First Installation of SmartCell Distributed Downhole Pressure Sensing System for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Intelligent Well Optimisation
January 2009
This month marks a major milestone for Smart Fibres. It saw the handover of its first multi-drop SmartCell© distributed pressure/temperature sensing (DPTS) system, deployed in the Natih field in Oman. The system, which has been developed over the last five years by Smart Fibres under a joint project with Shell, allows Production Technologists to see real-time downhole pressure and temperature measurements at multiple points throughout a wellbore.
In the first deployment, a total of 9 SmartCell© optical P/T gauges are installed at a depth of just under 1 km, and are read by a single topside instrument. The data is sent by radio transmission to the Muscat HQ of Petroleum Development Oman, where it is used to interpret changes in the fluid levels as the Natih reservoir is produced. Pictured is PDO's Senior PT Franz Marketz receiving control of the system from Smart Fibres' CEO Chris Staveley.
As the system is rolled out to other operating units, Smart Fibres engineers will be developing capabilities of the system to provide production pressure and flow measurements, as well as aligning the system's temperature capabilities with the challenges of thermal recovery wells.