US 11,851,995 B2
Smart choke valve to regulate well sand production
Abdulrahman Ahmari, Dhahran (SA)
Assigned to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhabran (SA)
Filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhahran (SA)
Filed on Feb. 17, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/674,545.
Application 17/674,545 is a continuation of application No. 15/930,895, filed on May 13, 2020, granted, now 11,333,010.
Prior Publication US 2022/0170351 A1, Jun. 2, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. E21B 43/12 (2006.01); E21B 34/02 (2006.01); G05D 7/06 (2006.01); E21B 47/06 (2012.01)
CPC E21B 43/12 (2013.01) [E21B 34/025 (2020.05); G05D 7/0623 (2013.01); E21B 47/06 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A hydrocarbon well system comprising:
a smart choke valve system that is configured to regulate flow of production fluid from a wellbore of a hydrocarbon well, the smart choke valve system comprising:
a choke valve configured to operate at different choke settings to regulate the flow of production fluid from the wellbore;
a sand sensor configured to sense amounts of sand production in production fluid flowing through the choke valve; and
a choke valve control system configured to control operation of the choke valve, the choke valve control system configured to perform the following operations:
obtain, from a well control system of the hydrocarbon well:
a well profile for the well, the well profile comprising a sand production profile that defines a relationship of sand production of the hydrocarbon well to settings of the choke valve; and
a first choke setting;
control the choke valve to operate at the first choke setting;
determine, based on the well profile, a lower sand production threshold that is indicative of a minimum amount of sand production for the first choke setting;
determine, based on sand production measurements acquired by way of the sand sensor while the choke valve is operating at the first choke setting, a first amount of sand production of the well;
determine whether the first amount of sand production is below the lower sand production threshold; and
in response to determining that the first amount of sand production is below the lower sand production threshold:
determine, based on the well profile, a second choke setting that corresponds to a second production flowrate that is greater than a first production flowrate associated with the first choke setting; and
control, in response to determining the second choke setting, the choke valve to operate at the second choke setting.