Automated well test validation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10480305-B2
Application number	US-201615229658-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2016
Priority date	Aug 31, 2015
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A diagnostic apparatus configured to communicate with a well test system comprising a plurality of wells in a field, comprising a receiving component configured to receive a well test data from the well test system, a transmitting component configured to transmit an abnormal well test signal indication, at least one processor configured to communicate with the transmitting component and the receiving component, and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause the diagnostic apparatus to compare the well test data to one or more well test descriptors stored in memory, correlate the well test data to an abnormal well test result selected based at least in part on the comparison with the one or more well test descriptors stored in the memory, and instruct the transmitting component to transmit an abnormal well test signal indication to a recipient.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A diagnostic apparatus configured to communicate with a well test system comprising a plurality of wells in a field, comprising:
a receiving component configured to receive well test data from the well test system;
a transmitting component configured to transmit an abnormal well test signal indication;
at least one processor configured to communicate with the transmitting component and the receiving component; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the at least one processor are configured to:
obtain well test data from the well test system;
segment the well test data into purge period data and test period data;
extract one or more features from the well test data, wherein the one or more features comprise quality assurance data, filling-dumping cycle identification data, water cut data, flow rate change data, expected flow rate data, test duration data, and combinations thereof;
calculate a first water cut from the test period data, wherein the first water cut comprises a ratio of water to oil entering the multiphase separator;
calculating a second water cut from the test period data, wherein the second water cut is representative of a ratio of water to oil leaving the multiphase separator
compare the one or more features, the first water cut, and the second water cut, to one or more well test descriptors stored in the memory;
identify the well test data as an abnormal well test result based at least in part on the comparison of the one or more features with the one or more well test descriptors;
determine, based at last in part on the comparison of the one or more features with the one or more well test descriptors, an explanation of the abnormal well test result, a root cause of the abnormal well test result, a recommended course of action in response to the abnormal well test result, or any combination thereof; and
instruct the transmitting component to transmit an indication of the abnormal well test result to a recipient and to transmit the explanation of the abnormal well test result, the root cause of the abnormal well test result, the recommended course of action, or a combination thereof to the recipient.

2. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor are further configured to:
apply a set of rules comparing the well test data, the one or more features, or both to one or more predefined threshold values to detect an abnormal well test.

3. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the receiving component is configured to receive the well test data from a plurality of well test systems.

4. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor are configured to calculate at least one of an oil flow rate, a water flow rate, an expected water cut, an expected oil flow rate, an expected water flow rate, an oil flow rate change, or a water flow rate change from the well test data.

5. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor are configured to store the well test data in the memory as a comparison well test data for a subsequent well test.

6. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
filtering the well test data over time using time averaging or exponential smoothing;
passing the well test data through a signal processing algorithm; or
performing a statistical analysis on the well test data using a time-frequency analysis or a peak detection analysis.

7. The diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more well test descriptors comprise univariate statistical features, multivariate statistical features, or combinations thereof extracted from comparison well test data stored in memory.

8. A method of detecting an abnormal well test in a well test system comprising a plurality of wells in a field, comprising:
receiving a well test data from the well test system;
segmenting the well test data into a purge period and a test period, wherein the purge period comprises information indicating oil, water, or both leaving a multiphase separator in the well test system, and wherein the test period comprises information indicating oil, water, or both entering the multiphase separator;
calculating a first water cut from the test period well test data, wherein the first water cut is representative of a ratio of water to oil entering the multiphase separator;
calculating a second water cut from the test period well test data, wherein the second water cut is representative of a ratio of water to oil leaving the multiphase separator; comparing the first water cut, the second water cut, the liquid rate, or a combination thereof to a predetermined value, wherein the predetermined value comprises an expected estimation value that is specific to each well in the field; detecting the abnormal well test based on the comparison; identify a root cause for the abnormal well test; identify a corrective course of action; and output an alert to an operator of the abnormal well test, the root cause, the corrective course of action, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the abnormal well test indicates an incorrect test period duration, an incorrect filling period duration, a non-uniform dump-fill cycle duration, a low oil flow rate, an incorrect water cut, or any combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined value is selected to identify an incorrect test duration, an incorrect indication of oil, water or both leaving the multiphase separator, an incorrect indication of oil, water or both entering the multiphase separator, a faulty sensor, a multiphase separator problem, a flow stability problem, an equipment problem external to the multiphase separator, or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein comparing the first water cut, the second water cut, or a combination thereof to the predetermined value comprises a time series model based on at least a portion of the well test data prior to the comparison.

12. A well test system, comprising:
a remotely operated valve associated with a field comprising a one or more wells;
a multiphase separator configured for well testing the one or more wells;
at least one sensor coupled to the multiphase separator;
a communications infrastructure configured to provide communications from the sensor to the diagnostic system; a diagnostic system comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the at least one processor are configured to: obtain well test data from the at least one sensor;
segment the well test data in order to identify data corresponding to specific portions of the well test, wherein the specific portions of the well test data comprise one or more of purge period data, test period data, and filling- dumping cycle data;
extract one or more features from the well test data, wherein the one or more features comprise quality assurance data, filling-dumping cycle identification data, water cut data, flow rate change data, expected flow rate data, test duration data, and combinations thereof;
calculate a first water cut from the well test data, wherein the first water cut comprises a ratio of water to oil entering the multiphase separator;
calculate a second water cut from the well test data, wherein the second water cut is representative of a ratio of water to oil leaving the multiphase separator;
compare the first water cut, the secon

Assignees

• EL BAKRY Amr
• Bjerkseth Joseph K
• Subrahmanya Niranjan A
• Xu Peng
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• El-Bakry Amr
• Bjerkseth Joseph K
• Subrahmanya Niranjan A
• Xu Peng

Classifications

• E21B44/00 Primary

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