Inversion of bottom‐hole temperature data: The Pineview field, Utah‐Wyoming thrust belt

Geophysics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Deming ◽  
David S. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Temperature Field ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Random Noise ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Conductive Heat ◽  
Bottom Hole

The present day temperature field in a sedimentary basin is a constraint on the maturation of hydro‐carbons; this temperature field may be estimated by inverting corrected bottom‐hole temperature (BHT) data. Thirty‐two BHTs from the Pineview oil field are corrected for drilling disturbances by a Horner plot and inverted for the geothermal gradient in nine formations. Both least‐squares [Formula: see text] norm and uniform [Formula: see text] norm inversions are used; the [Formula: see text] norm is found to be more robust for the Pineview data. The inversion removes random error from the corrected BHT data by partitioning scatter between noise associated with the BHT measurement and correction processes and local variations in the geothermal gradient. Three‐hundred thermal‐conductivity and density measurements on drill cuttings are used, together with formation density logs, to estimate the in situ thermal conductivity of six of the nine formations. The thermal‐conductivity estimates are used in a finite‐element model to evaluate 2-D conductive heat refraction and, for a series of inversions of synthetic data, to assess the influence of systematic and random noise on the inversion results. A temperature‐anomaly map illustrates that a temperature field calculated by a forward application of the inversion results has less error than any single corrected BHT. Mean background heat flow at Pineview is found to be [Formula: see text] (±13 percent), but is locally higher [Formula: see text] due to heat refraction. The BHT inversion (1) is limited by systematic noise or model error, (2) achieves excellent resolution of a temperature field although resolution of individual formation gradients may be poor, and (3) generally cannot detect lateral variations in heat flow unless thermal‐conductivity structure is constrained.

Heat flow in the Uinta Basin determined from bottom hole temperature (BHT) data

Geophysics ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Chapman ◽  
T. H. Keho ◽  
Michael S. Bauer ◽  
M. Dane Picard
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal Resistance ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Subsurface Temperature ◽  
The South ◽  
Uinta Basin ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Bottom Hole

The thermal resistance (or Bullard) method is used to judge the utility of petroleum well bottom‐hole temperature data in determining surface heat flow and subsurface temperature patterns in a sedimentary basin. Thermal resistance, defined as the quotient of a depth parameter Δz and thermal conductivity k, governs subsurface temperatures as follows: [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is the temperature at depth z=B, [Formula: see text] is the surface temperature, [Formula: see text] is surface heat flow, and the thermal resistance (Δz/k) is summed for all rock units between the surface and depth B. In practice, bottom‐hole and surface temperatures are combined with a measured or estimated thermal conductivity profile to determine the surface heat flow [Formula: see text] which, in turn, is used for all consequent subsurface temperature computations. The method has been applied to the Tertiary Uinta Basin, northeastern Utah, a basin of intermediate geologic complexity—simple structure but complex facies relationships—where considerable well data are available. Bottom‐hole temperatures were obtained for 97 selected wells where multiple well logs permitted correction of temperatures for drilling effects. Thermal conductivity values, determined for 852 samples from 5 representative wells varying in depth from 670 to 5180 m, together with available geologic data were used to produce conductivity maps for each formation. These maps show intraformational variations across the basin that are associated with lateral facies changes. Formation thicknesses needed for the thermal resistance summation were obtained by utilizing approximately 2000 wells in the WEXPRO Petroleum Information file. Computations were facilitated by describing all formation contacts as fourth‐order polynomial surfaces. Average geothermal gradient and heat flow for the Uinta Basin are [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. Heat flow appears to decrease systematically from 65 to [Formula: see text] from the Duchesne River northward toward the south flank of the Uinta Mountains. This decrease may be the result of refraction of heat into the highly conductive quartzose Precambrian Uinta Mountain Group. More likely, however, it is related to groundwater recharge in late Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstone and limestone beds that flank the south side of the Uintas. Heat flow values determined for the southeast portion of the basin show some scatter about a mean value of [Formula: see text] but no systematic variation.

scholarly journals Conductive heat flow pattern of the central-northern Apennines, Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Massimo Verdoya ◽  
Paolo Chiozzi ◽  
Gianluca Gola ◽  
Elie El Jbeily
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal Regime ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Northern Apennines ◽  
Conductive Heat ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Radiogenic Heat ◽  
Bottom Hole ◽  
Groundwater Circulation ◽  
Resistance Approach

