In this blog post we will highlight and discuss, the top five questions we are asked about a Tracerco™ Interwell Study.

Topics: chemical tracers, reservoir, reservoir analysis, interwell, reservoir characterisation, tracers, smart tracers, tracer technology, well development

The first issue of 2018's Tracerco Insight newsletter is now available.

Tracerco would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We are very much looking forward to celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2018. 

To start the new year we have published the first issue of the Tracerco Insight newsletter featuring a few of our latest case studies illustrating how Tracerco was able to provide our customers the necessary data that allowed the operations staff to make informed decisions for troubleshooting and optimising their process.

 

Topics: nucleonic instrumentation, Tru-Scan, gamma scan, coke drum cycle, coke drum optimization, delayed coke drum, feed/effluent heat exchangers, tracer technology, H2S Absorber, Life cycle management, Tracer Study, SRU Unit, coke, Sulphur Recovery Unit, catalyst bed wash, Ammonia converter

Selection of the stimulation target in unconventional shale formations is an important factor that impacts well productivity. In thick unconventional formations, it is essential that operators quantify the production of each stage of hydraulic fracturing executed in the well, in order to establish the most productive rock. It is also important for operators to be certain that every section of the stimulated well is effectively contributing to overall well production and clean-out of all stages has been achieved. In addition, other development challenges include optimal spacing between perforation clusters, stages and wells, allowing operators to optimize drilling and completion costs and maximize enhanced ultimate recovery (EUR).

This Blog describes the application of chemical tracers in a multi-stage horizontal well to gain insight on stage productivity in order to plan an optimal field development strategy.

Topics: chemical tracers, unconventional wells, reservoir, fracking, reservoir characterisation, tracers, unconventional oil and gas, smart tracers, tracer technology, frac wells, shale, shale production, well development

Scans aid plant personnel in determining which demulsifier is best suited for their application.

Tracerco’s scanning technology is an excellent means of measuring interface levels, whether between vapour and liquids, liquid and solids, or between two different types of liquids. Tru-Scan™ and PhaseFinder™ neutron scanning technologies can be used very effectively in trials of emulsion breaking chemicals to determine the best type and concentration to use in a particular vessel. This can lead to increased efficiency and significant cost savings as well as reduce the environmental impact of excess chemical use.

This blog will present two demulsifier trials that will show the difference in performance base on the presence or absence of an emulsion layer.

Topics: neutron backscatter, Tru-Scan, gamma scan, Separator, PhaseFinder, Demulsifier Chemical, interface levels

Tracerco, patented, pioneered and continues to enhance technology that enables the measurement of individual gas, oil, and water stage production along the length of a wellbore, without well intervention. This inexpensive technology provides confirmation that a wellbore is open to flow, identifies and quantifies stage flow contribution of each phase, and provides measurement of drainage area connectivity - simply by adding small amounts of unique chemical tracers to each stage’s stimulation fluid.

Topics: chemical tracers, unconventional wells, reservoir, fracking, reservoir characterisation, tracers, unconventional oil and gas, smart tracers, tracer technology, frac wells, shale, shale production, well development

A customer wanted to test two different lithologies and compare the performance of both, in the gas window of the Neuquén Basin, in Argentina. For that reason, a slanted two-horizon target well was drilled, distributing 10 stages in the upper zone, and 10 stages in the lower zone. The intermediate zone, which was not considered a main target, received one stage.

21 unique organic gas and water tracers were added to each of the different stages of the well during stimulation. The injection was controlled and care was taken to tag all stages in the same way, ensuring that the tracers would penetrate deep into the fracture structure and make contact with formation hydrocarbons. Subsequent flowback and sample analysis for the presence of the injected tracers allowed relative gas and water flow from the different stages to be evaluated.

Topics: chemical tracers, unconventional wells, reservoir, fracking, reservoir characterisation, tracers, unconventional oil and gas, smart tracers, tracer technology, frac wells

Tru-Scan™ results assist with diagnosing problems even in a challenging process such as liquid-liquid extractors.

