Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-21-2020
Abstract
Early detection of a gas kick is crucial for preventing uncontrolled blowout that could cause loss of life, loss of assets, and environmental damage. Multiphase flow experiments conducted in this research demonstrate the capability of downhole fiber optic sensors to detect a potential gas influx in real-time in a 5000 ft deep wellbore. Gas rise velocities estimated independently using fiber optic distributed acoustic sensor (DAS), distributed temperature sensor (DTS), downhole gauges, surface measurements, and multiphase flow correlations show good agreement in each case, demonstrating reliability in the assessment. Real-time data visualization was implemented on a secure cloud-based platform to improve computational efficiency. This study provides novel insights on the effect of circulation rates, gas kick volumes, backpressure, and injection methods on gas rise dynamics in a full-scale wellbore.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Optics Express
First Page
38773
Last Page
38787
Recommended Citation
Sharma, J., Santos, O., Feo, G., Ogunsanwo, O., & Williams, W. (2020). Well-scale multiphase flow characterization and validation using distributed fiber-optic sensors for gas kick monitoring. Optics Express, 28 (26), 38773-38787. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.404981