Temperature Simulation: An Integrated Approach

Abstract The case study presents an integrated workflow with the focus on the thermal analysis of the completion string, wellhead and surface network. The research outcome are the temperature profiles under various production scenarios that are used as the justification of the installation of wellhead cooler on an exploratory well of lower Indus basin in Pakistan. The advent of deep well drilling in high temperature and high pressure formations posed serious concerns for drilling, completion and facility design engineers as these are one of the key parameters for material and fluid selection for completion string. The uncertainty in these parameters throughout the operational life of the well may cause an over-designed or underdesigned well completion and production facility. The equation gets further complex if the inherent uncertainty in type and quantity of produced fluids is neglected or underestimated. To overcome these challenges, a workflow considering the downhole completion considerations and wellhead treatment of produced fluid; in consideration of wellhead temperature; is proposed. This paper presents reservoir and completion design considerations of an exploratory well in lower indus basin. Effect of various production scenarios on temperature profile are considered based on the possible drive mechanisms of hydrocarbon production. The analysis includes the development of completion string model for well S-X1 and coupling the same with the hydrocarbon processing facility through surface network. The model is calibrated using history matching of temperature profile using the production data and sensitivity analysis of various parameters was performed. Based on the simulation results, it was observed that the proposed workflow using industry standard commercial software for thermal analysis is a more realistic approach for temperature prediction using production profiles. The proposed workflow will serve as the guidelines for wellhead and surface facility design under various expected production scenarios.