U.S. patent number 3,796,883 [Application Number 05/126,913] was granted by the patent office on 1974-03-12 for method for monitoring gravel packed wells.
Invention is credited to Allen C. Nelson, Donald M. Smith.
United States Patent |
3,796,883 |
Smith , et al. |
March 12, 1974 |
METHOD FOR MONITORING GRAVEL PACKED WELLS
Abstract
The effectiveness and competency of a well gravel pack and
changes therein are determined by monitoring the location of
radioactive pellets within the gravel pack. The size and specific
gravity of the radioactive pellets is substantially the same as
that of the gravel particles which comprise the gravel pack.
Inventors: |
Smith; Donald M. (Garden Grove,
CA), Nelson; Allen C. (Seal Beach, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22427352 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/126,913 |
Filed: |
March 22, 1971 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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786008 |
Dec 23, 1968 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
250/260; 166/278;
250/302; 166/250.01; 250/301; 250/303 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B
43/04 (20130101); E21B 47/09 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E21B
47/00 (20060101); E21B 43/02 (20060101); E21B
43/04 (20060101); E21B 47/09 (20060101); G21h
005/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;250/83.6W,16L,16T
;166/250,253,254,278 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
The Field Experiment of Littoral Drift Using Radioactive Glass
Sand, by Inose et al., from Proceedings of the International
Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Vol. 15, pgs. 211
to 219, United Nations Publications, 1956..
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Primary Examiner: Borchelt; Archie R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Harris, Kern, Wallen &
Tinsley
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 786,008, filed Dec.
23, 1968, now abandoned.
Claims
1. A method of detecting any change in the characteristics of a
gravel pack in a well cavity, including the steps of:
a. sensing the individual locations of discrete, spaced radioactive
pellets in the gravel pack;
b. again sensing the individual locations of the discrete, spaced
radioactive pellets at a later time; and
c. determining whether any changes in the individual locations of
the discrete, spaced radioactive pellets occurred between the two
sensing
2. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the radioactive pellets
have substantially the same size and specific gravity as the gravel
particles comprising the gravel pack.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Gravel packs have been found necessary and have been used to great
advantage in an attempt to effectively control movement in
unconsolidated earth formations in which the well cavities are
located. Examples of wells in which gravel packs have been
incorporated include producing, injection, source, and storage
wells. Control of sand or other unconsolidated earths in fluid or
gas producing wells has been of major concern in order to avoid
recovery equipment wear and failure as well as improving the
quantity of materials produced. The control of earth formations
surrounding injection wells which includes not only those used in
secondary oil, water or gas recovery but storage wells, source
wells, disposal wells and barrier wells is also important.
Slumping, sagging or collapse of such formations usually
necessitates redrilling the well or abandonment altogether.
Although gravel packing has been used rather successfully in
reducing or avoiding the aforementioned well failures, methods of
improving packing effectiveness have been sought and attempted.
Gravel packing is recognized as a somewhat elaborate procedure,
which, in order to be effective or satisfactory, must be carried
out under carefully controlled conditions. A number of techniques
for placing the gravel into wells have been developed, the
variations of which, depending on the type of well being packed,
are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be
discussed in detail here. Generally, the methods most commonly used
are gravitational, circulation and prepacked liner methods.
However, notwithstanding the extent to which these gravel packing
techniques have been developed and the care used in well packing,
failures are common. As a result, such failures have necessitated
redrilling and repacking of a well cavity before suitable
production, injection source or storage processes can be continued.
Although the following discussion is generally directed to problems
associated with producing wells and the gravel packing used
therein, it should be appreciated that the present invention and
its advantages relates broadly to any gravel packed wells such as
those set forth hereinabove.
The use of gravel packs in oil wells has been especially important
not only because of the high costs of drilling but, in addition, to
maintain maximum production capacities. The gravel packs which
surround a perforated or slotted liner through which the fluid oil
is directed and recovered are effective in screening oil sand from
the recovered fluid when such packs are in proper position. Without
the control of an effective gravel pack in wells surrounded by
unconsolidated earth formations, the small particles of sand and
the like which are entrained in the fluid to be recovered would
otherwise be unrestricted and pass through a perforated liner along
with the fluid thereby causing undesirable abrasion of metal parts
and necessitate frequent clean outs. Obviously, the production
costs of such a well would be significantly increased. The presence
of an effective gravel pack between the perforated liner and the
walls of the well thereby reduces equipment failures and increases
production rates. In preparing a well for gravel packing, it is
common to ream or cut out an area of the well formation somewhat
larger than the size of the liner to be placed in the wall.
