| 20110188346 | METHOD FOR DETECTING AND LOCATING FLUID INGRESS IN A WELLBORE - A method for detecting fluid ingress in a wellbore, and if detected, obtaining an indication of where along said wellbore said fluid ingress is occurring. Acoustic sensing means, adapted to sense individual acoustic signals from a plurality of corresponding locations along said wellbore, are analyzed to determine if there exists a common acoustic component in acoustic signals generated from proximate locations in said wellbore. If so, the acoustic signal having the common acoustic component which appears earliest in phase, by virtue of such acoustic signal's corresponding location in the wellbore, determines the location in the wellbore of likely fluid ingress. In a preferred embodiment the acoustic sensing means comprises a fibre optic cable extending substantially the length of the wellbore, or alternatively a plurality of microphones situated at various locations along the wellbore comprising substantially the length of the wellbore. | 08-04-2011 |
