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Methodology for production logging in oil-in-water flows under low flow rate and high water-cut conditions

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Abstract

This study aimed to obtain the production profiles of oil-in-water flow under low flow rate and high water-cut conditions in oil wells. A combination production profile logging composed of an arc-type conductance sensor (ATCS) and a cross-correlation flow meter (CFM) with a center body is proposed and experimentally evaluated. The ATCS is designed for water holdup measurement, whereas the CFM with a center body is proposed to obtain the mixture velocity. Then, a drift-flux model based on flow patterns is established to predict the individual-phase superficial velocity of oil-in-water flows. Results show that the ATCS possesses high resolution in water holdup measurement and that flow pattern information can be deduced from its signal through nonlinear time series analysis. The CFM can enhance the correlation of upstream and downstream signals and simplify the relationship between the cross-correlation velocity and mixture velocity. On the basis of the drift-flux model, individual-phase superficial velocities can be predicted with high accuracy for different flow patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Da-Yang Wang, Ning-De Jin, Lu-Sheng Zhai, Ying-Yu Ren & Yuan-Sheng He

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  1. Da-Yang Wang
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  2. Ning-De Jin
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  3. Lu-Sheng Zhai
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  4. Ying-Yu Ren
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  5. Yuan-Sheng He
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ning-De Jin.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51527805 and 11572220).

Wang Da-Yang is a doctoral candidate in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Tianjin University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, in 2012 and 2014, respectively. His research interests include multiphase flow measurement, sensor system design, and signal processing.

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Wang, DY., Jin, ND., Zhai, LS. et al. Methodology for production logging in oil-in-water flows under low flow rate and high water-cut conditions. Appl. Geophys. 16, 302–313 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-019-0780-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-019-0780-3

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