Patent Application
20240309739
The present disclosure relates generally to hydrocarbon reservoir fracturing operations and, more particularly, to the assessment of perforation efficiency when variable perforation designs are implemented on a particular hydrocarbon well.
During the implementation of well stimulation operations, particularly fracturing operations, the perforation efficiency is an important parameter for stimulation stage design and evaluation. Many techniques have been developed for the assessment of perforation efficiency within wellbores undergoing stimulation operations. The perforation efficiency is commonly assessed using a downhole camera which estimate the enlargement of one or more perforation holes within the fractured area, or fiber optics that provide another visualization of fluid distribution within a stimulated zone. However, the cost associated with the acquisition and use of an imaging tool, as well as the operational delays which accompany physical diagnostics operations, are undesirable during normal operations. Further techniques, such as the step-rate test, have thus been developed to overcome the need for imaging equipment downhole and to provide a quick assessment of perforation efficiency. The step-rate test involves the flow rate adjustment of an injection fluid through numerous “steps” during predefined intervals while measuring downhole pressures, which are then used with the corresponding flowrates to calculate the number of perforations taking fluid and hence, perforation efficiency. Similar to the downhole imaging, however, the step-rate test introduces additional cost and downtime that delay normal operation of a well as it requires additional steps needed for data acquisition.
Accordingly, a technique and system for measuring perforation efficiency without the need for further equipment or operational delays is desirable.
Various details of the present disclosure are hereinafter summarized to provide a basic understanding. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of the disclosure and is neither intended to identify certain elements of the disclosure, nor to delineate the scope thereof. Rather, the primary purpose of this summary is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form prior to the more detailed description that is presented hereinafter.
According to an embodiment consistent with the present disclosure, a machine-readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program for evaluating a perforation efficiency. The computer program includes a routine of set instructions for causing the machine to perform the steps of receiving a plurality of flow variables for a perforation design, normalizing the plurality of flow variables into a stimulation treatment deliverability index, assessing a perforation efficiency for the perforation design using the stimulation treatment deliverability index, generating instructions for hydraulic fracturing operations based upon the perforation efficiency for the perforation design, and incorporating the instructions generated into a recommendation of one or more perforation designs for ongoing or future hydraulic operations.
In another embodiment, a system includes a processor, and memory storing machine readable instructions executable by the processor, the machine readable instructions including an efficiency determination tool, which includes a data receiver to receive or retrieve one or more flow variables of a perforation design, a variable normalizer to calculate a stimulation treatment deliverability index, a normalized pressure derivative, or any combination thereof using the one or more flow variables, and an efficiency evaluator to determine a perforation efficiency of the perforation design using the stimulation treatment deliverability index, the normalized pressure derivative, or any combination thereof.
In a further embodiment, a system for controlling operating equipment includes an efficiency determination tool, which includes a data receiver and a variable normalizer for determining a stimulation treatment deliverability index (STDI) from sensor data received by the receiver. The system further includes a hydraulic fracturing operations system, which includes one or more sensors for providing the sensor data to the data receiver, and a hydraulic fracturing operations controller for operating the operating equipment based on the STDI.
Any combinations of the various embodiments and implementations disclosed herein can be used in a further embodiment, consistent with the disclosure. These and other aspects and features can be appreciated from the following description of certain embodiments presented herein in accordance with the disclosure and the accompanying drawings and claims.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying Figures. Like elements in the various figures may be denoted by like reference numerals for consistency. Further, in the following detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description. Additionally, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the scale of the elements presented in the accompanying Figures may vary without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure generally relate to hydrocarbon reservoir fracturing operations and, more particularly, to the assessment of perforation efficiency when variable perforation designs are implemented on a particular hydrocarbon well. The perforation efficiency may be evaluated using readily available data obtained from the performance of fracturing operations within a well, without the requirement of further testing or additional equipment. The perforation efficiency may be calculated from a single perforation design and compared to a threshold or target efficiency, or may be compared across multiple perforation designs, or may be calculated for a theoretical perforation design corresponding to one or more computational fluid dynamics simulations of a well model. The evaluated efficiency may be utilized in further hydraulic fracturing operations, such that initiation, modification, or planning of further fractures may be informed by the perforation efficiency.
