Successful first installation of a dedicated strain sensing cable on a deviated well

CSIRO, RITE and Silixa have successfully completed the first installation of a strain sensing cable, at the CO2CRC site in Victoria, on the CO2CRC CRC8 deviated well in December 2023.

The CRC8 well is part of the CO2CRC Stage 4 experiment  to monitor CO2 plume migration in the subsurface. Two fibre optic cables were installed outside casing. One of the cables designed by RITE is specifically designed to monitor strain in a distributed manner along the well  to better understand the mechanical behaviour of the well and reservoir during and after the CO2 injection.

While the technology has been trialled for vertical wells, this is the first time it has been deployed in a deviated well. Early strain and temperature sensing measurements during the well cementing process indicated that the cable was successfully installed. It also provided new insights to the driller about the completion process and well integrity. In addition, this installation helps to mature the technology and enables derisking of future installation at the In-Situ Lab research facility located near Harvey, WA.