Patent GB-693782-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to electrical analogues
Inventor: LEE BURTON DONALD
IPC: E21B47/00
Filed: 1951-01-23
Abstract: 693,782. Electric analogue calculating systems; electric systems for plotting equipotential lines ; liquid resistances. TEXACO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. Jan. 23, 1951, No. 1710/51. Class 37. An electric potentiometric analogue model for evaluating or exploring a physical system having multiple variable parameters (specifically an oil well containing a conductive fluid which traverses plural geological strata of varying conductivities and electric self potentials relative to the well fluid; or a subterranean fluid field subjected to varying input and output pumping procedures) comprises one or more pools of electrolyte whose conductivities are analogous to corresponding parameters of the system (e.g. to the strata and well fluid conductivities, or to the fluid permeability of the field) confined or separated by impervious barriers traversed by multiple electric conductors passing currents transversely but not longitudinally of the barrier and having fixed or movable exploring electrodes whereby predetermined or measurable analogue currents are supplied to or derived from the system. Fig. 1 shows an analogue model of an oil well penetrating various strata, which may be logged for the derivation of correction factors and curves dependent on the resistivities of the surrounding strata and the well fluid, for the empirical correction and interpretation of data (e.g. apparent resistivity and self-potential curves) obtained by logging an actual well. A wedge or segment-shaped tank 10 contains unequal pools of electrolyte (e.g. aqueous copper sulphate) 16, 17 separated by a vertical barrier 18 parallel to the axis 12, the pool 16 representing the well bore, the pool 17 (large compared with pool 16) the surrounding earth formations and axis 12 the axis of the well. The larger pool is divided into, e.g., three sections 17A, 17B, 17C by barriers 19, 20 representing the strata traversed by the bore, the several liquid levels intersect the axis, and the electrolyte concentrations are adjusted so that the pools have resistivities corresponding to those of the well fluid and the surrounding strata. The barriers 18, 19, 20 are required to pass electric currents through their thicknesses but not along their surfaces, and comprise plastic insulating sheets 40 crossed by multiple fine wires 41 (Fig. 2) or containing a layer of mutually insulated conducting spheres 45 penetrating the bounding surfaces (Fig. 4) or crossed by multiple mutuallyinsulated U-shaped conductors 31 closely spaced along the barrier length (Fig. 7). The analogue model of the well is logged by traversing an electrode assembly along the length of the pool 16; current is applied to electrodes 21, 22 and the resultant potentials between the exploring electrodes 23, 24 are measured and plotted against displacement along the pool length (analogous to well depth) as a measure of the resistivity. If the well fluid in practice penetrates the strata and varies their conductivities, an additional barrier 100 may be inserted parallel to the barrier 18, and the electrolyte strength in the sub-pool 101 may be adjusted according to the resistivity of the penetrated stratum. If self-potentials exist between the several strata, or between strata and well fluid in an actual well, the barriers in the corresponding model are crossed by multiple conductors of different materials (e.g. copper, iron) joined in series at the barrier centre, and acting as multiple voltaic cells (Fig. 3, not shown). The interposed potentials may also be developed by using barrier conductors of the same metal as the electrolytic ions (e.g. copper) so that the electrolyte to conductor contact potentials are adjustable according to the ionic activities in the pools, whose conductivities are maintained at the appropriate analogue values by adding an ionizing salt (e.g. potassium chloride) which is inert to the conductor metal. The barrier conductors may be of silver, zinc, or cadmium with appropriate electrolytes, and two barriers having differing conductors (e.g. copper, silver) may contact a pool of mixed electrolyte (e.g. copper sulphate, potassium chloride) so that two independently variable contact potentials are available at the barriers, while the pool conductivity is adjustable by the addition of sodium nitrate. The lateral barriers of the model may be crossed by multiple closely-spaced printed metal stripes running along equipotential lines of the electrolyte referred to the model axis, i.e. along arcs about the model axis as centre (Figs. 5, 6, not shown). By logging the well model it is possible to obtain resistivity and self-potential curves from which the curves obtained by logging wells in the field may be corrected empirically in accordance with the electrical characteristics of the well fluid and the surrounding strata, and true values