Estimating Zonal Flow Contributions in Deep Water Assets From Pressure and Temperature Data

Producing hydrocarbon from deep water assets is extremely challenging and expensive. A good estimate of rates from multiple pay zones is essential for well monitoring, surveillance, and workover decisions. Such information can be gleaned from flowing fluid pressure and temperature; deep-water wells are often well instrumented that offers such data on a continuous basis. In this study a model is presented that estimates zonal flow contributions based on energy and momentum balances. Kinetic and heat energy coming from the reservoir fluid to the production tubing is accounted for in the model. The momentum balance for wellbore takes into account differing flow profile in laminar and turbulent flows. In addition, when sandface temperature data are not available, a recently developed analytical model to estimate the effect of Joule-Thompson expansion on sandface temperature was used to estimate sandface temperature from reservoir temperature. The model developed can be applied to any reservoir with multiple pay zones and is especially useful for deep-water assets where production logging is practically impossible. Available field data for multiphase flow was used to validate the model. Sensitivity analyses were performed that showed accurate temperature data is essential for the model to estimate zonal contribution accurately.

Co-Occurrence Probability Analysis of Sea Ice at Yingkou and Huludao Observation Stations of China

Co-occurrence probability analysis of sea ice between adjacent areas is very helpful for the hazard prevention and protection strategy making of coastal and offshore engineering. Yingkou and Huludao with similar latitudes are located on the opposite sides of Liaodong Bay of China. Their sea ice conditions are both apparent in winter and early spring, so it is useful to study on the co-occurrence situations of sea ice conditions between these two areas. Based on the annual maximum sea ice thickness of Yingkou and Huludao observation stations, the co-occurrence probability analysis of sea ice thickness is conducted. The joint probability distributions of sea ice thickness between these adjacent areas are constructed by using univariate maximum entropy distributions and four bivariate copulas. Both marginal curve fittings are very well, and the model determined by Gumbel-Hougaard copula describes the bivariate sea ice thickness data best. Then different cases of co-occurrence probabilities of sea ice thickness between Yingkou and Huludao are presented, and they can provide references to the hazard protection of the coastal and offshore structures between these two areas.

Ice Load Calculation on Semi-Submersible Platform

In 2012 TechnipFMC, Cervval and Bureau Veritas initiated a common development program to offer a new tool for the design of offshore structures interacting with ice combining a variety of models and approaches. This numerical tool called Ice-MAS (www.ice-mas.com) is using a multi-agent technology and has the possibility to combine in a common framework multiple phenomena from various natures and heterogeneous scales (i.e. drag, friction, ice-sheet bending failure, local crushing and rubble stack up). It can simulate the ice loadings of a drifting ice-sheet (including ridge or not) on predefined structures such as conical, cylindrical, sloping & vertical wall, artificial islands or more complex geometry by user input file like semi-submersible floaters with pontoon and columns allowing to obtain the detailed results on the different parts of the structure. This paper presents the overall functionalities of Ice-MAS and the different possibilities to model a semi-submersible floater. It will focus on the results obtained for different geometries subject to ice sheet loading through different incidence angles. The issues related to the anchoring of the platform are addressed in a simplified way.

Investigations on the Damage Potential of Drilling Fluids: HT/HP-Return-Permeability Tests Under Dynamic Conditions

In view of the increasing scarcity of energy resources, wells are being drilled to progressively greater depths for the production of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. Economical exploitation of these HT/HP reservoirs is possible only with the application of drilling and completion methods which do not damage the formation. Here, the reservoir-saving exposure of these deposits is an essential contribution. The damage potential of drilling fluids and treatment fluids is usually assessed on the basis of return permeability (RP) tests. An impairment of the effective rock permeability through appropriate candidate fluids (drill in fluids, etc.) can be measured with special laboratory tests. In addition to the RP-Tests further investigations should be made to estimate the formation damage such as high-resolution digital photography, mercury porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy as well as microsection analyses. Within the framework of the German Society for Petroleum and Coal Science and Technology a project was carried out to evaluate common formation damage test facilities and to define the “best practice” meeting the requirements of RP-measurements under borehole-like conditions. After a thorough evaluation an advanced HT/HP facility for formation damage testing was designed and built. By using of this set-up, systematic return-permeability tests were performed under dynamic conditions for temperatures up to 180 °C, for a flow pressure up to 250 bar, and a mantle pressure up to 350 bar. This paper presents results from a study on the filtration and formation damage behaviour of drilling fluids under variation of the concentration and of the weighting material particle size distribution. Furthermore, promising results from changing dynamic and static filtration experiments are discussed.

Subsurface Ice Transport at a Transversally Towed Ship Model

The subsurface transport of ice along the underwater body of a ship hull or a structure may cause damages to appendages. In order to investigate the conditions under which the ice accumulation occurs, a series of model tests was carried out in the ice basin of Aalto University. The used ship model was towed laterally against the ice with one side breaking level ice. The transport of broken ice floes broken off from the intact ice sheet has been has been monitored with underwater cameras. Both the model drift speed, respectively the ice drift speed, and the ice thickness are found to affect ice accumulation process. The Densimetric Froude number is introduced as measured to determine whether ice floes will accumulate on the upstream of the hull. It is found that ice accumulation is triggered at relatively low Froude number.

