Vapor Recovery Unit Meets Regulations

Vapor Recovery Unit Meets Regulations

During loading of motor gasoline at underground storage tanks located at our stations, the liquid introduced displaces vapors from previous loadings that still exist in the tank and those vapors generated by the current product loading. These vapors contain some volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Clean Air Act of 1990 requires the control of VOC emissions, and the refinery's Marketing Terminal's Vapor Recovery unit meets Clean Air Act (Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 154) requirements.

Marketing Terminal Vapor Recovery Unit

As a tank truck drops (delivers) new product into the underground storage tank at Chevron stations, the vapors created during the drop are pushed back into the tank truck and stored there.

As the tank truck loads new product at the Marketing Terminal using a "bottom loading" method, the product being loaded into the bottom of the tank pushes the collected vapors into a vapor recovery hose connected to the recovery system. The Adsorb/Absorb vapor recovery unit condenses the vapors, recovering about 2 gallons of gasoline per 1000 gallons loaded product.


Terminal Vapor Recovery Unit

Tanker truck connects to
vapor recovery system

Processing Crude Oil

Hi-Tech Process Control

Using the latest electronic technology to monitor and control the plants, operators run the process units around the clock, 7 days a week. From control rooms located in each Operations area, operators use a computer-driven process control system with console screens that display color interactive graphics of the plants and real-time (current) data on the status of the plants. The process control system allows operators to "fine tune" the processes and respond immediately to process changes. With redundancy designed into the control system, safe operations are assured in the event of plant upset.

Refining's Basic Steps

Most refineries, regardless of complexity, perform a few basic steps in the refining process: DISTILLATION, CRACKING, TREATING andREFORMING. These processes occur in our main operating areas – Crude/Aromatics, Cracking I, RDS/Coker, Cracking II, and at the Sulfur Recovery Unit.

Pascagoula Refinery skyline

1. Distillation

Modern distillation involves pumping oil through pipes in hot furnaces and separating light hydrocarbon molecules from heavy ones in downstream distillation towers – the tall, narrow columns that give refineries their distinctive skylines.

The Pascagoula Refinery's refining process begins when crude oil is distilled in two large Crude Units that have three distillation columns, one that operates at near atmospheric pressure, and two others that operate at less than atmospheric pressure, i.e., a vacuum.

Click on image for
Distillation Column Diagram

During this process, the lightest materials, like propane and butane, vaporize and rise to the top of the first atmospheric column. Medium weight materials, including gasoline, jet and diesel fuels, condense in the middle. Heavy materials, called gas oils, condense in the lower portion of the atmospheric column. The heaviest tar-like material, called residuum, is referred to as the "bottom of the barrel" because it never really rises.

This distillation process is repeated in many other plants as the oil is further refined to make various products.

In some cases, distillation columns are operated at less than atmospheric pressure (vacuum) to lower the temperature at which a hydrocarbon mixture boils. This "vacuum distillation" (VDU) reduces the chance of thermal decomposition (cracking) due to over heating the mixture.

As part of the 2003 Clean Fuels Project, the Pascagoula Refinery added a new low-pressure vacuum column to the Crude I Unit and converted the RDS/Coker's VDU into a second vacuum column for the Crude II Unit. These and other distillation upgrades improved gas oil recovery and decreased residuum volume.

Using the most up-to-date computer control systems, refinery operators precisely control the temperatures in the distillation columns which are designed with pipes to withdraw the various types of products where they condense. Products from the top, middle and bottom of the column travel through these pipes to different plants for further refining.

Click on image above for
Catalytic Cracking Diagram

Click on image above for
Hydrocracking Diagram

Click on image above for
Alkylation Diagram

Click on image above for
Reforming Diagram

2. Cracking

Since the marketplace establishes product value, our competitive edge depends on how efficiently we can convert middle distillate, gas oil and residuum into the highest value products.

At the Pascagoula Refinery, we convert middle distillate, gas oil and residuum into primarily gasoline, jet and diesel fuels by using a series of processing plants that literally "crack" large, heavy molecules into smaller, lighter ones.

Heat and catalysts are used to convert the heavier oils to lighter products using three "cracking" methods: fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), hydrocracking (Isomax), and coking (or thermal-cracking).

The Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) uses high temperature and catalyst to crack 63,000 barrels (2.6 million gallons) each day of heavy gas oil mostly into gasoline. Hydrocracking uses catalysts to react gas oil and hydrogen under high pressure and high temperature to make both jet fuel and gasoline.

Also, about 58,000 barrels (2.4 million gallons) of lighter gas oil is converted daily in two Isomax Units, using this hydrocracking process.

