SPE-120200-STU (Student 8)

Bypassed Oil Detection Using Spectroscopy and Nano Technology

Shruti Ravindra Jahagirdar, SPE, Maharashtra Institute of Technology

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE International Student Paper Contest at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, Colorado, USA, 21–24
September 2008.

This paper was selected for presentation by merit of placement in a regional student paper contest held in the program year preceding the International Student Paper Contest. Contents of the
paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members.

Abstract An operator cares only for the economics involved in the

Detection of the bypassed oil zones during any matured project inspite of all this and rightly so! Hence, the aim
waterflood or EOR process is a critical step in planning here is to assist in planning the recovery of this crude
the further applications of these processes on a field. remaining in the bypassed zones effectively and
While technically deciding whether to continue to economically. This will be done first, by detecting the
waterflood or plug thief zones as a remedy to high water depth of the thief zones and bypassed zones precisely
cuts, it is of utmost importance to take into consideration using the ‘Bypassed Zone Detection Tool’.
that the overall economics of the project governs most of Also, for doing this, the tool uses ‘Raman
the decisions not only the technical applicability. Spectroscopy’ which has been the unexplored territory by
the oil industry so far and ‘Laser light’.
The ‘Bypassed Zone Detection Tool’ described and
proposed in this article will detect the bypassed zones and Need For New Technology
thief zones located in a reservoir precisely, by using Fig. 1 gives us an idea of how important it is to
Raman Spectroscopy. The number of such zones detected think of new technologies and new means of recovering
and the depth of their location can be used in planning of oil. As per the example in the figure it is seen that the
further waterflood or EOR process. The same tool has original oil in place in US is 649 Billion Barrels. The
been described in the author’s previous paper with respect discovered but unrecovered by current technology is a
to microbial detection by Raman Spectroscopy in order to huge 45% of the whole sum while a huge sum is also
detect bypassed oil zones. However, since MEOR under the undiscovered and unrecoverable by current
reservoirs are very few and none commercially proven technology section. This shows that great amount of crude
yet, this paper is aimed at direct oil detection with the oil exists and is known to us but our existing technology
same tool as also the assistance of the tool in planning an does not permit its production, so adding new efficient
enhanced recovery process economically. This aspect has technologies which target this unrecoverable oil, is the
not been analyzed in the previous paper. best we can do than waiting for more hydrocarbons to be
found which are easily recoverable or waiting for nature
The tool promises applicability in a wide variety of to make more of those.
situations and downhole areas thus proving itself as a Also, since the crude oil prices have been sky
strong candidate for commercial use in near future. rocketing with highest till now US $145, it is the best time
for oil companies to invest in new technologies.
Introduction
After having spent much time and money on a Bypassed Zone Detection Tool
reservoir and after a successful application of a The proposed tool has the following parts as shown in
waterflood or a polymer flood the reservoir starts giving Fig. 2,
out the injected fluid in large amounts and not the desired
one. This means that the water cuts/ polymer recovery in 1. Laser
matured fields is more than 80-90% while the desired 2. Detector (Charge Coupled Device- CCD)
fluid is crude which is supposed to have high cuts. The 3. Spectrograph
reason is thief zones. What should be done in these 4. Optical filter
situations? A crude oil crisis is ‘haunting’ the world and 5. Beam turning optics
every bit of crude remaining in that reservoir is absolutely 6. Depth sensor
critical with growing technical advancements and thus the 7. Regular and nano optical fibers
need for energy and hydrocarbons.
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Laser located, a laser light of lower wavelength will be reflected

