Patent Application
20220333453
Microbes are ubiquitous and their activities have played a central role in shaping virtually all environments on our planet. These actions direct geochemical cycling of numerous elements, such as for example sulfur, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, global water chemistries, oceanic weather, nutrient availability in soil, deposition and erosion of rocky minerals and early diagenesis. Within the context of porous media, microbial populations grow as surface-adhered biofilms that are governed by the flow of liquid phases, chemical diffusion (e.g., involving nutrient transport and signaling molecules), and migration of microbial cells.
The microbial communities (e.g., microbiomes) of oilfields can profoundly influence reservoir chemistries through the production of secreted macromolecules, and metabolites. These actions may have beneficial or detrimental impacts on upstream oil and gas operations. Pilot tertiary microbially-enhanced oil recovery programs in numerous geographically diverse formations have demonstrated the merits of exploiting beneficial microbial activities for oilfield production. Beneficial effects arise from processes—including biosurfactant, biosolvent and biopolymer production, methanogenesis, and in situ CO2 production—that serve to mobilize hydrocarbons via reduced interfacial tension and increased miscibility, improved sweep efficiency, oil swelling, and reservoir pressurization. Microbes also drive acidification of carbonate matrices via organic acid production which can improve reservoir porosity by matrix dissolution. Reservoir flow can also be enhanced through microbial mobilization of paraffin deposits. Conversely, reservoir souring by sulfate reducing prokaryotes (SRPs), formation damage induced by microbial growth in pore throats, and microbially-induced corrosion of reservoir facilities, pose notable issues for upstream oil and gas operators.
While the importance of microbiological activities in oilfields is increasingly being recognized, monitoring the microbiological activities in oilfields remains an ongoing challenge. This is largely due to the high costs of obtaining uncontaminated biofilm samples that are representative of the reservoir. Indeed, the vast majority of downhole microbiome assessments are made by inferring data obtained from topside produced water planktonic populations in samples taken from producing wellheads. However, these planktonic communities differ from their sessile biofilm counterparts downhole and therefore are frequently not representative of the reservoir, or at least care must be taken when drawing conclusions from topside samples alone.
According to one or more aspects of the invention, a core plug holding apparatus may include a tubular member configured to be inserted into a side pocket of a mandrel, the tubular member having an uphole end, a downhole end, and a core plug section located between the uphole end and the downhole end, wherein the core plug section is used for housing of one or more core plug samples and wherein tubular member includes one or more orifices formed in the core plug section.
According to one or more further aspects of the invention, a method of downhole sampling a production well may include one or more of the following steps: deploying one or more core plug holding apparatuses into one or more side pocket mandrels of a completion; holding the one or more core plug holding apparatuses in the one or more side pocket mandrels for an incubation period; and retrieving the one or more core plug holding apparatuses from the one or more side pocket mandrels after the passage of the incubation period.
According to one or more additional aspects of the invention, a gas lift system for use in a production well may include a production tubing extending into the production well and including one or more side pocket mandrels at one or more depths; and one or more core plug holding apparatuses, each of the one or more core plug holding apparatuses being installed in one or more of the side pocket mandrels.
The sampling of oilfield microbiological communities is generally limited to obtaining planktonic community members at the wellheads of producing wells. These samples suffer from the need for filtration and concentration of sampled microbes which can bias community analyses. Another issue with collecting planktonic samples is the uncertainty surrounding their relevance to downhole processes, as the planktonic portion of microbes has been shown to be distinct from that of the biofilm portion. Therefore, planktonic community samples can only be used to infer microbiological activities in the field. Importantly, it is the biofilm community that holds the greatest information for monitoring microbial growth and microbial activities downhole since the biofilm is responsible for those microbiological activities that most influence the reservoir performance (e.g. souring, formation damage, biogas production, and/or hydrocarbonoclastic processes). Direct measure of these phenomena in the subsurface require solid materials to be brought to the surface, which invariably requires drilling operations. Drilling operations are disruptive to oilfield operations and therefore, expensive to carry out. Indeed, the costs of such activities increase as the target depth and core sizes increase. Additionally, the use of drilling fluids/muds are required. These can carry significant microbial populations which contaminate the sample and compromise downstream analyses.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned challenges, among others, by providing a downhole core plug holding apparatus and related methods for microbiological, geochemical, corrosion, and/or geological sampling in oil producing wells. The downhole core plug holding apparatus may be deployed in and retrieved from oil producing wells using existing well infrastructure. For example, in some embodiments, the downhole core plug holding apparatus may have the dimensions of a gas lift valve. This permits one or more downhole core plug holding apparatuses to be installed in one or more side pocket mandrels. In addition, the one or more downhole core plug holding apparatuses may be retrieved from the one or more side pocket mandrels using wireline retrievable gas lift systems, among others, without the need for drilling operations. The absence of any drilling fluids and/or drilling muds reduces the risks of sample contamination during recovery of the one or more downhole core plug holding apparatuses. As production wells may include one or more side pocket mandrels at one or more depths, the downhole core plug holding apparatus may be installed at a plurality of depths such that depth-resolved comparisons may be made. The core plug holding apparatus may include core plug samples or rock coupons of real or representative reservoir rock for improved field microbiological monitoring, sampling, and analysis and thus avoids errors resulting from inferential conclusions concerning microbiological activities. These and other features of the downhole core plug holding apparatus permit operation at a fraction of the cost of conventional drilling approaches for obtaining downhole core and/or sidewall samples.
