Method and system for monitoring the incursion of particulate material into a well casing within hydrocarbon bearing formations including gas hydrates
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsSHUNETSU ONODERA, HITOSHI SUGIYAMA, BRIAN CHO, AHMED AL-JUBORI, MASAFUMI FUKUHARA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for monitoring any incursion of particulate matter from a gas hydrate formation into a well casing used for the production of the gas hydrate and determining the degree of incursion of particulate material within the distal end of the well casing.
Claims18
A method for monitoring an incursion of particulate matter from a gas hydrate formation into a well casing used for the production of the gas hydrate comprising the steps of:
- drilling a well into a subterranean gas hydrate formation;
- installing a well casing within the well and into the gas hydrate formation;
- forming at least one opening through the side wall of the well casing for at least partially permitting depressurizing the gas hydrate formation to permit gas and water to flow from the formation into the well casing;
- and
- monitoring the accumulation of the particulate matter into the well casing through said at least one opening through the well casing sidewall.
A method for monitoring an incursion of particulate matter from a subterranean formation into the well casing used for the production of a hydrocarbon comprising the steps of:
- drilling a well into a subterranean hydrocarbon formation;
- installing a well casing within the well and into the hydrocarbon formation;
- forming a plurality of openings through the side wall of the well casing for establishing fluid communication with the hydrocarbon formation;
- and
- monitoring the accumulation of the particulate matter into the well casing through said at least one opening through the well casing sidewall.
A system for determining the degree of incursion of particulate matter into a well casing used in the production of gas from a subterranean gas hydrate formation, said system comprising:
- a first pressure sensor connected to a submersible pump positioned within the well casing for pumping gas and water out of the well casing;
- and
- a second pressure sensor connected at a distal end of the well casing, wherein measuring pressure noise variance between said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor may be operably used to estimate the accumulation of particulate material within the distal end of said well casing beneath the submersible pump.
A system for determining the degree of incursion of particulate matter into a well casing used in the production of gas from a subterranean gas hydrate formation, said system comprising:
- a distributed temperature sensing system connected to the end of a submersible pump positioned within the well casing for pumping gas and water out of the well casing and extending within the well casing toward the distal end of said well casing, wherein measuring the thermal characteristics of the surrounding material beneath the submersible pump at the end of the well casing, the position of a fluid to particulate material interface may be estimated.
A system for determining the degree of incursion of particulate matter into a well casing used in the production of gas from a subterranean gas hydrate formation, said system comprising:
- an acoustic transmitter connected beneath a submersible pump positioned within the well casing for pumping gas and water out of the well casing;
- an acoustic receiver connected beneath the submersible pump positioned within the well casing, wherein observing the waveform of the sound generated by said transmitter and received by said receiver, the interface between a fluid and particulate material within the well casing may be estimated.
A system for determining the degree of incursion of particulate matter into a well casing used in the production of gas from a subterranean gas hydrate formation, said system comprising:
- a vibrator connected beneath a submersible pump positioned within the well casing for pumping gas and water out of the well casing;
- a vibration bar connected to said vibrator and extending toward the distal end of the well casing, wherein observation of the vibration mode of said vibration bar enables estimation of the interface between fluid and particulate material within the distal end of the well casing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.