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Abstract Brazilian Pre-Salt wells located in ultradeep water, capable of producing 70,000 barrels per day, have been, for years, strong candidates for Electric Intelligent Well Completions as means to increase the recovery factor of the fields in Santos Basin. For this purpose, an R&D project for an Electric Inflow Control Valve for 4-1/2 in. tubing string size, following a methodology for Technology Readiness Level progression and reliability adopted by the biggest Brazilian oil company, was carried out from 2014 to 2019. Environmental conditions, like pressures up to 16,500 psi, temperatures up to 150 °C 302 °F and differential pressure opening of 1,500 psi, were challenging to the tool design. Additionally, during the electric valve’s development, there was no technical specification for Electric Intelligent Well Completions, so standards like API 17F for the vibration of the embedded electronics boards were also followed. The tool was divided into physical modules as part of a development strategy. That revealed to be a good approach, as some of those demanding specifications were not yet met in 2019 for testing the fully assembled prototype in any Brazilian laboratory. Test fixtures for selected modules, which would later be integrated into the prototype, were developed so that those parts could be tested individually. The full-scale prototype was then fully assembled and mechanically tested to attend the specified operational static axial loads and cyclic loading and unloading. A second full-scale prototype was built to perform flow characterization and erosion tests. At the end of the development, a System Integration Test, with a spool of tube encapsulated cable simulating their predicted length in a field installation, was performed to prove the actuation and sensing functionalities of the two prototypes with the subsea control boards and human-interface machine. Results from the testing program and the performance the electromechanical actuation led to a second phase of the Electric Inflow Control Valve development focusing on improving the flow portion to achieve the resistance to 3,000 psi of differential pressure while opening. Moving from a printed-circuit board to a hybrid technology for the valve’s embedded electronics is also a necessary step to increase the reliability of the system and meet the operator’s target. By using the same concept-proven electromechanical actuator, with the addition of a fail-safe device, an Electric Surface-Controlled Subsurface Safety Valve is being developed. Both projects are expected to achieve the TRL 6 by the end of 2024.
SAWAGUCHI et al. (Mon,) studied this question.