Downhole Core Plug Holder for Reservoir Biofilm Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for monitoring microbiological activities in oilfields are limited by the need for costly and disruptive drilling operations to obtain representative samples, leading to potential contamination and inaccurate inferences from planktonic community data, which differ from biofilm communities downhole.
Innovation Solution
A downhole core plug holding apparatus is deployed and retrieved using existing well infrastructure, eliminating the need for drilling fluids and allowing for incubation of core plug samples at representative reservoir conditions, enabling direct microbiological, geochemical, and geological sampling without contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If drilling operations are used to obtain downhole samples, then representative biofilm samples can be obtained, but costs increase and contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary sampling device that can be deployed through the production tubing without drilling operations. This device serves as a mediator between the reservoir environment and the surface analysis equipment, allowing sample acquisition while maintaining isolation from contamination sources such as drilling fluids and atmospheric exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The sampling device is nested within the existing production tubing and well infrastructure. The core plug holder is inserted through the production tubing into the reservoir, utilizing the existing wellbore as a protective conduit. This nesting approach eliminates the need for separate drilling operations and maintains sample integrity by keeping the sampling pathway sealed within the production infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If drilling operations are used to obtain downhole samples, then representative biofilm samples can be obtained, but operational downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sampling device is pre-positioned and deployed through the existing production tubing during normal production operations. By preparing and inserting the sampling device while the well is already producing, the system eliminates the need to shut in the well for drilling operations. The sample can be retrieved and analyzed while maintaining continuous production, thereby minimizing operational downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The sampling device is designed to be compatible with existing production tubing and well infrastructure, allowing it to perform sampling functions without requiring dedicated drilling equipment or well shutdown procedures. The same production infrastructure serves dual purposes: hydrocarbon production and microbiological sampling, eliminating the need for separate drilling operations and associated downtime.
3Ease of manufacture
If planktonic community data from topside samples is used, then sampling costs are reduced, but measurement accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the biofilm sample directly from the reservoir environment through the production tubing, separating the sampling process from the need for disruptive drilling operations. By taking out only the necessary sample through the existing infrastructure, the system achieves both cost efficiency (avoiding drilling costs) and measurement accuracy (obtaining true downhole biofilm samples).
Solution Approach 2:
The core plug holder captures and preserves an in-situ copy of the downhole biofilm environment. Rather than relying on indirect planktonic measurements from topside samples, the device creates a physical replica of the reservoir biofilm conditions that can be brought to surface for analysis, providing accurate microbiological data without the need for expensive drilling operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments include a core plug holding apparatus including a tubular member configured to be inserted into a side pocket of a mandrel, the tubular member having an uphole end, a downhole end, and a core plug section located between the uphole end and the downhole end, wherein the core plug section is used for housing of one or more core plug samples and wherein tubular member includes one or more orifices formed in the core plug section. Embodiments include a method of sampling a well including deploying one or more core plug holding apparatuses into one or more side pocket mandrels of a completion; holding the one or more core plug holding apparatuses in the one or more side pocket mandrels for an incubation period; and retrieving the one or more core plug holding apparatuses from the one or more side pocket mandrels after the passage of the incubation period.