Real-Time Fiber-Optics Solution Opens Door to the Wellbore Environment

The authors of this paper describe the development and implementation of a data-streaming solution that allows for real-time processing and interpretation of fiber-optics data.

January 1, 2023

Journal of Petroleum Technology

A simplified illustration of the interpreted observed process. Fluid mixing is likely more prominent than illustrated here. 0) Is the starting state with base oil and brine in the tubing. The "red" box indicates the GLV. 2) Shows that the brine above the GLV is first displaced out and a gas slug is created. 3/3A) shows the gas slug with reservoir fluids being pulled in as the brine below the slug is produced out. 4/5) Shows reservoir fluids arriving at surface, and only small amounts of brine are left to produce out.

For the Johan Sverdrup asset, Equinor has developed a data-streaming solution that allows for real-time processing and interpretation of fiber-optic (FO) data. In its current state, it processes approximately 500 TB of data each week, with insights made accessible to the end user through a web-based front-end platform. In the complete paper, the authors illustrate the benefits of this system and how it can provide improved understanding of well conditions and processes.

The FO System

The FO system consists of three main components. The first is the FO-acquisition system, which is delivered by the distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS) vendors.

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