In some examples, the memory 104 includes a data retriever 106 that may cause the processor 102 to retrieve operational wellbore data from a local database or external device. Sources of the operational wellbore data may include, but are not limited to, a local database within the memory 104, a communicatively coupled database accessed over a physical or wireless connection, output from one or more active sensors within a wellbore or wellbore operations equipment, from user inputs on an interface device, or from an external wellbore operations system. Using the data retriever 106, the processor 102 may access one or more variables including, but not limited to, the treatment pressure, pump rate, friction reducer concentration, and pressure derivative of the raw data obtained during field operations. The variables obtained by the data retriever 106 may include values from across one or more stimulation stages which may utilize a variety of perforation designs. The variables obtained by the data retriever 106 may be utilized to evaluate the perforation efficiency within a single stage or used for the comparison between stages which employ variable perforation designs with the same stimulation design.
The memory 104 may include a variable normalizer 108 that may cause the processor 102 to generate a stimulation treatment deliverability index (STDI). The STDI may be calculated through the normalization of the data within the variable normalizer 108, such that the treating pressure, P, the friction reducer concentration, f, and the pump rate, Q, may be utilized in the calculation and normalization. The variable normalizer 108 may incorporate these variables into a function, such that the STDI may be found using:
The STDI, as calculated above, may have units of pounds per square inch times gallons per thousands of gallons over barrels per minute. The variable normalizer 108 thus generates an STDI which may be used in the evaluation of one or more perforation designs. As such, the memory 104 may include an efficiency evaluator 110 that may cause the processor 102 to evaluate one or more STDI values obtained from the variable normalizer 108. The efficiency evaluator 110 may directly compare multiple STDI values from the variable normalizer 108 that have been generated with data from multiple perforation stages, or may be compare a single STDI value against previously determined thresholds. The results of the comparisons made by the efficiency evaluator 110 may yield similar design conclusions to the current practices of step-rate testing and water hammering analysis. The STDI may be utilized as a representation of the pressure per the rate of deliverability, such that the STDI directly reflects the pressure required to inject at a rate of 1 barrel per minute at a specific friction reducer concentration and can then be related to the efficiency of a perforation design when assessed within the efficiency evaluator 110. For multiple STDI values compared across variable perforation designs, the efficiency evaluator 110 may determine an optimal design and an accompanying improvement quantification between the provided designs. In some embodiments, the efficiency evaluator 110 may receive or have previously stored threshold values for the STDI, such that a single or multiple perforation designs may be evaluated compared to a minimum requirement or optimal target value for the perforation efficiency.
In some embodiments, the memory 104 may include a pressure derivative normalizer 112 that may cause the processor 102 to further assess the perforation efficiency using additional variables and calculations. Similar to the STDI calculated via the variable normalizer 108, a normalized pressure derivative, {tilde over (P)}′, may be calculated via the pressure derivative normalizer 112. The pressure derivative normalizer 112 may utilize the pressure derivative, P′, and the friction reducer concentration, f, for the calculation, such that the normalized pressure derivative may be calculated using:
The objective of the normalized pressure derivative may be to quantify the rate of decline or increase of pressure for different designs. However, is the normalized pressure derivative may be a sensitive parameter that may be used only to visualize the trend of pressure changes between different designs and may not directly measure perforation efficiency. The normalized pressure derivative may have units of pounds per square inch times gallons per thousands of gallons per second. The pressure derivative, P′, may be received directly from the data retriever 106, or may be calculated using a series of pressure values such that the rate of change of pressure may be determined by the pressure derivative normalizer 112 prior to calculation of the normalized pressure derivative. The pressure derivative normalizer 112 may provide the normalized pressure derivative to the efficiency evaluator 110 for further evaluation, or may perform the evaluation within the pressure derivative normalizer 112. The normalized pressure derivative may be utilized during assessment of perforation design using the STDI, such that the normalized pressure derivative may account for design considerations traditionally assessed by water hammering analysis for instance. The design considerations and improvement analysis made using the normalized pressure derivative may be similar to the pressure stabilization comparisons made by water hammering analysis.
In certain embodiments, the memory 104 may include a hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 that may cause the processor 102 to interface and modify or initiate hydraulic fracturing operations in response to the evaluations made via the efficiency evaluator 110 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112. In some embodiments, the electronic device 100 may receive sensor data from a plurality of perforation stages within a single well, such that variable perforation designs may be compared and evaluated. In some embodiments, an optimal perforation design may be determined via the efficiency evaluator 110 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112, such that the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 may receive information or instructions regarding an optimal perforation design. In some embodiments, the efficiency evaluator 110 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112 may incorporate the information or instructions into a recommendation of one or more perforation designs for ongoing or future hydraulic operations. In some embodiments, the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 may modify future fracturing operations to match the optimal perforation design, initiate new perforation stages with the optimal perforation design, or any combination thereof.
