Autonomous Inflow Control Valve
AICV® technology improves oil production by reducing unwanted gas and water breakthrough. This enables mature oil fields to be more profitable by supporting oil production from zones that would have typically been bypassed.
Autonomous Inflow Control Valve
Horizontal wells ensure maximum reservoir contact yet non-uniform well drainage creates gas and/or water breakthrough due to heterogeneous reservoirs with permeability variations and fractures along with friction inside the liner/tubing.
This then causes: Non-uniform oil influx along the well, High gas oil ratio (GOR) and/or water cut (WC) which reduces oil production and recovery.
The AICV® manage these issues by reducing or stopping the unwanted gas and water production within the reservoir. AICV® remain ‘open’ for oil saturated zones and autonomously ‘choke’ water and gas zones and will close fully depending upon the portion of water, gas and oil cut (WC) or gas volume factor. AICV® can be tailored to produce more water and gas if the operator would like a weaker AICV®.
As the AICV® autonomously ‘open’ for oil zones, operators can achieve increased oil production by increasing the drawdown as this will apply more reservoir-draw down which improves recovery. At multiphase flow conditions, The AICV® gradually choke, thus promoting better oil production. The AICV® can be designed for all reservoir types.
The Physics of the Autonomous Inflow Control Valve
Calculating the Mobility Ratio of Water & Gas to Oil
Unwanted Water & Gas Production in the Oil Industry
