HIGH RESOLUTION IMPELLER FLOWMETER

LOG APPLICATIONS

• Measurement of flowrate in borehole fluids

• Detection of permeable horizons

• Location of casing leaks

• Correlation of strata between boreholes when Natural Gamma is specified

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Length 1.47 metres

• Diameter Set by impeller choice

• Weight 3.35 Kg

• Pressure rating 3000 PSI

• Temperature rating 0 – 70 Deg Celsius

• Power Supply 60 – 100 V DC, 100mA

MEASUREMENTS AND OFFSETS

Channel Description of Sonde measurement Channel Offset

Number Mnemonic (cm)
1 Up flow Impeller rotation rate, fast time based TFUP 9
2 Down flow Impeller rotation rate, fast time based TFDN 9
3 Up flow Impeller rotation rate, slow time based TSUP 9
4 Down flow Impeller rotation rate, slow time based TSDN 9
5 Period per depth event TIME 9
6 Natural Gamma ♣ NGAM 75

Note: ♣ Optional

SALES INFORMATION

SONDES

25 076 000 Impeller Flowmeter (45mm)

25 077 000 Impeller Flowmeter (45mm) + Natural Gamma

25 071 000 Impeller Flowmeter (70mm)

25 072 000 Impeller Flowmeter (70mm) + Natural Gamma

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ACCESSORIES

20 070 000 Natural Gamma Test Jig without source

30 010 000 Natural Gamma Test source

21 001 000 Centraliser, range 90 -180mm

21 002 000 Centraliser, range 180 – 260mm

21 003 000 Centraliser, range 260 – 342mm

21 004 000 Centraliser, range 342 – 472mm

SONDE CONNECTIONS

The sonde head connector carries the following signals from surface system:

Pin Number Monocable Four-wire

Communications Communications
1 Power & Comms Uphole Comms
2 Not connected Downhole Comms
3 Not connected Not connected
4 Not connected Sonde power

Note: Pin 1 as adjacent to the polarising keyway, 2, 3 & 4 are numbered clockwise when looking
down from above.

SAFETY NOTICE

This equipment is energised at up to 100 Volts by the surface

system. Ensure that sonde power is switched off before attaching or
detaching the logging cable. Opening the sonde by removing the
outer tube should only be attempted by trained personnel. Hazardous
voltages up to 2KV may be present inside this equipment when
powered from surface system

If the sonde is used in a manner not specified by the manufacturer or his agent, the protection
provided by the equipment may be impaired.

OPERATING PRINCIPLES

FLOWMETER

The flowmeter sonde operates as a fluid turbine, the impeller is coupled to a detection system which
allows the impeller rotation rate and direction to be detected and measured.

The measurements made on this flow meter allow a wide range of flow rates to be monitored
accurately. The flowmeter head is a precision mechanism with very low friction, capable of rotating
reliably at speeds as slow as 1 RPM. The head carries a toroidal magnet with four poles around its
circumference, and a pair of Hall-effect sensors is used to determine both the rate and direction of
rotation. Four pulses are counted for each revolution.

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Two time bases are used for measuring the period between pulses from the flowmeter head. The fast
time base records the time between head pulses in units of 0.1 milliseconds, while the slow time base
records the period between pulses in units of 1 millisecond. The fast time base is useful at high
rotation rates, while the slow time base allows the accurate measurement of extremely slow rates of
rotation.

Both timed intervals are transmitted from the sonde, giving two data channels. Both directions are
recorded separately, so four channels are required for the complete flowmeter measurement. This
can be seen in the above channel assignment table.

In addition, the period between depth samples (10mm on metric systems, 1/20th foot on imperial
systems) is transmitted from the sonde. This is in units of 0.1 milliseconds, and allows accurate
computation of cable speed (sonde velocity). For applications requiring only raw pulse output, the last
channel records the number of pulses generated for each 10mm sample interval.