Lasers are devices that produce intense beams of in to the tool. The reflected light is then passed from the
monochromatic, coherent radiation. The word “laser” is nano fibers to the regular optical fibers and then to the
an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated optical filter, then CCD and Spectrograph after which the
Emission of Radiation. One of the major advantages of light can be studied at the surface on a computer.
Raman is that it offers the possibility to select the optimal When a thief zone containing water is encountered
laser excitation wavelength to permit the recording of the there will be no reflection since Raman is inactive to
best Raman information. For example, wavelengths can water and the depth measurement is also done at this
be selected to offer the best resonance with the sample location.
under investigation. In this particular tool tunable lasers
are preferred for convenience of tuning to various Principle of Working
wavelengths. The tool works on the principle of Resonance
Raman Spectroscopy. When the laser light of specified
Detector wavelength falls on a zone containing oil, the C-H bonds
Most of the current dispersive Raman set-ups are now contained in the oil absorb the light and give out a
equipped with multichannel two-dimensional CCD reflected light of lower wavelength. The change in the
detectors. The main advantages of these detectors are the wavelength of light is due to strong resonance between
high quantum efficiency, the extremely low level of the molecular absorption band and excitation wavelength
thermal noise (when effectively cooled), low read noise of the laser.
and the large spectral range available. Same is not the case when water is encountered and
hence, no reflection is obtained on encountering a thief
Spectrograph zone containing water.
Spectrograph is an instrument used to separate and
measure the wavelengths present in electromagnetic Planning of a Process Using this Tool and
radiation and to measure the relative amounts of radiation Economic Considerations Involved
at each wavelength. Spectrometers which are used in Fig. 3 gives the common costs incurred during the
wavelength characterization of lasers are a part of the application of an EOR process which include pump
spectrograph. maintenance, H2S penalty, chemical costs etc. Along with
such costs specific costs like in case of polymer or
Optical Filter alkaline EOR the costs incurred on polymer, chase fluid,
An optical filter is used to filter out the unwanted and preflush etc. or steam generation in steam stimulation are
scattered wavelengths which may create problems in the costs incurred which cannot be exceeded beyond the
recording the spectrum. profit margin. Similarly, when a waterflood is undertaken,
the costs incurred are as shown in Fig. 4
Depth Sensor When the water cut/polymer cut is high it is a critical
The depth sensor is used to sense the depth at which oil is decision whether to continue flooding process, plug the
detected as also the thief zones of water formed due to thief zones or abandon the reservoir. Though the aim is to
waterflooding. recover as much crude oil as possible, the economic
viability of the project is what decides the future of the
Optical Fibers project as also the price of the crude/bbl at the that point
The nano optical fibers (Fig.3) and regular optical fibers in time.
are mainly used for transmission of light to the required Clear understanding of the reservoir in a mature field is
destination. always a prime need when decisions as mentioned above
have to be taken. The ‘Bypassed Zone Detection Tool’
Taken from (Shruti Jahagirdar, 2008) will help to find out the depths at which bypassed zones
and thief zones are found in the reservoir ‘precisely’ since
Working of the Tool laser light is used. Though the oil in these bypassed zones
The tool is lowered using regular optical fibers as cannot yet be quantified, the knowledge of the place
shown in the Fig 2 to the depth of the perforations. Then where they reside and the number of zones found can
at first the laser beam is used to create microfractures in decide whether to continue with flooding or plug thief
the formation, those which will carry the nano fibers in zones or abandon the field. This decision is important
the porous rock matrix and thus the laser beam (Fig. 5). since a wrong decision will result in wastage of resources
This is done by directing the laser light of desired as well as money along with precious time spent in
wavelength in the formation using the nano fibers. When carrying out the process. The costs mentioned in the Fig.
the fractures are created they are kept open by a fluid 3 and Fig. 4 increase with the increased time of operation
which can transmit the laser light through it. The fluid to and hence, it is important to justify during planning if the
be used in this application cannot be water since Raman process does require the planned amount of time e.g.
Effect is inactive in water, so the required fluid to be used flooding process takes longer time than plugging.
is still under research. The nano fibers can then carry laser
light in to these fractures. At the depths where oil is
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Conclusion
1. Direct oil detection makes the tool suited to all
reservoirs.

2. In an industry where economics governs the

applicability of a process, even minor amount of
information about the reservoir, like provided by
this tool can prove vital in planning the process
wisely.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Maharashtra Institute of
Technology (MIT), Pune, India for providing the required
infrastructure. Many thanks also, to Mr. Sudeepto
Banerjee, my senior at the institute for providing initial
line of thought and useful inputs. The author is also
grateful to Prof. L.K Kshirsagar and Prof. P.B Jadhav at
Maharashtra Institute of Technology for the
encouragement, guidance and useful information provided
by them.

References
1. Shruti Jahagirdar; “Oil-Microbe Detection Tool Using
Nano Optical Fibers”; April 2008; “SPE- 113357-PA”
2. Jokhio, S.A, Berry, M.R and Bangash; “DOWS
(Downhole Oil-Water Separation) Cross-Waterflood
Economics”; 2002; “SPE- 75273-PA”
3. L.P Streeb, F.G Brown; “MEOR- Altamont/Bluebell
Field Project”; 1992; “SPE-24334-PA”
4. Rajan K. Prasad, Larry Lake, James W. Jennings, F.
Jerry Lucia; “Improving Economics of Production in
Heterogeneous Reservoirs by Redirecting Water
Injection Patterns”; 2000; “SPE-59692-PA”
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