Acoustical Well Sounding

Electronic equipment is available to determine the fluid depth in oil wells quickly and accurately. The fluid depth is determined by producing a sound wave at the surface and recording the reflections on a strip chart. Therefore, the instrument is called an acoustical well sounder (AWS). The most common means of producing the sound waves is by firing a black powder blank into the annulus. Recent innovations of gas guns have improved the safety and performance, and decreased the cost of using as AWS. The acoustical well sounder is primarily used to determine producing fluid levels, shut-in levels, and fluid build-up curves of an oil well.