Sensitive process viscosity measurement at extremely high pressure for downhole applications

Wednesday, September 24th 2014

Corentin Thierry

Summary

• LWD Technology

• HPHT Requirements

• Viscometer/Densimeter for downhole applications – Design

– Specifications

– Pressure and temperature tests

– Mounting

• Wireline application

• Drilling Mud applications

• Multiple shear rate measurement

LWD/MWD • Logging While drilling : Set of

tools on the bottom hole assembly (BHA) used to retrieve information while drilling

• Measurement While Drilling : Part of the LWD tools used for positioning, direction and transmission of the information to the surface

Measurements in LWD

• Commonly encountered – Gamma Ray

– Resistivity

– Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

– Neutron porosity

– Borehole caliper

• Potential future measurements – Fluid Density

– Viscosity

Requirements for HPHT

• Pressure – 10,000 psi to 30,000+ psi

• Temperature – 300°F to 600+°F

• Corrosion resistance – Presence of CO2, H2S, Chloride and/or other halides

• Low energy consumption (for LWD applications)

• Small size and low volume

New sensor for viscosity and density measurements in downhole

applications

Sofeat Sensor

Viscometer/Densimeter based on vibration at resonance frequency

• Vibrating rod held in oscillation at its resonance frequency

• Vibration amplitude decreases when viscosity increases

• Vibration frequency decreases when density increases

• Remote electronics processes the signals

Sensor body

Coil detecting the magnet movement

Magnet

Coil creating the rod movement

Vibrating rod

Fluid

Coil detecting the magnet movement

Coil creating the rod movement

Amplitude of the rod (mV)

Product viscosity (cP)

•Resonance Freq •Amplitude changes

Sensor Specifications Already delivered by Sofraser

for downhole applications Possibilities Experimental

validation

Pressure Up to 20,000 psi at 70°F Up to 15,500 psi at 570°F

Up to 27,500 psi at 70°F Up to 21,000 psi at 570°F

Sensor temperature Up to 390 °F Up to 570°F

Size Ø60mm x 220mm TBD

Volume 0.6 L TBD

Weight 9 lbs(sensor + chamber) TBD

Material Corrosion resistant materials (eg : Stainless Steel, Hastelloy)

Viscosity Range 0 – 200 mPa.s Up to 1,000,000 mPa.s

Viscosity Accuracy 1% of reading 0.5% of reading

Density Range 5 to 13 ppg 0.8 to 16 ppg

Density Accuracy 0.4 ppg 0.08 ppg

Electronics Specifications

Already delivered by Sofraser for downhole applications

Temperature Up to 260°F

Size 100mm x 40mm x 10mm

Power supply 12 V

Power consomption < 1W

Communication RS 485, 250ms, 57600 baud

Pressure tests

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300

Max

pre

ssu

re*

(bar

)

Temperature (°C)

Sensor already installed

*1.5 Safety coefficient

Pressure tests 2

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300

Max

pre

ssu

re*

(bar

)

Temperature (°C)

New design with stiffening elements to increase pressure resistance. - Max pressure increased by

1.4 (confirmed by tests) - Not industrialized yet

*1.5 Safety coefficient

Temperature tests on electronic board

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 400

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Amplitude vs time Amplitude vs température (°C)

125°C

100°C 100°C

80°C 80°C

50°C 50°C

Thermal drift compensated by quadratic equation

Viscosity trials

y = 1,0058x + 0,0329 R² = 1

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Mea

sure

d v

isco

sity

(m

Pa.

s)

Expected viscosity (mPa.s)

Mounting

• Flow through cell mounting

• Sensor screwed onto measuring cell using threading

• Electronics installed remotely in the same pipe

• Sensor and electronics installed in WL/BHA

Applications

Wireline application

• Measurement of bottomhole crude – Better formation evaluation by direct viscosity

measurement

– Better accuracy and repeatability than other techniques used to deduce viscosity

– Quantification of fluid variations in real time

– Better spectroscopic models using measured viscosity rather than calculation

• First units delivered earlier this year

Drilling mud measurements

• Mud weight measurement at bottomhole and/or surface

• Viscosity at multiple shear rate for modeling flow curve – Reduce the amount of laboratory tests

– Possibility for downhole and/or surface measurement

• Measurement on various mud types (Water based, Emulsions, Oil based)

• Continuous measurement – Information between 2 lab tests

– Trending for quick adjustments when needed

Viscosity measurement at multiple shear rate

• Use of inline viscometers to monitor Plastic Viscosity and Yield Point in real time – 2 sensors measuring at 500 s-1 and 1000 s-1

• Correlation between lab and viscometers to evaluate further mud properties – Possibility to measure from 300 s-1

to 1000+ s-1 using vibrating technology

• Solution currently under development

Conclusion

• New sensor suitable for viscosity and density measurement in HPHT conditions

• Future improvements to increase maximum pressure, temperature, viscosity and density performance

• Used in wireline applications and potential use for LWD applications

• Potential use of multiple shear rate sensors to monitor drilling fluid in real time

Thank you

Mr. Corentin THIERRY - MSc Applications Specialist - Sofraser

19407 Oil Center Boulevard, Houston, Texas, 77073 Phone: 281-214-8295

Cell: 281-740-7257 Fax: 281-591-0052

Email: c-thierry@sofraser.com Web: www.sofraser.com