Influence of the Chemical Composition of Completion Fluids on the Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves within Oil Wells

Alexandre Ashade Lassance Cunha, Marco Aurélio Pacheco, José Ricardo Bergmann

Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/eng.2012.412A122                

Abstract

The propagation of electromagnetic waves in the annular region of oil wells was studied. The present study aims to analyse the propagation attenuation along the well, as well as the input impedance determined by a source placed near the wellhead. A coaxial waveguide model was adopted with heterogeneous dielectrics and losses. First, a wave equation solution for the waveguide is presented, assuming a homogeneous medium with losses, by solving the equation in cylindrical coordinates using the vector potential technique. An uncertainty analysis model is then developed to model the heterogeneous characteristics of the medium. Monte Carlo simulations were performed with the created model using data gathered from the literature. The results of the simulations indicate that propagation in the transverse electromagnetic mode has the smallest attenuation and that for depths of up to 4000 m, there is an attenuation of less than 52 dB. Furthermore, the input impedance ranges from 10 Ω to 10 kΩ because of the uncertainties involved in the problem in question.

Keywords

Electromagnetism; Oil Well; Wireless Telemetry; Monte-Carlo; Uncertainties; Heterogeneous Media

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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