Systems and Methods for Draw Down Improvement in Wellbores

Abstract

A method for determining an operating envelope for a wellbore includes receiving an indication of sand ingress into the wellbore from at least one production zone, sand transport along the wellbore, or both while producing one or more fluids from the wellbore from the at least one production zone, correlating a force on a production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore with the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both, and determining an operating envelope based on the correlating. The operating envelope defines a boundary for the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore during a production of the one or more fluids from the at least one production zone.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for determining an operating envelope for a wellbore, the method comprising:
 receiving an indication of sand ingress into the wellbore from at least one production zone, sand transport along the wellbore, or both while producing one or more fluids from the wellbore from the at least one production zone;   correlating a force on a production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore with the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both, wherein the force on the production face is measured by at least one of a rate of pressure change in the at least one production zone, a flux of the one or more fluids through the at least one production face of the wellbore, or an acceleration of the one or more fluids between a reservoir and an interior of the wellbore at the production face of the at least one production zone; and   determining an operating envelope based on the correlating, wherein the operating envelope defines a boundary for the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore during a production of the one or more fluids from the at least one production zone.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore is further correlated with a production rate of the one or more fluids, and wherein the operating envelope is further based on the correlation of the force on the production face of the at least one production zone with the production rate of the one or more fluids. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: detecting the sand ingress into the wellbore from the at least one production zone, the sand transport along the wellbore, or both using a sand monitoring system disposed within the wellbore. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the sand monitoring system comprises an acoustic monitoring system, and wherein detecting the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both using the sand monitoring system comprises:
 detecting an acoustic signal along the wellbore using a fiber optic cable disposed within the wellbore;   comparing a sand ingress signature with the acoustic signal to produce a first output;   comparing a sand flow signature with the acoustic signal to produce a second output; and   detecting the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both based on the first output and the second output.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising controlling the production rate of the one or more fluids from the wellbore within the operating envelope based on the detecting of the sand ingress from the at least one production zone. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein controlling the production rate of the one or more fluids from the wellbore within the operating envelope comprises controlling the production rate of the one or more fluids without the use of the sand monitoring system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising: detecting, with a pressure monitoring system, a pressure within the wellbore while producing the one or more fluids and detecting the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the pressure monitoring system comprises a distributed pressure sensors system, and wherein the method further comprises: monitoring a pressure in each of the at least one production zones with the pressure monitoring system. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 detecting the sand ingress, sand transport, or both over a second time interval using the sand monitoring system during production of the one or more fluids from the wellbore;   detecting, with the pressure monitoring system, a pressure within the wellbore during the second time interval while producing the one or more fluids and detecting the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both;   correlating the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore during the second time interval; and   re-determining the operating envelope based on the correlating, wherein the one or more fluids are produced within the re-determined operating envelope after the second time interval.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the boundary for the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore is a function of at least one of an absolute pressure within the wellbore or the production rate of the one or more fluids from the least one production zone. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one production zone comprises at least two production zones, and wherein the boundary for the force on the production face of the wellbore is different between the at least two production zones. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 increasing the production rate of the one or more fluids from the least one production zone while remaining within the operating envelope; and   limiting sand accumulation within the wellbore based on the increasing of the production rate of the one or more fluids while remaining within the operating envelope.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically controlling the force on the production face; and   increasing the production rate of the one or more fluids in response to automatically controlling the force on the production face.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein increasing the production rate of the one or more fluids comprises producing the one or more fluids at a maximum production rate while remaining within the operating envelope. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 decrease a pressure within the wellbore to increase the force on the production face of the at least one production zone above the operating envelope;   increasing the production rate of the one or more fluids based on the decreasing of the pressure;   removing at least a portion of sand accumulated within the wellbore based on the increase in the production rate; and   increasing the pressure after removing at least the portion of the sand accumulated within the wellbore.   
     