Thereafter the liner is centered into the well cavity and the
gravel is placed into the space around the liner by a suitable
technique. Once production is initiated, the gravel particles
present in the pack and which are significantly larger than the
finer sand or earth particles present in the oil-containing earth
formation surrounding the well act as a filter to allow the
desirable fluids to pass therethrough into the perforated liner. At
the same time, the sand grains initially contacting the gravel
particles at the gravel pack-earth interface become trapped and as
production continues, a gravel-sand screen or bridge is built up
which further prevents significant amounts of said from extensively
entering the gravel pack. Another advantage of efficient and
compacted gravel packs is in preventing sagging, slumping, and
possible collapse of the surrounding unconsolidated earth formation
from which fluid is being taken and recovered. However, it is
appreciated that as effective as the forementioned gravel packs may
be in screening out most sand particles, a number of fine grains
which are entrained in the fluid produced will be removed from the
earth formation or be shifted in position and may pass through the
pack. Voids in the formation may also be created by fracturing
during drilling, injection or remedial operations. This sand
removal or shifting, although not necessarily seriously impeding
the fluid recovery, eventually may cause the sagging or slumping of
the adjacent unconsolidated earth formation surrounding the gravel
pack. If the slumping is extensive, the gravel pack formation
itself may become disrupted and voids or bridges may result with
concomitant exposure of some liner perforations to the
unconsolidated sand formation. Obviously, when this occurs, the
undesired particles may enter the liner and be directed to the well
head with the fluid thereby causing the undesired abrasion of metal
parts or sand filling of the well as previously noted. In addition,
if large quantities of sand are eroded or removed from the
resulting unconsolidated formation, a collapse of the overlying
strata may also result and damage the well casing itself.
Similar failures may take place in injection or storage wells where
fluids or gases are directed into the well cavities under pressure.
The surrounding earth formation is thus continuously exposed to the
injected material as it passes through the gravel pack with gradual
erosion of the earth formation and the gravel pack with possible
well failure resulting.
Again referring to wells containing a liner or pipe through which
fluids or gases are recovered or injected, it is especially
important that a gravel pack surrounding the liner or pipe be as
uniform as possible in cross-section throughout. Considering that
gravel packs often are only a few inches in thickness, there is
little room for error in establishing an effective pack. Although
serious enough in essentially vertical wells, the chances of poor
pack formation are even greater in high-angle holes in which means
for centralizing the liner must be used to prevent liner contact
with earth formation. Generally, the initial depth and size of the
well cavity can be reasonably estimated. However, even assuming
that the liner is centered within the well, variations along the
sides of the surrounding earth formation may take place as the
gravel particles are directed into the well and circulated around
the liner during preparation of the gravel pack. In addition,
unexpected holes or cavities may be present, the entrances to which
may be common to the well cavity. Yet, short of noting obvious
differences in the amount of gravel calculated as necessary to form
the pack and that actually used, there is presently no suitable
means for efficiently determining the placement effectiveness of
the gravel pack formation before production begins and extensive
failure occurs. Further, once the well is in use, there is no
suitable means for effectively monitoring its competency, that is,
its continued effective condition short of realizing failure after
it has taken place. Yet if the gravel pack formation could be
periodically monitored for movements, voids, bridges, slumping and
the like, failures could be anticipated and forecast and remedies
such as repacking could be instituted. In addition, should gravel
pack failures occur, points of failure could be determined and
appropriate steps to obviate or reduce the effects could be
taken.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a method of determining the
effectiveness of formation of well gravel packs and their continued
competency by distributing radioactive pellets within the gravel
pack and monitoring the location of the pellets by radioactive
detecting means. The radioactive pellets are essentially the same
size and specific gravity of the gravel particles. The radioactive
pellets are added to the gravel as it is directed into the well
cavity at preselected intervals so that the individual pellets are
preferably at least somewhat uniformly distributed throughout the
gravel pack.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The FIGURE shows a schematic cross-section of a well containing
gravel pack surrounding a perforated liner and wherein radioactive
pellets are distributed throughout the pack.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In preparing gravel packed wells according to the invention, it is
desirable to incorporate therein radioactive pellets which meet
certain requirements. The pellets should be of a size and specific
gravity closely approximating that of the gravel particles.
Generally, in the wells containing slotted or perforated liners,
the minimum designated size for gravel particles is usually
slightly larger than the slots or openings of the perforated liner
around which the gravel pack is located. Accordingly, preferred
sizes for the radioactive pellets are those of average cross
section between about 0.01 and about 0.25 inches corresponding to
between about 60 and 3 mesh respectively, U.S. series. Pellet sizes
within this range may be varied depending upon the critical limits
of the gravel particle sizes. Specific sizes will depend not only
on the width of the liner slot opening but also the type of earth
formation into which the well cavity is formed. Should a
radioactive pellet be significantly smaller than the gravel
particles, it may be forced through the gravel pack along with the
fluid. Such an occurrence would result in erroneous surveys in
determining movements and changes in shape of the gravel pack
formation. On the other hand, radioactive pellets significantly
larger than those of the adjacent gravel particles may be unduly
strained and worn.
