Zonal isolation flow monitoring

In many production or injection wells it is desirable to have the well split into zones or compartments with the amount of flow into or from each compartment monitored for the life of the well.

Applications that benefit from this solution include

Horizontal multi-lateral producers and injectors
Water alternating gas (WAG) wells
Wells requiring selective stimulation
Multi-zone flow control both passive and surface controlled devices

Close the Monitoring Gap

Sensornet and SwellFix have combined to provide a revolutionary flow monitoring zonal isolation system. This combines Swellfix’s leading elastomer swelling technology with Sensornet and FloQuest’s Digital Flow Profiling system based on high resolution (better than 0.01ºC) fibre optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS).

The Monitoring Gap with Existing Technology

Mechanical packers can be used to provide zonal isolation but require to be energised hydraulically via control lines from surface, bridge plugs to be set to pressure up the tubing, hydrostatically set against an atmospheric chamber by pressuring up the annulus and tubing or electrically actuated. All these types of mechanical packers must have cable by-pass ports to allow the SureSight™ sensing cable to pass and seal. To ensure a continuous signal path the SureSight™ cable is then fusion spliced together to create a continuous optical path.

The Sensornet SwellFix Solution

The swelling elastomer elements are configured to allow easy and quick insertion of the SureSight™ sensing cable. The SureSight™ cable is held in place during installation by tie wraps around the elastomer element. Installation of the cable through the packer is a continuous process with no make or brake connections required, preserving the integrity of the SureSight™ sensing cable.

Benefits of Zonal Isolation Flow Monitoring

Zonal Isolation Flow Monitoring provides benefits at all levels of the organisation from well planning to optimisation of daily operations. The Swellfix ZIP (zonal isolation packer) provides a zonal isolation solution for smart wells. SureSight™ optical DTS cable, continuous flat packs or multiple control lines can be embedded in the packer, ensuring both effective sealing and communication to sensors and smart downhole devices. Benefits of zonal isolation flow monitoring include:

Effective zonal isolation – extremely simple to plan, install and activate
No testing of packer required on surface – no moving parts
No intervention required to set the packer
Multiple packers can be run and activated at the same time
Packers react to changes in the well bore ensuring pressure integrity throughout the life of the well – self healing
When required straddles can be easily set fully isolating water producing zones
Provides significant cost saving - available for water or oil activation

DTS system benefits when using a swell packer versus mechanical packer

Permanently installed system provides allocated flow (%) from or to each zone
Trending data for better reservoir characterisation
Reduced installation time – 30 minutes per swell packer instead of 4 hours for mechanical packer. This equates to nearly half a day’s rig time for a 3-zone system.
Fewer splices results in less signal attenuation – extending system range and operating life
The DTS system can verify whether the swell packer has sealed.