Abstract
One of the limitations of the conventional gas lift system is that it requires wireline intervention step to swap the dummy gas-lift valve placed to facilitate well-pressurization with a live gas-lift valve needed for well production. This wireline intervention step can be costly, can cause HS&E issues, and can delay the hydrocarbon production. Hence, operators look for ways of bringing well to production without having to employ the wireline intervention.
The current paper discusses an intelligent gas-lift valve, which switches from a "dummy valve" configuration to "live valve" configuration without the need of external wireline intervention. The switch from dummy to live valve occurs via use of a temporary dis-integrable plug made out of proprietary degradable alloy, which completely degrades away in the well after the duration chosen by the operation. The valve design, the degradable alloy's property, and laboratory results aimed at demonstrating the usefulness of the intelligent GLV is discussed.
