A New Methodology for Total Gas Monitoring to Improve Well Safety Assurance

Abstract

At a time when maximizing operational efficiency is needed more than ever, advancements in data processing and analytical capacity may provide a sustainable path for uncovering hidden correlations and other insights from one of the basic roles and responsibilities of any surface logging services provider. This paper showcases a side-by-side comparison of two gas extraction devices and how they influence gas readings and, eventually, total gas measurement related to well control operations monitoring. Although the trend analysis from gas reading values is imperative for pore pressure predictions and other classical readings, this paper negates its use for lower explosive limits (LEL) by using laboratory methods paired with a study in the field. The apparatus used to extract total gas in water-based mud was a constant-volume, constant-temperature and constant-flow system. The detector used to measure the total gas concentration was a flame-ionized detector (FID) system. The influence of gas extraction devices on gas data is crucial for the determination of total gas. Conditions affecting gas readings have been explored at length, and they include gas extraction temperature, mud flow rates, gas flow rates, and drill rates (i.e., rate of penetration). Due to the development of analytical capacity, the extraction method and the analysis devices are compared in this paper. Wellsite total gas monitoring, which usually provides common wellsite total gas values, has been heavily analysed regarding what it fundamentally represents. Total gas also helps operators to harness their data and use it to identify process safety indicators, as well as other environmental emissions applications. Estimates of total gas concentration in the drilling fluid, as detected by a gas extraction device, can vary, based on the device type. This paper shows how the different extraction methodologies fit into well safety operations monitoring and process safety requirements to better evaluate and define new risk communication and safety practices in the industry.