TECHNICAL INFORMATION

 

Oil enhanced recovery

Tagging the injection water with a suitable nuclide and measuring samples taken from production wells make it possible to obtain the response curves (concentration of activity vs. time), which represent the dynamic flow behaviour of the pattern (injector plus producers) under study.

Most of the information given by the analysis of the response curves cannot be obtained by means of any of other technique. Detailed analysis of the response curves obtained from interwell studies allows to:

· detect high permeability channels, barriers and fractures;

· detect communications between layers;

· evaluate the fraction of the injection water reaching each production well;

· determine residence time distributions;

· indicate different stratifications in the same layer;

· determine preferential flow directions in the reservoir.

All this information can be used to make operational waterflooding decisions in order to increase oil production.

Radiotracer injection (tritiated water)

Interwell tracer tests give quantitative information on the fluid dynamics in a reservoir. Now, dynamic information from a reservoir may in addition be obtained by three other methods: Logging of production rates (profiles) of reservoir fluids, pressure testing and time-lapse seismic examinations (4D seismics). However, these methods and the tracer testing are complimentary, and cannot directly replace each other.

In this framework is especially convenient to use radioactive tracers and among them tritium, as tritiated water, because of a number of advantages, mainly its excellent dynamic behaviour and not being a gamma emitter. 

NOLDOR S.R.L. strongly recommends the using of tritium as first tracer though also offers chemical tracers as a complement.

Radiological safety

NOLDOR S.R.L. has institutional and personal licenses for working with tritium and others radioisotopes granted by the Argentinean Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN).

Any practise performed by NOLDOR implying the use of radiotracers in oil fields or industrial plants or involving the environment are backed-up by a procedure especially developed for each particular case and approved by the customer.

NOLDOR has special containers for radioisotope transport according to requirements established by "Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material" (International Atomic Energy Agency) and local regulations and that also agree with the specifications of other international organisations such as World Health Organisation (WHO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

More information ...

 

 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an organisation belonging to the United Nations system for support, promotion and regulation of activities regarding pacific applications of nuclear energy.

NOLDOR's engineers have carried out a number of expert missions in several countries for technical assessment in oil field applications of radiotracers, supported by the IAEA. They have also participated in many expert meetings on that subject and collaborated in regional and national training courses organised by the Agency.

  

 

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