Additional advantages of the present invention include at least the following: (a) representative microbiological biofilm samples (in the context of the surrounding matrix), which are extremely useful for most oilfield microbiology applications, may be obtained and used to assess one or more of reservoir souring, formation damage, biocorrosion, microbially-enhanced oil recovery, etc.; (b) the presence of a plurality of side pocket mandrels at different depths in the well completion allows for comparison of microbiological and geochemical processes across different depths (and therefore different pressures and temperatures) while preserving in-situ water chemistry, thereby facilitating novel analyses to be made by enabling different scenarios of in situ testing; (c) the present invention considerably reduces the costs of downhole microbiological sampling, significantly simplifies the process of deploying and/or retrieving downhole samples, greatly reduces the amount of time during which a production well may be taken offline, and/or makes sampling available and accessible to a wider array of interested parties beyond commercial entities, including, for example and without limitation, universities and academic institutions; (d) the core plug holding apparatuses allows multiple sample types (e.g., panels of core plugs and/or coupons) with distinct fabrics to be utilized, wherein the ability to hold multiple samples and/or sample types at a time enables reproducibility and/or effect of fabric type to be tested; and (e) the core plug holding apparatuses are the first means for obtaining (e.g., truly representative) downhole microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) assessments (e.g., corrosion coupons) and/or samples, as conventional corrosion measurements downhole suffer from flaws and/or defects, like misinterpreting MIC risks (e.g., as MIC is a heterogeneous form of corrosion which is difficult to measure electrochemically and requires direct observations to be made on the sample via SEM, AFM, etc. to diagnose); among other things. The aforementioned advantages are therefore not limiting.
The core plug holding apparatus may be loaded with carbonate plugs or corrosion coupons for microbiological sampling/studies. Other types of core plug samples, such as rock coupons, etc. are discussed below. The carbonate plugs or corrosion coupons may be used to evaluate, among other things, one or more of reservoir damage, MEOR potential, souring, and microbially-influenced corrosion risks. In some embodiments, the loading of the core plug holding apparatus with naturally sourced and/or synthetic plugs may be used for petrochemical analyses. As the plugs are incubated downhole in truly representative reservoir conditions, which cannot be reproduced in the lab, and are retrieved at a fraction of the cost of downhole coring and without risk of contamination from drilling fluids, petrochemical analyses of field sites greatly benefit from use of the core plug holding apparatuses disclosed herein. These hyper realistic production fluid-saturated rocks may, among other analyses, serve in making assessments of the wettability properties of the rock within the reservoir and may be used for testing in core flooding studies which, for instance, may be focused on estimating the residual oil left in place (or recovery factor) evaluating sweep strategies, testing new polymer, water sources or adjusting gas injections) and so on.
