Identification of steam-breakthrough intervals with DTS technology

Steam breakthrough in producing wells can be very problematic. Not only can production drop drastically, but catastrophic failure events can occur: holes can be cut in tubulars, screens, and casing. Many of these events can result in loss of the borehole. Therefore, it is critical that the offending sand zone is identified quickly. Many breakthrough-identification methods have been tried, including produced-well temperature, pulsed-neutron logging, and drilling observation wells to monitor zonal temperatures. This paper discusses methods for installing optical fibers in oil and gas wells for distributed temperature sensing (DTS), the search to gain the considerable value offered by fiber-optic technology, and the development of an extremely cost-effective and accurate method that takes advantage of the power of DTS technology for determining steam breakthrough in producing wells.