SELECTIVE SLEEVE FOR USE WITH INFLOW CONTROL DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD

BACKGROUND

A wellbore may be drilled into a subterranean formation to produce one or more fluids from the subterranean formation. For example, a wellbore may be used to produce a hydrocarbon from the subterranean formation. Other fluids, such as water, may be produced alongside the hydrocarbon. The production of water may negatively impact the production of hydrocarbons, and additional processing of the produced fluids may be performed to separate the water from the hydrocarbons.

An inflow control device may be used to control the production of water without impact to the production of hydrocarbons. However, sometimes it may be desirable to quickly produce water before production has begun such as when a wellbore operator needs to pressurize wellbore equipment with flow back from the drilling fluid or a completion fluid. For example, a packer may be set by pressurizing the setting tool with flow back of the drilling fluid or completion brine, in which case restriction with an inflow control device could slow or impede this operation.

Controlling flow back and an inflow control device is an important part of a wellbore operation. The present invention provides improved apparatus and methods for the use of a selective sleeve to control flow back into a conduit as well as the operation of an inflow control device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative examples of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating an example sleeve assembly in its run-in-hole configuration in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating the example sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 in its closed configuration in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating the example sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 in its fully open configuration in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating the example sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 after decoupling of the selective sleeve from the bottom sleeve in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged illustration of the coupling mechanism for the selective sleeve and bottom sleeve in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged illustration of the coupling mechanism for the selective sleeve and bottom sleeve after decoupling in accordance with one or more examples described herein

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustrating the example sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 except the sleeve assembly utilizes an atmospheric chamber instead of a spring in accordance with one or more examples described herein;

FIG. 8A is a schematic illustrating the example sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 except the sleeve assembly utilizes a second shearable element in accordance with one or more examples described herein; and

FIG. 8B is an enlarged view of the second shearable element of FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more examples described herein.

The illustrated figures are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environment, architecture, design, or process in which different examples may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of several illustrative examples, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific examples that may be practiced. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice them, and it is to be understood that other examples may be utilized, and that logical structural, mechanical, electrical, and chemical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosed examples. To avoid detail not necessary to enable those skilled in the art to practice the examples described herein, the description may omit certain information known to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the illustrative examples are defined only by the appended claims.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the present specification and associated claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the examples of the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claim, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. It should be noted that when “about” is at the beginning of a numerical list, “about” modifies each number of the numerical list. Further, in some numerical listings of ranges some lower limits listed may be greater than some upper limits listed. One skilled in the art will recognize that the selected subset will require the selection of an upper limit in excess of the selected lower limit.

In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to.” Unless otherwise indicated, as used throughout this document, “or” does not require mutual exclusivity.

The terms uphole and downhole may be used to refer to the location of various components relative to the bottom or end of a well. For example, a first component described as uphole from a second component may be further away from the end of the well than the second component. Similarly, a first component described as being downhole from a second component may be located closer to the end of the well than the second component.

The terms upstream and downstream may be used to refer to the location of various components relative to one another in regards to the flow of a sample through said components. For example, a first component described as upstream from a second component will encounter a sample before the downstream second component encounters the sample. Similarly, a first component described as being downstream from a second component will encounter the sample after the upstream second component encounters the sample.

The present disclosure relates generally to wellbore operations, and more particularly, to the use of a selective sleeve to control flow back into a conduit as well as the operation of an inflow control device. Advantageously, a selective sleeve may be used to control flow back into a conduit as well as an inflow control device. The selective sleeve is configured to quickly allow the flow back of previously introduced fluids. As a further advantage, the selective sleeve may be used to selectively open an inflow control device for flow into or out of the wellbore conduit. Moreover, the selective sleeve may be used to close off flow into the conduit completely. One other advantage is that the selective sleeve may be decoupled from the remainder of the apparatus when desired so as to permanently allow the inflow control device to control inflow and outflow, or the selective sleeve may be shifted after being decoupled to completely close off production through the corresponding wellbore zone. Additionally, the selective sleeve may be used without a washpipe, thereby simplifying the apparatus design. The selective sleeve is versatile in its operation and provides for the setting of wellbore equipment such as packers as well as providing a quick flow back operation before transitioning into controlling production through an inflow control device. Moreover, the device may even be used to temporarily shut off fluid flow from the surrounding reservoir when it is desirable to shift all proximate wellbore sleeves or permanently shut down production of the corresponding wellbore zone completely. As an additional advantage, the selective sleeve may be used with different species of inflow control devices including inflow control devices with nozzles or tubes or autonomous inflow control devices that utilize fluid density, viscosity, or other fluid property to choke undesirable fluids (e.g. water or gas) and freely flow desirable fluids (e.g. oil or gas).