In alternate embodiments, the electronic device 100 may receive sensor data from a single perforation stage utilizing a singular perforation design. In these embodiments, the success of the perforation design may be determined via the efficiency evaluator 110 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112, such that the STDI and/or the normalized pressure derivative may be compared to a predetermined threshold or target efficiency. Based upon the comparison to the desired values, the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 may initiate further fracturing operations using the successful perforation design, may modify future fracturing operations to match the successful perforation design, or a combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the electronic device 100 may be utilized in modeling applications, such that the input variables retrieved via the data retriever 106 may be theoretical or experimental values not directly obtained from field sensors. In these embodiments, the generated STDI and/or normalized pressure derivative may be utilized in representative models for the design of future well completion. In a nonlimiting example, the hydraulic fracturing modelling may be performed within a proposed well with variable perforation design, such that the efficiency evaluator 110 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112 may determine an optimal theoretical perforation design prior to the initiation of hydraulic fracturing operations. In these embodiments, the optimal theoretical perforation design may be output to a user or operator, or may be provided to the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 such that an optimized perforation design may be utilized for the initial fracturing operations within the proposed well. As such, the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 may receive instructions for the design of new perforations within a well and may initiate the prescribed perforation design based upon the theoretical models.
While traditional perforation efficiency determination tools, such as imaging devices and step-rate testing equipment, require operational downtime and additional testing to be performed, the electronic device 100 may assess the perforation efficiency of one or more perforation designs utilizing data already acquired during the fracturing operations without requiring additional testing or equipment. Further, the STDI and normalized pressure derivative may be utilized in the determination of perforation efficiency and optimal perforation design with similar results to step-rate tests and water hammering analysis. The electronic device 100 may determine an optimal perforation design without the need for additional downtime, operating costs, equipment procurement, or any further testing, such that fracturing operations may be optimized with greater cost and time efficiency.
The data receiver 206 may receive or retrieve sensor data directly from one or more sensors 208 from within the hydraulic fracturing operations system 204, which have acquired data values during fracturing operations of a well. In some embodiments, the data receiver 206 may receive or retrieve theoretical data from a modeling tool 210 which has simulated one or more fracturing operations using hydraulic fracturing modelling. Alternatively, the data receiver 206 may receive or retrieve data from a local or external device or database which stores historical fracturing data for the assessment and training of the efficiency determination tool 202. The data acquired by the data receiver 206 may include, but is not limited to, the treatment pressure, pump rate, friction reducer concentration, and pressure derivative within a fractured well.
The efficiency determination tool 202 may include a variable normalizer 212 which may be utilized to calculate the STDI and/or the normalized pressure derivative utilizing the functions provided in the discussion of the variable normalizer 108 and/or the pressure derivative normalizer 112 of
Following the determination of the perforation efficiency by the efficiency evaluator 214, the efficiency determination tool 202 may provide the data or operational instructions to one or more additional modules or devices within the system 200. In some embodiments, the efficiency determination tool 202 may be utilized for assessment of the fracturing or of a model without further performing further operations. In these embodiments, the evaluated efficiency and any comparisons or analyses may be visualized and output to a display 216 or other user interface. The display 216 may be viewed by a user or operator, such that the efficiency of a proposed design, the efficiency of an implemented design, or the comparison between several perforation designs may be viewed for future design or operational use. In some alternate embodiments, the efficiency may be provided to the modeling tool 210 as an analysis of the proposed theoretical perforation design. With the provided efficiency, the modeling tool 210 may provide one or more proposed designs to the hydraulic fracturing operations system 204 with a planned efficiency, such that hydraulic fracturing operations may be initiated based upon the theoretical model.
In further embodiments, however, the efficiency evaluator 214 or efficiency determination tool 202 may generate instructions for further hydraulic fracturing operations. In these further embodiments, the instructions may be provided to an internal hydraulic fracturing operations controller 218 or may be output to an operations controller 220 within the hydraulic fracturing operations system 204. The hydraulic fracturing operations controller 218 and hydraulic fracturing operations controller 220 may signal one or more pieces of operational equipment 222 for the initiation, modification, or continuation of one or more hydraulic fracturing operations as discussed in
In view of the structural and functional features described above, example methods will be better appreciated with reference to
Utilizing the normalized variables calculated at 304, the perforation efficiency of one or more perforation designs may be assessed at 306 using an efficiency evaluator (e.g., the efficiency evaluator 110 of
Further, the evaluated efficiency and corresponding instructions may be utilized at 312 to control hydraulic fracturing operations, or assess hydraulic fracturing operations and their efficiency using one or more hydraulic fracturing operations controllers (e.g., the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114 of
In view of the foregoing structural and functional description, those skilled in the art will appreciate that portions of the embodiments may be embodied as a method, data processing system, or computer program product. Accordingly, these portions of the present embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware, such as shown and described with respect to the computer system of
Certain embodiments have also been described herein with reference to block illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products. It will be understood that blocks and/or combinations of blocks in the illustrations, as well as methods or steps or acts or processes described herein, can be implemented by a computer program comprising a routine of set instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium as described herein. These instructions may be provided to one or more processors of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus (or a combination of devices and circuits) to produce a machine, such that the instructions of the machine, when executed by the processor, implement the functions specified in the block or blocks, or in the acts, steps, methods and processes described herein.
