Underwater spark discharge with long transmission line for cleaning horizontal wells

Abstract

A transmission line is discussed for application in an underwater spark-discharge technique in the cleaning of a horizontal well by incorporating a power-transmission model into the simulation. The pulsed-spark-discharge technique has been proposed for clogged-well rehabilitation, because it removes incrustations that are attached to well screens by using strong pressure waves that are generated by the rapid expansion of a spark channel. To apply the pulsed-spark-discharge technique to the cleaning of horizontal wells, the coaxial cable between the pulsed power supply and the spark gap as a load needs to be extended to a few hundred meters. Prior to field application, pulsed-spark-discharge experiments were conducted and the role of the transmission line was examined using an improved simulation model. In the model, a non-linear interaction of the spark channel and the capacitor bank is described by the pulse-forming action of the coaxial cable. Based on the accurate physical properties of the water plasma, such as the equation of state and electrical conductivity within the region of interest, the amount of energy contributed to the development of a shock wave was evaluated. The simulation shows that if the initial conditions of the spark channel are the same, no further reduction in strength of the pressure wave occurs, even if the cable length is increased above 50 m. Hence, the degraded peak pressure that was observed in the experiments using the longer cable is attributed to a change in the initial condition of the spark channel. The parametric study suggests that the low initial charging voltage, the high ambient water pressure, and the long cable length yield the low initial spark-channel density, which results in a reduced peak pressure. The simulation of line charging is presented to discuss the principle of disturbing the pre-breakdown process by an extended cable. © 2017 Author(s).