Methods to image acoustic sources in wellbores

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of acoustic sensors positioned in a wellbore to detect acoustic signals generated by a flow of fluid;
• and
• a data processing system communicably coupled to the plurality of acoustic sensors and including a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer readable program code that when executed by the processor causes the data processing system to:
• select a forward model based on a modeled well structure and including a single modeled acoustic source located in a modeled wellbore of the modeled well structure and further including a plurality of modeled acoustic sensors located in a modeled source area of the modeled well structure,
• simulate, using the forward model, an acoustic signal generated by the single modeled acoustic source and received by each modeled acoustic sensor of the plurality of modeled acoustic sensors and thereby obtain simulated acoustic signals,
• calculate, using the forward model, phases of the simulated acoustic signals received at each modeled acoustic sensor,
• obtain, using a principle of reciprocity, a plurality of modeled acoustic sources in the modeled source area and a single modeled acoustic sensor in the modeled wellbore,
• calculate phase delays of the simulated acoustic signals between each modeled acoustic source and the single modeled acoustic sensor,
• actuate the plurality of acoustic sensors to detect the acoustic signals,
• process the detected acoustic signals using the phase delays and thereby generate a flow likelihood map, and
• determine, using the flow likelihood map, a location of the flow of the fluid in a subterranean formation surrounding the wellbore.