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Title: A Comprehensive Statistically-Based Method to Interpret Real-Time Flowing Measurements

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/860437· OSTI ID:860437

This project is motivated by the increasing use of distributed temperature sensors for real-time monitoring of complex wells (horizontal, multilateral and multi-branching wells) to infer the profiles of oil, gas, and water entry. Measured information can be used to interpret flow profiles along the wellbore including junction and build section. In this second project year, we have completed a forward model to predict temperature and pressure profiles in complex wells. As a comprehensive temperature model, we have developed an analytical reservoir flow model which takes into account Joule-Thomson effects in the near well vicinity and multiphase non-isothermal producing wellbore model, and couples those models accounting mass and heat transfer between them. For further inferences such as water coning or gas evaporation, we will need a numerical non-isothermal reservoir simulator, and unlike existing (thermal recovery, geothermal) simulators, it should capture subtle temperature change occurring in a normal production. We will show the results from the analytical coupled model (analytical reservoir solution coupled with numerical multi-segment well model) to infer the anomalous temperature or pressure profiles under various conditions, and the preliminary results from the numerical coupled reservoir model which solves full matrix including wellbore grids. We applied Ramey's model to the build section and used an enthalpy balance to infer the temperature profile at the junction. The multilateral wellbore temperature model was applied to a wide range of cases varying fluid thermal properties, absolute values of temperature and pressure, geothermal gradients, flow rates from each lateral, and the trajectories of each build section.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
FC26-03NT15402
OSTI ID:
860437
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English