We blend most of the products from the FCC and the Isomaxes directly into transportation fuels, i.e., gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. We burn the lightest molecules as fuel for the refinery's furnaces, thus conserving natural gas and minimizing waste.

In the Delayed Coking Unit (Coker), 105,000 barrels a day of low-value residuum is converted (using the coking, or thermal-cracking process) to high-value light products, producing petroleum coke as a by-product. The large residuum molecules are cracked into smaller molecules when the residuum is held in a coke drum at a high temperature for a period of time. Only solid coke remains and must be drilled from the coke drums.

Modifications to the refinery during its 2003 Clean Fuels Project increased residuum volume going to the Coker Unit. The project increased coke handling capacity and replaced the 150 metric-ton coke drums with new 300 metric-ton drums to handle the increased residuum volume.

The Coker typically produces 6,200 tons a day of petroleum coke, which is sold for use as fuel or in cement manufacturing.

Combining

While the cracking processes break most of the gas oil into gasoline and jet fuel, they also break off some pieces that are lighter than gasoline. Since Pascagoula Refinery's primary focus is on making transportation fuels, we recombine 14,800 barrels (622,000 gallons) each day of lighter components in two Alkylation Units. This process takes the small molecules and recombines them in the presence of sulfuric acid catalyst to convert them into high octane gasoline.

3. Treating (Removing Impurities)

The products from the Crude Units and the feeds to other units contain some natural impurities, such as sulfur and nitrogen. Using a process called hydrotreating (a milder version of hydrocracking), these impurities are removed to reduce air pollution when our fuels are used.

Because about 80 percent of the crude oil processed by the Pascagoula Refinery is heavier oils that are high in sulfur and nitrogen, various treating units throughout the refinery work to remove these impurities.

In the RDS Unit's six 1,000-ton reactors, sulfur and nitrogen are removed from FCC feed stream. The sulfur is converted to hydrogen sulfide and sent to the Sulfur Unit where it is converted into elemental sulfur. Nitrogen is transformed into ammonia which is removed from the process by water-washing. Later, the water is treated to recover the ammonia as a pure product for use in the production of fertilizer.

The RDS's Unit main product, low sulfur vacuum gas oil, is fed to the FCC (fluid catalytic cracker) Unit which then cracks it into high value products such as gasoline and diesel.

4. Reforming

Octane rating is a key measurement of how well a gasoline performs in an automobile engine. Much of the gasoline that comes from the Crude Units or from the Cracking Units does not have enough octane to burn well in cars.

The gasoline process streams in the refinery that have a fairly low octane rating are sent to a Reforming Unit where their octane levels are boosted. These reforming units employ precious-metal catalysts ‑ platinum and rhenium – and thereby get the name "rheniformers." In the reforming process, hydrocarbon molecules are "reformed" into high octane gasoline components. For example, methyl cyclohexane is reformed into toluene.

The reforming process actually removes hydrogen from low-octane gasoline. The hydrogen is used throughout the refinery in various cracking (hydrocracking) and treating (hydrotreating) units.

Our refinery operates three catalytic reformers, where we rearrange and change 71,000 barrels (about 3 million gallons) of gasoline per day to give it the high octane cars need.

Blending

A final and critical step is the blending of our products. Gasoline, for example, is blended from treated components made in several processing units. Blending and Shipping Area operators precisely combine these to ensure that the blend has the right octane level, vapor pressure rating and other important specifications. All products are blended in a similar fashion.

Quality Control

In the refinery’s modernly-equipped Laboratory, chemists and technicians conduct continuous quality assurance tests on all finished products, including checking gasoline for proper octane rating. Techron®, Chevron’s patented performance booster, is added to gasoline at the company’s marketing terminals, one of which is located at the Pascagoula Refinery.

Marine Vapor Recovery System

Loading Displaces Vapors

During loading of bulk liquid tankers or barges, the liquid introduced displaces vapors from previous cargoes that still exist in the tank and those vapors generated by the current cargo loading. The vapors of certain cargoes contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that include hydrocarbons, oxygenated hydrocarbons, and organic compounds containing nitrogen or sulfur.

Chevron MVR System meets federal requirements

The Clean Air Act of 1990 requires the control of VOC emissions, and the Marine Vapor Recovery units at the refinery’s marine facility meet Coast Guard (Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 154) and Clean Air Act (Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 61 and 63) requirements.

The Pascagoula Refinery’s Marine Vapor Recovery (MVR) system includes two units that serve Berths 2-5 and a separate unit at Berth 6, which is located a good distance away from Berths 2-5.

