Sage Acoustic Fluid Logger III User manual

Acoustic
Fluid
Logger III
and
Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
Reference Manual
Sage
Sage Sage
Sage Technologies, Inc.
P.O. Box 1466, Grapevine, TX, USA 76099-1466
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sageoiltools.com

Sage Technologies
2

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
3
Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun are registered trademarks of Sage
Technologies, Incorporated, in the United States and other countries. All other brand or product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Copyright 2008, 2009, 2010 Sage Technologies, Incorporated
All Rights Reserved
Printed in U.S.A.
Mail Address: Sage Technologies Incorporated •P.O. Box 1466 •Grapevine, TX, USA 76099-1466
Telephone: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail] •Website: www.sageoiltools.com

Sage Technologies
4

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
5
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ............................................................................5
How to contact Sage Technologies ............................................................................. 7
Introduction to Acoustic Fluid Logger ........................................................................ 8
Included with your Acoustic Fluid Logger System..................................................... 9
Other tools needed in the field..................................................................................................................9
Shooting the pumping fluid level..................................................10
Quick start instructions.............................................................................................. 10
Fluid Level Procedure................................................................................................. 11
Pressure Pulse Gas Gun – Quick Instructions ......................................................... 15
Pressure Pulse Gun – Gauge Quick-connects.......................................................... 16
Adapter Connection -- 3,000 psi Pressure Pulse Gun .............................................. 17
To 2" Line Pipe .........................................................................................................................................17
Keypad and Interface.................................................................................................. 18
START .......................................................................................................................................................18
C - (Compressed) .....................................................................................................................................18
PRINT ........................................................................................................................................................19
STOP .........................................................................................................................................................19
MAN - (Manual mode) ..............................................................................................................................19
Special features of fluid level tapes........................................................................... 20
Seven amplification levels hone the accuracy of fluid tapes ...............................................................20
Well Analysis..................................................................................23
Identifying the fluid level kick .................................................................................... 23
What to do if more than one kick is observed.......................................................................................23
Reading the fluid level tape........................................................................................ 24
Calculating distance to the fluid in collars ............................................................................................24
Calculating distance to the fluid in feet or meters.................................................... 25
Fluid depth – most accurate method......................................................................................................26
Fluid depth – most common method .....................................................................................................26
Fluid depth -- when no joint length is available.....................................................................................26
Shooting a Reverse Pressure Wave .......................................................................... 27
Shooting a reverse pressure wave shot.................................................................................................27
Frequently Asked Questions...................................................................................... 28

Sage Technologies
6
What affects collar readability? ..............................................................................................................28
How do I know if the gas gun is leaking? ..............................................................................................28
How do I know if the microphone is dead?............................................................................................28
Why didn’t I get a shot from the gun?....................................................................................................28
Why won’t the unit come on? .................................................................................................................29
Why is the unit printing lightly or printing strange shapes?................................................................29
Why is the tape rolling, but not printing a trace on the paper ? ..........................................................29
Pressure Pulse Gun – Maintenance........................................................................... 30
Charge Hose - Maintenance ....................................................................................................................34
CO² Bottle Set-up .....................................................................................................................................34
Acoustic Fluid Logger - Maintenance........................................................................ 35
Charging the battery ................................................................................................................................35
Loading thermal paper ............................................................................................................................35
Battery Replacement ...............................................................................................................................36
Accessories................................................................................................................. 39
Replacement Parts and Supplies............................................................................... 39
Sage Technologies, Inc., Limited Warranty............................................................... 41
Index ...............................................................................................43

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
7
How to contact Sage Technologies
For sales, service, or technical support, you may write our office at:
Sage Technologies, Inc.
Attn: Customer Support
P.O. Box 1466
Grapevine, TX, USA 76099-1466
Or you may call or FAX us at:
Phone: [phone]
Tollfree in U.S.: 877-488-2579
The phone numbers must be prefixed with the United States International dialing code if you are
trying to contact us from outside the United States.
Or you may contact us through the Internet:
Website: www.sageoiltools.com
E-Mail: [email protected]

