Description:
Reference Number:1706
Background
Over the last decade or so oil has become an increasingly scarce
non-renewable source of energy, thus production has necessarily moved towards
deeper wells and more unconventional recovery methods. This requires equipment
used in the various processes to operate in conditions where both the pressure
and temperature are relatively higher. Therefore remote pressure and temperature
measurements are necessary to ensure correct operation of equipment used in oil
extraction and for determining reservoir size and flow rates of the extracted
fluids. Downhole electronic pressure and temperature gauges used in conventional
wells often fail in temperatures around 150 C?, far below the new 300-400 C?
requirements. Furthermore, they require a local power supply which is difficult
to provide in a remote subsea or downhole location and data transmission to the
surface is slow. Alternatively, fibre-optic gauges can be utilized, which have
many advantages over the conventional technology. However, it has been observed
that optical sensors suffer from cross-sensitivity between the measured pressure
and temperature, leading to measurement errors. This then impacts on production
efficiency and, in many cases, prevents economical oil recovery
Technology
The Combined Optical Pressure and Temperature Sensor, developed at the
University of Strathclyde, is a low-cost sensor system capable of operating in
high-temperature, high-pressure downhole environments and offering a superior
accuracy and measurement range relative to the existing electronic and optical
gauges. The new technology will overcome the issue of poor temperature and
pressure sensitivities and the mutual contamination of the spectral patterns
generated by the existing sensors, thus, the new device will offer greater
accuracy. Additionally, within this technology’s development, a sensor
interrogation system will be constructed. This system is extremely resilient to
external temperature changes and can be manufactured in high volumes, helping
reduce costs.
Key Benefits
- Cost effective
- Accurate and permanent temperature and pressure measurement
- Allows oil recovery from currently unmanageable oil wells
- Capable of operating in high-temperature, high-pressure downhole
environments
Markets and Applications
- Oil and gas production
- Chemical industries – for example in high temperature processing plants
- Energy generation – for example in geothermal power plants and gas turbine
monitoring
- Automotive – for example in combustion engine monitoring
- Aerospace industry – for example in aero-engine monitoring
Licensing and Development
This technology is protected by a patent application filed by the University
of Strathclyde. Contact is welcomed from organisations interested in developing,
licensing or exploiting this technology.
For further information, please contact Research & Knowledge Exchange
Services:
e: rkes@strath.ac.uk t: 0141 548 3707 f: 0141 552 4409
This
project was supported by the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme. The
Proof of Concept Fund supports the pre-commercialisation of leading-edge
technologies emerging from Scotland’s universities, research institutes and NHS
Trusts.