System and Method for Sensing Fluids Downhole

A downhole tool for monitoring fluid in a wellbore comprising:

• a housing having a sidewall, an inlet formed in the sidewall, and an outlet formed in the sidewall and spaced axially away from the inlet;
• a cavity in the housing in communication with the inlet and the outlet;
• a fluid sensor in the cavity disposed proximate the outlet;
• a planar fluid diverter having an upstream end spaced radially outward from the housing,
• a downstream end disposed proximate the inlet, and a diverter surface that faces the housing, so that when the downhole tool is disposed in the wellbore and a volume of wellbore fluid flows past the housing, at least some of the volume of wellbore fluid flows along the diverter surface and to the fluid sensor.

A method of sampling fluid within a wellbore comprising:

• a. disposing a fluid sensor in the wellbore and in the path of a volume of flowing fluid;
• b. diverting an amount of the volume of flowing fluid to the fluid sensor from a space that extends along a portion of the circumference of the wellbore;
• and
• c. sensing the amount of the volume of the flowing fluid with the fluid sensor.