MVR at Main Product Dock (Berths 2 - 5)

  • Units "A" and "B"; each with 35,000 barrels liquid loading per hour vapor recovery capacity; combined vapor recovery capacity 70,000 barrels per hour of liquid loading.
  • Recovers vapors from VOC emissions containing vapor pressure of 1.5 psi or greater.
  • The process uses Lean Oil Absorption. While a regulated product is being loaded, vapors are recovered from the marine vessels by a header system. This header carries the vapors, either by pressure from loading or pulled by vapor boosters that provide a slight vacuum on the header. The vapors are routed through a chilled absorber, entrained in the Lean Oil, then passed through a series of exchangers, and then into a stripper column where the VOCs are stripped out by heat and held in a holding drum. The recovered VOCs are then pumped in to a crude transfer line for reprocessing.

MVR at Berth 6

MVR at Berth 6 provides vapor recovery for Berth 6 only and has vapor recovery capacity of 8,000 barrels per hour of liquid loading. Like its sister unit at the Main Product Dock, this unit uses the Lean Oil Absorption system, but does not feature the vapor boosters. This unit recovers vapors from special products and chemicals including Penhep, Hydrobate, Heptane, Hexane, Penhex and Straight-run (or unblended) gasoline.

Air Drilling

is used through primarily nonhydrocarbon bearing zones to optimize drilling performance. Our air drilling systems eliminate nonproductive time caused by sticking or lost circulation and are well known for providing record ROPs, which ultimately lead to:
  • Decreased costs
  • Minimized deviation tendency in faulted formations
  • Minimized lost circulation compared to conventional fluid systems

Drilling with air requires additional equipment and fluids to guarantee the safety of the job:

  • Downhole equipment: percussion hammers and PDC air hammer bits
  • Surface equipment: air compression equipment, rotating control devices, and two-phase separation equipment
  • Fluids, chemicals, and related services

Building connection technology for gas and water

Gas and water service connections to buildings using the “Zappo” underground boring building entry system

The affordable production or renewal of building service connections has occupied the minds of civil engineers for many years. Useful savings potentials have mostly been found by attempts to reduce civil engineering costs by implementing innovative procedures or installation methods. One such time, effort and cost-saving advance was the development of the earth-displacing impact mole – primarily used in the trenchless installation of building service connections. This has now become standard equipment for any civil engineering team. Up to recently, however, it was necessary to dig a start/exit trench outside the building, partly to allow proper sealing of the building service entry to the external wall.

Particularly with high-quality surfaces, on patios and built-on areas, trenching is impossible or possible only with considerable expenditure of time, effort and cost. For these reasons, the market had for years been crying out for a process that allowed pipes and cables for all services to be laid directly from the basement and be reliably sealed from the inside. So the idea of underground boring is not new, but what is new is the Zappo building entry system that reliably seals the service entry from inside and outside, using a new sealing concept.

The trend to provide fixed-rate quotations for service provision has brought trenchless techniques increasingly to the fore. In regional gas supply, for example, the pricing of the civil engineering and pipe installation work is frequently charged as only a few items. Since the installation engineers frequently encounter high-grade surfaces, flights of steps or extensive garden planting, particularly in the case of existing buildings, there are frequently only limited possibilities of open trench work to carry out retrospective service connection economically in the current market and competitive situation.

At the same time, it is very advantageous for gas utility sales representatives to be able to dispel any worries potential new gas customers may have of their driveway, patio of lovingly tended garden being ruined by diggers and construction machinery. The same consideration applies to customers facing renovation of the water or electricity connections.

So where there are no fundamental local obstacles to the use of working with impact moling systems, Zappo enables a new quality of site operations. The mole is started on its journey through a 100 mm diameter core drilling from the basement. As the mole advances, it draws in nested 63 mm or 75 mm diameter (gas) underground boring pipes, optionally available in a gas-tight version. In suitable ground conditions, pipe lengths of up to 15 m can be easily laid under the front garden area by experienced operatives. Once laid, the underground boring pipes are directly sealed to the building using the Zappo building entry system.

First or all, a microcellular rubber ring is placed over the underground boring pipe from the inside, and then a special external seal with an integrated injection hose is pushed on. The microcellular rubber ring seals the bored hole in the ground to the outside wall of the building. The swelling rubber pressure seal reliably seals the core drilling to the inside of the building.

The two components are easy to install in the correct position using the appropriate installation aid (Fig. 1), on which all that is necessary is to set the measured wall thickness on a scale.


Fig. 1: Installation aid for fitting the external seal


Once this has been done, a two-component expandable resin is injected into the external area through the injection hose (Fig. 2). The resin expands to securely seal cavities and open spaces on the outside of the building. At the same time, the existing building seal, that has been destroyed in the area around the core drilling, is completely encompassed by the expandable resin.


Fig. 2: Injection of two-component expandable resin


An additional seal unit is then installed into the core drilling from the inside (Fig. 3). The seal on the PE pipe is then achieved by means of a water seal element adapted to the pipe diameter.

