SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING CORROSION IN OILFIELD WELLS AND PIPELINES UTILIZING TIME-DOMAIN-REFLECTOMETRY

摘要

The present invention provides a system andmethod for in-situ monitoring of corrosion in a conduitwhich carries fluids that have corrosive effects on thematerials utilized for the conduit and/or equipmentdisposed in the conduit. The conduit may include a wellcarrying hydrocarbons from subsurface formation or apipeline transporting hydrocarbon. A cable of sufficientlenght having a conductor that is susceptible to thecorrosive effects of the fluids in the conduit is deployedalong a lenght of the conduit. The conductor is exposedto the fluid continuously or at selected spaced apartlocations. The distance of each of the exposed locationsfrom an accessible end is known. A signal generatorcoupled to the cable induces a pulsed signal into thecable. The transmitted signals are reflected by locationon the cable where the impedance differs from thenormal impedance. Such locations include each of theexposed conductor locations and the termination point.The reflected signals are received by a receiver and thenprocessed and analyzed by a processor to determine theextent of the corrosion at each of the exposed locations.This information is then used to estimate the nature andextent of the corrosion of components in the wellbore orthe pipeline, as the case may be. The cable may be asingle conductor cable or a twisted pair of wires, eachhaving a known impedance per unit length.