Logs may be made either with the sonde stationary in the borehole to record flow at specific locations,
or in a continuous mode to record a flow profile for part, or the entire well. The performance of the
sonde is limited at low flow rates by the force needed to turn the impeller, and at high flow rates
turbulence will cause the rotation speed to diverge from the ideal. Note that when the sonde is
stationary, or when the logging system is in time mode, the cable speed computation will give a
constant reading of approximately 4 metres per minute.

NATURAL GAMMA

All rocks contain small quantities of radioactive material. Certain minerals contain trace amounts of
Uranium and Thorium; Potassium-bearing minerals will include traces of a radioactive isotope of
Potassium. All of these emit gamma radiation as they decay with an extremely long half-life. This
radiation is detected by scintillation - the production of a tiny flash of light when gamma rays strike a
crystal of Sodium Iodide. The light is converted into an electrical pulse by a photomultiplier tube -
pulses above a threshold value of 60 KeV are counted by the sonde's microprocessor. The
measurement is useful because the radioactive elements are concentrated in certain rock types e.g.
clay or shale’s, and depleted in others e.g. sandstone or coal.

CALIBRATION

NATURAL GAMMA

It is possible to calibrate the response of the sonde in API gamma ray units. The procedure falls into
two parts, the primary calibration is performed in a test pit at RG during manufacture, and the
secondary can be performed in the field using the optional calibration fixture.

The primary calibration uses a test pit manufactured from Uranium-doped concrete which has a
known API activity. An identical pit made with the same concrete mix, but without the Uranium
additive, is used as a background. The increase in count rate above the background is measured, and
this is used to calculate a multiplier which relates the raw count rate to the API count rate.

Once this primary calibration has been performed, it is possible to create a secondary standard which
will give a convenient count rate such as 200 API. This is done by mounting a small source on a rod
which can be clamped over the detector, and then moving the source in or out along the rod until the
activity reaches the required value. At this point a small detent is made in the rod at the correct
position, and the jig is stamped with the API value. If an optional API calibrator is specified by the
customer, all the above procedures will be performed by RG.

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Secondary calibration is achieved through the Tools|Calibration menu. Select the NGAM channel
and you will be asked to establish background conditions. Place the sonde horizontally on stands
about 1 metre above the ground. Start acquisition by clicking Continue, which will proceed for 5
minutes (300 seconds). At the end of the first period, attach the calibrator jig to the sonde tube, taking
care that the base of the rod is exactly centred over the detector crystal. This can be determined
experimentally by 'peaking' the count rate in a separate time mode log, or by measurement from the
base of the sonde. Start the second acquisition period. After 5 minutes counting, you will be asked for
the activity of the calibration source (see below). The calibration coefficients will then be computed
and written to file together with the count rates and timestamp. Previous data will be transferred to the
'history' file for reference.

The date of calibration is important because the API value will change as the source decays. The API
value at any time in the future is given by :

where :

= time (years) since the original API calibration.

= API value at time t.

= original API value as stamped on calibrator.

= half-life of isotope.
137 137
The half-life of Cs is approximately 28 years. In a four year period, a Cs source will decay to
approximately 90% of its original value, and to 80% after 10 years.

FLOWMETER

No calibration is applicable to this measurement from the sonde. The output is interpreted manually
into flow rates. A worked example is given later.

BENCH TESTING SONDE FUNCTIONS

NATURAL GAMMA

• The Natural Gamma section can be observed on channel 6 and will normally give a small
count rate at surface due to background radiation. Otherwise a small test source of gamma
137
rays can be utilised, e.g. 10µCi Cs or the loaded source transport container.

FLOWMETER

• Monitor the output from channels 1 to 4 as the impeller is rotated in different directions at
different speeds while at surface.

SPINNER AND CABLE SPEED COMPUTATIONS

The flowmeter data channels only measure the time between pulses output by turning the impeller,
the actual fluid flow speed computation is dealt with in the next section, 'Interpretation'. This section
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deals with converting the raw data measured from the flowmeter head into more useful engineering
units for display while logging. Cable speed is also computed from the interval between depth events
as recorded in the sonde. These conversions utilise the RG User Function method. This is fully
described in the Winlogger Software Manual which is provided with each system.

