American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012 - 173

Production Technology

SAGD Monitoring
As mentioned, one example of a challenging automation application is steamassisted gravity drainage. Monitoring systems for SAGD wells use thermocouples,
bubble tubes, high-temperature pressure
sensors, and fiber optic distributed temperature systems. Various conveyance techniques are used to instrument injectors,
producers and observation wells, including
casing, tubing, suspended and coiled tubing
systems. Coiled tubing is one of the main
systems of choice. Real-time pressure and
temperature measurements are used to obtain operational data for designing and

drilling horizontal wells and for controlling
SAGD producing wells.
Among the benefits of monitoring
SAGD wells:
* Horizontal well length can be better
optimized with a better understanding of
the in situ pressure drop from the heel to
the toe of SAGD wells.
* Multipoint pressure and temperature

monitoring may confirm the existence of
thief zones, which can adversely affect
the balance between injected steam and
produced oil.
* Heel pressure monitoring is used to
develop pumping system efficiencies and
to confirm pressure and temperature distributions over the length of the well.
* Injection pressures must be moni-

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actual performance with predicted or modeled performance to highlight differences
and opportunities to make improvements.
There must be personnel assigned to
receive and use the information gathered
and processed by the automation system.
A team is needed that consists of engineers,
well analysts, operators, maintenance
staff, well services staff, and others.
Unless current work processes and workflows are changed to make use of the automation system and the information and
insights it generates, the system implementation will fail.
An effective work environment can
be built around a team that can operate
in various locations as required, but be in
close communication with one another.
Field personnel need to be on the ground,
engineers are usually in the office, and
consultants may be in remote locations.
However, they can be part of a virtual
team by using the intranet, Internet or
various other communication and information sharing media.
Is a collaboration center needed, or
perhaps a central operations center or a
dedicated data visualization room? This
depends on many factors. Some companies
use a central control room staffed on a
24-7 basis, while others rely on using
daily operating staff and engineers.
A larger issue is training and staff development to support these new work
processes, develop new skill sets, and
define roles and responsibilities. Many
companies face large turnover rates. Often,
the best engineers, operators and well analysts are promoted to new assignments.
There must be a continuous focus on training and continuing education of automation
staff and those who use the information
collected by these systems.

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JANUARY 2012 173

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012