Abstract
The Smart Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (S-AICV) technology is presented. This smart well sensor will prevent water and gas breakthrough and at the same time operate as a multiphase flow meter. The single compact system can be used in both mature and new field to map fluid flows along the well in oil reservoirs and at the same time autonomously controlling the production of unwanted fluid in the individual zones. This will provide the oil companies with detailed reservoir conditions data to have a better understanding of well production and drainage, and hence optimize future AICV well installations.
A multiphase flow model is developed which correlate the three pressures located inside the S-AICV (P1, P2 and P3) to flow rates of gas, water and oil going through the valve. At breakthrough of gas and/or water the S-AICV will detect pressure changes when the fluid composition changes. This model utilizes this pressure changes to distinguish between the different fluids and determine the flow rate and composition of inflowing fluid. The S-AICV application is designed for each specific field to achieve the desired functionality, and the user input parameters for this model need to be determined and individually adjusted accordingly to the fluid properties and the configuration of the valve.
This smart well sensor will extract data from the well and transfer the data to the surface via an optical fiber. The multiphase flow model will convert the signals to flow rates and composition, without compromising the autonomous and reliable AICV to meet the oil industry needs.
Existing measurement systems as tracers or various production logging tool are costly and complex. Separate multiphase flow meters can be installed in addition to the AICVs, but this is an expensive solution where only a fraction of the data can be gathered. The benefits of the S-AICV system are its ability to prevent water and gas production and at the same time continuously measure the flow rate and composition to register breakthrough within a low-cost package with maximizing data gathering.
