Well Testing Tool String with Packer Isolation and Fluid Reinjection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hydrocarbon well testing is costly and environmentally harmful due to dilution of samples by drilling mud and the release of carbon emissions during surface burning, which can be prohibited or incur high taxes in some regions.
Innovation Solution
A tool string system for well testing that isolates formation fluids from drilling mud, pumps them uphole, and reinjects them back into the formation, minimizing surface emissions by using packers, a rotation-operated pump, and a gamma detector for precise depth control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If wireline tool is used for testing with drilling mud simultaneously pumped in the well, then testing can be performed, but hydrocarbons in samples are diluted, reducing testing effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The wellbore is segmented into multiple zones using packers to isolate specific formation intervals. This allows selective pumping and sampling of hydrocarbons from designated zones without contamination from drilling mud, thereby maintaining hydrocarbon concentration and testing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
A dedicated pumping system with packers acts as an intermediary mechanism to separate formation fluid flow from drilling mud flow. The packers create isolated pathways that allow hydrocarbons to be pumped uphole without mixing with drilling mud, preventing dilution while enabling testing operations.
2Measurement precision
If samples are brought to surface, separated and metered, then testing data can be obtained, but carbon emissions are released through flaring
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of discarding hydrocarbon-rich samples through flaring, the system converts this harmful practice into a beneficial reinjection process. The same pump system that brings samples to the surface for analysis is used to reinject the hydrocarbons back into the formation, transforming the waste product into a useful resource while eliminating carbon emissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers hydrocarbon samples that would otherwise be discarded through flaring. By using the pump system to reinject these samples back into the formation, the process recovers the hydrocarbons and eliminates the need for flaring, thereby reducing carbon emissions while maintaining sample analysis capabilities.
3Stress or pressure
If drilling mud is pumped in the well during testing, then wellbore pressure is maintained, but hydrocarbon samples are diluted
Solution Approach 1:
The wellbore is divided into separate flow pathways using packers, allowing drilling mud to be pumped in one pathway to maintain wellbore pressure while hydrocarbon sampling occurs through a separate isolated pathway, preventing dilution while maintaining pressure support.
Solution Approach 2:
The packer system serves as an intermediary that separates the functions of pressure maintenance and sample collection. Drilling mud flows through one pathway maintained by the packers, while hydrocarbons are pumped through a separate isolated pathway, allowing both pressure maintenance and pure sample collection simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces carbon emissions to near zero, provides cleaner and more accurate hydrocarbon samples, and avoids the need for surface flaring, thus lowering costs and complying with environmental regulations.
Implementation Method 1
pumping formation fluids from the isolated zone uphole
Implementation Method 2
setting packers to isolate a zone of the formation
Implementation Method 3
using a gamma detector to detect gamma radiation
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure relates to tool string embodiments, system embodiments, and method embodiments for testing and/or sampling a formation in an open hole hydrocarbon well, for example in order to determine whether the well merits production. Disclosed embodiments can be concerned with minimizing hydrocarbon emissions during testing, for example to provide a greener testing approach. Thus, improvements to reservoir testing a hydrocarbon well are disclosed.