The gas lift system 3 may include a production tubing 7 for conveying production fluid (e.g., such as oil, gas, and/or other hydrocarbon-containing fluids) from the area of interest within the formation to the surface. The production tubing 7 may be run into the well and may include one or more side pocket mandrels 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, wherein the one or more side pocket mandrels 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D may be spaced apart within the production tubing 7 (e.g., within an inner diameter of the production tubing 7) and may optionally be offset from a centerline of the production tubing 7. The one or more side pocket mandrels may be configured to house or include one or more core plug holding apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D at one or more depths, wherein the one or more core plug holding apparatuses are deployable and/or retrievable using the gas lift system 3, such as a wireline-retrievable gas lift system and/or tubing-retrievable gas lift system. An annulus 8 for conveying compressed gas from a valve system (not shown) may be formed between an outer diameter of the production tubing 7 and the inner diameter of the casing 5. One or more production packers 13,15 may be located at a downhole end of the production tubing 7 for forcing production fluid to flow from the area of interest in the formation 2 up through the production tubing 7 instead of the annulus 11. In some embodiments, the production tubing further includes a flow coupling 17 and a travel joint 19.
As will be described in more detail below, the one or more downhole core plug holding apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D may have dimensions which are the same or similar to a gas lift valve such that the one or more core plug holding apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D may be installed via, for example, wireline tools in the one or more side pocket mandrels 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D. In some embodiments, having dimensions which are the same and/or similar to gas lift valves enable the one or more core plug holding apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, to serve as a dummy gas lift valve (e.g., preventing cross-talk between the fluids in the annulus and the tubing of the producer) such that no modification needs to be made to the completion while said core plug holding apparatuses are installed (e.g., which is indicated in
The present disclosure may refer to core plug sample(s) utilized in, for example, one or more of microbiological, geochemical, corrosion, and/or geological sampling. The term is used as a generic term and includes all forms of sample types and/or materials for any type of sampling. The core plug samples may include any type of core plug sample disclosed above and/or below, including, for example and without limitation, generally coupons, such as rock coupons, corrosion coupons, and core plugs, and other types of materials, including porous materials, which may be used for sampling as described herein, and the like.
The uphole end 301 may include a latch member 305. The latch member 305 may be used for deploying and/or retrieving the core plug holding apparatus 300. For example, in some embodiments, the latch member 305 may be deployable and/or retrievable using a wireline-retrievable gas lift system. In some embodiments, the latch member 305 is a wireline latch. The latch member 305 may be adapted for deployment and/or retrievable using other gas list systems and thus wireline-retrievable gas lift systems shall not be limiting. The latch member 305 may include one or more orifices, such as an inlet and/or an outlet orifice (not shown and discussed below), either or both of which may be in fluid communication with the core plug section 315. The downhole end 303 may include one or more orifices. For example, in some embodiments, the downhole end 303 includes one or more terminal intake orifices 307A, 307B.
The core plug section 315 may be configured to house one or more core plug samples (any of which disclosed herein may be used). As mentioned above, the core plug section 315 may be located between the uphole end 301 and the downhole end 303 of the tubular member 310. For example, as shown in
The base 308, including a gas lift valve base, a modified/adapted gas lift valve base, a custom-built base, and/or a dummy gas lift valve base, may be located more proximal to the downhole end 303. In other embodiments, the base 308 may be located more proximal to the uphole end 301. In yet other embodiments, the base 308 may be located about half-way between the uphole end 301 and the downhole end 303. In some embodiments, the base 308 further includes one or more seals. The one or more seals may be located between the base 308 and the core plug section 315 and/or between the base 308 and the downhole end 303. In some embodiments, the one or more seals include one or more Teflon seals. In some embodiments, the one or more seals include one or more rubber or polymeric seals. In some embodiments, between the base 308 and the core plug section 315, a first rubber seal 341 and a second rubber seal 353 are located on opposing sides of, and optionally in direct contact with, a Teflon seal 351. The other side of the first rubber seal 341 may be coupled to the core plug section 315 (e.g., the side not in coupled to the Teflon seal 351). The other side of the second rubber seal 343 may be coupled to the base 308 (e.g., the side not coupled to the Teflon seal 351). In some embodiments, between the base 308 and the downhole end 303, a first rubber seal 345 and a second rubber seal 347 are located on opposing sides of, and optionally in direct contact with, a Teflon seal 353. The other side of the first rubber seal 345 may be coupled to the base 308 (e.g., the side not in coupled to the Teflon seal 351). The other side of the second rubber seal 347 may be coupled to the downhole end 303 (e.g., the side not coupled to the Teflon seal 351).