Sage Technologies
8
Introduction to Acoustic Fluid Logger
With Pressure Pulse Gas Gun and Microphone
The Acoustic Fluid Logger collects fluid level measurements on pumping oil and gas wells. Our
intent is to allow consistent and accurate fluid level measurements without the need for any specialized
knowledge. Therefore, there are no computers to operate. There is no need to make any filter adjustments.
Our unit is rugged and operates largely on its own. With the push of a button, you have a fluid level.
The Acoustic Fluid Logger, in an advance over other fluid level devices, first stores its signals to
memory and then prints them out to tape. This allows a very detailed view of the wellbore to be stored
real time and then printed out. A simple count of tubing collars finds the distance to the liquid.
Included in the Acoustic Fluid Logger system is the Pressure Pulse Gun and Microphone. The
Pressure Pulse Gas Gun is available in both the 1,500 psi and 3,000 psi versions. The stainless steel gas
gun shoots a pulse of compressed CO² down the annulus of the well; the return signals are received on the
internal microphone and transmitted to your recording device via the microphone cable. The gun consists
of a volume chamber, a valve assembly and a microphone. Both gas guns allow the use of either an
implosion or an explosion shot, so on higher pressure wells, the use of an external gas source is not
required. The gun may be easily disassembled for maintenance. Adapters are available for all gas guns, to
allow connection to any wellbore.
All of the products at Sage Technologies are the result of years of field experience and technical
innovation. In addition, our technical and training staff and our full repair shop stand behind each piece of
equipment.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
9
Included with your Acoustic Fluid Logger System
•Acoustic Fluid Logger
10 rolls thermal paper
Acoustic Fluid Logger System manual
Wall-mount battery charger
Microphone cable
•Pressure Pulse Gas Gun and Microphone
Charge hose for CO²bottle
2 ½ pound CO² bottle, empty
4" Spanner wrench
Service Tool (for valve core and o-ring maintenance)
Two 5/32" Allen wrenches
3/16" balldrive wrench
O-ring and valve core repair/replacement kit
Waterproof carrying case
Other tools needed in the field
•CO² bottle must be filled with gas to provide the shot. Generally, the bottle should be weighed
when empty, then filled to the specified product weight of the bottle. The standard bottle is a 2.5
lb. CO² bottle.
•11-point dividers for echo calibration
•Adjustable wrench for the CO² hose and wellhead valves
•9/16" wrench for the fittings

Sage Technologies
10
Shooting the pumping fluid level
Quick start instructions
•Close the backside valve on the well before set-up.
•Connect the Pressure Pulse Gas Gun to the annulus of the well behind the backside valve, using
the spanner wrench provided.
•Open the backside valve to pressure up the gun.
•Push the gun’s shuttle valve into the load position.
•Charge up gas gun chamber by feeding pressure into the gun from the CO² bottle through the
charge hose to achieve a positive differential pressure. To do this, stab the charge hose into the
“Fill” valve labeled on the side of the gun.
•Shut in the casing flow line valve, so the shot will not go down the flow line.
•Connect the microphone cable to both the Acoustic Fluid Logger and the Pressure Pulse Gun.
•Turn on the Acoustic Fluid Logger unit and verify that the header prints as the paper advances.
Press 4 and then C. This puts the unit in the ¼ compressed mode that makes the tape ¼ of its
usual length. This allows you to quickly see if you have a valid fluid level without waiting for a
long tape printout.
•Press START to put the unit in the standby mode. The header will advance a small amount and
the unit will wait for you to shoot the gun.
•Shoot the Pressure Pulse Gun by pushing shuttle valve in the “Fire” direction. The unit will start
printing.
•Let the printer run until you have seen a valid fluid level kick. Press STOP at this point to stop
the tape.
•Inspect the resulting compressed tape chart for valid fluid and readable collars.
•If valid fluid is found, push Print to get an exact reprint of the same fluid level in its full-length
form.
•Otherwise, follow the above procedures to shoot another shot on the well.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
11
Fluid Level Procedure
1. Mount the Pressure Pulse Gun to the wellhead, turning by hand at first. Finish tightening by
inserting the spanner wrench provided into the notches in the gun and tightening the gun firmly to the
wellhead. Use of Teflon tape on the gas gun threads will help achieve a better seal.
2. First, open the backside casing valve, shown below left. This will allow the compressed gas
shot to travel down the wellbore to find the fluid. Next, close the casing flow line valve, shown below
right. This prevents the compressed gas shot from going down the flow line instead of the wellbore.
3. Push the gun’s shuttle valve into the load position by sliding the shuttle firmly toward “Load.”