We analyzed thermal data from deep oil exploration and geothermal boreholes in the 1000-7000 m depth range to unravel thermal regime beneath the central-northern Apennines chain and the surrounding sedimentary basins. We particularly selected deepest bottom hole temperatures, all recorded within the permeable carbonate Paleogene-Mesozoic formations, which represent the most widespread tectono-stratigraphic unit of the study area. The available temperatures were corrected for the drilling disturbanceand the thermal conductivity was estimated from detailed litho-stratigraphic information and by taking into account the pressure and temperature effect. The thermal resistance approach, including also the radiogenic heat production, was used to infer the terrestrial heat flow and to highlight possible advective perturbation due to groundwater circulation. Only two boreholes close to recharge areas argue for deep groundwater flow in the permeable carbonate unit, whereas most of the obtained heat-flow data may reflect the deep, undisturbed, conductive thermal regime.

scholarly journals Estimating late-winter heat flow to the atmosphere from the lake-dominated Alaskan North Slope

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (150) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O. Jeffries ◽  
Tingjun Zhang ◽  
Karoline Frey ◽  
Nick Kozlenko
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Conductive Heat ◽  
Soil System ◽  
Radar Images ◽  
The North ◽  
North Slope Of Alaska ◽  
Alaskan North Slope

AbstractThe conductive heat flux through the snow cover (Fa) is used as a proxy to examine the hypothesis that there is a significant heat flow from the Alaskan North Slope to the atmosphere because of the large number of lakes in the region.Fais estimated from measurements of snow depth, temperature and density on tundra, grounded ice and floating ice in mid-April 1997 at six lakes near Barrow, northwestern Alaska. The meanFavalues from tundra, grounded ice and floating ice are 1.5, 5.4 and 18.6 W m2, respectively. A numerical model of the coupled snow/ice/water/soil system is used to simulateFaand there is good agreement between the simulated and measured fluxes. The flux from the tundra is low because the soils have a relatively low thermal conductivity and the active layer cools significantly after freezing completely the previous autumn. The flux from the floating ice is high because the ice has a relatively high thermal conductivity, and a body of relatively warm water remains below the growing ice at the end of winter. The flux from the grounded ice is intermediate between that from the tundra and that from the floating ice, and depends on the timing of the contact between the growing ice and the lake sediments, and whether or not those sediments freeze completely. Using the estimatedFavalues combined with the areal fractions of tundra, grounded ice and floating ice derived from synthetic aperture radar images, area-weightedFavalues are calculated for six areas.Favalues for the ice vary between 9.8 and 13.8 W m−2, and those from the ice plus tundra vary between 3.9 and 5.3 W m−2. TheFavalues are similar to those observed in the sea-ice-covered regions of the south and north polar oceans in winter. The North Slope of Alaska may thus make a significant contribution to the regional energy budget in winter.

scholarly journals Geothermal Gradient And Heat Flow Maps Of Offshore Malaysia: Some Updates And Observations

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 159-183
Author(s):  
Mazlan Madon ◽  
◽  
John Jong ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Flow Probe ◽  
Geothermal Gradients ◽  
Heat Flows ◽  
Flow Maps ◽  
Tectonic Settings

An update of the geothermal gradient and heat flow maps for offshore Malaysia based on oil and gas industry data is long overdue. In this article we present an update based on available data and information compiled from PETRONAS and operator archives. More than 600 new datapoints calculated from bottom-hole temperature (BHT) data from oil and gas wells were added to the compilation, along with 165 datapoints from heat flow probe measurements at the seabed in the deep-water areas off Sarawak and Sabah. The heat flow probe surveys also provided direct measurements of seabed sediment thermal conductivity. For the calculation of heat flows from the BHT-based temperature gradients, empirical relationships between sediment thermal conductivity and burial depth were derived from thermal conductivity measurements of core samples in oil/gas wells (in the Malay Basin) and from ODP and IODP drillholes (as analogues for Sarawak and Sabah basins). The results of this study further enhanced our insights into the similarities and differences between the various basins and their relationships to tectonic settings. The Malay Basin has relatively high geothermal gradients (average ~47 °C/km). Higher gradients in the basin centre are attributed to crustal thinning due to extension. The Sarawak Basin has similar above-average geothermal gradients (~45 °C/km), whereas the Baram Delta area and the Sabah Shelf have considerably lower gradients (~29 to ~34 °C/km). These differences are attributed to the underlying tectonic settings; the Sarawak Shelf, like the Malay Basin, is underlain by an extensional terrane, whereas the Sabah Basin and Baram Delta east of the West Baram Line are underlain by a former collisional margin (between Dangerous Grounds rifted terrane and Sabah). The deep-water areas off Sarawak and Sabah (North Luconia and Sabah Platform) show relatively high geothermal gradients overall, averaging 80 °C/km in North Luconia and 87 °C/km in the Sabah Platform. The higher heat flows in the deep-water areas are consistent with the region being underlain by extended continental terrane of the South China Sea margin. From the thermal conductivity models established in this study, the average heat flows are: Malay Basin (92 mW/m2), Sarawak Shelf (95 mW/m2) and Sabah Shelf (79 mW/m2). In addition, the average heat flows for the deep-water areas are as follows: Sabah deep-water fold-thrust belt (66 mW/m2), Sabah Trough (42 mW/m2), Sabah Platform (63 mW/m2) and North Luconia (60 mW/m2).