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating an example sleeve assembly, generally 5, for use in examples of the present invention. The sleeve assembly 5 may be introduced into a wellbore to control the production of water as well as the setting of downhole tool such as a packer. The configuration of the sleeve assembly 5 in FIG. 1 may be referred to as the run-in-hole configuration or the flow back configuration. The sleeve assembly 5 comprises a selective sleeve 10 which is coupled to a bottom sleeve 15. The selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 are disposed within a conduit 20, which may also be referred to as a mandrel. The conduit 20 allows fluid flow to the surface, for example, the conduit 20 allows for wellbore fluids to be produced. An inflow control device 25 is fluidically coupled to the conduit 20 and may be used to regulate fluid flow into and out of the conduit 20. The inflow control device 25 may be used to selectively open the conduit 20 to the inflow or outflow of specific desirable fluids such as hydrocarbons, and may also be used for choking the inflow or outflow when undesirable fluids are present. For example, the inflow control device 25 may reduce or prevent the flow of water from the surrounding wellbore annulus into the conduit 20. Moreover, the inflow control device 25 may be configured to allow the flow of a hydrocarbon into the conduit 20 from the surrounding annulus. The fluids may enter the inflow control device 25 from the surrounding wellbore annulus via the screen 30. The screen 30 allows fluids to enter into or out of the inflow control device 25 while also screening out solids present within the wellbore annulus. For example, the screen 30 may prevent drill cuttings from entering the inflow control device 25 from the wellbore annulus.

The inflow control device 25 may be any type of inflow control device 25. Examples of the inflow control device 25 may include, but are not limited to, autonomous inflow control devices, inflow control devices with nozzles or tubes, inflow control devices that utilize fluid density, viscosity, or other fluid property to choke undesirable fluids (e.g. water or gas) and freely flow desirable fluids (e.g. oil or gas).

A check valve 35 is present in the conduit 20. When the check valve 35 is uncovered by the selective sleeve 10, the check valve 35 allows for fluid to flow from the surrounding wellbore annulus into the conduit 20 but does not allow fluid to flow from the conduit 20 into the surrounding wellbore annulus. The bottom sleeve 15 is coupled to the selective sleeve 10 with a detachable coupling 40. The detachable coupling 40 is any coupling which connects the selective sleeve 10 to the bottom sleeve 15 while the sleeve assembly 5 is in use, but may also be used to decouple the selective sleeve 10 from the bottom sleeve 15 when it is desired to close off production from this wellbore zone completely. Examples of the detachable coupling 40 may include, but are not limited to, a collet, a shearable element, a snap ring, a thin adjoining shearable section, a frangible portion, or a combination of detachable couplings 40.

It is to be understood that is some examples the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 may be provided and introduced into the wellbore as a single sleeve joined by a detachable coupling 40 portion that is made detachable by being shearable or frangible. The selective sleeve 10, detachable coupling 40, and bottom sleeve 15 will be a continuous single sleeve piece until decoupled. The selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 may be manufactured to be a single sleeve or may later be joined via welding or other connecting means to adjoin the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 into a single continuous sleeve. When the detachable coupling 40 of the single sleeve is sheared or otherwise broken, the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 detach and decouple from one another. The use of the terms, “selective sleeve” and “bottom sleeve” are to be understood to be inclusive of the selective sleeve portion and the bottom sleeve portion of any single sleeve embodiment.

After the sleeve assembly 5 is run in hole and positioned at its target location, pressure may be applied to the conduit 20 from the surface by pumping a fluid into the conduit 20. The pressure buildup within the conduit 20 may be allowed to set a downhole tool such as a packer. Although the check valve 35 is uncovered at the illustrated stage shown by FIG. 1, the check valve 35 only allows one-way flow into the conduit 20 and does not allow flow out of the conduit 20. The downhole tool is not illustrated, but may be disposed uphole (i.e., to the left) or downhole (i.e., to the right) of the sleeve assembly 5 and the check valve 35. The pressure threshold for the downhole tool should be less than that of the shearable element 45 so as to not shear the shearable element 45 prematurely and induce translation of the sleeve assembly 5. In some examples, multiple downhole tools may be used and may be positioned along the conduit 20. In some examples, multiple sleeve assemblies 5 may be used and may be positioned along the conduit 20. In some examples, multiple downhole tools and multiple sleeve assemblies 5 may be used and may be positioned along the conduit 20.