Sage Technologies
12
4. Open the valve on the compressed gas bottle. Charge up the gun: Press the stab-in connector
on the charge hose into the “Fill” connection on the gun. Note: When the charge hose stabs into the fill
valve, some gas will blow back from the insertion point. This is normal, and helps keep the charge
area free of debris. The gun is now charged, and will be ready to fire when connected to the Acoustic
Fluid Logger.
Well depth and other variables will affect the amount of pressure needed to charge the gun for a
fluid level shot. In general, a shot of 100 to 200 psi above wellbore pressure should be sufficient.
5. Attach the microphone cable from the connector on top of the Pressure Pulse Gun to the
microphone connection on the Acoustic Fluid Logger. Turn on the power switch on the Acoustic Fluid
Logger; the paper will advance and print a header strip, and the on/off light will light. Note: In very
bright conditions, the light on the front panel is difficult to see.
5. The header will print on the tape and the unit will wait to sense the compressed gas shot. For a
quick check of a fluid level, press the keys “4 – C – Start” on the keypad. This will advance the tape
slightly and set up the Acoustic Fluid Logger to print a compressed echo tape of ¼ the full size.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
13
6. Fire the Pressure Pulse Gun by sliding the shuttle valve to the fire position. This is easily
accomplished by pressing the shuttle valve with the heel of the hand.
7. The paper tape begins to print an echo trace after the gun is fired. Let the tape run until a fluid
kick is observed. Collars inside the well will register on the tape, but the deepest kick will be the fluid
level. After the 4 - C - Start (1/4 compressed) printout determines a fluid level, press “Stop” to stop the
printout, then press “Print” to print a full-length tape.
Note: The Acoustic Fluid Logger III stores seven representations of each echo internally,
each time the gun is fired. These echoes are ready to be printed individually, each offering different
amplification levels of the well data. This feature takes into account the fact that all wells are different,
with different variables affecting the operator’s ability to see the fluid level data. With differing
amplification, the operator has seven different options that can be printed, and seven ways to look at the
same fluid level. (See the Keypad and Interface section of this manual.)

Sage Technologies
14
8. When testing is complete, set-up procedures are reversed. To ensure the safety of the operator,
when rigging down, first BE SURE to close the backside casing valve.
9. Before removing the gun from the well, BE SURE to turn the pressure bleed knob counter-
clockwise to open the bleed valve and release pressure on the gun. Also, BE SURE to put the shuttle
valve into the “Fire” position, to fully release pressure from the gun, as shown below. The gauge on the
gun must be returned to zero psi before you begin to remove the gun from the wellhead.
10. To remove the gun from the casing, open the Pressure Bleed with the shuttle in the “Fire”
position only. Use the Spanner wrench to loosen the gun from the wellhead. Once loose, the gun may be
removed by hand. After the gun is removed from the wellhead, remember to open the casing flowline
valve. Repack the gun and accessories into the black case for easy transport from the well site.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
15
Pressure Pulse Gas Gun – Quick Instructions
Shooting a positive pressure wave:
•Push the shuttle valve to the “Load” position.
•Insert hose from the CO² bottle into the “Fill” connection on the gun. As you do this,
pressure will increase on the gauge.
•When the desired pressure is reached, remove the hose connection from the fill
connection. A suggested shot size is 100 to 200 psi above wellbore pressure.
•To fire the Pressure Pulse Gun, push the shuttle valve to the “Fire” position.
Shooting a reverse pressure wave:
Most wells with a casing pressure of above 100 psi can be shot using a reverse pressure wave.
(this means letting gas travel from the well into the volume chamber of the gas gun).
•Place the shuttle valve in the load position.
•Open the pressure bleed to bleed gas from the internal volume chamber.
•Close the pressure bleed and move the shuttle valve to the “Fire” position. (You will
notice that the gauge on top of the gas gun suddenly travels from zero to whatever the
existing pressure is inside the casing.)
•This has produced a reverse pressure wave. The fluid level will also be reversed on
the paper tape printout, and will kick UP on the paper tape, instead of kicking down as
it does in a positive pressure wave.
To remove the Pressure Pulse Gas Gun from the casing:
•Close the casing valve.
•Check to ensure that the gas gun shuttle valve is in the “Fire” position.
•Check that the pressure bleed is open. Remove the gas gun from well using the
spanner wrench.
Safety notice: If the Pressure Pulse Gun has been left in the “Load” position while opening
the pressure bleed, you have only vented the gas inside the gun. Gas at pressure is still present
between the gas gun and the casing valve. To remove this gas, open the pressure bleed and move the
shuttle to the “Fire” position.

Sage Technologies
16
Pressure Pulse Gun – Gauge Quick-connects
Quick-connects are a useful accessory for applications that require quick-coupling and change-
out of gauges on the Pressure Pulse Gun.
A high-pressure gauge allows the operator to get a quick check of shot size in higher pressure
wells. A low-pressure gauge allows a check of casing pressure in low pressure situations. The quick-
connects allow an operator to use a more accurate gauge for each situation. Also, the gauges rotate freely
for easy viewing in any wellbore situation, from any angle.
To Couple the Quick-connect: Align stem with
body. Push stem into body until it clicks. (See
left photo.)
To Uncouple the Quick-connect: Pull the body
sleeve on the quick-connect toward the stem (in
other words, pull the sleeve away from the gun).
(See right photo.)
Warning: System pressure must not exceed 250 psig (17.2) bar at 70°
°°
°F (20°
°°
°C) when coupling and
uncoupling this product. When uncoupling single-end shutoff quick-connects, system pressure on
the stem side will vent to atmosphere.
Good practices for operations of Swagelok Quick-connects
•Align bodies and stems when coupling or uncoupling.
•Support hanging hoses or other equipment to prevent side load.
•Re-lubricate stem seal o-rings periodically.
Caution: Do not rotate gauge when coupled. Do not insert foreign objects into uncoupled bodies or
stems.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
17
Adapter Connection -- 3,000 psi Pressure Pulse Gun
To 2" Line Pipe
1. In the fluid level set-up photographs below, the standard 3,000 psi Pressure Pulse Gun is being
attached to standard 2" line pipe with the addition of pipe adapters. First, attach the adapters necessary to
fit the gun to the wellhead. Make sure to tighten the adapter with a pipe wrench.
2. Hand-fit the gun to the adapter. Finish tightening the gun with the provided spanner wrench,
which fits into the notches on the base of the gun body.

