Prediction of Downhole Temperatures Can Be Key for Optimal Wellbore Design

Mitchell, Robert F.; Wedelich, H.

doi:10.2118/18900-ms

Cited by 33 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…Mitchell and Wedelich (1989) describe a fully coupled thermal/hydraulic numerical wellbore simulator that considers transient and steady-state effects. This is the basis for state-of-the-art software currently in wide industry use.…”

Section: Review Of Single-well Thermal Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiwell Thermal Interaction: Predicting Wellbore and Formation Temperatures for Closely Spaced Wells

McSpadden

Coker

2010

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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A method is presented to predict wellbore and formation temperatures for a template of closely spaced wells. Multiwell thermal interaction will alter the wellbore temperatures as well as formation temperatures in the interwell zones and also farther out from the well template. The change in temperature profile relative to a single well can be significant. For producing wells in close proximity, wellbore and formation temperatures will converge to a significantly hotter condition than in the isolated-single-well case.The modeling of wellbore and formation temperatures for closely spaced wells has not been widely examined to date. This problem has been approached only by using theoretical formulations based on simplified assumptions. The current work presents for the first time a methodology based on standard industry tools and models that yield results consistent with field experience. The method employs standard industry thermal/hydraulic-modeling software and a finite-element model (FEM) in a loosely coupled, iterative analysis that assumes steady-state conditions. Other numerical approaches including finite-difference (FD) and boundary-element-method (BEM) techniques are also considered. The far-field thermal-flux behavior of a single well is also considered as an important baseline for comparison.The effect of multiwell thermal interaction is important for closely spaced wells such as offshore platforms or subsea and Arctic developments. A case study is presented for a high-pressure/high-temperature offshore field development. The multiwell disturbance on formation and wellbore temperatures affects well design, facilities planning, and operations. Annular-pressure buildup, wellhead movement, tubular-stress design, cement-slurry design, subsidence/compaction effects, and facilities health and safety issues can all be affected. In some cases, unexpectedly high wellbore temperatures can be catastrophic.If multiwell thermal interaction is not taken into account, then load events such as annular-pressure buildup, wellhead movement, and thermal-induced stresses may be underestimated. For high-rate production wells, the increase in produced-fluid temperatures may be small, but even a small change may be critical. In all cases, the effect on outer wellbore strings/annuli and on the formation is significant. This also impacts the planning of offshore fields to be developed in phases with batch drilling.

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Section: Review Of Single-well Thermal Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiwell Thermal Interaction: Predicting Wellbore and Formation Temperatures for Closely Spaced Wells

McSpadden

Coker

2010

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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“…Heat transfer occurs from the wellbore tubing to its surrounding components (casings, annuli, etc. ) and formation when various operations are performed through the wellbore (Mitchell and Wedelich III 1989;Chen et al 2014aChen et al , 2014bEickmeier et al 1970). For production operation, when high-temperature reservoir fluid is produced through the wellbore, the wellbore and the surrounding formation are heated up.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat Transfer Modeling of Wellbore with Vacuum-Insulated-Tubing (VIT)

Kang

Samuel

Gonzales

et al. 2015

Day 1 Mon, November 23, 2015

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Wellbore heat transfer induces wellbore temperature redistribution and can impact wellbore integrity and the ability of the well to perform its required functions effectively as the design intended. Vacuuminsulated-tubing (VIT) is purposed to reduce wellbore tubing fluid heat loss to protect the tubing fluid or the outside components. Accurate prediction of the wellbore operating temperature during the design phase is essential especially for a VIT well because of its natural difference from the regular pipe.VIT pipe consists of a vacuum section and connector section. The vacuum section has a much better insulation effect than that of the connector, inducing ЉnonuniformЉ heat transfer. This generates significant annulus temperature spikes along the axial direction; up to 50°F in half VIT unit length, 20 ft in field observation ). Conventionally, axial temperature gradient is ignored with regular pipe because it is negligible compared with radial temperature gradient. This is no longer applicable for VIT because these temperature spikes enhance free convection significantly. This paper presents a novel wellbore heat transfer model to provide accurate temperature prediction for a VIT well.Operators use a higher averaged overall thermal conductivity values over VIT because it yields acceptable conservative incremental pressure in annular pressure buildup (APB) calculation, which matches their field observations. There is still uncertainty about modeling with different thermal conductivity values for the VIT vacuum section and connector in conventional commercial simulators that produce high-temperature spikes and relative unreasonable low incremental pressure. Field case study results with this new model show that compared with conventional simulator results the wellbore average temperature increases and the spikes amplitude in the temperature distribution decreases. In addition, whether the connection is insulated or non-insulated plays a critical role in the overall VIT performance. Good connection insulation will increase the overall insulation effect significantly.Literature surveys show few studies on modeling wellbore heat transfer with the enhanced free convection effect inherent to VIT. A conventional wellbore temperature simulator ignores this effect and underestimates the overall wellbore temperature. This paper provides a novel solution model for VIT wellbore temperature prediction, which will be integrated into a commercial advanced casing and tubing design software platform.

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Transient temperature calculation method for deep-water cementing based on hydration kinetics model

Sun

Wang

et al. 2018

Applied Thermal Engineering

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Prediction of Downhole Temperatures Can Be Key for Optimal Wellbore Design

Cited by 33 publications

References 30 publications

Multiwell Thermal Interaction: Predicting Wellbore and Formation Temperatures for Closely Spaced Wells

Multiwell Thermal Interaction: Predicting Wellbore and Formation Temperatures for Closely Spaced Wells

Heat Transfer Modeling of Wellbore with Vacuum-Insulated-Tubing (VIT)

Transient temperature calculation method for deep-water cementing based on hydration kinetics model

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