The Optic Oil Field: Deployment and Application of Permanent In-well Fiber 
Optic Sensing Systems for Production and Reservoir Monitoring

Kragas, Tor K.; Williams, Brock R.; Myers, Gregory

doi:10.2523/71529-ms

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…These sensing technologies can provide both sensing and information transfer in the harsh environment. Due to these attributes, they are well suited for the harsh environment in oil and gas reservoirs [154]. In [154], the authors discussed the deployment of underground fiber optic-based monitoring systems, including the assembly of down-hole sensors, data measurement, and installation of the sensors.…”

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to these attributes, they are well suited for the harsh environment in oil and gas reservoirs [154]. In [154], the authors discussed the deployment of underground fiber optic-based monitoring systems, including the assembly of down-hole sensors, data measurement, and installation of the sensors. The authors in [154] also briefly discussed about the installation of the pressure and temperature sensing system in a land well and in the Gulf of Mexico.…”

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In [154], the authors discussed the deployment of underground fiber optic-based monitoring systems, including the assembly of down-hole sensors, data measurement, and installation of the sensors. The authors in [154] also briefly discussed about the installation of the pressure and temperature sensing system in a land well and in the Gulf of Mexico. It was concluded in [154] that fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors offer additional advantages, such as high flexibility, high stability, multi-point sensing, and their intrinsic nature to the fiber.…”

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors in [154] also briefly discussed about the installation of the pressure and temperature sensing system in a land well and in the Gulf of Mexico. It was concluded in [154] that fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors offer additional advantages, such as high flexibility, high stability, multi-point sensing, and their intrinsic nature to the fiber. The fiber optic based underground sensing system consists of FBG sensors which are connected to the optical fiber cable with the help of ultraviolet photoinscription method [155] (see Fig.…”

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward the Internet of Underground Things: A Systematic Survey

Saeed

Alouini

Al-Naffouri

2019

IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutorials

102

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This paper provides recent advances in the area of Internet of Underground Things (IoUT) with emphasis on enabling communication technologies, networking issues, and localization techniques. IoUT is enabled by underground things (sensors), communication technology, and networking protocols. This new paradigm of IoUT facilitates the integration of sensing and communication in the underground environment for various industries, such as oil and gas, agriculture, seismic mapping, and border monitoring. These applications require to gather relevant information from the deployed underground things. However, the harsh underground propagation environment including sand, rock, and watersheds do not allow the use of single communication technology for information transfer between the surface and the underground things. Therefore, various wireless and wired communication technologies are used for underground communication. The wireless technologies are based on acoustic waves, electromagnetic waves, magnetic induction and visible light communication while the wired technologies use coaxial cable and optical fibers. In this paper, state-of-art communication technologies are surveyed, and the respective networking and localization techniques for IoUT are presented. Moreover, the advances and applications of IoUT are also reported. Also, new research challenges for the design and implementation of IoUT are identified.

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Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wired Communications For Ioutmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Toward the Internet of Underground Things: A Systematic Survey

Saeed

Alouini

Al-Naffouri

2019

IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutorials

102

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A New Inversion Method To Interpret Flow Profiles from Distributed Temperature and Pressure Measurements in Horizontal Wells

