TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Acoustic Flow Monitoring Helps Optimize

Swabbing Program for Shallow Gas Wells
John D. Williams, SPE, and Jonathan Airey, Advanced Flow Technologies; and Denise Summers, consultant

Conducting economically effec-
tive swabbing programs in fields of
unmetered shallow natural gas wells
is challenging at todays low gas prices.
Producers have long been aware that
not all wells respond positively to inter-
ventions such as swabbing. At higher
gas prices, knowledge of individual
well responses to interventions is not
critical, as it makes economic sense to
swab wells in groups if the increase at
the group meter justifies the cost.
As gas prices decline, producers have
decreased expenditures on swabbing
programs as returns became harder to
realize. However, producers can maxi-
mize returns on interventions such as
swabbing by using acoustic technology
to locate high-performing wells and
then focusing on maximizing returns
from those wells.
Acoustic Flow Measurement
Acoustic technology is employed in a
number of applications in the oil and
gas industry, including pipeline moni-
toring and downhole leak detection. In
this type of application, acoustics are
used to measure the flow of natural gas
in shallow wells. Turbulence in the pipe
is interpreted into a flow measurement
by means of an acoustic sensor that is
inexpensive, unobtrusive from an oper-
ational perspective, and easy to install.
With this device, producers can detect
the response to an intervention, decide
if the well rates as a high performer and
then, if appropriate, move the device to
another well. The following four stages
of detection, processing, transmission,
and representation describe the moni-
toring process.
The nonintrusive acoustic sensor is
mounted to the (typically 2-in.) flow-
line to detect the signal. Where many
flow measurement methods employ
straighteners to reduce turbulence, it
is turbulence in the flow that cre-

Global satellite network

Central server

Field operations

Internet

Head office historian (optional)

Flow monitoring system with acoustic
and pressure sensors
Fig. 1Configuration of acoustic flow monitoring data collection system and communication network is shown.
Remote device samples, processes, and transmits readings to Internet-accessible website via satellite com-
munication network.

26 JPT FEBRUARY 2011

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Flow (raw units) 24H Flow Average (raw units)

100/04-21-015-06W4/00 100/04-21-015-06W4
Flow (raw units) Flow Average (raw un
100/14-16-015-06W4/02 10 50
Flow (raw units) Flo 25
45
5 22.5
4.5 40
20
4 35
17.5
3.5
15 30
3
12.5 25
2.5
10
2 20
7.5
1.5 15
1 5
10
0.5 2.5
0 5
0
Apr 2 Apr 27 Apr Jul 03 Jul 06 Jul 09 Jul 12 Jul 15 Jul
08:00 12:00 4:0 0
00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:
Oct 01 Nov 01 Dec 01 Jan 01 Feb 01 Mar 01 Apr 01 May 01 Jun 01
00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00
Ineffective swab
Good swab
Optimized swabbing
Fig. 2From left, graphs show varying levels of swabbing effectiveness. Ineffective swab benefit lasted less
than 2 hours. Good swab benefit lasted 2 weeks. In optimized swabbing, treatments were repeated after
benefit diminished by 80%.

ates the strongest acoustic signal. avoided whenever possible. Using a the pipes mechanical vibration energy
Locations close to rigid objects such magnetic tip to ensure a strong cou- into an acoustic signal. The sound is
as support pilings, which restrict pipe pling between the pipe surface and the then focused and amplified mechani-
movement and dampen vibration, are sensor diaphragm, the sensor converts cally by an acoustic chamber. Finally,
a microphone in the chamber converts
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa the signal into a voltage for processing.
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain In the processing stage, the con-
troller tests the signal for frequen-
Society of Petroleum Engineers cies below 15 kHz. A microproces-
sor handles the Fourier transform to
perform on-site frequency analysis
powered by the units built-in solar
panel and battery. If the signal is weak,
weather-related or other noises such
as chattering check valves or loose
label tags clanging against the pipe can
17th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference interfere with frequencies in the range
of interest. Filtering may be employed
Conference: 20-23 March 2011 to improve the signal-to-noise ratio
Exhibition: 21-23 March 2011 by removing as much nongas related
noise as possible. The controller then
Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Center repeatedly samples the acoustic signal
Register to build hourly averages.
NOW at www.MEOS2011.com
www.ME
OS2011.c
om Organisers
For efficient and economic transmis-
sion at regular intervals, the hourly
fawzi@aeminfo.com.bh averages are compressed, along with
Worldwide Co-ordinator other readings such as casing and tub-
ing pressures. As installations are often
meos@oesallworld.com
remote, the data is typically transmitted
Conference Organisers
by means of satellite, which requires
no external antenna or costly infra-
spedub@spe.org
structure (Fig. 1). Instantaneous data
is also transmitted if reading anomalies
warrant it.
Once collected, the readings are rep-
resented in graph form on a secure
website. It is also at this point that the

