Welltowelltracertests

Thevalueandimportanceoftracertestsarebroadlyrecognized.Tracertestinghasbecomeamaturetechnology,andimprovedknowledgeabouttracerbehaviorinthereservoir,
improvedtraceranalysis,andreductionofpitfallshavemadetracertestsreliable.Manytracercompoundsexisthowever,thenumberofsuitablecompoundsforwelltowelltracers
isreducedconsiderablybecauseoftheharshenvironmentthatexistsinmanyreservoirsandthelongtestingperiod.Radioactivetracerswithahalflifeoflessthanoneyearare
mentionedonlybrieflyinthischapterbecauseoftheirlimitedapplicabilityinlongtermtests.

Contents
1Tracerclassification
2Practicalapplicationsoftracers
3Typesoftracersavailable
4Health,safety,andenvironmentconstraints
5NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
6Externallinks
7Seealso
8Category

Tracerclassification
Tracersmayberoughlyclassifiedaspassiveoractive.Inprinciple,apassivetracerblindlyfollowsthefluidphaseinwhichitisinjected.Activetracersinteractwiththeotherfluids
inthesystemorwiththerocksurface.Interpretationoftracerproductioncurvesmustaccountforthis.Theresultsfromtheapplicationofactivetracersmaygiveinformationabout
fluidsaturationandrocksurfaceproperties.Thisinformationisespeciallyimportantwhenenhancedoilrecoverytechniquesthatuseexpensivefluidssuchassurfactants,micellar
fluids,orpolymersareconsidered.

Practicalapplicationsoftracers
Inthelast50years,manytracerstudieshavebeenreportedandevenmorehavebeencarriedoutwithoutbeingpublishedintheopenliterature.Wagner1pointedoutsixareasin
whichtracerscouldbeusedasatooltoimprovethereservoirdescription.
Volumetricsweep.Thevolumeoffluidinjectedataninjectionwelluntilbreakthroughofthetracedfluidatanoffsetproducerisameasureofthevolumetricsweepefficiency
betweenthatpairofwells.Verysmallvolumesinjectedbeforebreakthrough[relativetotheinterwellporevolume(PV)]wouldindicatetheexistenceofaninterwellopen
fracture(oraverythinhighpermeabilitystringer)andwouldgiveanideaofthevolumeofthatchannel.Knowledgeofchannelsisimportanttothesizingofremedial
treatment.
Identificationofoffendinginjectors.Probleminjectionwellscanbeidentifiedbyassociatingthebreakthroughofaspecifictracertoitspointofinjection.Atthiswell,a
remedialtreatmenttosealachannelnormallywouldbeapplied.
Directionalflowtrends.Whenfluidsareinjectedinaregularpattern(fivespot,ninespot,linedrive,etc.)andthefluidsinjectedateachwelltaggedwithadifferenttracer,
directionalflowtrendswillbeobviousfromtherepeatedearlytracerbreakthroughatproducersinapreferentialdirectionfromtheinjectors.Wheredirectionalflowtrendsare
prevalent,theinterwellsweepefficiencyoftencanbeimprovedbyalteringtheinjectionpatternand/ortheinjectionandwithdrawalratesatselectedwells.
Delineationofflowbarriers.Faultswithlargedisplacementalongthefaultplaneandpermeabilitypinchoutscanrepresentbarrierstotheflowoffluidsperpendiculartotheir
axis.Normally,suchbarriersaredetectedbybottomholepressurebuildupsurveysruninnearbywells.However,thecourseofthesebarrierscanbedelineatedfurtherfromthe
productionwellsresponse(orlackofit)totracedwaterinjectionatanarrayofwellssurroundingtheproducer.
Relativevelocitiesofinjectedfluids.Whendifferentfluidsareinjectedsimultaneously,alternately,orsequentiallyinthesamewellwitheachfluidtaggedwithadifferent
nonadsorbingtracer,therelativevelocitiesofthesefluidscanbemeasuredfromtheindividualtracerarrivaltimeatoffsetproducers.Forexample,assumethattracedsolvents
andtracedwaterareinjectedalternatelyinthesamewell.Theearlyarrivalofoneofthetracedfluidsattheproducingwellwouldindicatethattheearlyarrivingfluidhad
contactedlessofthereservoirthantheslowerfluid.Thisshowsaneedtoalteroneofthefluidinjectioncyclestoachievemoreuniformsweepofthereservoir.Similarly,ina
micellarfloodinwhichwaterisinjectedsequentially,theoverrunningorfingeringofoneinjectedfluidthroughanotherpointsouttheneedforbetterfluidmobilitycontrolto
achievemoreuniformsweepbythevariousinjectedfluids.
Evaluationsofsweepimprovementtreatments.Remedialtreatmentstocorrectsweepproblemscanbeevaluatedbycomparingthebeforeandaftertreatmentinterwell
volumetricsweepasdeterminedbytracing.
Manycompaniesapplytraceronaroutinebasis.Thereservoirengineersproblemgenerallyisalackofadequateinformationaboutfluidflowinthereservoir.Theinformation
obtainedfromtracertestsisunique,andtracertestsarearelativelycheapmethodtoobtainthisinformation.Theinformationisanaddendumtothegeneralfieldproductionhistory
andisusedtoreduceuncertaintiesinthereservoirmodel.
Tracertestsprovidetracerresponsecurves(/Interpreting_data_from_well_to_well_tracer_tests)thatmaybeevaluatedfurthertoobtainrelevantadditionalinformation.Primarily,the
informationgainedfromtracertestingisobtainedsimplybyobservingbreakthroughandinterwellcommunication.Adequatedatapresentationandsimplehandcalculationcangive
furtherknowledgeabouttheflowbehaviorinthereservoir.Morequantitativeinformationcanbeobtainedbyfittingresponsecurvesobtainedfromnumericalsimulationtothe
observedresponsecurves.Additionalinformationalsocanbeobtainedbyapplyinganalyticalproceduresonthebasisofgenericorsimplifiedreservoirmodels.
Fieldtracers,whetherchemicalorradioactive,arecurrentlytheonlyfeasible,directmeansoftrackingthemovementofinjectedfluidsinareservoir.Inmanyfields,thisinformation
hasbeencrucialforimprovinginjectionandproductionprograms.Investmentsinnewwellsandequipmentforinjectionprogramsarelargeanddecisionsshouldbebasedonthebest
possibledata.Atracertestisacostefficientmethodtoobtainimportantdatathatallowtheanalysisofinjectionandproductionoptions.

