Tese: Development of an electromechanical actuator for downhole inflow control valves
Aluno(a) : Ricardo Naoyuki Alves de Moraes SawaguchiOrientador(a): Arthur Braga
Área de Concentração: Mecânica Aplicada
Data: 28/05/2024
Link para tese/dissertação: https://doi.org/10.17771/PUCRio.acad.68417
Resumo: Brazilian Pre-Salt wells located in ultradeep water, capable of producing 70,000 barrels per day, have been, for years, strong candidates for electric, intelligent well completions as means to increase the recovery factor of the fields in Santos Basin. The present dissertation presents the studies and results that lead to the development of the prototype of an Electric Inflow Control Valve for 4-1/2" (114.3 mm) tubing string size, following a methodology for Technology Readiness Level progression and reliability. Environmental conditions, like operating pressures of up to 16,500 psi (113.8 MPa), temperatures up to 150 ºC (302 ºF) and differential pressure opening of 1,500 psi (10.3 MPa), were challenging to the tool design. Additionally, during the electric valve's prototype development, there was no technical specification for Electric Intelligent Well Completions, so standards like API 17F for the vibration of the embedded electronics boards were also followed. The tool was divided into physical modules as part of a development strategy. That revealed to be a good approach, as some of those demanding specifications were not for testing the fully assembled prototype in any Brazilian laboratory. Test fixtures for selected modules, which would later be integrated into the prototype, were developed so that those parts could be tested individually. The full-scale prototype was then fully assembled and mechanically tested to attend the specified operational static axial loads and cyclic loading and unloading. A second full-scale prototype was built to perform flow characterization and erosion tests. At the end of the development, a System Integration Test, with a spool of tube encapsulated cable simulating their predicted length in a field installation, was performed to prove the actuation and sensing functionalities of the two prototypes with the subsea control boards and human-interface machine. Methodology of all test and their results are described in this work.