Flow Measurement Handbook is an information-packed reference for engineers on flow measuring techniques and instruments. Striking a balance between laboratory ideal and the realities of field experience, this handy tool provides a wealth of practical advice on the design, operation, and performance of a broad range of flowmeters. The book begins with a brief review of fluid mechanics principles, how to select a flowmeter, and a variety of calibration methods. Each of the following chapters is devoted to a class of flowmeters and includes detailed information on design, applications, installation, calibration, operation, and advantages and disadvantages. Among the flowmeters discussed are orifice plate meters, venturi meters and standard nozzles, critical flow venturi nozzles, positive displacement flowmeters, turbine and related flowmeters, vortex shedding and fluidic flowmeters, electromagnetic flowmeters, ultrasonic flowmeters, and coriolis flowmeters. Also covered are mass flow measurements using multiple sensors, thermal flowmeters, angular momentum devices, probes, and modern control systems. Many chapters conclude with an appendix on the theory behind the techniques discussed.

Flow Measurement Handbook: Industrial Designs, Operating Principles, Performance, and Applications

State-of-the-art anomaly detection systems deployed in oilfields are expensive, not scalable to a large number of sensors, require manual operation, and provide data with a long delay To overcome these problems, we design a wireless sensor network system that detects, identifies, and localizes major anomalies such as blockage and leakage that arise in steamflood and waterflood pipelines in oilfields A sensor network consists of small, inexpensive nodes equipped with embedded processors and wireless communication, which enables flexible deployment and close observation of phenomena without human intervention Our sensor-network-based system, Steamflood and Waterflood Tracking System (SWATS), aims to allow continuous monitoring of the steamflood and waterflood systems with low cost, short delay, and fine-granularity coverage while providing high accuracy and reliability The anomaly detection and identification is challenging because of the inherent inaccuracy and unreliability of sensors and the transient characteristics of the flows Moreover, observation by a single node cannot capture the topological effects on the transient characteristics of steam and water fluid to disambiguate similar problems and false alarms We address these hurdles by utilizing multimodal sensing and multisensor collaboration, and exploiting temporal and spatial patterns of the sensed phenomena

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SWATS: Wireless sensor networks for steamflood and waterflood pipeline monitoring

Commercialization of the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process has made recovery of heavy oil/bitumen possible in a number of reservoirs hindered by hydrocarbon immobility. However, the economics of this process are highly sensitive to the efficiency of steam creation, delivery, and use, with a successful and unsuccessful SAGD well pair often separated by how effectively thermal inefficiencies can be mitigated in the flow profiles of steam injection and/or in emulsion recovery. To improve flow profiles, Albertan SAGD completions have experimented with the addition of flow control devices (FCDs). These completion tools have historically been used to regulate liquid inflow across long producing laterals, adding a variable pressure drop along the lateral to improve the conformance of hydrocarbon production and delay water breakthrough; within SAGD completions, FCDs find novel use to force a more even flow distribution of steam in the injector and a thermally dependent inflow profile in the producer to maximize recovery of heavy oil/bitumen. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of different FCD designs, discussing their respective methods of regulation, the fluid-adaptive behavior of “autonomous” FCDs, operational strengths and weaknesses of different commercial offerings, and suggestions on how to use existing pressure loss models for FCDs and apply them to the non-traditional application of regulating SAGD flow profiles, both for equipment sizing and estimation of pressure loss/flow rates across the device. From this work, it is proposed that use of autonomous FCDs in the production lateral are of greater value than use of flow control in the injector; however maximum benefits are achieved by coupling simple orifice-style FCDs in the injector lateral with autonomous, large flow path (non-orifice) FCDs capable of controlling steam flash events in the production well.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13202-017-0393-4.pdf

Design of flow control devices in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) completion