obtained. Since the strata surrounding an actual well are of infinite extent and the corresponding electrolyte pools of the model are finite, errors arise in the analogy which may be corrected by terminating the pools at their limiting boundaries in the characteristic impedance of an infinite pool, i.e. an impedance such that the potential distribution at the boundary is that which would obtain at the same position of an infinite pool. In Figs. 10, 11, a segment-shaped model with a horizontal axis 111 is divided by conducting barriers as shown in Fig. 7 into pools 112, 113, 114, 115 respectively representing the well bore and the strata which it traverses, the electrolyte concentrations being adjusted in correspondence with the resistivities of the well fluid and the several strata. A conducting barrier 121 inserted parallel with and close to the side wall 130 of the model divides off narrow terminating pools 122, 122A, 122B, whose electrolyte concentrations are adjusted so that the multiple conductors traversing the barrier 121 present terminating impedances to the pools 113, 114, 115 corresponding to those of infinite pools. A fixed electrode 133 in pool 113 corresponds to the surface, and a logging electrode 135 is movable along the pool 112. A recording A.C. meter 136 is connectible through switches 134, 137 in series with the electrodes with an A.C. source of, e.g., 700 c.p.s. for resistivity logging; and this meter registers admittance as a function of the displacement analogous to well depth; while a recording D.C. meter 138 may be connected across the electrodes, by resetting the switches, to similarly register the relative self potentials of the model. A potentiometric model representing a well in a single stratum, Fig. 12 (not shown), may be infinitely terminated in a conductive barrier comprising plural closely-spaced insulated electrode strips interconnected to a common point through equal impedances. Correct matching is determined by plotting with a moving electrode the equipotential lines in the electrolyte due to the current flowing between two spaced electrodes, symmetrically disposed adjacent the inner barrier of the pool representing the well bore, and comparing them with the circular equipotential lines predictable from theory (Fig. 13, not shown). In modifications, Figs. 14, 15 (not shown), the terminating electrodes intersecting the boundary of the model are connected to complex # impedance networks such that each individual stratum pool is terminated in its own characteristic impedance. In a potentiometric model (Figs. 8, 9) of a subterranean fluid field (e.g. natural gas) subjected to a recycling pumping procedure and utilizing conductive barriers as described, an insulating basin 71 corresponding in shape to the field is divided by an upright conductive barrier 89 (e.g. as shown in Fig. 7) into two pools of electrolyte of conductivities analogous to the differing fluid permeabilities of the field strata. Fixed electrodes 72, 73, 74, 75 respectively correspond to extraction wells from which wet gas is pumped and an injection well into which dry gas is returned to the field. The electrode currents from battery 6 are adjustable by rheostats 85, 86, 87 in series with electrodes 72, 73, 74 by analogy with the respective rates of pumping. A mobile electrode 77 dipping into the electrolyte is movable in two dimensions on longitudinal and transverse slide-rails 78, 57 together with a stylus 81 movable over a chart 82 corresponding to the field configuration, and a galvanometer 84 is connected between the electrode 77 and the junction 83 of the adjustable potentiometer resistances 83A, 83B across electrodes 72 and 75. The input and output currents are adjusted by rheostats 85, 86, 87 to simulate predetermined extraction and injection rates, and resistances 83A, 83B are adjusted to give a predetermined potential at point 83, whereby the corresponding equipotential line in the electrolyte (at which the galvanometer deflection is few) is explored by the mobile electrode and plotted by the stylus on the chart. The potential gradient in the model is analogous to the pressure gradient in the field so that when a series of equipotential lines of the model have been plotted, it is shown that flowlines may be drawn perpendicular thereto, along which computed fluid transit times are set off, and fluid curves of equal transit times are plotted to define the dry gas invasion front for a given pumping procedure. The input and output currents may be adjusted to simulate a number of different procedures, and the corresponding invasion fronts may be plotted to discover the procedure which will defer as long as possible the break through of dry gas to an extraction well, and thus give optimum recovery. Potentiometric models incorporating conductive barriers according to the invention, are applicable to the analogue solution of problems involving heat conduction, the distribution of electric, magnetic, and electrostatic fluxes, and the flow of hydraulic fluids.