The core plug section 315 may or may not include one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329. The one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 may be formed in the surface of the core plug section 315. In some embodiments, the one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 include longitudinal slots of the same and/or similar shape and/or dimension. For example, in some embodiments, one or more orifices 320, 322, 324, 326, 328 may extend end to end along a length of the tubular member 310, and one or more orifices 321, 323, 325, 327, 329 may extend end to end along a length of the tubular member 310 adjacent to the one or more orifices 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, respectively. In some embodiments, one or more additional orifices (not shown) extend around an outer circumference of the core plug section 315. The one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 may have the same or different shape and/or dimension. In some embodiments, the one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 have a shape other than a longitudinal slot as shown. For example, the shapes of the one or more orifices 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 may include circular, rectangular, triangular, polygonal, helical, etc. (See
As mentioned above, the core plug section 315 may be configured to house one or more core plug samples 331, 333, 335, 337, 339. In some embodiments, an inner diameter of the core plug section 305 includes one or more securing members 330A, 330B for securing, supporting, or holding the one or more core plug samples 331, 333, 335, 337, 339. In some embodiments, the inner diameter of the base 308 includes one or more securing members 330A, 330B for securing, supporting, or holding the one or more core plug samples 331, 333, 335, 337, 339. In some embodiments, the securing members 330A, 330B include one or more pin guides. The one or more pin guides 330A, 330B may be mounted, or immobilized, to the inner diameter of the base 308 and/or core plug section 315. In some embodiments, an inner diameter of the uphole end 301 of the tubular member 310 and/or of the core plug section 315 may include threading for coupling the latch member 305 to the uphole end 301. In some embodiments, an inner diameter of the downhole end 303 of the tubular member 310 and/or of the base 308 may include threading for coupling the downhole end 303 including one or more orifices 307A, 307B to the tubular member 310. In some embodiments, the tubular member 310 further includes one or more members 331A, 331B. In some embodiments, one or more of securing members 330A and 330B are excluded. This may be implemented to expand the capacity of core plug samples so as to permit inclusion of one or more additional core plug samples. In some embodiments, the one or more members 331A, 331B are securing members 331A, 331B for one or more core plug samples, including for example and without limitation core plug samples 331, 333, 335, 337, 339 and one or more additional core plug samples. In some embodiments, one or more securing members or one or more spacing members are provided between each of the one or more core plug samples (e.g., above and/or below each of the one or more core plug samples to provide spacing between each of the one or more core plug samples). In some embodiments, the one or more core plug samples include one or more donut and/or coin-shaped coupons, wherein the one or more donut and/or coin-shaped coupons may optionally be used as spacers between one or more core plug samples.
In some embodiments, the core plug holding apparatus does not include a ball valve or other similar valve. In some embodiments, the core plug holding apparatus does not include any threads in the core plug section 315. For example, in some embodiments, one or more threads have been removed from the core plug section 315. In some embodiments, the core plug holding apparatus includes gas lift valve segment boundaries 335. In some embodiments, the core plug section 315 does not include a spring and/or valve pin (e.g., to maximize and/or increase the core plug sample holding capacity of the core plug holding apparatuses and in particular of the core plug section, which may include core plug section 315 or both 315 and 308) In some embodiments, the base 308 does not include any annulus-connecting orifices—for example, to prevent ingress of annulus fluids.
In some embodiments, a sampling system and method that makes use of existing well infrastructure (e.g., the housing of gas lift valves—GLV) is provided for deploying, holding, and retrieving one or more core plug samples of real reservoir rock for direct field microbiological monitoring and research programs. The tubular member may be characterized by the same or similar dimensions of a standard gas lift valve. The tubular member generally and in some embodiments the core plug section 315 may be configured to house one or more core plug samples, or rock coupons with the required rock properties (lithology, type of porosity, permeability, etc.). The nature and number of core plug samples may depend on the application and number of replicate samples desired. The device may be open at either end (e.g., may include one or more inlet and/or outlet orifices), and also on the sides, to permit fluid flow through and around the core plugs, which may be stacked end-to-end on top of each other.
