The next meeting of the Dutch Petrophysical Society will be held on Thursday 24th September. The virtual doors open at 15:30 with the talk commencing at 16:00.

Virginie Schoepf from Openfield Technology will present a talk on Flow Regime Diagnostic in Producers and Injectors using Ultrasonic Doppler Sensors

As COVID-19 is still with us, as before we’ll be meeting virtually using GoToMeeting. Please register for the meeting here. The link to join the meeting will be sent via email to all registered attendees shortly before the meeting

Hope to see you on Thursday 24th September.

Abstract

Standard and newer generation spinners operating in low velocity environments are often limited to detect small entries if their thresholds are greater than fluid movement. Conversely, fluid viscosity, density and even more significantly possible contamination of spinner jewel bearings with solid particles (paraffin, sand) may as well impede the rotation of the propellers’ blades. Furthermore, harsh logging conditions can also lead to loss of propellers. In these situations, an alternative measurement to diagnose flow regimes and inform about in situ fluid velocities is required.

A novel flow diagnostic measurement based on Doppler physics has been developed. The measurement does not require direct contact between the borehole fluid and the sensing element, inhomogeneities inside the fluid being detected by multiple ultrasonic transducers. The sensor operates from very low to high velocity flow but is dependable on the presence of inhomogeneities (fluid bubbles, solid particles, turbulences..). The ultrasonic Doppler sensors can be mounted on the axis of a compact array tool string or independently from each other for instance as an array of sensors with use of elongated probe design. The very short tool string will typically carry auxiliary measurements (Pressure, Temperature, Holdup, MML(CCL), Tool Orientation and Deviation, Spinner).

After a brief presentation of the sensor technology and physics, applications of Doppler physics from lab experiments and in situ well data alongside production logging sensors illustrate how that alternative measurement can complement the flow diagnostic and make it more accurate. We will show how recent progress in spectrum recording has led to improving the extraction of Doppler measurements as well as our understanding of in situ flow conditions. Limits as well as benefits of the measurements will be discussed.

Biography

Virginie Schoepf is a senior petrophysicist in Openfield Technology and is a member of the SPE. Virginie started her career with Schlumberger as a development engineer in France and later moved to a log analyst role in production petrophysics. She held the position of petrophysicist at Neptune Energy and BP. She holds an MS degree in geophysics from Ecole de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg.