Atomic battery powered downhole completions assembly

1. A downhole completions assembly for installing in a well at an oilfield and comprising:

one of a sensor mechanism, an actuator mechanism and a wireless communication device; and

a nano-based beta voltaic battery coupled to one of said mechanisms for effective supply of power thereto for an uninterrupted period exceeding about two years.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the period is greater than about 20 years.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said battery is configured to provide between about 5 watts and about 15 watts.

4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said battery is of an efficiency substantially exceeding about 5%.

5. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a trickle-charge battery coupled to said atomic battery for recharge thereof.

6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said actuator mechanism is of one of an electro-mechanical variety, and an electric drive hydraulic pump.

7. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a production intake valve for recovering fluid production from the well, said valve coupled to said actuator mechanism for governing thereof.

8. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:

an autonomous completions portion accommodating said atomic battery and the one of said sensor and actuator mechanisms; and

a surface connected completions portion coupled to surface equipment adjacent the well.

9. The assembly of claim 8 wherein the well is a multi-lateral well and said autonomous completions portion is a first autonomous completions portion, the assembly further comprising a second autonomous completions portion accommodating a second atomic battery and one of a second sensor mechanism and actuator mechanism.

10. The assembly of claim 8 further comprising:

a lower transceiver coupled to said autonomous portion; and

an upper transceiver coupled to said surface connected portion and configured for wireless communication with said lower transceiver so as to relay data between the surface equipment and the one of said sensor and actuator mechanisms.

11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the wireless communication is radio frequency in nature.

12. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the surface equipment comprises a control unit configured for one of monitoring the data, analyzing the data, and directing the actuator mechanism based thereon.

13. A downhole completions assembly for installing in a well at an oilfield and comprising:

one of a sensor mechanism, an actuator mechanism and a wireless communication device; and

an atomic battery coupled to one of the mechanisms for effective supply of power thereto for an uninterrupted period exceeding about two years, wherein the battery comprises a radioactive power source accommodated by a silicon-based substrate in a manner enhancing surface to volume ratio of interfacing therebetween.

14. A method of employing a downhole completions assembly in a well, the method comprising:

supplying substantially continuous power to one of a sensor and an actuator of the assembly for substantially the life of the well with an atomic battery;

running a downhole application through the assembly for one of acquiring downhole condition data via the sensor and performing an actuation via the actuator;

installing the autonomous portion in a lateral leg; and

installing a surface connected portion of the assembly in a main bore of the well adjacent the lateral leg.

15. The sensor mechanism of claim 14 wherein the sensor is configured to acquire data relative downhole conditions for substantially continuous monitoring thereof.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the performing of the actuation is based on the data acquired by the acquiring.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing the data to a control unit coupled to the surface connected portion in at least a partially wireless manner for analysis thereat; and

employing the control unit to direct the performing in at least a partially wireless manner.