The specific gravity of the radioactive pellets should also be
approximately the same as the grain density of the gravel
particles, in order to prevent erroneous monitoring data caused by
excessive movement through the gravel pack with the fluids injected
or recovered. Generally, suitable specific gravity ranges are
between about 1.0 and about 5 grams per cubic centimeter and more
preferably between about 1.5 and about 3.5 grams per cc.
The composition of the radioactive particles comprises a base
material, a radioactive component, and if necessary, additional
substances which will add weight to the particle in order to
achieve the desired specific gravity. Depending on the method of
formation, adhesives, coloring agents, etc., may also be present.
The body or matrix of the radioactive pellet may comprise one or
more materials such as glass, ceramics, metals, wood, synthetic
resins and the like. The latter materials include, for example,
phenolic resins, epoxy resins, diene-vinyl aromatic copolymers,
polyesters, polyolefins, vinyl and vinylidene polymers including
acrylic polymers, polyvinyl chloride, fluoro-carbon polymers such
as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) and the like. The particular
base material utilized is not especially critical as long as it
possesses the necessary strength requirements in addition to its
being essentially inert and unaffected by the materials to which it
will be exposed in the gravel pack. Unsuitable materials may be
altered physically such as by swelling or other degradation in the
presence of the fluid hydrocarbons, water, etc., to which they will
be subjected. In practice, polyesters and polytetrafluoroethylene
have been found to be most suitable in view of their high
strengths, chemical and water resistance.
The radioactive element may be of any suitable radioactive material
such as, for example, iridium 192, europium 152-154, cobalt 60,
scandium 46 and the like. The specific radioactive element used is
not especially critical so long as it has a radioactive half life
sufficient to ensure radioactive monitoring, for example, over a
period of years. Within a single gravel pack it may be desirable to
use individual pellets containing different radioactive materials
whereby the individual pellets can be identified and their
respective locations relative to one another can be determined by
appropriate monitoring techniques. The radioactive material may be
incorporated within the pellet by any convenient means at the time
of casting or thereafter embedded into the base composition by
insertion or injection, impregnation or coating methods. It may
also be desirable to color or color code the pellets for visual
identification. Where necessary, the radioactive pellets may also
contain a material which increases its weight and desired specific
gravity. Lead has been found suitable for this purpose. The use of
suitable adhesives may also be desired, in order to ensure that the
radioactive material is essentially permanently confined within the
pellet. For general usage it has been found that by incorporating a
small piece of cobalt 60 wire within a resin pellet, very suitable
results have been obtained, with cobalt 60 having a half life of
about 51/2 years. The radioactive pellets so prepared are superior
to radioactive particles prepared, for example, by irridating or
otherwise radioactively charging particles or gravel by exposure to
radioactive sources. Such particles if placed in a gravel pack
could become worn by repeated frictional engagement with other
gravel particles or by surface erosion caused by flowing fluids
with gradual degradation of radioactivity and loss of detection.
Further, should such particles fracture, erroneous monitoring
surveys would result.
The accompanying drawing represents a schematic cross section of a
gravel packed well cavity which surrounds a perforated or slotted
liner 11 having a number of perforations 19 throughout its length
and which pack contains uniformly dispersed radioactive pellets 14.
The gravel pack 10 meets the earth formation or sand body 12 from
which the desired petroleum fluids are obtained at the interface
13. As also shown, the radioactive pellets 14 are essentially
uniformly displaced at desired intervals throughout the gravel pack
10. Other parts of a conventionally completed oil producing well
shown include cement sheath 15, well casing 16 and liner adapter
17. A surrounding shale body formation is shown as 18.
It will be appreciated that the well cavity is usually formed by
first reaming or scraping the well throughout the space in which
the gravel is to be placed. The walls of the well cavity are
generally annular in shape, the average diameter of which will
depend both on the diameter of the perforated liner to be inserted
and the desired thickness of the gravel pack. The amount of gravel
and the distance between the exterior of the perforated liner and
the walls of the cavity will also be determined by the type of
unconsolidated earth formation in which the well is to be placed.