scholarly journals Estimating late-winter heat flow to the atmosphere from the lake-dominated Alaskan North Slope

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (150) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O. Jeffries ◽  
Tingjun Zhang ◽  
Karoline Frey ◽  
Nick Kozlenko
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Conductive Heat ◽  
Soil System ◽  
Radar Images ◽  
The North ◽  
North Slope Of Alaska ◽  
Alaskan North Slope

AbstractThe conductive heat flux through the snow cover (Fa) is used as a proxy to examine the hypothesis that there is a significant heat flow from the Alaskan North Slope to the atmosphere because of the large number of lakes in the region. Fa is estimated from measurements of snow depth, temperature and density on tundra, grounded ice and floating ice in mid-April 1997 at six lakes near Barrow, northwestern Alaska. The mean Fa values from tundra, grounded ice and floating ice are 1.5, 5.4 and 18.6 W m2, respectively. A numerical model of the coupled snow/ice/water/soil system is used to simulate Fa and there is good agreement between the simulated and measured fluxes. The flux from the tundra is low because the soils have a relatively low thermal conductivity and the active layer cools significantly after freezing completely the previous autumn. The flux from the floating ice is high because the ice has a relatively high thermal conductivity, and a body of relatively warm water remains below the growing ice at the end of winter. The flux from the grounded ice is intermediate between that from the tundra and that from the floating ice, and depends on the timing of the contact between the growing ice and the lake sediments, and whether or not those sediments freeze completely. Using the estimated Fa values combined with the areal fractions of tundra, grounded ice and floating ice derived from synthetic aperture radar images, area-weighted Fa values are calculated for six areas. Fa values for the ice vary between 9.8 and 13.8 W m−2, and those from the ice plus tundra vary between 3.9 and 5.3 W m−2. The Fa values are similar to those observed in the sea-ice-covered regions of the south and north polar oceans in winter. The North Slope of Alaska may thus make a significant contribution to the regional energy budget in winter.

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL STUDY FOR ELABORATION OF GEOTHERMAL MODEL IN ORADEA-BAILE FELIX AREA

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurențiu Asimopolos ◽  
Natalia-Silvia Asimopoli
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal Gradient ◽  
Thermal Inertia ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Thermal Methods ◽  
Thermal Anomalies ◽  
Average Value

Thermal methods consist of measuring thermal gradient and satellite data, which can be used to determine the Earth's surface temperature and thermal inertia of surficial materials, of thermal infrared radiation emitted at the Earth's surface. Thermal gradient measuring, with a knowledge of the thermal conductivity provides a measure of heat flow. Conditions that may increase or decrease and heat flow are influenced by hydrologic, topographic factors and anomalous thermal conductivity. Also, oxidation of sulphide bodies in-place or on waste deposits, if sufficiently rapid, can generate thermal anomalies, which can provide a measure of the amount of metal being released to the environment. The geothermal gradient on the territory of Romania, the increase of the temperature with the depth, has an average value of 2.5°-3°C/100m, which corresponds to a temperature of 100° C at 3000 m deep. There are many areas where the value of the geothermal gradient differs considerably from this average. For example, in areas where the rock plate suffered rapid dips and the basin was filled with sediment "very young "from a geological point of view, the geothermal gradient may be less than 1° C/100m. On the other hand, in other geothermal areas the gradient exceeds much this average. These areas are true underground thermal reservoirs of potentially high geothermal energy which under certain favourable conditions can be exploited to serve heating installations and domestic hot water systems. The geothermal prospecting for the entire territory of Romania, carried out by temperature measurements allowed the development of geothermal maps, highlighting the temperature distribution at different depths. Geophysical data obtained through various methods and geophysical modelling provide generalized and non-unique solutions to the geometry of underground geological relations as well as to the physical characteristics of different formations. The non-uniqueness of these models (solutions to the direct problem) arises from the impossibility of knowing the boundary conditions between different strata, which together with the propagation equations of the different fields (depending on the geophysical method used for the investigation of the basement) form the systems that offer the solutions of the model