The core plug holding apparatus 400 may include one or more orifices for directing a production fluid towards one or more core plug samples such that production fluid flows through and/or around (e.g., contacts) the one or more core plug samples before exiting the core plug holding apparatus 400. For example, the downhole end 403 of the core plug holding apparatus may include one or more orifices 407A, 407B for introducing production fluid into the inner diameter and/or interior of the core plug holding apparatus 400. Upon entering the core plug holding apparatus 400 through, for example, the one or more orifices 407A, 407B, production fluid may flow through an inner diameter of the base 408 to the core plug receptacle 410, where production fluid flows through and/or around the core plug samples (not shown) before exiting the core plug receptable 410 through an outlet orifice 411 located at an uphole end of the core plug receptable 410. The core plug holding apparatus 400 includes a modified latch member 405 including an orifice inlet 407 and an orifice outlet 409 which permits continuous fluid flow from the core plug receptacle 410 to the modified latch member 405, while maintaining the retrieval function of the latch member 405. The orifice inlet 407 may be coupled or mated with the outlet orifice 411 of the core plug receptable 410 such that the core plug receptable 410 and the latch member 405 are fluidly coupled. The connectors used for coupling the outlet orifice 411 and the inlet orifice 407 are not particularly limited and may include threading, male and female connectors, female and male connectors, respectively, among others. The length of the inner diameter of the inlet orifice 407 (and/or outlet orifice 411, depending on the type of connector used) is not particularly limited. For example, production fluid flowing from the core plug receptable 410 to the latch member 405 may flow through an orifice having a diameter of about 1 cm, although any diameter between 1 mm through 5 cm may be utilized herein without departing from the scope of the present invention. In some embodiments, one or more side pocket mandrels are present in injection wells. The core plug holding apparatus 400 accordingly may be utilized in one or more side pocket mandrels of an injection well to, for example, evaluate the influence of microbial/fines ingress into the reservoir.
The core plug receptable 410 may further include one or more orifices 425. The one or more orifices 425 may be utilized as inlet orifices, outlet orifices, or a combination thereof. The shape and/or dimensions of the one or more orifices 425 are not particularly limited and can be longitudinal slot-shaped as depicted in
As shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, for example, modifications may be made to increase cargo capacity and ease of use. More specifically, the modifications may include an expansion (e.g., of approximately 2 mm) of the inner diameter of the inlet orifice 520 in the core plug receptacle section 510′ to facilitate loading and unloading of core plug samples in the core plug holding apparatus. A shifting of the internal face z (e.g., by approximately 2 in) in the core plug receptacle section may provide space for additional one-inch length plugs (e.g., one or more additional one-inch core plug samples, such as 2 additional core plug samples). In addition, alternative or additional external slots/holes (e.g., orifices) arrangements may also be possible with extending the length of the core plug receptable and/or internal cavity thereof. The terminal hole (e.g., outlet orifice 530′ in the core plug receptacle section 510′) may be formed in the latch member connector 530. However, in some embodiments, an examination of the GLV housing in a standard ex-service side pocket mandrel may indicate that external slots along the length of the receptacle section may not significantly influence flow through the core plug samples within the apparatus and may be removed. In some such embodiments, fluid flow may be optimized by increasing the diameter of the inlet orifice in the nose of the base (not shown) (e.g., flow bridge section) and outlet orifices in the receptacle and latch member sections. In some embodiments, the placement of the seals may be adjusted to ensure the best fit to the orifices (linking the annulus to the interior of the completion) in the side pocket mandrels, among other things.
In some embodiments, a canister 700B may include a stainless-steel screw top cylindrical container 701 that is designed to be airtight when closed. The container screw top may include a gas valve 710 to enable nitrogen purging and thereby prevent oxygen ingress, which is advantageous for studies of the living microorganisms downhole (e.g., because oxygen is toxic for obligate anaerobic microbes, which typically dominate in hydrocarbon reservoir communities downhole).
In some embodiments, a core plug holding apparatus may be loaded with one or more stacked 1-inch diameter core plug samples and then lowered or deployed (e.g., via wireline tools) and installed into at least one side-pocket mandrel of the completion. The at least one side pocket mandrel may be a location where a dummy gas lift valve is conventionally installed. The core plug holding apparatus may be held in the side pocket mandrel for an any duration, including predetermined lengths of time (to allow for the desired geochemical or microbiological processes of interest to occur around and within the porous network of the rock coupons (e.g., core plug samples). Following a pre-determined incubation period, the device can be retrieved using, for example, a gas lift valve recovery standard operating procedure. The core plug samples, or more generally the core plug holding apparatus, may then be collected at surface. By utilizing redundant GLV housing in this way, the generation and collection of downhole geological and microbiological samples from established hydrocarbon reservoirs is achieved in a manner that costs a fraction of that required to obtain downhole core or sidewall samples by current state of the art drilling approaches, especially being that side pocket mandrels can be found at depths of several thousand meters, thereby enabling access to samples representing conditions at considerable depths. Additionally, given that completions typically house several side pocket mandrels, the device may be held at a single or multiple depths of interest (as desired) enabling depth-resolved comparisons to be made. Furthermore, the absence of drilling fluids or muds would considerably reduce risks of contamination during sample recovery.
