PRODUCTION PROBLEMS 1141 



sively the depth to the top of the quiescent fluid which stands in the casing above 

 the packer. If the wave reflection equipment shows a sudden change in fluid level, 

 it indicates that some disturbance or leak has occurred, and it may be concluded 

 that slurry is being pumped around the packer and into the casing annulus above. Such 

 application of fluid-level measurements is a valuable one. 



Water Disposal and Supply Wells. — The problem of salt water disposal is 

 one which receives considerable attention both of legislative and engineering bodies. 

 Oil field brines, after being separated by treatment from the pipe-line oil, must be 

 cared for in some manner satisfactory both to the landowners and to the operator. 

 One method of disposal is by the use of wells, either drilled expressly for such a pur- 

 pose or abandoned from oil production and plugged back to some upper permeable 

 zone. The brine is flowed into the well, by gravity or under a pressure head, and 

 then absorbed by the porous stratum. 



Productivity indices can be determined for disposal wells in the same manner as 

 for gas-free oil wells. Potential computations will show the amount of water which 

 can be disposed of in any given well, and comparisons of indices computed periodically 

 will show whether or not the thief formation is salting-up. If a treatment is necessary 

 for the brine in order to keep the disposal wells clean and functioning properly, the 

 effectiveness of different treating processes can be studied from fluid-level data. 



In Michigan and other states, salt-water producing wells are drilled to obtain 

 their brine contents for chemical manufacturing. Here again the same applications 

 for fluid-level measuring devices are present. Productivities, pumping problems, fluid 

 build-up studies, and pumping efficiencies are a practical part of the brine pro- 

 duction program. 



Detection of Collapsed Casing and Leaks. — The sonic method has been found 

 helpful in locating points where oil well casing has been ruptured above the fluid level, 

 as such casing breaks often will cause reflections comparable to those obtained from 

 tops of perforations. 



PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO 

 PRODUCTION PROBLEMS 



UNITED STATES PATENTS 



17,242 Original 1,672,495 issued June 5, 1928. Reissued Mar. 19, 1929. B. 

 McCollum. "Method & Apparatus for Determining the Contour of 

 Subterranean Strata." 



571,739 Issued Nov. 24, 1896. Francis B. Badt. "Electromagnetic Sentinel." 



602,422 Issued April _ 19, 1898. Birney C. Batcheller. "Apparatus for Locating 

 Obstructions in Tubes." 



737,866 Issued Sept. 1, 1903. Charles F. Pike. "Indicator for Locating Sunken 

 Metals." 



793,652 Issued July 4, 1905. Reginald A. Fessenden. "Signaling by Electromag- 

 netic Waves." 



1,212,438 Issued Jan. 16, 1917. Arthur R. Bauder. "Method of and Means for 

 Determining and Indicating the Depth of Water." 



1,217,585 Issued Feb. 27, 1917. Reginald A. Fessenden. "Method for Measuring 

 Distance." 



1,335,738 Issued April 6, 1920. Yoshinao Kawakita. "System of Electrically Indi- 

 cating on Board Ship the Depth of Sea Water." 



1,351,356 Issued Aug. 31, 1920. William S. Tucker. "Sound-Detecting Device." 



1,409,794 Issued Mar. 14, 1922. Samuel Spitz. "Method and Apparatus for Utilizing 

 Sound Vibrations." 



1,682,706 Issued Aug. 28, 1928. Max Mason. "Determination of Wave-Energy 

 Direction." 