Typesoftracersavailable
Apassivetracerthatlabelsgasorwaterinawelltowelltracertestmustfulfillthefollowingcriteria.Itmusthaveseveralcharacteristics:
Haveaverylowdetectionlimit
Bestableunderreservoirconditions
Followthephasethatisbeingtaggedandhaveaminimalpartitioningintootherphases
Havenoadsorptiontorockmaterial
Haveminimalenvironmentalconsequences
Thetracersdiscussedinthelinkedarticleshavepropertiesthatmakethemsuitableforapplicationinawelltowelltestinwhichdilutionvolumesarelarge.Forsmallfieldsinwhich
therequirementwithrespecttodilutionislessimportant,othertracerscanbeapplied.

Radioactivewatertracers(/Radioactive_water_tracers)
Radioactivegastracers(/Radioactive_gas_tracers)
Chemicalwatertracers(/Chemical_water_tracers)
Chemicalgastracers(/Chemical_gas_tracers)

Health,safety,andenvironmentconstraints
Theregulationsfortheuseofradioactiveandchemicalsubstancesvaryfromcountrytocountry.Theapplicationofradioactivityisgenerallyrestricted,anditisimportanttoplanthe
tracertestwiththeactualregulationsinmind.
Radioactivetracersareeithergammaemitters,betaemitters,orboth.Tritiumisalowenergybetaemitter.Asheetofpaperstopsthisbetaradiation,anditwillnotcauseanyharmto
humansaslongasitiskeptoutsidethebody.Ifspillageoccurs,operatorscanbeexposedtoradiationbecauseofdirectcontactwithskinorbecauseofevaporationandinhalation.
Proceduresmustbefollowedcarefullytoensureasafeoperation.
Radioactivetracerssuchas22Naand131Iemitgammaradiation.Thisradiationpenetratessteelwalls,whichmeansthatanoperatorcanbeexposedtothisradiation.Thetracersare
transportedinleadcontainersandspecialhandlingproceduresareneededtoreducetheradiationexposuretoaminimum.Theactivity,measuredinbecqeurels,isnormally2to3
ordersofmagnitudelessthantheactivityappliedfortritiumlabeledcompounds.
Gastracersliketheperfluorocarbons(PFCs)haveahighglobalwarmingpotential.Mostofthebackproducedgaswillbeburnedintheend,andthetracerswilldecompose
therefore,theamountofPFCsenteringtheatmosphereislow.Thetracers,however,maybebannedinthefuture,andresearchactivitiesareongoingtoidentifynewgastracersthat
aremoreenvironmentallyfriendly.

NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
UsethissectiontolistpapersinOnePetrothatareaderwhowantstolearnmoreshoulddefinitelyread

Externallinks
UsethissectiontoprovidelinkstorelevantmaterialonwebsitesotherthanPetroWikiandOnePetro

Seealso
Tracerflowinporousreservoirrock(/Tracer_flow_in_porous_reservoir_rock)
Planninganddesignofwelltowelltracertests(/Planning_and_design_of_well_to_well_tracer_tests)
Interpretingdatafromwelltowelltracertests(/Interpreting_data_from_well_to_well_tracer_tests)
Fieldexperiencewithwelltowelltracertests(/Field_experience_with_well_to_well_tracer_tests)
Tracertestingingeothermalreservoirs(/Tracer_testing_in_geothermal_reservoirs)
Singlewellchemicaltracertest(/Single_well_chemical_tracer_test)
PEH:WellToWell_Tracer_Tests(/PEH%3AWellToWell_Tracer_Tests)

Category
Categories(/Special%3ACategories): 5.6.5Tracertestanalysis(/Category%3A5.6.5_Tracer_test_analysis) NR(/Category%3ANR)

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