One category of special applications is liquid-liquid extractors. Besides the fact that liquid-liquid extractors are not “typical” distillation or fractionation unit operations, what makes them a special application for Tru-Scans™? The source and detector system that is used in scanning measures density changes of the process materials inside the tower. With a typical fractionation tower there is a large density difference between the vapour and liquid phases. Thus there is a large density range between clear vapour and clear liquid to detect process or operating conditions existing in a typical fractionation tower – entrainment, foaming, flooding, internal damage, etc. But liquid-liquid extractors are liquid full, with no large vapour-liquid density difference. Meaningful scan results from a liquid-liquid tower rely on the density difference between the two liquid phases being significant enough to distinguish as some extraction processes involve two liquids that have comparable densities.

 

So what will a Tracerco Tru-Scan™ of a liquid-liquid extractor tower show?

Since we do not have the large vapour-liquid density difference to work with, the information learned from a scan of a liquid-liquid extractor is less extensive than for a “typical” fractionation tower but not any less important. As the following examples show, scans of liquid-liquid extractors can detect problems when the two liquid phases are not properly mixing, preventing the tower from doing its proper extraction operation.

 

Topics: gamma scan, liquid liquid extractor, extraction tower, trayed extraction tower, liquid restriction

On a regular basis customers see evidence suggesting the presence of a leak; such as a drop in process efficiency or the presence of a contaminant in product. This raises the question of where in the plant the leak is occurring or is the off-spec material do to some other problem.

In this latest blog, Tracerco, part of Johnson Matthey Plc, discusses how chemical tracers allowed the customer to replace a leaking exchanger bundle and restart the unit with minimal downtime.

Topics: gamma scan, off spec product, online leak detection, chemical leak test, feed/effluent heat exchangers, exchanger bundle leak testing

In any deep water field development it is important to monitor oil and water production from all wells in order to manage fluid movement and maximize hydrocarbon output. The use of Smart Tracers integrated into a lower completion, alongside the use of waterflood tracers, provides a number of advantages over traditional oil and gas inflow measurement technologies, at a fraction of the cost.

Topics: chemical tracers, reservoir, reservoir characterisation, fluid inflow, oil inflow, water inflow, oil production, inflow measurement, smart tracers

The crude unit of today’s modern refinery is where it all starts.  Good, clean fractionation from the crude atmospheric and crude vacuum towers greatly impacts the operation of downstream units.

The wash bed in the Crude vacuum tower is one of those so-called evil necessities.  When it operates well, it does not seem to garner much attention but, when things go wrong challenges can occur.  The wash bed of the Crude vacuum tower is prone to coking/fouling due to the low liquid rates along with high vapour rates and high temperatures.  Generally, the wetting rate at the top of the wash bed is minimised to prevent high-value product loss, but lower wetting rates lead directly to coke formation in the bed.  The operating condition or the rate and severity of coking in the Crude vacuum tower wash bed is also one of the key variables determining the cycle time or run length between turnarounds.  So, the typical refiner works to balance the economics of product Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil (HVGO) recovery versus unscheduled or premature downtime to replace a coked bed. 

Marathon Petroleum Company LP’s (MPC) approach for operation of the vacuum tower wash bed is based on a novel approach.  MPC regards the packing in the wash bed as a consumable item.  The goal – fully consume the useful life of the packing by the end of the operating cycle to maximise operating profit, by maximising HVGO yield.  MPC uses Tracerco’s ThruVision™ technology to routinely monitor the wash bed density to help manage the wash bed useful life during the operating cycle.  The ThruVision™ technology provides a detailed density map at a specific vertical elevation that can pinpoint specific areas of liquid maldistribution or solids/liquid build-up. 

This case study shows the learning process over short operating cycles and an example of the operating stratagem to manage the operating life of the vacuum column wash bed over a multi-year operating cycle.

 CLICK HERE To download the full article that was published in the April 2017 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering.

Topics: Gamma Scanning, Tru-Grid Scan, ThruVision scan, gamma scan, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, monitor wash bed coking, tomography scan