In some embodiments, a core plug holding apparatus may include a tubular member configured to be inserted into a side pocket of a mandrel, the tubular member having an uphole end, a downhole end, and a core plug section located between the uphole end and the downhole end, wherein the core plug section is used for housing of one or more core plug samples and wherein tubular member includes one or more orifices formed in the core plug section, wherein the core plug samples are optionally used for one or more of microbiological sampling, geochemical sampling, corrosion sampling, and geological sampling.
In some embodiments, the one or more orifices formed in the core plug section allow a production fluid to contact the one or more core plug samples within the core plug section of the tubular member.
In some embodiments, the one or more orifices include one or more longitudinal slots and/or one or more helically-shaped slots.
In some embodiments, the one or more orifices are positioned adjacent to each other in one or more dimensions.
In some embodiments, the core plug section is configured to house a plurality of core plug samples stacked end to end.
In some embodiments, the core plug section is located more proximal to the uphole end than to the downhole end.
In some embodiments, one or more securing members are disposed within an inner diameter of the tubular member for securing the one or more core plug samples.
In some embodiments, the one or more core plug samples include corrosion coupons.
In some embodiments, the core plug samples include a porous material and wherein the porous material includes a rock material representative of a particular region of the formation.
In some embodiments, the core plug holding apparatus further includes a latch member at the uphole end of the tubular member.
In some embodiments, the latch member is compatible with a wireline-retrievable gas lift system.
In some embodiments, the latch member includes an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice.
In some embodiments, the core plug holding apparatus further includes one or more intake orifices at the downhole end.
In some embodiments, a method of sampling a production well may include deploying one or more core plug holding apparatuses of claim 1 into one or more side pocket mandrels of a completion; holding the one or more core plug holding apparatuses in the one or more side pocket mandrels for an incubation period; and retrieving the one or more core plug holding apparatuses from the one or more side pocket mandrels after the passage of the incubation period.
In some embodiments, the one or more core plug holding apparatuses are deployed and/or retrieved via a wireline of a wireline-retrievable gas lift system.
In some embodiments, the one or more side pocket mandrels are positioned at one or more depths of the completion.
In some embodiments, the one or more core plug samples include microbial biomass or a biofilm.
In some embodiments, the method further includes adjusting at least one parameter of the production well in response to an analysis of the one or more core plug samples.
In some embodiments, a gas lift system for use in a production well and/or an injection well may include a production tubing extending into the production well and including one or more side pocket mandrels at one or more depths; and one or more core plug holding apparatuses of claim 1, each of the one or more core plug holding apparatuses being installed in one or more of the side pocket mandrels. In some embodiments, the gas lift system includes a wireline-retrievable gas lift system.
Any aspects of any embodiment and/or example may be utilized across any and all embodiments of the present invention.
A downhole oilfield sampler was fabricated and evaluated using a flow loop system. The downhole oilfield sampler that was fabricated was similar in design to the downhole oilfield sampler presented in
The flow loop system 900 includes a tank 1 (which is renumbered here to 901), a submersible pump 2 (which is renumbered here to 902), a 3½ inch tubing 3 (which is renumbered here to 903), a side pocket mandrel 4 (which is renumbered here to 904), a window 5 (which is renumbered here to 905), a pup joint 6 (which is renumbered here to 906), a flow diverter 7 (which is renumbered here to 907), and a hose 8 (which is renumbered here to 908). As shown in
Initial flow loop tests in single phase (water) and dual phase (˜25% oil in water) were carried out at a flow rate of about 1,300 barrels per day (bpd) with tracer chemicals to evaluate performance and flow through the device. Samples were collected over a range of pore volumes of the loop and analysed for tracer quantitation. In addition, initial fluid dynamics simulations were carried out to evaluate backpressure and flow through the device in field settings. It was observed that approximately 40 bpd will flow through the device and backpressure will be negligible for the device itself.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2020/058218 | 9/3/2020 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62896290 | Sep 2019 | US |