The range of impeller rotation rates measured, and the appropriate time base to use at these rates, is
indicated in the table below.

RPM Time between Fast timebase Slow timebase

head pulses (mS) (0.1 mS) (1 mS)
0.1 60000 Over range OK
1 6000 OK OK
10 600 OK NO
100 60 OK NO
1000 6 OK NO
6000 1 OK NO

As the RG communications system is based on an unsigned 16 bit number, the maximum number
that can be transmitted is 65,535. During logging the impeller will only turn in one direction. The data
transmitted in the channels for the opposite flow direction is 65,535, signifying lack of useful
information. If the impeller stalls completely, then 65,535 will be reported by both channels. N.B. In
sondes delivered from 12/98 the sonde command AUX1 can be used to disable this behaviour, when
it will continue to send the last known value if the impeller stalls. AUX2 will resume the default
operating mode with stop detection enabled. This is not applicable to operation with the user function,
which relies upon the stop detection for correct computation of spinner rotation direction.

The user function is presented below, and its operation will be described briefly. The basic purpose of
the user function is to convert data which is the time between head pulses into the more usable form
of revolutions per minute.

The first statement therefore simply looks at the data in the UP channel (slow time base) to see if it is
high enough to make the fast or slow time base a better option for computing the rotation rate
(remember that by the time IN3 is reading 6500, IN1 will be close to being over-range). The factor
15000 arises from the conversion from milliseconds (or tenths of milliseconds) to minutes and the
correction for four pulses per revolution. The second statement simply repeats the same computation
for the downhole direction. The results of both statements are stored in temporary variables.

Next comes the logic for setting the sign of the resultant rpm reading to indicate rotation due to uphole
or downhole flow. Rotation due to uphole flow is given a negative sign by convention (since depth is
decreasing uphole). Initially the flow is assumed to be uphole, and the output set accordingly. Then
the uphole data is inspected to find if it is ‘stopped’, and if it is not ‘stopped’ then the previous
assumption was valid and no further action is taken. Otherwise, if uphole data is ‘stopped’ then the
flow must either be downhole or the impeller is completely stopped. The output is therefore set
accordingly. The criterion regarding stopped rotation is that the data is greater than 65534.0, which is
a necessary construct because floating point numbers are rarely stored exactly and a comparison on
65535.0 might fail.

Finally the cable speed is computed from the reciprocal of the time per depth event.

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/* Compute rpm from time/rev for uphole and downhole movement*/
if (IN3 > 6500.0) /* UP data */
TMP1 = 15000.0/IN3;
else
TMP1 = 150000.0/IN1;

if (IN4 > 6500.0) /* DOWN data */

TMP2 = 15000.0/IN4;
else
TMP2 = 150000.0/IN2;

/* Now do logic for direction and stopped spinner */

OUT1 = -TMP1; /* assume uphole movement and change sign */

if (IN3 > 65534.0) { /* Uphole spinner stopped */

if (IN4 > 65534.0)
OUT1 = 0.0; /* spinner stopped completely */
else
OUT1 = TMP2; /* Not stopped completely, so must be downhole */
}
if (IN5 > 0.0) /* Finally compute cable speed m/min */
OUT2 = 6000 / IN5; /* 3000 / IN5 for feet/min */
else
OUT2 = 0.0; /* Safety net for divide by zero */
/* Output Gamma if required */
OUT3 = IN6;

INTERPRETATION

Interpretation of a continuous flowmeter log is complicated by a number of factors:

• Friction in the impeller bearings leads to stalling at low flow rates

• Fluid viscosity

• Turbulence due to sonde motion

• Inadequate centralisation

• Flow velocity profile in the pipe or borehole

• Borehole inclination.

Figure 1 shows the behaviour of the impeller at varying cable speeds in a static water column. Note
that we have used a convention where the speed of the sonde is negative when moving uphole (i.e. to
smaller depths).

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SONDE SCHEMATICS

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