Research of Smart Completion Driven by Internet of Things and Its Application on a Highly-Deviated Well
Authors: Jin Fu , Longlian Cui , Guobin Yang , Qi Liu , Chen Chen 
Published: November 2023

The oil and gas sector industry is actively embracing the integration of remotely monitored and controlled well completions. This technological advancement, commonly known as "intelligent completions," has experienced rapid progress in recent years, showcasing advantages such as heightened recovery rates and accelerated production. Notably, cost savings derived from reduced well interventions offer additional returns, particularly for wells characterized by multilateral configurations, subsea locations, or unmanned platform setups. The adoption of this technology continues to gain momentum due to the proven value demonstrated through field installations. The implementation of intelligent completions has become pervasive, with around 3000 systems deployed by the conclusion of 2022.

With the rapid development of the economy and society, as well as the continuous deepening of oilfield development, the traditional on-site management model of oilfield personnel for oil-water wells has increased the labor costs for enterprises. In response to this, by means of a digital intelligent water injection monitoring system driven by Internet of Things (IoT), oilfield managers can monitor and control water injection equipment anytime and anywhere, realizing convenient management.

The remote wireless intelligent water injection device mainly consists of an underground intelligent water distributor, a surface control unit, and a remote-control system, constituting a wireless visualized production control system. This system, through real-time monitoring of individual well water injection status and coordination with water injection and production data across the entire block, conducts big data analysis to effectively enhance reservoir development efficiency. The intelligent water distributor is equipped with pressure sensors, temperature sensors, and flow meters, enabling the monitoring of subsurface pressure, temperature, and related data. The surface control unit acts as the central unit connecting the underground actuator and the computer terminal. The wellhead controller assembly collects and transmits data on subsurface layer pressure and flow, automatically and intelligently controlling the flow of each subsurface layer. The remote-control system is composed of a surface computer system, a wireless network or the internet, and a communication network between the surface and the underground intelligent water distributor. The surface computer system mainly employs piezoelectric pulses and compiled communication waves to achieve bidirectional control and communication between the wellhead controller and the underground intelligent water distributor. The remote intelligent signal wave serves as the medium for information transmission between underground and surface levels. It generates a wave through the opening and closing of the nozzle, causing pressure variations, forming a single wave, with every 5 waves constituting a signal wave group.

The wireless intelligent water injection technology was first applied on an intelligent unmanned platform in the Bohai Oilfield in 2019. Well M located on the platform is a highly-deviated water injector with a depth of 4419.60 meters. The wellbore deviation for the interval from 968.57 to 4424.00 meters exceeds 60 degrees, making conventional zonal water injection techniques inadequate for meeting the requirements of designated layers. The remote wireless intelligent water injection technology ensured a higher water absorption index for the first to third layers, achieving the goal of efficient water injection development.