As an alternative, a secure, non-pull-out and non-turning industry standard building entry combination for gas can be integrated. The new Zappo building entry system is naturally tested and approved in accordance with the current valid DVGW regulations (VP 601).


Fig. 3: Internal seal for building water connection


The installation of the new Zappo building entry system is almost as fast as installing standard house entry combinations. All the necessary installation tools are provided in a handy tool case. In order to be able to guarantee maximum operational reliability on the construction site for all involved, civil engineering companies are provided with free on-site training by Hauff-Technik staff. The training is intentionally carried out on the construction site to keep the time commitment for the involved companies as short as possible. After completing the installation course, the installation engineers receive a certificate, a copy of which is also sent to the responsible person in the relevant utility supply company.

The philosophy of developing Hauff-Technik products for practical applications in practical use is one that has particularly been pursued in the design of the Zappo underground pipe entry system. On the initiative of Erdgas Schwaben GmbH, Augsburg, installation was carried out on test construction sites with Hauff application technicians, until Zappo and the required tools had been developed sufficiently for market launch. Products did not receive technical approval for Erdgas Schwaben until a number of control trenches had been dug outside the building exterior wall (Fig. 4) to allow a critical assessment. In this context, it was important for Zappo to be able to demonstrate its practical suitability in an extremely diverse range of structural situations.


Fig. 4: Control trench for external seal

The next stage was the market launch of Zappo to suppliers in the local region. Here, too, further test sites with control trenches were implemented before the product standardization stage was reached. A particularly critical eye was cast on the Zappo building entry system by the Kaufbeuren city waterworks. Following installation, the house entry systems were flooded with water to check their water tightness. Once again, Zappo successfully passed this test.

The Zappo building entry system has been marketed throughout Germany for four years and has now been standardized by around 150 city utilities and electricity, gas and water supply companies. Some companies are now starting to consider Zappo as an alternative to conventional trenching in their annual invitations to tender. The new “installation technology” is gaining ground as a result of the positive experiences of customers and the companies carrying out the work. In conclusion, it can be said that installing service connections to buildings by excavation will certainly continue to be a valid option in the future. However, on any critical appraisal of existing procedures, Zappo offers numerous possibilities for handling future domestic service connections more effectively, more economically and particularly in a customer friendlier way.

Formation Evaluation con't 7

Formation Evaluation Software

From integrated freeware utilities for log data and graphics to desktop tools for greater predictive power to rapid, secure access to operational data of known quality, we provide software to empower your formation evaluation.

Freeware Data Utilities

Geology and Geophysics

From Geology to Geophysics, Petrophysics, Borehole Geology, Mapping & Modeling and Visualization you will find the breadth and depth of desktop tools to give you greater predictive power even for the most complex plays common in today's reservoirs.

Information Management

Reduce the risks and costs associated with poor data quality. Rapid, secure access to operational data of known quality boosts your efficiency and profitability. SIS is the leader in E&P information management solutions, offering tailored combinations of technology and expert consulting services.

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Logging while Drilling

Real-time data from our LWD services let you make timely, informed decisions, reducing time and costs.

Scope services dramatically improve drilling performance, opening a new era in data excellence. You get comprehensive while-drilling data at transmission rates quadruple the industry standard. Increase ROP, improve wellbore stability and hole quality, and optimize well placement for maximum production faster.

VISION formation evaluation and imaging-while-drilling services offer a detailed view of the borehole. This enables you to detect and quantify potential pay zones and geosteer your well precisely to target.

Scope Logging while Drilling

Scope LWD services provide greater efficiency, improved reliability, and better answers that enhance operational safety during drilling. With increased penetration rate, improved wellbore stability and hole quality, optimized well placement, and while-drilling data at transmission rates quadruple the industry standard, this is the leading LWD/MWD technology.

EcoScope PeriScope StethoScope TeleScope

VISION Logging while Drilling

VISION formation evaluation and imaging-while-drilling service delivers accurate measurements while drilling—when they are needed most. Critical drilling decisions can be made to mitigate risk, optimize drilling, accurately evaluate the formation, and place the well in the best place.

adnVISION arcVISION geoVISION mcrVISION proVISION seismicVISION sonicVISION

Drill safely and efficiently with unparalleled, real-time velocity measurements

How DeepLook-EM Crosswell Resistivity Works

To directly measure reservoir resistivity between two wells up to 3,280 ft [1,000 m] apart, the 32.4-ft [9.88-m] DeepLook-EM transmitter antenna in one well broadcasts a continuous sinusoidal signal at a frequency from 5 Hz to 1 kHz, selected by modeling and simulation of the borehole environment, well separation, and formation resistivity. The magnetic moment produced by the transmitter is 100,000 times stronger than the source in a conventional single-well induction logging system.