28 JPT FEBRUARY 2011

acoustic readings may be translated
or scaled to engineering units such as
E3M3/D or Mcf/D. To perform the scal-
ing, a simple constant of proportional-
ity is determined on the basis of a single
point flow test performed at the well,
which produces a generally acceptable
flow estimate as depicted in Fig. 2.
In the case study below, one producer
achieved rapid payback by focusing
its intervention program on its best
performing wells and reducing expen-
ditures on low or nonperforming wells.
Case Study
A Canadian oil and gas producer oper-
ates a coalbed methane project in
the Wimborne field just northeast of
Calgary. The average well produces
approximately 70 Mcf/D. The wells
generally have high water cuts. The
company conducts group metering in
this field and maintains a single sales
meter for the entire fields production.
Because of the high field water produc-
tion, the producer was swabbing all of
the wells in this field on a regular basis
to unload the liquids from the well and
optimize field production.
Swabbing was performed on a regu-
lar, blanket basis four to five times
per year. The yearly cost of the pro-
gram exceeded CAD 500,000. The only
effectiveness measure for the swab-
bing program was an increase/decrease
reading at the sales meter. How each
well responded to the individual swabs
could not be determined. There was no
instrumentation or other infrastructure
in place to measure the results.
To gauge the success of the swabs on
a well by well basis, the operator fully
equipped the field with Advanced Flow
Technologies Flow-Net acoustic flow
monitoring systems. After the field was
swabbed several more times, the data
from more than 1,000 swab treatments
was carefully analyzed by the producer.
The results indicated that 50% of the
swabs had not been necessary at the
very least. Analysis of the monitored
treatments determined that
30% had no effect on the well.
20% had negative effects.
25% resulted in minor production
increases lasting hours or days.
25% were classified as good, with
the well performing optimally afterward
and sustaining a significant increase in
production for weeks or months.
JPT FEBRUARY 2011
After reviewing the results, the opera-
tor designed a new swabbing program
that eliminated swabs where treatments
had been documented as ineffective or
having negative impact and concen- History Matching &
trated treatments on wells that had Forward Modeling
responded positively to swabbing.
The new program achieved annual
savings of more than 50% in swab-
bing costs while enabling substantial
improvement in production, stemming
from the increased output of wells that
were swabbed and those where coun-
terproductive swabs had been elimi-
nated. The overall production increase
ranged from 250 MMcf to 400 MMcf
on an annualized basis. Of that total,
100 MMcf to 200 MMcf reflected the
swab treatment of wells where positive
results had been predicted by means of
the acoustic flow monitoring tool. The
remainder reflected both the elimina-
tion of swab treatments where nega-
tive results had been predicted and the
ability of the tool to detect impending
freeze-offs, a common and major prob-
lem in winter for Canadian producers.
The latter factor enabled the operator
to take preventive measures. In all,
the production benefits enabled the
operator to recover the cost of the new with the Number 1
swabbing program in approximately
6 months. in Reservoir
Summary Optimisation
Acoustic flow monitoring technology
has proved capable of helping opera- Complete integrated solution for:
tors to optimize swabbing programs
for unmetered shallow gas wells by Sensitivity studies
identifying those wells most likely to Assisted history matching
respond positively to swabbing, with Production forecasting
increased production, as well as those
unlikely to show a positive response
and those likely to respond negatively. Simulation analysis
With the results obtained, the oper- Production optimisation
ator can focus treatments on wells
where a production increase is pre-
dicted, eliminate treatments predicted
to be unproductive or counterproduc- Visit us at:
tive, and thereby increase production Middle East Oil & Gas Show and
while lowering total swabbing costs. In
frigid winter climates, such as Canada, Conference (MEOS), Bahrain
be dynamic
acoustic flow monitoring technology 21-23 March Stand 093
can also detect impending freeze-offs
so that the operator can take effective
preventive measures. Taken together,
the benefits of acoustic flow monitor-
ing technology hold particular impor-
tance for operators producing natural
gas in a low price market. JPT
www.sptgroup.com