In situ injection or production via a well using selective operation of multi-valve assemblies with choked configurations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12442280-B2
Application number	US-202318347286-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2023
Priority date	Sep 27, 2019
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

Oil recovery can include providing a tubing string and isolation devices to define isolated intervals for an existing well previously operated using plug-and-perf and primary production. Valve assemblies are installed in respective isolated intervals, each valve assembly including at least two valves. The valve can be operated in open and closed configurations, and at least one open configuration provides choked flow via an elongated passage. The valves can have a housing and a shiftable sleeve. The valve assemblies can be operated to provide a desired openness based on the injectivity or other properties by shifting the sleeves of the valves. Different flow resistance levels can be provided to facilitate enhanced operations for water flooding and other oil recovery processes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A valve system for integration within a wellbore string disposed in a wellbore defined within a subterranean reservoir having a plurality of wellbore intervals isolated from one another along a horizontal section of the wellbore, comprising:
a valve assembly comprising:
a valve housing comprising a tubular wall defining a fluid passage therethrough and in fluid communication with the wellbore string, the valve housing having a housing port extending through the tubular wall for establishing fluid communication between the fluid passage and the reservoir; and
a valve sleeve operatively mounted within the valve housing and comprising an occluding member and an outlet, the valve sleeve being shiftable along the fluid passage between:
a closed configuration, where the occluding member occludes the housing port to prevent fluid communication between the fluid passage and the reservoir; and
an open configuration, where the outlet is aligned with the housing port to enable fluid flow between the fluid passage and the reservoir at a restricted flowrate;

an auxiliary valve assembly comprising:
an auxiliary valve housing comprising an auxiliary tubular wall defining an auxiliary fluid passage therethrough and in fluid communication with the wellbore string, the auxiliary valve housing having an auxiliary housing port extending through the auxiliary tubular wall for establishing fluid communication between the auxiliary fluid passage and the reservoir; and
an auxiliary valve sleeve operatively mounted within the auxiliary valve housing and comprising an auxiliary occluding member and an auxiliary outlet, the auxiliary valve sleeve being shiftable along the fluid passage between:
a closed configuration, where the auxiliary occluding member occludes the auxiliary housing port to prevent fluid communication between the auxiliary fluid passage and the reservoir; and
an auxiliary open configuration, where the auxiliary outlet is aligned with the auxiliary housing port to enable fluid flow between the auxiliary fluid passage and the reservoir at an auxiliary flowrate,

wherein at least one of the valve sleeve and the auxiliary valve sleeve comprises a fluid channel comprising:
a channel inlet defined on an inner side of the valve sleeve and communicating with the fluid passage;
a channel outlet defined on an outer side of the valve sleeve; and
a tortuous channel portion extending between the channel inlet and the channel outlet, the tortuous channel portion being defined along the outer side of the valve sleeve and having a tortuous length configured to adjust fluid flowrate between the fluid passage and the reservoir at the restricted flowrate or the auxiliary flowrate.

2. The valve system of claim 1 , wherein each wellbore interval comprises at least one valve assembly, at least one auxiliary valve assembly or a combination thereof.

3. The valve system of claim 2 , wherein each wellbore interval comprises no more than one valve assembly.

4. The valve system of claim 2 , wherein the valve sleeve comprises a secondary outlet adapted to be aligned with the housing port for configuring the valve assembly in a secondary open configuration, where fluid flow between the fluid passage and the reservoir is enabled at a secondary restricted flowrate.

5. The valve system of claim 4 , wherein the restricted flowrate is different than the secondary restricted flowrate.

6. The valve system of claim 4 , wherein the auxiliary flowrate is greater than the restricted flowrate and the secondary restricted flowrate.

7. The valve system of claim 4 , wherein the secondary outlet of the valve sleeve includes a secondary fluid channel extending between the inner side and the outer side of the valve sleeve, the secondary fluid channel being shaped and sized to create the secondary restricted flowrate.

8. The valve system of claim 7 , wherein the secondary fluid channel includes a secondary channel inlet opening on the inner side of the valve sleeve and communicating with the fluid passage, a secondary channel outlet opening on the outer side of the valve sleeve and a secondary tortuous channel portion extending between the secondary channel inlet and the secondary channel outlet, the secondary tortuous channel portion being defined along the outer side of the valve sleeve and having a secondary tortuous length configured to restrict fluid flowrate between the fluid passage and the reservoir at the secondary restricted flowrate.

9. The valve system of claim 1 , wherein the valve sleeve is releasably secured to the valve housing during deployment and prior to being shifted, and wherein the auxiliary valve sleeve is releasably secured to the auxiliary valve housing during deployment and prior to being shifted.

10. The valve system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the valve sleeve and the auxiliary valve sleeve is deployed in the closed configuration.

11. The valve system of claim 10 , wherein the valve sleeve is adapted to be shifted in an uphole direction or a downhole direction for disposition thereof in the open configuration, and wherein the auxiliary valve sleeve is adapted to be shifted in one of the uphole direction and the downhole direction for disposition thereof in the auxiliary open configuration.

12. The valve assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tubular wall of the valve housing overlays the tortuous channel portion of the fluid channel such that fluid flows along the fluid channel between the outer side of the valve sleeve and an inner surface of the tubular wall prior to flowing through the channel outlet.

13. A valve assembly for integration within a wellbore string disposed within a subterranean reservoir, comprising:
a valve housing comprising a tubular wall defining a fluid passage therethrough and having a housing outlet extending through the tubular wall for establishing fluid communication between the fluid passage and the reservoir;
a valve sleeve operatively mounted within the valve housing and comprising an occluding member, a first flow modulator, and a second flow modulator, the valve sleeve being shiftable along the fluid passage between:
a closed configuration, where the occluding member occludes the housing outlet to prevent fluid communication between the fluid passage and the reservoir;
a first open configuration, where the first flow modulator is in fluid communication with the housing outlet to enable fluid flow between the fluid passage and the reservoir; and
a second open configuration, where the second flow modulator is in fluid communication with the housing outlet to enable fluid communication between the fluid passage and the reservoir,
wherein at least one of the first and second flow modulators includes a fluid channel comprising:
a channel inlet defined on an inner side of the valve sleeve and communicating with the fluid passage;
a channel outlet defined on an outer side of the valve sleeve; and
a channel portion extending between the channel inlet and the channel outlet, the channel portion being defined along the outer side of the valve sleeve such that, upon positioning the valve sleeve in the first open configuration or the second open configuration, fluid is allowed to flow through the channel inlet and into the channel portion, through the channel portion along the outer side of the valve sleeve, through the channel outlet, and through the housing outlet into the reservoir.

14. The valve assembly of claim 13 , wherein the first flow modulator has a first resistance to fluid flowrate and is configured to restrict fluid flowrate between the fluid passage and the reservoir, and wh

Assignees

• Ncs Multistage Inc

Inventors

• Johnson Timothy
• Werries Michael
• Laun Lyle

Classifications

• E21B2200/02

  Down-hole chokes or valves for variably regulating fluid flow · CPC title

• E21B43/162

  Injecting fluid from longitudinally spaced locations in injection well · CPC title

• E21B43/20

  Displacing by water · CPC title

• E21B43/168

  Injecting a gaseous medium · CPC title

• E21B2200/06

  Sleeve valves · CPC title