OPTICall Thermal Profile and Investigation Service

Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) for Analysis and Troubleshooting

The OPTICall service combines the features of permanently installed fiber-optic DTS systems with the ease of use of standard slickline to provide thermal profiling of the wellbore. The service uses the OpticLine fiber-optic line that allows single-ended, on-demand DTS in real time, from tool depth in the well to surface. The fiber-optic line is deployed in the same way as standard slickline and acts as both the sensing element—temperature sampled at discrete points along the entire length—as well as the data transmission medium. Data is monitored continuously on surface, allowing well remediation right after the measurements and analysis.

Applications

• The OPTICall thermal profile and investigation service can be used for leak detection, gas lift optimization, fracture evaluation, and other applications.
• Deployment using standard slickline equipment makes the service a highly efficient, low-risk method of investigation for diagnostic and well maintenance operations.
• The OPTICall service is ideal for mature wells that were completed before DTS was available or where the installation of permanent DTS was uneconomical.

Data analysis

THERMA thermal modeling and analysis software is used with the OPTICall service to assess well flow performance in production, injection, and acid stimulation applications. The software loads multiple DTS traces recorded at different times, and a smoothing algorithm reduces statistical noise in the data, allowing the traces to be examined in detail. Viewing a series of traces over the length of the wellbore provides a picture of what is going on in the well as a function of time.

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