     
         16 . A system for determining an operating envelope for a wellbore, the system comprising:
 a monitoring assembly configured to detect one or more values related to the wellbore;   a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute an analysis program to:
 receive, from the monitoring assembly, a sensor signal, wherein the sensor signal is generated while producing one or more fluids from at least one production zone within the wellbore; 
 receiving an indication of sand ingress into the wellbore, sand transport along the wellbore, or both using the sensor signal; 
 correlate a force on a production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore with the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both, wherein the force on the production face of the at least one production zone is measured by at least one of a rate of pressure change in the at least one production zone, a flux of the one or more fluids through the production face of at least one production zone, or an acceleration of the one or more fluids between a reservoir and an interior of the wellbore at the production face of the at least one production zone; and 
 determine an operating envelope based on the correlating, wherein the operating envelope defines a boundary for the force on the production face of the at least one production zone during a production of the one or more fluids from the at least one production zone. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 correlate the force on the production face of the at least one production zone of the wellbore with a production rate of the one or more fluids.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the monitoring assembly comprises a sand monitoring system disposed within the wellbore. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the sand monitoring system comprises:
 a fiber optic cable disposed in the wellbore;   a receiver in signal communication with the fiber optical cable, wherein the sensor signal comprises an acoustic signal, and wherein the receiver is configured to use a light pulse to detect an acoustic signal within the wellbore along the length of the fiber optic cable;   wherein the processor is configured to detect the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both by executing the analysis program to:
 detect the acoustic signal using the fiber optic cable disposed within the wellbore; 
 compare a sand ingress signature with the acoustic signal to produce a first output; 
 compare a sand flow signature with the acoustic signal to produce a second output; and 
 detect the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both based on the first output and the second output. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the boundary for the force on the production face of the at least one production zone is a function of at least one of an absolute pressure within the wellbore, or a production rate of the one or more fluids from the wellbore. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the monitoring assembly comprises a pressure monitoring system configured to detect a pressure within the wellbore, wherein the processor is configured to execute the analysis program to receive, from the pressure sensor, an indication of the pressure within the at least one production zone in the wellbore. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the analysis program to generate a control signal configured to increase the production rate of the one or more fluids while remaining within the operating envelope, wherein the increase in the production rate limits sand accumulation within the wellbore. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the analysis program to generate the control signal automatically and automatically control the production rate of the one or more fluids. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the analysis program to:
 monitor and detect sand ingress into the wellbore using the sensor signal during production from the wellbore; and   control the production rate of the one or more fluids from the wellbore within the operating envelope based on the detection of the sand ingress from the at least one production zone.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the analysis program to control the production rate of the one or more fluids at a maximum production rate of the one or more fluids within the operating envelope. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the analysis program to generate a series of control signals configured to:
 decrease a pressure within the wellbore to increase the force on a production face of the at least one production zone above the operating envelope, wherein the production rate of the one or more fluids increases based on decreasing of the pressure, and wherein at least a portion of sand accumulated within the wellbore is removed based on the increase in the production rate; and   increase the pressure within the wellbore after at least the portion of the sand accumulated within the wellbore is removed.   
     
     
         27 . A method of controlling a drawdown pressure in a wellbore, the method comprising:
 producing one or more fluids from a wellbore at a first production rate;   increasing a production of the one or more fluids from the first production rate to a second production rate, wherein the first production rate is less than the second production rate, wherein the production rate increase is maintained within an operating envelope, wherein the operating envelope defines a boundary for a rate of pressure change during a production of the one or more fluids from the wellbore; and   limiting sand ingress into the wellbore during the pressure increase based on maintaining the rate of pressure change within the operating envelope.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the boundary for the rate of pressure change is a function of at least one of an absolute pressure within the wellbore, or the production rate of the one or more fluids from the wellbore. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the operating envelope is determined by:
 detecting sand ingress into the wellbore from a production zone, sand transport along the wellbore, or both using an acoustic monitoring system disposed within the wellbore, wherein the detecting of the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both occurs while producing the one or more fluids from the wellbore;   detecting a pressure within the wellbore while producing the one or more fluids and detecting the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both;   correlating a rate of pressure change with a production rate of the one or more fluids and the sand ingress, the sand transport, or both; and   determining the operating envelope based on the correlating.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the wellbore does not include an acoustic sensor while increasing the production of the one or more fluids from the first production rate to the second production rate.