The transmitter signal induces electrical currents to flow in the formation between the wells. The currents, in turn, induce a secondary magnetic field related to the electrical resistivity of the rock. At the receiver borehole, the DeepLook-EM array of four coil receivers detects the primary magnetic field generated by the transmitter as well as the secondary magnetic field from the induced currents.

For each receiver station, the transmitter in the other well traverses the interval of interest at a logging speed of 2,000 to 5,000 ft/h [600 to 1,520 m/h]. Once a complete transmitter traverse, or profile, is collected for a receiver position, the receiver tool is repositioned, and the process is repeated.

Once all the receiver positions have been logged, the DeepLook-EM interwell resistivity distributions are exported to a field model compiled using Petrel seismic-to-simulation software. The resulting data integration and interpretation provide critical crosswell insight for fluid tracking of water and steam, detecting bypassed pay, and optimizing reservoir characterization.

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Deep Reading Technologies

Enhanced Interwell Resolution Through Crosswell Imaging

The Schlumberger Deep Reading initiative helps you better understand your reservoir by using direct physical measurements of the interwell space. Crosswell electromagnetic imaging and crosswell seismic imaging take you beyond the confines of the near-wellbore volume to illuminate the wider reservoir volume for numerous applications:

  • Reservoir characterization: higher resolution measurements of porosity, lithology, and resistivity within an expanded scope of fluid identification, structure determination, and detection of bypassed pay
  • Fluid front monitoring: water, steam, and gas injection, CO2 sequestration, and permanent monitoring of production and injection.

DeepLook-CS

Crosswell seismic imaging

Crosswell seismic imaging of reservoir layers delivers up to 100 times the resolution of surface seismic data by placing both the receivers and source in adjacent wells and imaging the interwell volume. Both direct arrival and reflected information can be processed to provide a detailed subsurface image of the reservoir or zone of interest. Crosswell seismic data improves the understanding of the reservoir geometry and rock properties from the reflection seismogram and details of fluid migration, including steam chambers, from both the velocity tomography and reflection seismogram.

DeepLook-EM

Crosswell Electromagnetic Imaging Service

Crosswell electromagnetic imaging expands the scale investigated by resistivity logging to deliver the big picture. By monitoring fluid distribution and movement on a reservoir scale, EM imaging with the DeepLook-EM system gives you information critical to optimizing sweep efficiency and identifying bypassed reserves.

How it works

Conventional logging is restricted to the near-wellbore volume. The DeepLook-EM enhanced crosswell electromagnetic imaging system illuminates the wider reservoir volume with a transmitter tool deployed in one well and a receiver tool deployed in a second well. EM imaging can be conducted between two wells located up to 1,000 m apart, depending on the well completions and the formation and resistivity contrasts.

Formation Evaluation con't 4

Wireline Conveyance

As well geometries become increasingly complex they present a growing challenge for conveyance. Integrated wireline deployment systems bring the efficiency of wireline operations to deep and highly deviated wells that were previously not wireline accessible. Alternative conveyance of most logging tools on drillpipe, coiled tubing, or wireline tractors is also available to address a wide range of well conditions.

High-Tension Conveyance System

The Schlumberger high-tension conveyance system leads the industry in delivering the strength and efficiency of wireline operations to ultradeep wells. The system pairs high-strength cable with specialized surface equipment to reliably manage high-tension wellbore conditions and improve operational safety for record depths, highly deviated well paths, complex trajectories, and sticking mitigation.

Wireline Deployment

Schlumberger wireline deployment systems provide reliable, efficient conveyance even for deep and complex well trajectories, helping operators avoid costly pipe conveyance and fishing operations. Our super ultrastrength (SUS) cable is the industry’s strongest, deployed with surface equipment specialized for high-tension operations.

TuffTRAC Tractor

Formation Evaluation con't 3

Wireline Cased Hole Services

Comprehensive Cased Hole Services to optimize lifetime production: Rely on wireline cased hole logging

Cased Hole Services help you understand both your well and your reservoir to optimize lifetime production. Whether you need engineered perforating, production or crosswell cased hole logging, or well integrity evaluation, our comprehensive Cased Hole Services make sure your wells can continue to reach full their production potential, year in, year out.

Minimize risk by proactively identifying and fixing problems encountered during completion and production. All Cased Hole Services are delivered by experts in the field with the support of field-based data interpretation specialists.

Look beyond the immediate well environment to monitor fluid distribution and movement in the reservoir with the DeepLook-EM enhanced crosswell reservoir monitoring system. Track fluid fronts and identify bypassed pay from reservoir-scale resistivity images.

