Development of position sensor of inflow control valve for intelligent completion

The accurate regulation of the flow rate of the inflow control valve is the core technology of production fluid control in intelligent completion. The accurate monitoring of the inflow control valve opening is the key technology to realizing its intelligent closed-loop control. The existing hydraulic inflow control valve in China has no sliding sleeve position sensor and thus cannot accurately position the opening of the sliding sleeve and achieve the precise control of production. In this study, the position sensor of the inflow control valve was developed by adopting a concentric linear structure, which can accurately measure the position of the sliding sleeve of the inflow control valve, integrate a single-core cable power supply and signal transmission technology, and share single-core steel pipe cables with the downhole electronic monitoring systems of intelligent completion in China. In China, the position sensor of the inflow control valve can be simply and quickly connected with the hydraulic inflow control valve without the need to modify the structure of the hydraulic inflow control valve, which is convenient for quick use and has strong versatility. Field test results show that the position sensor of the inflow control valve realizes the accurate positioning of the hydraulic inflow control valve and achieves the purpose. The development of this tool bridges the gap in the opening measurement of the hydraulic inflow control valve in China and lays the foundation for realizing the closed-loop intelligent control of the inflow control valve of intelligent completion.