Development of Well Intervention Fluid for Removal of Sustained Casing Pressure

Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP) is a well integrity problem and its removal is required. Techniques that involve replacing the fluid inside the annulus with a heavier fluid (kill fluid, KF) to stop gas migration have so far failed due to issues resulting from fluid incompatibility. This study aims to develop an intervention fluid compatible with water-based annular fluids. Based on the theory of buoyant slippage, brominated organic fluids have been produced and tested to assess compatibility and performance with multiple physical models. Results showed that the KF was able to settle down in water-based fluids, build up and exert pressure at the bottom. Experiments also exposed the formation of a mixture zone just above the building-up KF column. Lower injection rates and/or larger nozzle sizes decrease KF dispersion, prevent mixture zone formation and increase KF recovery. Intervention fluids developed in this study may revive the defunct bleed-and-lube (B&L) technique that would dramatically reduce the cost of SCP removal or may be used in an alternative process of continuous displacement that would significantly reduce the time of well intervention. Presented in the paper is also a road map for testing the SCP removal process that would lead to development of this technology.

Numerical Solution of Rapid Freezing of Sea Water on Cold Substrates

Rapid freezing of sea water on a cold substrate of spongy ice is investigated. The mechanism of transient ice accretion on cold substrates is different than slow freezing of salt water. An investigation of rapid freezing in this paper fills a gap of knowledge related to periodic icing of salt water on marine and offshore structures. The equation of transient heat conduction through brine-spongy ice is analyzed. Rapid freezing causes complete salt trapping, which makes the salinity constant and stable at the phase interface during the solidification. A thin layer of salt water is considered in contact with a spongy substrate. A finite difference method is employed to calculate the rate of solidification of the brine layer and consequently the thickness of ice accumulated. The discretization is based on the Method of Lines (MOL) which is a useful numerical-iterative method for boundary moving problems. Numerical results show that colder substrates and brine layers have the potential to create a thicker layer of new ice.

A Probability Analysis of Atomization Rate for Fully Developed Annular Flow in Vertical Pipes

The phase distributions and mechanical properties of annular flow are constantly fluctuating, so they can be regarded as random states. The probability analysis of annular flow is an appropriate method to research the formation, development and evolution of the flow pattern. In the present work, the atomization and deposition rates of fully developed annular flow are investigated in detail by the method of a probability analysis. First, the basic equations of the probability model are applied to solve some important intermediate parameters of annular flow. Second, the atomization and deposition rates of any size droplets are closely related to the probabilities of droplet generation and disappearance. Third, the interchange rate of the whole liquid phase can be obtained by summing the generation and disappearance probabilities of arbitrary size droplets. The predictions of atomization rate are well verified by comparing with the experimental date of 71 cases from three sets of tests. It is demonstrated that the probability model can accurately calculate the atomization rate of the fully developed annular flow for most cases. The predicted deviation for some cases may be caused by the neglect of droplet breakup process. Furthermore, the effects on the atomization rate of seven parameters of annular flow are discussed in detail.

Probabilistic Flow Modelling Approach for Kick Tolerance Calculations

During drilling, there must be an evaluation of the maximum pressure that the formation can handle during a well kill scenario. This will depend on various parameters like fracture pressure, pore pressure, kick volume and several other factors. The depth of the next planned hole section will depend on if a kick of a certain size can be handled safely. This evaluation is often referred to as performing kick tolerances. When starting to drill a section, one will take a leak off test to get an indication of the fracture pressure at the last set casing shoe and this will be important information for the kick tolerance results. For HPHT wells the margin between pore and fracture pressures will be small, and one often has to resort to using transient flow models to perform the kick tolerances. However, there are many uncertain parameters that are affecting the results. Some examples here are pore pressure, type of kick and kick distribution. There is a need for trying to incorporate the uncertainty in the calculation process to give a better overview of possible outcomes. This approach has become more and more popular, and one example here is reliability based casing design. This paper will first describe the kick tolerance concept and its role in well design planning and operational follow up. An overview of all parameters that can affect the results will be given. In water based mud, the gas kick will be in free form yielding higher maximum casing shoe pressures compared to the situation when oil based mud is used where the kick can be fully dissolved. Then it will be shown how both an analytical and a transient flow model can be used in combination with the use of Monte Carlo simulations to generate a probabilistic kick tolerance calculation showing possible outcomes for maximum casing shoe pressure for different kick volumes. Here uncertain input parameters that can affect the calculation result will be drawn from statistical distributions and propagated through the flow model to estimate the casing shoe pressure. Multiple runs will be needed in the Monte Carlo simulation process to generate a distribution of the maximum casing shoe pressure. This will demand a rapid and robust flow model. The resulting maximum casing shoe pressure distribution will then be compared against the uncertainty in the fracture pressure at the last set casing shoe to yield a probability for inducing losses. The numerical approach for predicting well pressures and a schematic of the total calculation process will be given. Emphasis will also be put on discussing how this should be presented to the engineer with respect to visualization and communication. It will also be shown that one of the strengths of the probabilistic approach is that it is very useful for performing sensitivity analysis such that the most dominating factors affecting the calculation results can be identified. In that way, it can help in interpreting and improving the reliability of the kick tolerance simulation results.

Iceberg Detection in Low Visibility Conditions via Infra-Red Sensors: Processing and Modelling of Field Data

This article deals with Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) and Long Wave Infra-Red (LWIR) imaging sensors for detecting icebergs in harsh metocean conditions. Field data acquired during the Statoil Offshore Newfoundland Research Expedition 2015 (ONRE15) is analyzed. The analysis is supported by a numerical modelling study which aims at simulating the optical properties of ice and water combined with the radiation transfer in the Infra Red.