Perforating

You want maximum productivity from your reservoir. Whether in new or existing wells, maximum production depends on optimized perforating.

Production Logging Flow Scanner | PS Platform | Memory PS Platform | PL Flagship Advanced Well Flow Diagnosis | RSTPro Reservoir Saturation Tool | MaxTRAC Downhole Well Tractor System

Wireline Conveyance High-Tension Conveyance | Wireline Deployment

Deep Reading ABC Analysis Behind Casing CHDT Cased Hole Dynamics Tester | CHFR Cased Hole Formation Resistivity

Maximize Your Reservoir Performance

Well Integrity

Evaluate cement and quantify casing damage or corrosion with acoustic, ultrasonic, electrical, and mechanical cased hole logging.

Borehole Seismic

Optimize geophysical analysis with high-resolution seismic images from around the borehole.

Wireline Open Hole Services con't 1

In Situ Fluid Sampling and Analysis

Downhole Fluid Analysis, Pressure Measurement, and Sampling

Understand your reservoir with one-trip downhole fluid analysis. Downhole fluid analysis begins with pure-fluid extraction, using flowline resistivity and optical measurements to distinguish between formation fluids and water- or oil-base-mud contamination. Test, analyze, and sample even in low-permeability, laminated, fractured, unconsolidated, or heterogeneous formations. Determine real-time fluid gradients, permeability and permeability anisotropy, and contamination levels. Downhole fluid analysis delivers the quantitative measurements you need, at reservoir conditions, in real time.

InSitu Family Quicksilver Probe Focused Extraction of Pure Reservoir Fluid MDT Modular Formation Dynamics Tester CFA Composition Fluid Analyzer | LFA Live Fluid Analyzer | MDT Permeability | MDT Single Phase | MDT Low-Shock Sampling
Mechanical Sidewall Coring Tool CST Chronological Sample Taker

Cased Hole Dynamics Tester

Pressure testing and sampling in cased wells.

PressureXpress

Fast, accurate pressure and mobility measurements.

Petrophysics

Accurately characterizing the reservoir requires petrophysical measurements such as resistivity, neutron, density, sonic, and NMR for quantifying effective porosity, saturations, and permeability. In addition to conventional openhole formation evaluation measurements, we also provide state-of-the-art petrophysical evaluation services in cased wells. This technology opens new avenues for the evaluation of bypassed pay, reservoir monitoring, or reevaluation of brownfields where limited openhole data is available.

Platform Services Carbonate Advisor Porosity, Permeability, and Lithology Acoustic Wireline Tools BestDT Sonic Waveform Processing | DSI Dipole Shear Sonic Imager | Sonic Scanner

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
MR Scanner | CMR
Resistivity Measurements
Gamma Ray

Geology

Our borehole imaging services give you microresistivity formation images in both water-base and nonconductive muds. Borehole images are the preferred approach for determining net pay in laminated sediments of fluvial and turbidite depositional environments. Visualizing sedimentary features lets you define important reservoir geometries and petrophysical reservoir parameters, and the interpretation of image-derived sedimentary dip data helps you better understand sedimentary structures. With geological information from the FMI fullbore formation microimager you can stochastically model your sand-shale distribution.

FMI Fullbore Formation MicroImager OBDT Oil-Base Dipmeter Tool OBMI Oil-Base MicroImager UBI Ultrasonic Borehole Imager

Borehole Seismic

Borehole seismic services are crucial to the delineation, discovery, quantification, and monitoring of a reservoir through its entire lifecycle. We provide tools for gathering the high-quality data required to optimize geophysical analysis.

CSI Combinable Seismic Imager Q-Borehole Integrated Borehole Seismic System

Additional Formation Evaluation Services

Cased Hole RFT Slimhole Repeat Formation Tester Environmental Measurement Sonde Formation Subsidence Monitoring FPIT Free-Point Indicator Tool LWF Logging While Fishing MTT Multi-Isotope Tracer Tool

Understand Your Reservoir

Growing demand. Maturing fields. Extreme and complex environments. Unconventional reservoirs. Today, more than ever, an improved knowledge of the subsurface is essential to reduce risk and uncertainty and to optimize the productive life of every field.

Now Schlumberger Wireline gives you everything you need to push boundaries in rock and fluid measurements, including reservoir-scale resistivity imaging with the DeepLook-EM crosswell monitoring system. Assess reserves more accurately. Confidently evaluate each formation. Understand your reservoir.

Deeper Understanding Extreme Environments

Greater Flexibility

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Wireline Open Hole Services

The more you understand your reservoir, the better positioned you are to manage its lifetime performance. Schlumberger offers a full range of wireline openhole logging services, delivering formation evaluation that accurately characterizes your reservoir rocks and fluids.

