K. A.; Bartel, L.C.

doi:10.1190/segam2015-5927874.1

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The radially directed fields from the casing, and the length of the intermediate zone, have practical implications in the context of well-logging because they delineate the region in which measurements can be made to acquire information about the formation resistivity outside the well. Within the intermediate zone, fields behave like those due to a transmission line (Kaufman, 1990), and multiple authors have adopted modeling strategies that approximate the well and surrounding medium as a transmission line (Kong et al, 2009;Aldridge et al, 2015). We will extend this analysis in the next example and discuss how the length of the well impacts the behavior of the charges, fields, and fluxes.…”

Section: Numerical Examplesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Modeling electromagnetics on cylindrical meshes with applications to steel-cased wells

Heagy

Oldenburg

2019

Computers & Geosciences

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Simulating direct current resistivity, frequency domain electromagnetics and time domain electromagnetics in settings where steel cased boreholes are present is of interest across a range of applications including well-logging, monitoring subsurface injections such as hydraulic fracturing or carbon capture and storage. In some surveys, well-casings have been used as "extended electrodes" for near surface environmental or geotechnical applications. Wells are often cased with steel, which has both a high conductivity and a significant magnetic permeability. The large physical property contrasts as well as the large disparity in length-scales, which are introduced when a steel-cased well is in a modeling domain, makes performing an electromagnetic forward simulation challenging. Using this setting as motivation, we present a finite volume approach for modeling electromagnetic problems on cylindrically symmetric and 3D cylindrical meshes which include an azimuthal discretization. The associated software implementation includes modeling capabilities for direct current resistivity, time domain electromagnetics, and frequency domain electromagnetics for models that include variable electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability. Electric and magnetic fields, fluxes, and charges are readily accessible in any simulation so that they can be visualized and interrogated. We demonstrate the value of being able to explore the behaviour of electromagnetic fields and fluxes through examples which revisit a number of foundational papers on direct current resistivity and electromagnetics in steel-cased wells. The software implementation is open source and included as a part of the SimPEG software ecosystem for simulation and parameter estimation in geophysics.

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Section: Numerical Examplesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Modeling electromagnetics on cylindrical meshes with applications to steel-cased wells

Heagy

Oldenburg

2019

Computers & Geosciences

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Section: Response: Currents Charges and Electric Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical and electromagnetic responses over steel-cased wells

Heagy,

Oldenburg

2021

Preprint

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Electrical and electromagnetic (EM) methods can be diagnostic geophysical imaging tools for monitoring applications, such as carbon capture and storage or hydraulic fracturing. In these settings, it is common that steel-cased wells and other steel infrastructure are present. In this paper, we revisit and examine some of the fundamental physics of grounded-source electrical and EM surveys in settings with steel-cased wells.We highlight examples where steel casing can help targets at depth be detected and illustrate how EM methods can improve detectability. We also discuss some of the challenges that require further research for us to work with these data in practice, including numerical modelling and the implications of magnetic permeability.

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Resistivity Logging Through Casing Response of Inclined Fractured Formation

Liu

Chen

et al. 2018

IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing

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Is a Steel-Cased Borehole an Electrical Transmission Line?

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

Modeling electromagnetics on cylindrical meshes with applications to steel-cased wells

Modeling electromagnetics on cylindrical meshes with applications to steel-cased wells

Electrical and electromagnetic responses over steel-cased wells

Resistivity Logging Through Casing Response of Inclined Fractured Formation

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