Yoshioka

Zhu

Hill

2007

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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The increasing deployment of distributed temperature and pressure measuring devices in intelligent well completions is providing the means to monitor the inflow profiles of wells without any well intervention. If the profiles of pressure and/or temperature are affected by the inflow profiles of the various phases being produced, it is possible to estimate these flow profiles by inverting the measured temperature and pressure profiles. This inversion process is particularly challenging for horizontal wells because the pressure drop along the well is usually small, and temperature changes, caused primarily by Joule-Thomson effects, are also small. This paper presents an inversion method that interprets distributed temperature and pressure data to obtain flow rate profiles along horizontal wells. The inversion method, which is based on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, is applied to minimize the differences between the measured profiles and the profiles calculated from a forward model of the well and reservoir flow system. We present synthetic and field examples in this paper to illustrate how to use the inversion model to interpret the flow profile of a horizontal well. The synthetic examples show that even with single-phase oil production, the inflow profile can be estimated in many cases with the inversion method developed. The method is even more robust when water or gas is produced along discrete intervals in an oil production well because of the unique temperature signature of water or gas production. We applied the inversion method to temperature and pressure profiles measured with production logs in a North Sea horizontal oil producing well. The method successfully inverted pressure and temperature profiles and the profiles of oil and water flow rates determined compared well with the flowmeter derived profiles. Introduction In the past decades, thousands of wells have been drilled horizontally and in multiple directions to obtain larger contact volume with the reservoir. Because of the growing complexities of the recent well trajectories, running conventional production monitoring tools on appropriate locations has become difficult and costly. Flow rate, pressure, and temperature are the principle parameters we wish to measure through production logging. For the pressure and temperature measurements, continuous profiles of these in a complex well can be obtained accurately and inexpensively due to the advanced technology of fiber optics. Since the first fiber optic sensor was implemented in a well in Shell's Sleen Field in 19931, the use of distributed temperature sensors (DTS) and distributed pressure sensors (DPS) has become increasingly common for monitoring producing sections of horizontal wells2–4. As for the flow rate measurement, metering flow rate is still difficult especially under the multiphase flow conditions that occur in most wells. For multi-phase flowing wells, despite the recent advancements in technologies and equipments, a comprehensive solution to measuring flow rates and holdups of the phases is evasive5. However, to take full advantages of intelligent wells, which can control inflow capacities from different producing sections without interventions, real-time monitoring of the downhole flow conditions such as flow rate profiles and locations of excessive water or gas influx is essential. Therefore, to realize the value of intelligent wells, downhole flow conditions are either measured or translated from measurable parameters (e.g. density, pressure, and/or temperature) in horizontal, multi-lateral, or multi-branching wells. Some interpretation studies have shown how production profiles can be obtained by matching such data6,7. This research proposes an inversion method to obtain downhole inflow conditions from temperature and pressure profile data. We set the parameters to be estimated as productivities or inflow rates of each segment. From continuous temperature and pressure data along the well, we invert them into the desired inflow rates by applying the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm8.

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New High-Temperature Optical Fiber Technology Successfully Provides Continuous DTS Data under Severe SAGD Conditions

Kaura¹,

Sierra²,

Parks³

2008

SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition

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The use of optical fibers in the oil and gas industry is becoming more viable for several applications, particularly in permanent reservoir monitoring, such as distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and optical pressure transducers. However, poor long-term performance of fibers, especially at elevated temperatures, is still an issue yet to be fully resolved. This problem is critically important in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) applications, where wells operate in extreme conditions of high temperatures, often exceeding 250oC, as well as in high pressures within a hydrogen-rich environment. Optical fiber performance is seriously affected by many factors, including:Hydrogen ingressionThermal resistance of the materialsMechanical resistance of the fiber Exposure of optical fibers to hydrogen changes the performance of the fibers through what is referred to in the industry as "hydrogen aging" or "hydrogen darkening." Hydrogen darkening is increased absorption or light loss due to various chemical species in the glass fiber resulting from the presence of hydrogen. Introduction In DTS applications, a series of short pulses is sent down an optical fiber. As a pulse propagates down the fiber, it interacts with microscopic defects in the fiber and a small fraction of the photons making up the pulse are scattered. Some of the scattered photons are recaptured by the fiber and return back toward the surface. The majority of these "backscattered" photons is at the same wavelength as the laser pulse and is called "Rayleigh" backscatter. A small fraction of backscattered photons undergo a non-linear event called "Raman" scattering, and return at two new wavelengths. The first Raman wavelength is referred to as the Stokes wavelength, which is longer than the laser wavelength, while the Anti-Stokes wavelength is shorter than the laser wavelength. The ratio of the number of Anti-Stokes to Stokes photons is a function of temperature. The Stokes and Anti-Stokes signals are detected at the surface, and by computing the ratio of the amplitudes of these two signals, the temperature distribution along the fiber can be calculated. In high-temperature environments, the physical structure of the fiber glass and the coating or jacket materials protecting the fiber can be compromised. Many of the protective materials of conventional fibers are not designed for the extreme temperatures associated with SAGD operations. Additionally, continuous thermal expansion and contraction with changes in temperatures during SAGD operations may cause conventional fibers to fatigue prematurely in these environments. In this paper, we focus primarily on addressing the effect of hydrogen ingression on the long-term ability of optical fibers to accurately record temperature responses in oil and gas wells - particularly in SAGD wells. The useful life of conventional multi-mode optical fibers with germanium-doped, graded-index cores is extremely short at the temperatures in SAGD wells, due to hydrogen darkening.

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The Optic Oil Field: Deployment and Application of Permanent In-well Fiber Optic Sensing Systems for Production and Reservoir Monitoring

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

Toward the Internet of Underground Things: A Systematic Survey

Toward the Internet of Underground Things: A Systematic Survey

A New Inversion Method To Interpret Flow Profiles from Distributed Temperature and Pressure Measurements in Horizontal Wells

New High-Temperature Optical Fiber Technology Successfully Provides Continuous DTS Data under Severe SAGD Conditions

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