Production
Surveillance

Everything You
Need to Know

• What Is CARBOTRACE Production Surveillance technology and how does it work?

  CARBOTRACE is a proppant deployed tracer technology for a quantitative analysis of the fraction contribution of both the oil, water and gas phases in multistage fractured wells. It can be deployed with any proppant type (ceramic or sand) and size (40/70 mesh and larger). With over 60 unique codes for each for the oil, gas and water phases. The analysis can produce a virtual PLT, at a fraction of the cost and, as often as desired by just collecting and analyzing production samples. A 3-year minimum standard surveillance period is offered. With a typical turnaround time of 1 week once the samples reach the analytical lab CARBOTRACE enables quick decision making based on reliable production data.

• What is the tracer in CARBOTRACE made of and how is it evaluated?

  CARBOTRACE consists of nano-sized tracer particles, embedded into a functional coating applied to proppants. The patented coating provides both the tracer binding and release mechanisms from the proppant into the production flow stream. Coatings react differently when exposed to water, liquid hydrocarbon and gas enabling release into and tracing each phase individually.

  The tracers emit a narrow spectrum when excited by a laser beam that allows having more than 60 unique tracers per phase. The analysis is made applying flow cytometry and analytical chemistry to detect the various spectra and determine tracer counts. The use of machine learning and AI allow processing a large data package with tunable accuracy in a short time period. The resulting  answer product is a virtual PLT giving the quantitative contribution per phase for more than 60 frac stages individually.

• Do I have to include CARBOTRACE in the whole proppant to make it work?

  CARBOTRACE is pumped as a tail-in, typically 10% of the total treatment or a minimum of 5 TN (metric tons) per frac stage.

• How long does CARBOTRACE production surveillance period last?

  CARBOTRACE enables a surveillance period of 3 years as a minimum.

• How is CARBOTRACE delivered and handled on location?

  CARBOTRACE is delivered in bulk bags marked and identified by the stage number to be pumped in. If multiple phases are to be traced per stage (Oil and gas, Oil and Water, Gas and Water or Oil, Gas and Water) the tracers for the various phases will be delivered pre blended.

• How are CARBOTRACE production samples collected, handled, shipped and analyzed? Do I have to deliver hydrocarbon samples?

   Liquid samples collected at the surface are separated into water and hydrocarbons. Marker dots are extracted from the liquid hydrocarbon phase into a water solution using simple techniques while gas tracers are collected on a membrane. This eliminates the need to ship hydrocarbon flammable or pressurized samples, greatly simplifying transport logistics to a specialized lab for analysis.

  Typically the E&P operator collects the samples and delivers them to a local CARBO representative to take over with further sample preparation, shipping and analysis.

• Does CARBOTRACE provide a quantitative or qualitative production analysis?

  Unlike most tracers in the market CARBOTRACE provides a quantitative analysis of frac stage contribution by phase. The quantitative analysis is made possible by the linear response of tracer release as a function of flow rate, verified by lab experiments as published in paper SPE-192564.