Microwave Sensing of Sand Production from Petroleum Wells

Abstract

Sand production in petroleum wells is a major concern for the petroleum industry. Sand production results in erosion of pipelines and damage to equipment which may lead to production shutdown and large economic losses. Detection of produced sand is important for optimizing flow rates and measuring the success of sand mitigation techniques. Recently, microwave nondestructive testing was considered as a potential new sensing solution for the detection of sand production. This paper presents preliminary simulations and measurements for such a sensing approach using open-ended waveguides. Different production scenarios are considered for a stratified flow regime. The results indicate that this sensing method can detect the presence of sand. Preliminary measurements are also presented for varying amounts of sand that further support the potential of this technique.

Meeting Name

IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (2015: May 11-14, Pisa, Italy)

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Second Department

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Material Characterization; Microwave Nondestructive Testing; Microwave Sensing; Oil And Gas; Open-Ended Waveguide; Petroleum; Sand Production; Crude Oil; Flow Rate; Losses; Nondestructive Examination; Oil Wells; Waveguides; Sand Production

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-1-4799-6114-6

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1091-5281

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2015 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 2015

Link to Full Text

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