Patent ID: 11959370
Assignee: NCS MULTISTAGE, INC.
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC E | IPC E

Claim 0:
1. A fracturing and tracer-delivery valve assembly for integration within a wellbore string disposed within a hydrocarbon-containing reservoir, comprising:
a valve housing comprising a tubular wall defining a central passage therethrough and a plurality of frac ports extending through the tubular wall for establishing fluid communication between the central passage and the reservoir;
a bottom sleeve operatively mounted within the valve housing and slidable within the central passage between a closed position and an open position to selectively open the frac ports, the bottom sleeve having a channel therethrough; and
a top sleeve operatively mounted within the valve housing uphole of the bottom sleeve, the top sleeve and the valve housing defining an annulus therebetween, the top sleeve having uphole and downhole ends and a channel provided therethrough and being slidable within the central passage between (i) a first position defining a first fluid pathway whereby fluid is flowable down into the central passage at an uphole end of the housing, through the channel of the top sleeve and into the reservoir via the frac ports, and (ii) a tracing position defining a second fluid pathway whereby fluid is flowable from the reservoir into the annulus, upward along the annulus, and then into the central passage of the valve housing proximate an uphole end of the top sleeve; and
a tracer compartment defined within the annulus and accommodating a tracer material, wherein:
in the first position, the uphole and downhole ends of the top sleeve are in sealing engagement with the valve housing to define the tracer compartment as a sealed section of the annulus that is isolated from fluid flowing along the first fluid pathway, and
in the tracing position, the tracer compartment forms part of the second fluid pathway.