Scanner Family

Radial downhole measurements overcome many conventional limitations in the ability to measure and understand the subsurface.

In Situ Fluid Sampling Petrophysics Geology FMI Fullbore Formation MicroImager | OBDT Oil-Base Dipmeter Tool | OBMI Oil-Base MicroImager | UBI Ultrasonic Borehole Imager
Borehole Seismic

Additional Formation Evaluation Services Understand Your Reservoir

Formation Evaluation con't 1

Scanner Family Rock and Fluid Characterization Services

The more you understand your reservoir, the better positioned you are to manage its lifetime performance. A series of unique advances in downhole measurement means that many of the conventional limitations in the ability to measure - and understand - the subsurface can at last be overcome, using the Scanner Family rock and fluid characterization services. The Scanner Family allows you to maximize certainty in the derived properties that are used in your reservoir model.

Benefits

  • See tens of feet into the formation, at multiple depths simultaneously
  • Locate and identify trapped fluids
  • Quantify the impact of the drilling process
  • Understand rock stresses and long-term formation integrity

Sonic Scanner Acoustic Scanning Platform

Adding radius to borehole acoustics

In addition to axial and azimuthal measurements, the Sonic Scanner acoustic scanning platform makes a radial measurement to probe the formation for near-wellbore and far-field slowness. Typical depths of investigation equal 2 to 3 times the borehole diameter.

The Sonic Scanner platform provides advanced types of acoustic measurements, including borehole-compensated monopole with long and short spacings, cross-dipole, and cement bond quality. These measurements, converted into useful information about the drilling environment and the reservoir, help you make decisions that reduce your overall drilling costs, improve recovery, and maximize productivity.

Achieving a better understanding of acoustic propagation

To give you a deeper understanding of acoustic behavior in and around the borehole, the Sonic Scanner tool enables accurate radial and axial measurements of the stress-dependent properties of the rocks near the wellbore. Its multiple depths of investigation, excellent waveform quality, and clear presentations reduce the complexity of sonic logging, without compromising the depth of information.

Understanding your reservoir

Get the most comprehensive understanding of your rock and improve your fracture planning, sand control, and perforating designs. See stress on a whole new level, with an extra dimension.

Benefits

  • Enhanced hydrocarbon recovery
  • Real-time decisions with real-time quality control
  • Improved reserves estimates
  • Decreased operating time and job costs by eliminating multiple logging runs
  • Reduced uncertainty and operating risk

MR Scanner Expert Magnetic Resonance Service

Investigate the formation at multiple depths in a single pass

Formation evaluation simplicity

The MR Scanner expert magnetic resonance service is the next-generation nuclear magnetic resonance wireline logging tool. Making simultaneous multifrequency measurements, the tool investigates the formation at multiple depths in a single pass. Its unique measurement sequence gives you a clear profile of your reservoir fluids.

Deep measurements let you see beyond data-quality problems associated with rugose boreholes, mudcake, and fluids invasion. And the tool’s ecentered design keeps the measurement depths on track regardless of the hole size, deviation, shape, or temperature.

The MR Scanner tool’s advanced design and ready-to-apply computations bring simplicity to formation evaluation. You don’t have to be an NMR data processing and interpretation expert to take advantage of the wealth of information it delivers.

Multiple depths of investigation

Multiple antennas enable simultaneous measurements. Information from four depths of investigation—1.5 to 4 in—gives you a profile of saturation distribution and formation damage from a single pass.

An understanding of your well’s invasion profile lends insight to the reverse process of production. MR Scanner producibility information, plus the formation evaluation data, helps you govern overall project economics.

Understand your reservoir

Whatever the environment, MR Scanner data lets you visualize the fluid distribution. From a single pass with multiple depths of investigation, this service delivers a detailed formation evaluation of the near-wellbore region, fluid identification, and in situ hydrocarbon characterization.

Benefits

  • Measurements taken beyond damaged zone
  • Thin-bed analysis through improved vertical resolution
  • Environmental effects identified by radial profiling
  • Valid interpretations in the presence of borehole rugosity or thick mudcake
  • Rig-time savings

Rt Scanner Triaxial Induction Service

Rt Scanner triaxial induction service calculates vertical and horizontal resistivity (Rv and Rh, respectively) from direct measurements while simultaneously solving for formation dip at any well deviation. Making measurements at multiple depths of investigation in three dimensions ensures that the derived resistivities are true 3D measurements. The enhanced hydrocarbon and water saturation estimates computed from these measurements result in a more accurate reservoir model and reserves estimates, especially for laminated, anisotropic, or faulted formations.

