Determining Pressure Within a Sealed Annulus

摘要

Systems and methods for determining pressure within a sealed annulus based on the conservation of mass to test the structural integrity of the sealed annulus. The conservation of mass is applied to fluid(s) in a sealed annulus by using the total mass of the fluid(s) in the sealed annulus, instead of volume changes, as the basis for estimating pressure changes due to temperature changes.

主权项

1. A method for determining pressure within a sealed annulus to test the sealed annulus for structural integrity, which comprises:
a) calculating an initial mass of each fluid in the sealed annulus based on an initial temperature and an initial pressure for each fluid; b) calculating a new mass of each fluid in the sealed annulus based on a new temperature and a new pressure for each fluid; and c) determining the pressure within the sealed annulus using a computer processor by comparing a total for the initial mass of each fluid in the sealed annulus and a total for the new mass of each fluid in the sealed annulus.