Gravel pack thickness, i.e., the distance between the exterior wall
of the perforated liner and the wall of the earth formation, may be
between about 2 and about 30 inches. In fluid recovery wells,
gravel pack thickness of between about 3 and about 5 inches are
common. As the gravel is placed in the well cavity, the radioactive
pellets are added to the gravel at the desired intervals so that
their locations throughout the gravel pack will be at least
somewhat uniform. The specific intervals used for adding the
radioactive particles will depend on the desired intervals between
particles throughout the gravel pack and on the volume of gravel
added to the well cavity. For example, where it is desired that the
radioactive particles be approximately 50 linear feet apart within
the gravel pack and the annular volume of gravel is about 1 cubic
foot per linear foot of gravel pack, a radioactive pellet will be
added to about every 50 cubic feet of gravel.
A conventional method of gravel packing comprises centering the
perforated liner into the well cavity and thereafter circulating
gravel into the annular space about the liner with the aid of a
circulating fluid. The particles of gravel to be used should be
cleaned, washed and closely sized so as to prevent contamination of
the produced fluids and to insure essentially uniform permeability
of the pack surrounding the liner. However, in water recovery or
storage wells, a wide range of gravel size may be used. The gravel
is circulated into the well cavity by mixing it with a fluid and
thereafter forcing the mixture into the well. Once a portion of the
gravel has been added and fluid circulation is established, more
gravel is then added and this cycle repeated until the well cavity
has been filled. Although not especially critical, in establishing
uniformity it may be desired to add a radioactive pellet to the
initial portions of gravel being placed into the well. Further, any
pellets which are returned to the surface with the circulating
fluid may be readily retrieved. For this purpose, as well as for
safety reasons, it will be evident that the radioactive pellets
should be marked or colored so that they can be easily recognized
and distinguished from the gravel particles. It has also been found
that where the pellets are added to the gravel at the hopper which
gravel is thereafter directed to the vessels in which it is mixed
with the circulating fluid, control of uniform distribution is
somewhat inferior. On the other hand, much greater control of the
pellet placement within the pack may be accomplished by adding
individual pellets to the fluid-gravel mixture as it is directed to
the well from the mixing equipment.
According to the invention, during gravel pack formation,
monitoring surveys may be carried out whereby the effectiveness of
formation of the pack can be readily determined. Thus, for example,
as the individual radioactive pellets are added to the gravel-fluid
mixture being directed to the well, their entrance and positioning
within the forming pack can be detected as well as further shifting
during continued pack formation and development. In this manner,
should the well contain unexpected cavities or irregularities into
which the gravel is being directed, the relative location and even
the approximate size of the cavity may be determined by noting
significant losses of radioactive intensities of individual pellets
which are monitored during packing. The size of the cavity may be
estimated by the volume of additional and otherwise unaccounted for
gravel required to complete the gravel pack. It is evident that by
such a method, an extremely useful determination of the competency
of the gravel pack can be made with further forecasts of the
necessity of repacking in order to achieve the desired gravel pack
before fluid injection or recovery is initiated.
Immediately upon completion of the well, or shortly thereafter, a
radioactive survey should be made to determine the initial position
of the radioactive pellets within the completed gravel pack. This
may be ascertained by a gamma ray log, scintillometer survey or
other suitable and effective monitoring means. A probe 20 may be
lowered into the well on a cable 21. Periodically thereafter, the
gravel pack may be resurveyed to determine any shifting in the
relative positions of the radioactive pellets. Accordingly, the
initial log will evaluate the gravel pack in terms of fill and hole
condition with later surveys indicating pack settling, slumping,
subsidence, voids, bridges and the location thereof. Surveying of
the gravel pack is generally accomplished by lowering the survey
apparatus into the pipe extending into the well by a wire or other
appropriate means extending from the well head. In order to more
accurately determine the vertical positions of the individual
radioactive pellets, it may also be desirable to conduct a
gamma-ray collar log which will indicate the depth of the collars
used to join the series of pipe lengths within the well. The
relative positions of radioactive pellets to these collars will
more accurately reflect their depth within the well because of the
known distances between the collars and the well head as compared
to attempts to measure the length of a flexible wire or line used
to lower the survey apparatus. The surveys are monitored by
appropriate recording equipment. The well can be designed so that
when it is determined that the gravel pack is settling from the top
down, as may be the case in an injection well, it can then be
repacked either through port collars or over the top of the liner.
If it is found that settling is occurring in the middle of the
pack, the settling area can also be ascertained and the point or
points of sand entrance may thereafter be isolated and shut off by
a suitable manner such as with a bonding or consolidating agent or
filling the liner with a material up to the area of failure. It
will be evident to those skilled in the art that a gravel packed
well prepared according to the present invention will provide a
method of determining its packing efficiency and its continued
competency whereby changes and variations can also be easily
monitored in order to anticipate and forecast problems and
failures. Accordingly, costly damages, loss of production,
extensive redrilling procedures and the like may be avoided or
eliminated as a result of the invention described herein. These as
well as other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the
art.
* * * * *