Downhole ICV Control for Stable ESP Intake Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Operating inflow control valves (ICVs) in hydrocarbon wells to maintain sufficient pump intake pressure for electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) is often a trial-and-error process, leading to inefficiencies and potential damage to ESP components due to suboptimal pressure settings, resulting in increased costs and downtime.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for assessing and operating ICVs by conducting isolated and comingled production flow testing to determine optimal valve configurations that maintain ESP intake pressure within the operating range, using models of fluid pressure gradients to predict and adjust valve states for efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ICVs are operated using trial-and-error methods, then valve configurations can be adjusted, but ESP intake pressure cannot be maintained within optimal range, leading to pump starvation and component damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where ESP intake pressure is continuously monitored and fed back to the ICV control system. The controller automatically adjusts ICV positions based on the feedback signal to maintain intake pressure within the optimal range, eliminating trial-and-error operations and preventing pump starvation.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system enables the well production system to self-regulate by automatically adjusting ICV configurations in response to measured ESP intake pressure. The system serves itself by using the pressure measurement to directly control valve positioning without requiring external manual intervention or trial-and-error adjustments.
2Reliability
If ICVs are frequently adjusted to find optimal pressure settings, then ESP intake pressure can be optimized, but operational time and costs increase due to repeated adjustments and downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous feedback loop enables real-time monitoring and automatic adjustment of ICV positions. Once the optimal pressure range is established, the system maintains it automatically without requiring repeated manual adjustments, significantly reducing the time lost to valve operations and minimizing production downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes optimal ICV configurations in advance through automated control based on pressure feedback. Once the optimal settings are determined, the system pre-configures and maintains these settings, eliminating the need for frequent re-adjustments and reducing the cumulative time required for valve operations.
3Ease of operation
If ICVs are operated without precise pressure control, then operational simplicity is maintained, but ESP components suffer wear and damage due to suboptimal intake pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback-controlled system automatically maintains ESP intake pressure within the optimal range by continuously monitoring pressure and adjusting ICV positions. This eliminates the need for complex manual pressure control while preventing harmful conditions such as pump starvation that lead to component wear and damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system protects itself by using automated feedback control to maintain optimal operating conditions. The ICV control system serves the ESP by automatically adjusting valve positions to ensure adequate intake pressure, preventing component damage without requiring complex external intervention or manual monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are techniques for operating a hydrocarbon well having inflow control valves (ICVs) and an electrical submersible pump (ESP) disposed in a wellbore of the well. Baseline production data is acquired for a relatively small subset of the possible operating configurations of ICVs in the well, the baseline data is assessed to model fluid pressure gradients in the wellbore, and the modeled fluid pressure gradients are used to estimate an ESP intake pressure for one or more configurations of the ICVs, and the ICVs are controlled to operate in accordance with an ICV configuration associated with an estimated ESP intake pressure that is within an operating intake pressure range for the ESP.