Calculation of organic maturation levels for offshore eastern Canada—implications for general application of Lopatin's method

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Issler
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Drilling Fluid ◽  
Vitrinite Reflectance ◽  
Geothermal Gradient ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
Geothermal Gradients ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Bottom Hole ◽  
Correction Technique

Recorded maximum bottom-hole temperatures may vary significantly from true formation temperatures because of the effects of drilling fluid circulation. A theoretical temperature correction technique was applied to log-heading data to compute 191 static temperatures for 64 wells on the Scotian Shelf. A linear regression, performed on 140 computed temperatures, produced an average geothermal gradient of 2.66 °C/100 m; correlation coefficient 0.97. A geothermal gradient map constructed from the corrected data shows that areas of thicker sediment accumulation are marked by high geothermal gradients (e.g., Abenaki, Sable subbasins), whereas areas of shallow basement coincide with low gradients (e.g., LaHave Platform, Canso Ridge).It is proposed that the major control on the distribution of Scotian Shelf geothermal gradients is the thermal conductivity of the sediments. Radiogenic heat production within the sediments and subsurface fluid movement probably contribute to a lesser extent. Within the basins, higher heat flow due to thick salt accumulations at depth and the overall low conductivity of sediments above the salt lead to higher geothermal gradients. Low geothermal gradients in shallow basement areas are caused by the lack of salt and the relatively high conductivity of overlying sediments.A technique for calculating maturation levels of organic matter based on Lopatin's method and corrected bottom-hole temperatures was developed for the Scotian Shelf. A geologic model is constructed by considering the burial history of sediment for time invariant heat flow. From this, TTI (time–temperature index) values are derived to give the maturity level for specific sedimentary horizons. A comparison of 106 calculated TTI values with vitrinite reflectance measurements for 15 wells established a calibration of this technique for the Scotian Shelf. A correlation coefficient of 0.95 was obtained for the relation log TTI = 6.1841 log R0 + 2.6557.Maps showing the depth to calculated vitrinite reflectance values of 0.60 and 0.70% were constructed for the Scotian Shelf. It appears that burial rate, in addition to temperature, controls the location of various maturation levels. As one moves seaward, younger sediments increase in maturity and the oil window thickens. At equivalent depths, sediments at the basin margins are more mature than those farther seaward in the deeper parts of the basin. Sediments of the Canso Ridge area and over much of the LaHave Platform, excluding local downfaulted basins, have not attained sufficient maturity to have generated significant quantities of oil.TTI calibrations were established for the Labrador Shelf, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and the Canning Basin of Western Australia as above. Results indicate that tectonic history plays an important role in the calibration and that the slope of calibration lines may represent the departure from true time–temperature conditions in the modeling. Changes in heat flow with time lead to incorrect estimates of maturity when present-day geothermal gradients are used to approximate past temperature conditions. Also, uncertainties in the amount of erosion produce error in maturity estimates. The Scotian Shelf TTI calibration may be applicable to much of offshore eastern North America and parts of offshore western Europe and Africa.

A Model for Predicting the Heat Flow into the Workpiece in Dry Drilling

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Bono ◽  
Jun Ni
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Temperature Field ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Finite Element Model ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Partition Model ◽  
Dry Drilling ◽  
Heat Partition ◽  
Thrust And Torque

A model is developed for predicting the heat that flows into the workpiece during dry drilling processes. The model can be applied to any drill of known geometry. The measured drilling thrust and torque are used as inputs in an oblique cutting analysis, and an advection heat partition model is developed to calculate heat flux loads on a finite element model of the workpiece. Experiments using embedded thermocouples have verified that the model accurately predicts the temperature field in the workpiece for a range of drilling speeds and feeds.

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