Apparatus and method for monitoring a fluid
View Patent ↗A fluid monitoring apparatus includes a housing and a tracer sensor attached to an exterior of the housing. The housing has at least one flow passage for a fluid sample and a port for the tracer sensor to monitor the fluid sample in the housing. In one example, the monitoring apparatus may include a plurality of tracer sensors attached to the housing, wherein the tracer sensors are interchangeably attached to the housing. In one embodiment, the monitoring apparatus may be attached to a first well for detecting the presence of a tracer in the first well, wherein the tracer is supplied from a second well.
1. An apparatus for monitoring a fluid, comprising:
a housing having a bore therethrough;
a plurality of ports in the housing; and
a plurality of tracer sensors attached to respective ports, wherein the plurality of tracer sensors are configured to monitor the fluid flowing in the bore for the presence of a first tracer and wherein the plurality of tracer sensors are arranged circumferentially about the housing.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tracer sensors are configured to detect at least two different tracers.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of tracer sensors is a modular component that can be exchanged for another tracer sensor.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes a vane for directing fluid flow in the housing.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a thinner profile section.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the port is located at the thinner profile section.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the thinner profile section has substantially similar cross-sectional area as a regular profile section of the housing;
the housing tapers inwards to the thinner profile section;
the thinner profile section has a smaller diameter than a diameter of the regular profile section of the housing.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of tracer sensors comprises an optical sensor.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of tracer sensors comprises an inductive sensor.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of tracer sensors comprises a radioactive tracer sensor.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of tracer sensors is threadedly connected to the respective port.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the housing is connected to a flowline leaving a wellhead.
13. A method of monitoring a fluid from a reservoir, comprising:
providing a tracer sensor in fluid communication with a first well, the tracer sensor being configured to monitor fluid flowing through a bore of a tracer detector;
injecting a fluid and a first tracer from a second well into the reservoir;
urging the fluid and the first tracer from the reservoir into the first well; and
monitoring the fluid in the first well using the tracer sensor to detect the first tracer.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first well is a first lateral and the second well is a second lateral of a single multilateral wellbore.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein monitoring the fluid comprises monitoring the fluid downhole in the first lateral.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the tracer sensor is attached to a tubular housing coupled to the wellhead.
17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising signaling the detection of the tracer in real time.
18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
injecting a second tracer from a third well into the reservoir; and
using the tracer sensor to detect the second tracer in the first well.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first tracer is different from the second tracer.
20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the reservoir is outside of a wellbore.