Smart Well Control

B y O ka fo r S t a n l e y
Outline
• Introduction

• Aim & Objectives

• Smart wells

• Parts of a smart well

• Importance of smart wells

• Applications of smart wells

• Challenges of smart wells

June 18 2
 Introduction
(Case Study)
• Consider the recovery process of oil

• Expansion of fluids

• Supplementary recovery (waterflooding)

• Wat e r p o s e s p ro b l e m s ( co r ro s i o n )

FIG: A Hydrocarbon Reservoir

• More water lead to more problems

• Smart wells help in reducing water cut

June 18 3
 Aim & Objectives

A i m : To e n l i g h t e n y o u o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e ( s ) a n d a p p l i c a t i o n ( s ) o f s m a r t w e l l s

Objectives:

• Description of smart wells

• Importance of smart wells

• Applications of smart wells

June 18 4
 Smart Wells
• Otherwise called intelligent wells/completions

• Came about in the 1980s

• What is “smart ”?

• Are the most advanced brand of unconventional wells, which provide permanent

monitoring & control of production or injection in real time without any physical

intervention.

• This allows us to go from reactive to proactive production control (J.D Jansen, 2001)

• How do smart wells work?

June 18 5
 • Certain components facilitate
the measure, model, control
process

Feedback control loop (Jansen J.D, 2001)

June 18 6
 Parts of a SW
• Surface controlled downhole
i n sta l l e d I C Vs

• Sensors

• Packers

• SCADA system interface

• Communication & control lines

FIG: INTELLIGENT WELL TECHNOLOGY [HERIOT WATT

UNIVERSITY, 2005]

June 18 7
 Inflow Control Valves
• A l s o c a l l e d I n t e r va l C Vs

• Wo r k s l i ke a n y o t h e r va l v e ( i m p o s e s a p re s s u re p ro f i l e )

• It is the “heart ” of a SW

• B i n a r y o r Va r i a b l e c o n t ro l m o d e

• Proactive or Reactive control mechanism

• Optimization of ICV configuration can be carried out using algorithms

June 18 8
 Sensors
• They acquire a physical quantity and convert it into a signal suitable

for processing

• T h e y m e a s u r e P, T, f l o w r a t e , w a t e r c u t & d e n s i t y

• G e n e r a l l y, w e h a v e O p t i c a l / E l e c t r i c a l / M a g n e t i c / E l e c t r o - m a g n e t i c

sensors

• Single point measurement of P & T (downhole gauges)

• DTS (Distributed temperature sensing) is a recent development that

uses a thin glass optical fibre

June 18 9
 Packers
• Packers empl oy f l ex i ble el astomeri c el ement s t hat ex pand (schlumberger web page)

• Provide zonal segregation & isolation of produced fluids & pressures

• Installed in the annulus between tubing and casing (or well)

• Pro duc tio n (test) and Inflatable packers

• Can be set mechanically (tension, rotation, compression)

or hydraulically (applying pressure in the tubing to

cause a pressure 𝛿 i n t he annul us) or elec trically (packer

is set using a wireline setting tool

a) Parts of a Packer (Petrowiki webpage)

b) Visual of isolation packer in the annulus

June 18 10
 SCADA system interface
• S u p e r v i s o r y, C o n t r o l , A l a r m a n d D a t a A c q u i s i t i o n ( S C A D A ) i s a s y s t e m o f c o m p u t e r s

• I t i s a cont rol system archi tect ure t hat uses, net worked data communi cat i ons and

graphical user interfaces for high level supervisory management

• I t al so uses ot her peri pheral devi ces l i ke PLCs and di screte PI D cont rol l ers –Part i al

integral derivate (continuously calculates an error value between desired set point &

measured variable and applies a correction)

• G e n e r a l l y, c o n s i s t s o f S u p e r v i s o r y c o m p u t e r s , R T U s ( r e m o t e t e r m i n a l u n i t ) o r P L C s

(programmable logic controller) - offer control capabilities, communication

infrastructure & HMI (human machine interface) - operator window

June 18 11
 Importance of Smart Wells
• It helps in real time monitoring of downhole temperatures and pressures

• It provides surface controlled production from each zone (or lateral)

• It increases ultimate recovery and hence NPV

• It extends the economic life of a well

• It allows for production testing of individual zones (with minimal

production interruptions)

June 18 12
 Applications of Smart Wells
• Dealing with coning • Multilateral well production

FIG: Multilateral well (Brouwer, 2004)

FIG: Water Coning [Mohan Keklar, 2008]

Coning is the movement of fluids (gas/water) A multilateral well is a well with 2 or more

towards the perforations, due to the pressure laterals and/or sub -laterals, connected to the

differential, resulting in the formation of a first generation bore. The advent of SWs offer

cone-like shape control & monitoring of each lateral

June 18 13
 Challenges of Smart Wells
• Expensive adoption of smart wells to mature fields

• Rig time and expertise required for smart well technology installation

• Reliability of components

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