Double-Bellows Valve for Reliable Gas Injection Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Oil wells with insufficient natural pressure or viscosity face challenges in maintaining commercial production, as existing systems like water and gas injection methods are not always effective in displacing completion fluid and initiating production.
Innovation Solution
A pressure-controlled valve device with a double bellows mechanism that allows controlled fluid injection into the tubing, utilizing a pressure-sensitive bellows device to open and close based on predefined pressure differences, ensuring efficient displacement of completion fluid and initiation of production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional pressure-controlled valve is used to inject gas into the annulus, then gas injection can be achieved, but the valve may fail to operate reliably within a predefined pressure range due to hydraulic locking
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows is divided into multiple segments (first bellows and second bellows) that can expand and contract independently. This segmentation allows the valve to operate reliably within a predefined pressure range by preventing hydraulic locking, as each segment can respond to pressure changes without being constrained by a single continuous structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve incorporates a dynamic bellows structure that can adapt its shape and volume in response to pressure changes. The bellows expands when pressure increases and contracts when pressure decreases, enabling the valve to maintain reliable operation within the predefined pressure range while managing the complexity through controlled dynamic behavior.
2Productivity
If gas injection is used to displace completion fluid, then production can be initiated, but the process may be inefficient if the valve cannot control pressure differentials precisely
Solution Approach 1:
The valve incorporates a feedback mechanism where the bellows responds to pressure differential changes across the valve. As pressure increases, the bellows expands and triggers valve opening; as pressure decreases, the bellows contracts and closes the valve. This feedback loop enables precise control of pressure differentials, optimizing gas injection efficiency for production initiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces complex mechanical pressure control mechanisms with a pressure-sensitive bellows structure that automatically responds to pressure changes. This substitution simplifies the control system while maintaining precise pressure differential management, improving productivity through efficient automated valve operation during gas injection.
3Ease of operation
If the valve opens completely to allow fluid flow, then displacement of completion fluid is achieved, but leakage across the valve seat causes hydraulic locking
Solution Approach 1:
The valve employs a flexible bellows structure that can expand and contract to control valve opening and closing. The bellows acts as a flexible membrane that responds to pressure changes, allowing the valve to open efficiently for fluid displacement while maintaining reliable closing without leakage-induced hydraulic locking through its elastic recovery properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The valve device effectively displaces completion fluid from the annulus to the tubing, enabling production by managing pressure differentials and ensuring reliable gas injection, even in low-pressure wells or after shut-in conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure-sensitive bellows device (6) arranged in the longitudinal bore (103)
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a valve device which is employed in connection with oil and gas wells with the object of increasing the well's production. The valve device comprises an external housing (1), where at least one inlet (4) in the external housing (1) is connected to an outlet (5) through a longitudinal bore in the housing's (1) longitudinal direction. Furthermore, between the valve device's inlet and outlet (4, 5) there is mounted a valve seat (2) in the bore, where a valve body (3) shuts off the connection between the inlet and the outlet (4, 5). The valve body's (3) position is controlled by a support (20), which support (20) is connected with a pressure-sensitive bellows device (6) comprising an upper and a lower bellows element (7, 71). At a given external pressure, the lower bellows element (71) in the bellows device (6) will be compressed in the valve device's axial direction, whereby this compression causes the two bellows elements' (7, 71) impact elements to be moved relative to each other, thereby causing the valve body (3) to be lifted out of abutment with the valve (2).