System and Method to Interpret Distributed Temperature Sensor Data and to Determine a Flow Rate in a Well
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing distributed temperature data from a well, comprising:
- obtaining temperature profile data along a portion of a wellbore;
providing the temperature profile data to a processor; and
automatically processing the temperature profile data to highlight valuable information to a user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed temperature sensor is deployed in a wellbore and is functionally connected to a processor. The processor receives the data from the distributed temperature sensor and automatically processes the data to highlight valuable information to the user relating to the relevant well, completion, or reservoir. In one embodiment, the distributed temperature sensor and processor are utilized in a well containing a gas-lift system, wherein the processor highlights valuable information to the user pertaining to the gas-lift system. A well model enabled by the processor enables the determination of a produced fluid flow rate in the well having a gas lift system. Temperatures are measured within the well to obtain a temperature profile, and this profile is processed according to the well model. The well model relates thermal characteristics, e.g. thermal decay and/or amplitude of a thermal discontinuity at an injection point, to flow rate. The flow rate determined from the thermal characteristics is used to optimize production from the well.
129 Citations
94 Claims
-
1. A method for analyzing distributed temperature data from a well, comprising:
-
obtaining temperature profile data along a portion of a wellbore;
providing the temperature profile data to a processor; and
automatically processing the temperature profile data to highlight valuable information to a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A system to analyze distributed temperature data from a well, comprising:
-
a distributed temperature sensor adapted to measure temperature profile data along a portion of a wellbore;
a processor adapted to receive the temperature profile data; and
wherein the processor automatically processes the temperature profile data to highlight valuable information to a user. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A method of detecting certain events within a well, comprising:
-
obtaining data over a period of time along a portion of a wellbore;
automatically processing the data to detect specific events related to heat energy in the well; and
displaying results to a user. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
-
-
49. A method of determining a flow rate, comprising:
-
providing a well model relating temperature characteristics to a flow rate of a production fluid in a well having a gas lift system;
measuring temperatures along the well; and
determining the flow rate based on applying the well model to measured temperature data. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
-
-
53. A method, comprising:
-
measuring a temperature profile in a well having a gas lift system to produce a fluid through a production tubing; and
determining a flow rate through the production tubing based solely on the temperature profile and established well parameters. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
-
-
63. A method of determining a flow rate, comprising:
-
providing a well model relating flow rate of a production fluid to a decay length of a thermal perturbation at a gas injection location;
measuring temperatures along the well; and
applying the well model to the measured temperatures to determine the flow rate based on the decay length of the thermal perturbation. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67)
-
-
68. A method of determining a flow rate, comprising:
-
providing a well model relating flow rate of a production fluid to a measured amplitude of a thermal perturbation at a gas injection location;
measuring temperatures along the well; and
applying the well model to the measured temperatures to determine the flow rate based on the measured amplitude of the thermal perturbation. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72)
-
-
73. A system, comprising:
-
a temperature sensor system deployed with a gas lift system in a well to measure temperature in a plurality of locations along the well; and
a processor system able to receive the measured temperatures and apply the measured temperatures to a stored model, the stored model being able to establish a fluid flow rate of a produced fluid based on a thermal perturbation at a gas injection location of the gas lift system. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
-
-
82. A system, comprising:
-
means for measuring a temperature profile in a well having a gas lift system to produce a fluid through a production tubing; and
means for determining a flow rate through the production tubing based solely on the temperature profile and established well parameters. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84)
-
-
85. A method of determining a flow rate, comprising:
-
providing a well model relating temperature characteristics to a flow rate of a production fluid in a well;
measuring temperatures along the well; and
determining the flow rate based on applying the well model to measured temperature data.
-
-
86. A method, comprising:
-
measuring a temperature profile in a well having a gas lift system to produce a fluid through a production tubing;
determining a flow rate through the production tubing based on the temperature profile and established well parameters; and
automatically optimizing the flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90)
-
-
91. A system, comprising:
-
a distributed temperature sensor deployed with a gas lift system in a well to obtain a temperature profile along the well; and
a processor system able to receive the measured temperatures and apply the measured temperatures to a stored model, the stored model being able to establish a fluid flow rate of a produced fluid and to automatically optimize the fluid flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (92, 93, 94)
-
Specification