\n At the base of a steam-assisted-gravity-drainage (SAGD) steam chamber, a liquid pool is developed, which is a key component for bitumen production. A producer is placed in the liquid pool, and its production is mainly controlled by its liquid level and the temperature gradient across its depth. A “subcool control” or “thermodynamic steam-trap control” is a typical operating strategy to control steam coning to the producer. Part I of this study (Irani 2018) presented a methodology to evaluate the production rate for a given pressure drawdown and subcool in a SAGD liquid pool; and Part III (Irani and Gates 2018) modified such a formulation for a stability analysis of the Nsolv™ (Nenniger and Nenniger 2000, 2001) process that contained a large fraction of liquid butane. In this study, first, the effect of localized hot spots on well control is formulated as a virtual skin factor in the liquid-pool deliverability equation. The results of this work suggest that a longer hot spot will yield to lower differential pressure and make it more challenging to control the steam breakthrough by choking the well at a given rate. Another key finding is that the steam coning becomes less controllable for higher-permeability reservoirs.\n Flow-control devices (FCDs) have been used extensively in horizontal wells for conventional oil and gas production to prevent early water breakthrough or gas coning. Although FCDs are commonly installed to prevent steam coning after steam breakthrough and to manage hot spots as retrofit completions by SAGD operators, in recent years, FCDs have been often installed to improve SAGD well-pair performance as part of the initial completion. The benefits associated with this technology in the SAGD industry have been studied with reservoir simulations and validated with field experience, but a theoretical study that discusses the main factors for a correct FCD selection on the basis of operational conditions and reservoir heterogeneity is required. In this study, the liner-deployed FCD and liquid-pool systems are coupled, and two criteria are suggested for a design of liner-deployed FCDs on the basis of the pressure-drop ratio of the FCD relative to the liquid pool (ΔPFCD/ΔPpool) and the coefficient of variation (CoV) of inflow for the liner-deployed-FCD wellbore (CoVFCD). The results of this study show that in higher-permeability reservoirs, the ideal FCD design should have more ports to reduce the differential pressure to flow response. While FCDs will improve inflow conformance relative to completions without FCDs, the effect of permeability in this improvement is minimal. This improvement is larger in applications operating at lower target subcool values. Reducing the target-wellbore subcool value can improve well deliverability twofold: First, FCD-completed wells produce more at lower subcools and, second, reducing the subcool value helps to improve inflow uniformity along the length of the lateral. By effectively removing the fluids available to the producer, the growth of the steam chamber can be maximized through accelerated injection rates.

On Subcool Control in SAGD Producers—Part II: Localized-Hot-Spots Effects and Optimization of Flow-Control Devices


 Part 1 of this study (SPE-187956-PA) presented a method to calculate the liquid pool level from temperature profile in observation wells, provided new insight into how factors like wellbore drawdown can compromise subcool control and cause steam breakthrough, and illustrated how liquid pool depletion may result in uncontrolled steam coning with time. In Part 1, the algebraic equation for liquid pool depletion based on wellbore drawdown, subcool and emulsion productivity was generated. However, not included in Part 1 was an examination of the effect of localized hot spots on well control, which is the focus of this paper.
 As a part of this study, the effect of localized hot spots is mathematically included as a virtual skin factor representing the hot spot length in the algebraic equation for liquid pool depletion. The results of this work suggest that longer hot-spot will yield to lower differential pressure and make it harder to control the steam breakthrough by choking the well at a given rate. Two important finding of this work are that: (1) the zero-differential pressure (or steam coning) in reservoirs with higher permeabilities occurs in shorter hot-spots; and (2) it is harder to control the steam coning in high permeability reservoirs after hot-spots develop.
 Flow control devices (FCDs) have been extensively used in horizontal wells for conventional oil and gas production in order to prevent early water break-through or gas coning. The benefits associated with this technology in SAGD industry have been studied with reservoir simulations and validated with field experience. The cost comparisons of bridge plug at the toe and scab-liners in heel with FCD installation along the producer is typically not large, which makes the FCDs the more attractive full life cycle option in producers experiencing hot-spots. Although installation of FCDs to prevent steam coning after steam breakthrough and hot-spots creation is part of the common practice as retrofits by SAGD operators, in recent years FCDs are now often installed to improve SAGD well pair performance as part of the initial completion. Although FCDs have demonstrated potential for improving recovery in SAGD production wells, vendors use a variety of approaches when designing their FCDs independent of the liquid pool element resulting in many cases where the field results showed no improvement. It is necessary to accurately characterize different FCDs under different reservoir conditions. In this study, the liner deployed FCD and liquid pool systems are coupled, and two criteria are suggested as for a design of liner deployed FCDs on the basis of pressure drop ratio of FCD relative to the liquid pool (ΔPFCD / ΔPpool) and the coefficient of variation (CoV) of inflow for the liner deployed FCD wellbore (CoVFCD).

On Subcool Control in the SAGD Producers. Part II: Localized Hot Spots Effects and Optimization of Flow-Control-Devices

A method for measurement of steam quality and flow rate has been developed, laboratory tested, and packaged for thermal EOR applications. The method consists of an orifice flow meter in series with a critical flow meter. The flow through the orifice is subcritical. The critical-flow meter can be a static choke, a venturi, a nozzle, or a thick orifice, etc. Steam flow rate equations for orifice flow and for critical flow were established with empirically derived constants. These two equations were combined and solved to determine the steam quality and flow rate. The basic mechanical parts of the measurement system are rugged and inexpensive. The pressure transmitters and flow computer are portable and can be used for spot checks or for continuous monitoring. The steam quality and flow rate information obtained make it possible to evaluate the performance of steam distribution systems and thus to identify where modifications to the distribution system piping are needed.

J.L.G. Schrodt

Papers

Determination of Steam Quality and Flow Rate Using Pressure Data From an Orifice Meter and a Critical Flowmeter