The compact, one-piece Rt Scanner tool has six triaxial arrays, each containing three colocated coils measuring at various depths into the formation. Rv and Rh are calculated at each of the six triaxial spacings. Three single-axis receivers are used to fully characterize the borehole signal to remove it from the triaxial measurements. In addition to the resistivity measurements, formation dip and azimuth are calculated for structural interpretation.

Along with advanced resistivity and structural information, the Rt Scanner tool delivers standard AIT array induction imager tool measurements for correlation with existing field logs. The tool’s innovative design provides this complete resistivity information with no additional hardware. The Rt Scanner tool is also fully combinable with Platform Express and most openhole services.

Isolation Scanner Cement Evaluation Service

Isolation Scanner cement evaluation service combines classic pulse-echo technology with a new ultrasonic technique—flexural wave imaging—to accurately evaluate any type of cement, from traditional slurries and heavy cements to the latest lightweight and foam cements. This innovative method provides real-time evaluation of cement jobs in a wider range of conditions than previously possible with conventional technologies.

The tool's combination of independent measurements differentiates low-density solids from liquids to distinguish lightweight, foam, and contaminated cements from liquids. Its azimuthal coverage provides an answer around the entire circumference of the casing, pinpointing any channels in the cement and confirming the effectiveness of a cement job for zonal isolation. Isolation Scanner service also identifies corrosion or drilling-induced wear through measurement of the inside diameter and thickness of the casing.

Flexural wave imaging

The addition of the flexural measurement produces an entirely new piece of information yielding potential insight for certain applications. With analysis in addition to the cement evaluation, flexural reflections from the third interface may also define the position of the casing within the borehole or outer casing. Previously unavailable cased hole–environment geometrical information can help assess casing and cementing techniques, choose cut points on casing retrieval jobs, and provide context for other evaluation services run through casing.

Applications

  • Differentiate high-performance lightweight cements (foam, LiteCRETE and Ultra LiteCRETE slurry systems) from liquids
  • Map annulus material as solid, liquid, or gas (SLG map)
  • Confirm hydraulic isolation
  • Identify channels and defects in annular isolating material
  • Determine casing internal diameter and thickness

Flow Scanner

Diagnose your three-phase flow, downhole

Optimized for three-phase production logging, the Flow Scanner horizontal and deviated well production logging system makes unique, direct measurements by using sensors in contact with the phases. Regardless of phase mixing of recirculation, your complex flow regimes are quantified and profiled in real time to give you a better understanding of downhole phase dynamics.

Conventional production logging tools, developed for vertical or nearly vertical wells, cannot give effective answers when confronted with the complex flow environment of highly deviated wells. Flow Scanner service can. Innovative electrical probes distinguish water and hydrocarbon buildup and optical probes differentiate gas and liquid holdup to fully measure three phases.

The Flow Scanner tool measures phase velocity for calculating a multiphase velocity profile. By combining the velocity and holdup profiles, you can calculate multiphase flow rates in real time, maximizing well production.

Fully combinable with other cased hole logging tools, the system operates in temperatures and pressures up to 300 degF and 15,000 psi. The system can be run in hole sizes ranging from 2 7/8 in to more than 9 in on wireline, coiled tubing, or as an integral part of our MaxTRAC downhole well tractor system.

Case studies: Exact production profiles

In the Gulf of Suez, conventional production tools failed to see oil entries because of adverse effects of highly viscous oil and unstable slugging from a 37° well flowing about 2,000-bbl/d oil with a 97% water cut. Reworking the well depended on an accurate production profile showing the precise location of the oil and water entries. Flow Scanner logging produced a reliable inflow profile, free from the unfavorable effects encountered previously.

In another Middle East example, the Flow Scanner system identified water recirculation along the wellbore completion to 100 ft from surface. The operator conducted a workover to circulate out these remnant completion fluids, effectively unchoking the well and significantly increasing hydrocarbon production.

EM Pipe Scanner

Electromagnetic casing inspection

EM Pipe Scanner electromagnetic casing inspection tool combines a slim mandrel with 18 pad sensors to quantitatively scan the interior surface and thickness of production casing. The slim mandrel enables measuring casing corrosion and identifying grooves and splits without having to first pull the completion tubing, saving significant time and cost.

As it descends in the well, the EM Pipe Scanner tool conducts a high-speed reconnaissance run to flag places of interest for subsequent diagnostic scans as the tool ascends. The diagnostic images identify the exact severity and nature of the corrosion. The versatile tool is fluid insensitive, operating in liquid or gas environments, and can be deployed by wireline, tractor, or coiled tubing at up to 90° well deviation. Time-lapse deployment provides corrosion rate estimates, identifies casing corrosion behind tubing, and determines the inner tubular radius behind scale.