Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Accurate detection of downhole tubing leakage in gas wells is essential for planning effective repair operations and mitigating safety risks in annulus pressure buildup wells. Current localization methods employ autocorrelation analysis to exploit the time-delay features of acoustic signals traveling through the tubing–casing annulus. This allows non-invasive wellhead detection, avoiding costly tubing retrieval or production shutdowns. However, field data show that multiphase flow noise, overlapping reflected waves, and coupled multi-leakage points in the wellbore frequently introduce multi-peak interference in acoustic autocorrelation curves. Such interference severely compromises the accuracy of time parameter extraction. To resolve this issue, our study experimentally analyzes how leakage pressure differential, aperture size, depth, and multiplicity affect the autocorrelation coefficients of acoustic signals generated by leaks. It compares the effects of different noise reduction parameters on leakage localization accuracy and proposes a characteristic time selection principle for autocorrelation curves, providing a new solution for precise leakage localization under complex downhole conditions.
Source: Processes
DOI: 10.3390/pr13061708
Authors: Yun-Peng Yang, Guo-Hua Luan, Lian-Fang Zhang, Ming-Yong Niu, Guang-Gui Zou, Xu-Liang Zhang, Jin-You Wang, Jing-Feng Yang, Mo-Song Li
Institution: China National Petroleum Corporation (China)
Language: English
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4410901781