Slug inducement in wellbore clean-up optimization

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present disclosure provide for a process that includes receiving, at one or more processors, an indication to send a slug through a wellbore. The process also includes selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more choke templates indicating choke sizes of a choke for the wellbore. Moreover, the process includes controlling, using the one or more processors, the choke to the choke sizes based on the one or more templates as part of a wellbore clean-up process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at one or more processors, an indication to send a slug through a wellbore;   selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more choke templates indicating choke sizes of a choke for the wellbore; and   controlling, using the one or more processors, the choke to the choke sizes based on the one or more choke templates as part of a wellbore clean-up process.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more choke templates indicate a duration for each respective choke size of the choke sizes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each choke template of the one or more choke templates is a sequence of choke sizes with corresponding durations and choke sizes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more choke templates are organized into libraries of choke templates that each comprise a sequence of choke templates. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the libraries are grouped according to applicability due to a characteristic that is common among the choke templates in a respective library. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the common characteristic comprises a height of a phase, a length of a slug unit, a volume of the phase, a tubing head pressure, a bottom hole pressure, fluid density, fluid viscosity, saturation, temperature, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication comprises an indication to initiate the wellbore clean-up process. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the indication to initiate the wellbore clean-up process comprises an indication of completion of drilling process or receiving a manual selection via an input device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more choke templates are applicable to two or more chokes comprising the choke. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the two or more chokes comprises at least one surface choke and at least one sub-surface choke. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the one or more choke templates is based on one or more conditions of the wellbore. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more conditions of the wellbore comprise slug flow region of operation, tubing head pressure, flow rates, viscosities, temperatures, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         13 . A system, comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to take measurements of a plurality of parameters related to a wellbore;   one or more memory devices storing instructions; and   one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the one or more processors to:
 record one or more parameters of the plurality of parameters, wherein the one or more parameters are related to pressure or flow rates related to the wellbore; 
 compute a superficial velocity based on the one or more parameters; 
 compute density and viscosity of a liquid mixture in the wellbore; 
 identify a flow regime based on the superficial velocity, density, and viscosity; 
 determine whether the flow regime is in a slug flow region of a flow map; 
 if the flow regime is in the slug flow region, perform a first adjustment type; and 
 if the flow regime is not in the slug flow region, perform a second adjustment type. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , comprising one or more chokes of the wellbore configured to restrict flow through the wellbore, wherein the first adjustment type comprises a more gradual change to respective choke size of the one or more chokes of the wellbore, and the second adjustment type comprises a less gradual change to the respective choke sizes of the one or more chokes. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more chokes comprise at least one surface choke and at least one sub-surface choke. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the second adjustment type comprises using a slug model to determine how to adjust the respective choke sizes by computing a friction drop and associated head loss to match a predicted tubing head pressure. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the change to the respective choke sizes is different among the one or more chokes. 
     
     
         18 . A system, comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to take measurements of a plurality of parameters related to a wellbore;   one or more chokes of the wellbore configured to restrict flow through the wellbore;   one or more memory devices storing instructions; and   one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the one or more processors to:
 receive an indication to perform a wellbore clean-up process; 
 select one or more choke templates for controlling respective choke sizes of the one or more chokes in a sequence over time, wherein the selection of the one or more choke templates is based at least in part on at least one of the plurality of parameters; and 
 control the respective choke sizes based on the one or more choke templates to cause one or more slugs to traverse the wellbore as part of the wellbore clean-up process. 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more chokes comprises at least one surface choke and at least one sub-surface choke. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more choke templates comprise a first set of templates for the at least one surface choke and a second set of templates for the at least one sub-surface choke.