Electromagnetic analysis of wireless telemetry for oil fields

The monitoring and control of the sensors in an oil well casing have been classically performed by electrical cables that connect sensors and actuators in the deep end to the surface station. Classical telemetry techniques have critical aspects in ultra-deep wells, and in some cases its use is impractical. This motivates the investigation of methods for wireless telemetry. In this paper, the electromagnetic characteristics of an oil well casing are analyzed rigorously. Approximations are derived from modal analysis, and the oil well is modeled as a coaxial waveguide heterogeneously filled with lossy matters. The problem of propagation is modeled by the mode matching technique and feasibility of wireless telemetry in oil wells is discussed.