Reservoir monitoring using borehole radars to improve oil recovery: Suggestions from 3D electromagnetic and fluid modeling

Zhou, Feng; Miorali, Mattia; Slob, Evert; Hu, Xiangyun

doi:10.1190/geo2017-0212.1

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Chen and Oristaglio (2002) firstly proposed to apply borehole radar to well logging. Miorali et al (2011) and Zhou et al (2018) proposed to apply borehole radar to monitor water-oil movement for oil production optimization. A borehole radar logging prototype has been developed with the original intention to image fractures in hydrocarbon reservoirs (Liu et al, 2012;Liang et al, 2012;Ma et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating reservoir permeability with borehole radar

et al. 2020

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In oil drilling, mud filtrate penetrates into porous formations and alters the compositions and properties of the pore fluids. This disturbs the logging signals and brings errors to reservoir evaluation. Drilling and logging engineers therefore deem mud invasion as undesired and attempt to eliminate its adverse effects. However, the mud-contaminated formation carries valuable information, notably with regard to its hydraulic properties. Typically, the invasion depth critically depends on the formation porosity and permeability. Therefore, if adequately characterized, mud invasion effects could be used for reservoir evaluation. To pursue this objective, we have applied borehole radar to measure mud invasion depth considering its high radial spatial resolution compared with conventional logging tools, which then allows us to estimate the reservoir permeability based on the acquired invasion depth. We investigate the feasibility of this strategy numerically through coupled electromagnetic and fluid modeling in an oil-bearing layer drilled using freshwater-based mud. Time-lapse logging is simulated to extract the signals reflected from the invasion front, and a dual-offset downhole antenna mode enables time-to-depth conversion to determine the invasion depth. Based on drilling, coring, and logging data, a quantitative interpretation chart is established, mapping the porosity, permeability, and initial water saturation into the invasion depth. The estimated permeability is in a good agreement with the actual formation permeability. Our results therefore suggest that borehole radar has significant potential to estimate permeability through mud invasion effects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2011) andZhou et al (2018) have used time-lapse borehole radar measurements to extract the reflected signals from the water-oil contact. In our case, time-lapse logging is expected to filter out the majority of the direct wave as well as the the clutter arising from the heterogeneous rock properties.…”

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Estimating reservoir permeability with borehole radar

et al. 2020

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“…Borehole radar measurement is a promising technique to image planar interfaces inside the borehole. Computer simulation results have shown that borehole radar may be able to estimate the orientation and location of water-filled fractures [4], and also monitor a reservoir in a smart well [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consideration of Oblique Incidence in 3-D Imaging of a Planar Interface With a Circular Dipole Array in an Air-Filled Borehole

Ebihara

Kotani²,

Fujiwara

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Observations Remote Sensing

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We consider the effects of oblique incidence of a wave on the creation of a 3-D image of a planar interface with an array-type directional borehole radar. In this study, we focus on the situation where the radar probe is close to the planar interface. In such circumstances, the reflected wave from the planar interface may be incident on the receiving array antenna at very steep elevation angles. As a result, borehole effects cause differences in the arrival times of the wave at the array elements, and consequently some errors emerge in imaging the planar interface. Observing the arrival time differences, we present an algorithm to compensate those errors in creating a 3-D image of a planar interface. Computer simulations predict that the errors may occur when the circular dipole array antenna is in an air-filled borehole in rock. Numerical simulations show that our proposed algorithm generates a 3-D image of an interface around an exact position, whereas conventional methods produce some spurious images opposite to the correct position (i.e., out of position by 180 deg.). We then applied the proposed method to analyze reflected waves from a real-world fault in rock. A 3-D image of the fault could be successfully created, which was not possible using the conventional method.

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“…Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is another important NDT method based on the propagation and scattering of high-frequency electromagnetic (EM) waves. It has been successfully applied to utility detection [ 13 ], pavement inspection [ 14 , 15 ], environmental studies [ 16 ], oil monitoring [ 17 ], space exploration [ 18 ], etc. Due to the great contrast of electrical properties between the steel rebars and the concrete background, rebar is a favorite target for GPR detection [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Estimation of Rebar Diameter and Cover Thickness by a GPR-EMI Dual Sensor

Zhou

Chen

Hai

et al. 2018

Sensors

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Precise characterization of reinforcing bars (rebars) in a concrete structure is of significant importance for construction quality control and post-disaster safety evaluation. This paper integrates ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) methods for simultaneous estimation of rebar diameter and cover thickness. A prototype of GPR-EMI dual sensor is developed, and a calibration experiment is conducted to collect a standard EMI dataset corresponding to various rebar diameters and cover thicknesses. The handheld testing cart can synchronously collect both GPR and EMI data when moving on the concrete surface, from which a data processing algorithm is proposed to simultaneously estimate the rebar diameter and cover thickness. Firstly, by extracting the apex of the hyperbolic reflection from the rebar in the preprocessed GPR profile, the rebar position is determined and further used to extract the effective EMI curve. Then, the rebar diameter and cover thickness are simultaneously estimated from the minimum mean square error between the measured and calibrated EMI data under the constraint of the GPR-estimated cover thickness. A laboratory experiment is performed using four casted concrete specimens with 11 embedded steel rebars. The results show that the diameters of 10 rebars are correctly estimated out of the 11 rebars, and the maximum estimation error for the cover thickness is 6.7%. A field trial is carried out in a newly-constructed building, and the diameters of four tested rebars are all accurately estimated while the estimation errors of the cover thickness are less than 5%. It is concluded that the developed GPR-EMI dual sensor and the proposed algorithm can estimate the rebar diameter and cover thickness accurately by a single scan.

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Reservoir monitoring using borehole radars to improve oil recovery: Suggestions from 3D electromagnetic and fluid modeling

Cited by 12 publications

References 56 publications

Estimating reservoir permeability with borehole radar

Estimating reservoir permeability with borehole radar

Consideration of Oblique Incidence in 3-D Imaging of a Planar Interface With a Circular Dipole Array in an Air-Filled Borehole

Simultaneous Estimation of Rebar Diameter and Cover Thickness by a GPR-EMI Dual Sensor

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