Sage Technologies
18
Keypad and Interface
1 2 3
STOP
4 5 6
MAN
7 8 9C
START
0
PRINT
START
The start key puts the Acoustic Fluid Logger in the ready mode; it starts logging the
microphone signal and looking for a shot to occur.
When a shot is sensed, the Acoustic Fluid Logger begins running the tape. The Start plot on the
tape is a special square root of amplitude plot of the signal.
C- (Compressed)
Compressed allows you to print shorter, tighter echoes to tape. Using compressed mode
allows a quick check for a fluid level in the field. To use this mode, enter a number between 2 and 8 on
the keypad, then push C. The number part of the entry is the divisor -- the fraction the unit will use to
divide the tape length.
•2 C will give you a tape 1/2 the normal length.
•4 C is 1/4 the normal length.
•8 C is 1/8 the normal length, and so on. Use any number as the divisor -- 2 through 8.
For example, Press 4 C and then START to put the unit in the ready mode. Then shoot the gun. You
will get an echo that is 1/4 the normal length. After identifying that you have a valid fluid level, push
STOP to stop the compressed echo and the printer. Then push PRINT again to reprint a full-length echo.
The Compressed feature allows the easy identification of major events on the tape – fluid levels and
other wellbore features -- in a tight format normally seen only on computer displays.

Acoustic Fluid Logger and Pressure Pulse Gas Gun
19
PRINT
PRINT is used to print the echo in memory in one of the seven display modes.
PRINT – Prints the echo in the special square root of the amplitude manner.
1 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 1(minimum) amplified mode.
2 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 2 amplified mode.
3 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 3 amplified mode.
4 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 4 amplified mode.
5 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 5 amplified mode.
6 PRINT – Prints the echo in the 6 (maximum) amplified mode.
STOP
Stop is used to stop the current echo from printing.
MAN - (Manual mode)
MAN (Manual mode) is used to turn off the shot recognition and start recording
immediately.
When in the MAN mode, the Acoustic Fluid Logger starts recording immediately when the MAN
button is pushed. The tape will be printed in one of the standard seven display plots.
MAN – Starts the plot in the special square root of the amplitude mode.
1 MAN – Starts the tape in the 1 (minimum) amplified mode.
2 MAN – Starts the tape in the 2 amplified mode.
3 MAN – Starts the tape in the 3 amplified mode.
4 MAN – Starts the tape in the 4 amplified mode.
5 MAN – Starts the tape in the 5 amplified mode.
6 MAN – Starts the tape in the 6 (maximum) amplified mode.
Note: Once you push MAN the unit immediately starts recording data. So, if you have a manual
fire gun, you will have to calibrate the tape from the location of the shot blast on the tape, not from the
start of the tape, as usual.

Sage Technologies
20
Special features of fluid level tapes
Seven amplification levels hone the accuracy of fluid tapes
Each time an echo is shot with the Acoustic Fluid Logger, it actually records seven different
representations of the wellbore at the same time. Any or all of these representations can be printed
through the use of the Acoustic Fluid Logger keypad.
Here is an example of a single shot, where all seven representations are printed. Each time you
take a fluid level shot on a well, you have the opportunity to print any or all of these seven tapes, with
seven different amplifications of the signal, through the use of keypad commands. It may help to think of
the seven amplification tapes as looking at the echo through a series of magnifying glasses of increasing
power. If you like a certain amplification better than others, then that tape can be printed first. If you need
to move up or down in amplification, then you can easily do so, without taking another shot on the well.
Remember, the Acoustic Fluid Logger will hold the echo in memory, until the unit is turned off, or until
another shot is recorded.
Following are seven keypad commands that will print the seven possible tapes. Note: It is
assumed that you have an echo in memory – which means that the Acoustic Fluid Logger has been turned
on and the gas gun has taken a shot on a well.
Command: Print
This command prints an overall plot, using the square root of the largest amplitude of the signal.
Command: 1 Print
This command produces minimum amplification of the signal.