These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory result in an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function specified. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
In this regard,
Computer system 400 includes processing unit 402, system memory 404, and system bus 406 that couples various system components, including the system memory 404, to processing unit 402. Dual microprocessors and other multi-processor architectures also can be used as processing unit 402. System bus 406 may be any of several types of bus structure including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. System memory 404 includes read only memory (ROM) 410 and random access memory (RAM) 412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 414 can reside in ROM 410 containing the basic routines that help to transfer information among elements within computer system 400.
Computer system 400 can include a hard disk drive 416, magnetic disk drive 418, e.g., to read from or write to removable disk 420, and an optical disk drive 422, e.g., for reading CD-ROM disk 424 or to read from or write to other optical media. Hard disk drive 416, magnetic disk drive 418, and optical disk drive 422 are connected to system bus 406 by a hard disk drive interface 426, a magnetic disk drive interface 428, and an optical drive interface 430, respectively. The drives and associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, and computer-executable instructions for computer system 400. Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk and a CD, other types of media that are readable by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks and the like, in a variety of forms, may also be used in the operating environment; further, any such media may contain computer-executable instructions for implementing one or more parts of embodiments shown and described herein.
A number of program modules may be stored in drives and RAM 410, including operating system 432, one or more application programs 434, other program modules 436, and program data 438. In some examples, the application programs 434 can include the data retriever 106, the variable normalizer 108, the efficiency evaluator 110, the pressure derivative normalizer 112, and the hydraulic fracturing operations controller 114, and the program data 438 can include sensor or modeling data, STDIs, normalized pressure derivatives, evaluated efficiencies, and hydraulic fracturing operations instructions. The application programs 434 and program data 438 can include functions and methods programmed to evaluate and utilize a perforation efficiency of one or more perforation designs, such as shown and described herein.
A user may enter commands and information into computer system 400 through one or more input devices 440, such as a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, touch screen), keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, scanner, and the like. For instance, the user can employ input device 440 to edit or modify input variables used in the modeling or evaluation of one or more perforation designs. These and other input devices 440 are often connected to processing unit 402 through a corresponding port interface 442 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, serial port, or universal serial bus (USB). One or more output devices 444 (e.g., display, a monitor, printer, projector, or other type of displaying device) is also connected to system bus 406 via interface 446, such as a video adapter.
Computer system 400 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer 448. Remote computer 448 may be a workstation, computer system, router, peer device, or other common network node, and typically includes many or all the elements described relative to computer system 400. The logical connections, schematically indicated at 450, can include a local area network (LAN) and/or a wide area network (WAN), or a combination of these, and can be in a cloud-type architecture, for example configured as private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, and multi-clouds. When used in a LAN networking environment, computer system 400 can be connected to the local network through a network interface or adapter 452. When used in a WAN networking environment, computer system 400 can include a modem, or can be connected to a communications server on the LAN. The modem, which may be internal or external, can be connected to system bus 406 via an appropriate port interface. In a networked environment, application programs 434 or program data 438 depicted relative to computer system 400, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device 454.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, for example, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “contains”, “containing”, “includes”, “including,” “comprises”, and/or “comprising,” and variations thereof, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Terms of orientation used herein are merely for purposes of convention and referencing and are not to be construed as limiting. However, it is recognized these terms could be used with reference to an operator or user. Accordingly, no limitations are implied or to be inferred. In addition, the use of ordinal numbers (e.g., first, second, third, etc.) is for distinction and not counting. For example, the use of “third” does not imply there must be a corresponding “first” or “second.” Also, if used herein, the terms “coupled” or “coupled to” or “connected” or “connected to” or “attached” or “attached to” may indicate establishing either a direct or indirect connection, and is not limited to either unless expressly referenced as such.
While the disclosure has described several exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes can be made, and equivalents can be substituted for elements thereof, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to adapt a particular instrument, situation, or material to embodiments of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, or to the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, or component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.
