System and Method to Convert Surface Pressure to Bottom Hole Pressure Using an Integrated Computation Element

Abstract

A system and method for converting wellhead surface fluid pressures to bottom hole pressures through use of real-time fluid characteristic data determined using an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) computing device in conjunction with wellhead surface pressure measurements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for converting wellbore surface fluid pressure to bottom hole pressure, the method comprising:
 providing fluid from a wellbore to a conduit in fluid communication with a pressure sensor and an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) computing device;   determining a surface fluid pressure at the wellbore using the pressure sensor;   determining a characteristic of the fluid using the ICE computing device; and   determining a bottom hole pressure of the wellbore using the surface fluid pressure and characteristic of the fluid.   
     
     
         2 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein determining the characteristic of the fluid is performed in real-time. 
     
     
         3 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the fluid comprises an amount of at least one of C1 hydrocarbon, C2 hydrocarbon, C3 hydrocarbon, C4 hydrocarbon, C5 hydrocarbons, C6 hydrocarbons, C7 hydrocarbons or water within the fluid. 
     
     
         4 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the surface fluid pressure or bottom hole pressure are determined in real-time. 
     
     
         5 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the conduit is coupled to a wellhead. 
     
     
         6 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein determining the characteristic of the fluid further comprises periodically communicating the fluid to the ICE computing device using a valve, thereby providing a plurality of characteristic readings of the fluid over a period of time. 
     
     
         7 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising locating the pressure sensor and ICE computing device at a surface location. 
     
     
         8 . A system for converting wellbore surface fluid pressure to bottom hole pressure, the system comprising:
 a pressure sensor in fluid communication with the wellbore to determine a surface fluid pressure of the wellbore; and   an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) computing device that optically interacts with wellbore fluid to determine a characteristic of the wellbore fluid;   wherein a bottom hole pressure of the wellbore is determined based upon the surface fluid pressure and the characteristic of the wellbore fluid.   
     
     
         9 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the characteristic of the wellbore fluid is a real-time fluid characteristic. 
     
     
         10 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , further comprising a signal processor communicably coupled to the pressure sensor and ICE computing device to determine the bottom hole pressure using the surface fluid pressure and the characteristic of the wellbore fluid. 
     
     
         11 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the characteristic of the wellbore fluid comprises an amount of at least one of C1 hydrocarbon, C2 hydrocarbon, C3 hydrocarbon, C4 hydrocarbon, C5 hydrocarbons, C6 hydrocarbons, C7 hydrocarbons or water within the wellbore fluid. 
     
     
         12 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the surface fluid pressure or bottom hole pressure are real-time data. 
     
     
         13 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the wellbore fluid is communicated to the pressure sensor using a conduit coupled to a wellhead. 
     
     
         14 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the ICE computing device is fluidly coupled to the wellbore using a conduit, the system further comprising a valve positioned along the conduit to periodically communicate the wellbore fluid to the ICE computing device over a period of time. 
     
     
         15 . A system as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the pressure sensor and ICE computing device are positioned at a surface location. 
     
     
         16 . A method for converting wellbore surface fluid pressure to bottom hole pressure, the method comprising converting a surface fluid pressure to a bottom hole pressure using at least one fluid characteristic of a wellbore fluid, the at least one fluid characteristic being determined in real-time. 
     
     
         17 . A method as defined in  claim 16 , wherein the at least one fluid characteristic is determined using an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) computing device. 
     
     
         18 . A method as defined in  claim 16 , wherein the at least one fluid characteristic comprises an amount of at least one of C1 hydrocarbon, C2 hydrocarbon, C3 hydrocarbon, C4 hydrocarbon, C5 hydrocarbons, C6 hydrocarbons, C7 hydrocarbons or water within the wellbore fluid. 
     
     
         19 . A method as defined in  claim 17 , further comprising communicating the wellbore fluid from a wellhead to the ICE computing device using a conduit. 
     
     
         20 . A method as defined in  claim 17 , further comprising periodically communicating the wellbore fluid to the ICE computing device, thereby providing a plurality of the at least one fluid characteristics over a period of time.