Autonomous selective shifting tool
View Patent ↗A system for fracturing a hydrocarbon bearing formation includes a valve including a tubular housing having a bore therethrough and one or more flow ports formed through a wall thereof. One or more locator tags are embedded in the housing, and a sleeve is disposed in the housing and movable relative thereto between an open and a closed position. The system also includes a shifting tool comprising a shifter movable between an extended position and a retracted position and operable to engage the valve sleeve. The shifting tool includes a lock that keeps the shifter extended in the locked position and allows the shifter to retract in the unlocked position. The shifting tool also includes an antenna for detecting the locator tags, and an electronics package in communication with the antenna and the actuator for operating the actuator in response to detection of the locator tags.
1. A system for fracturing a zone of a hydrocarbon bearing formation, comprising:
a valve, comprising:
a tubular housing for assembly as part of a string of tubulars and having a bore therethrough and one or more flow ports formed through a wall thereof;
one or more locator tags embedded in the housing; and
a sleeve disposed in the housing and longitudinally movable relative thereto between an open position and a closed position,
wherein the sleeve seals the ports from the bore in the closed position and exposes the ports to the bore in the open position; and
a shifting tool for deployment through the tubular string, comprising:
a shifter movable between an extended position and a retracted position and operable to engage the valve sleeve in the extended position and pass through the valve sleeve in the retracted position;
a lock movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the lock keeping the shifter extended in the locked position and allowing the shifter to retract in the unlocked position;
an actuator connected to the lock and operable to at least move the lock from the unlocked position to the locked position;
an antenna for detecting the locator tags;
an electronics package in communication with the antenna and the actuator for operating the actuator in response to detection of the locator tags; and
a work line rope socket connected to the electronics package and the antenna.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the antenna is positioned at an upper end of the shifting tool, and
the shifting tool further comprises a lower antenna located at a lower end of the shifting tool.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein:
the tags are an upper set positioned above the ports, and
the valve further comprises a lower set of one or more locator tags positioned below the ports.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the sets are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to a length of the shifting tool.
5. The system of claim 3 , wherein:
the tags are encoded with an address of the valve, and
the tags of each set are encoded with a position of the respective set.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tags are radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the shifting tool further comprises a battery for powering the electronics package.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the shifter is a collet having split fingers, each finger having an enlarged portion.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the enlarged portions have ramped surfaces at ends thereof, and
the valve sleeve has corresponding ramped surfaces at ends thereof.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the tags are encoded with an address of the valve,
the system further comprises a second valve having one or more locator tags embedded in a housing thereof,
the tags are encoded with a second address of the second valve, and
the electronics package is programmable to operate the actuator in response to detection of one of the addresses and not operate the actuator in response to detection of the other one of the addresses.
11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a tractor for driving the shifting tool through the tubular string.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the tractor is connectable to the electronics package for operation of the tractor by the electronics package.
13. A method for fracturing one or more zones of a hydrocarbon bearing formation, comprising:
programming a shifting tool to selectively open one or more valves of a tubular string set in the wellbore;
deploying the shifting tool through the tubular string using a work line; and
during deployment:
detecting an unselected valve by the shifting tool;
passing through the unselected valve;
detecting the selected valve by the shifting tool, wherein the shifting tool actuates a lock from an unlocked position to a locked position in response to detection of the selected valve, the lock keeping a shifter of the shifting tool extended in the locked position and allowing the shifter to retract in the unlocked position; and
opening the selected valve with the shifter of the locked shifting tool.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
parking the shifting tool in the tubular string after opening the selected valve;
fracturing the zone adjacent to the open valve; and
retrieving the shifting tool through the tubular string using the work line; and
during retrieval:
detecting the selected valve by the shifting tool, wherein the shifting tool actuates to a locked position in response to detection of the selected valve;
closing the selected valve by the locked shifting tool
detecting the unselected valve by the shifting tool;
passing through the unselected valve.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the shifting tool is deployed also using a tractor.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the tractor is operated by the shifting tool.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the work line is slickline or wire rope.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein detecting the selected valve includes detecting locator tags with an antenna.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the locator tags are encoded with an address of the valve.