A shearable element 45 is coupled to the bottom sleeve 15 to hold the sleeve assembly 5 in its initial configuration until a pressure threshold at the base of the bottom sleeve 15 is exceeded. For example, the shearable element 45 may have a shear threshold greater than that of a downhole tool, such as a packer. The selective sleeve 10 may be held in place with the shearable element 45 intact while the check valve 35 is uncovered. After the setting of a downhole tool, flow back may then be allowed to occur through the check valve 35 to quickly flow back previously introduced fluids such as drilling fluids, fracturing fluids, or the fluid used to pressure up the conduit 20 to set the downhole tool. The drilling fluids, fracturing fluids, and other introduced fluids may comprise a large volume of water and thus would be choked by the inflow control device if not quickly flowed back out of the well via the check valve 35.

After the actuation of the downhole tool and the completion of flow back, the sleeve assembly 5 may then be temporarily closed so that the shearable element 45 may be sheared to then open the inflow control device 25 for production. To temporarily close the sleeve assembly 5, pressure may be applied to the conduit 20. This pressure may continue to be built until enough force is applied to shear the shearable element 45 as well as to overcome the force of the spring 50 which is biased towards the downhole (i.e., to the right) direction. The pressure necessary to shear the shearable element 45 may be supplied at the wellhead of the wellsite by introducing a pressurized fluid into the wellbore to apply sufficient pressure to shear the shearable element 45. When the pressure in the wellbore builds to a level to overcome the spring 50 force and to surpass the shear threshold of the shearable element 45, the shearable element 45 is sheared and the sleeve assembly 5 may translate axially along the length of the conduit 20 in the uphole direction, which is to the left in the figure. The sleeve assembly 5 is translated uphole when the pressure in conduit 20 is higher than the annulus pressure. A net force is created on the sleeve assembly 5 in the uphole direction due to the o-ring on the right side of the sleeve assembly 5 being larger than the o-ring on the left side of the sleeve assembly 5. This arrangement of o-rings or other sealing elements creates a piston effect which allows for the translation of the sleeve assembly 5 in the uphole direction due to the pressure differential between the conduit pressure and the annulus pressure.

In this configuration, the selective sleeve 10 will cover and close the check valve 35 as well as continue to cover the conduit 20 entrance of the inflow control device 25. As such, the conduit 20 is completely closed off to fluids for this sleeve assembly 5 so long as pressure remains applied to the conduit 20 from the surface. The sleeve assembly 5 remains closed to allow all sleeve assemblies 5 in the production zone to shear their shearable element 45 and may remain closed until an operator bleeds down the pressure introduced into the conduit 20 from the wellhead. When pressure is bled down, the now sheared shearable elements 45 can no longer lock the sleeves in place and the spring 50 pushes the sleeves in the downhole direction to open them. As there may be multiple sleeve assemblies 5 in the wellbore it is important to temporary close off flow through them to allow all sleeve assemblies 5 to shear the shearable elements 45. If one or more were to remain open, the pressure would be bled off and could not be used to shear the shearable elements 45 of the downhole sleeve assemblies 5.

When it is desired to open the surrounding production zone for production, an operator may bleed off the pressure pushing the bottom sleeve 15 uphole. The spring 50 is used to bias the sleeve assembly 5 in the downhole direction, which is to the right in the figure. When the fluid pressure has decreased to a specific threshold, the force of the spring 50 will overcome that of the pressure applied to the bottom sleeve 15 and the sleeve assembly 5 will be translated axially along the length of the conduit 20 in the downhole direction. In this configuration, the check valve 35 will remain covered; however, the inflow control device 35 is now open to the conduit 20. All fluid may now flow through the inflow control device 35 either from the surrounding wellbore annulus into the conduit 20 or from the conduit 20 into the surrounding wellbore annulus as desired by the operator. The screen 30 is used to screen out wellbore solids from entering the inflow control device 35. Hydrocarbons may now be produced through the inflow control device 25. The inflow control device 25 may prevent or reduce water from entering conduit 25 when water is detected by the inflow control device.

After the sleeve assembly 5 has been opened, the bottom sleeve 15 may be decoupled from the selective sleeve 10 through the process of shifting the sleeve downhole as described or be using a shifting tool run on wireline or coiled tubing to grab the selective sleeve 10 to position it such that it decouples the bottom sleeve. When decoupled, all flow for the life of the sleeve assembly 5 will proceed through the inflow control device 25, unless and until the sleeve 10 is shifted to the closed position.

The sleeve assembly 5 of FIG. 1 does not comprise a washpipe. A washpipe is another tubing string disposed in the conduit 20. This second tubing string seals flow to the inflow controls devices 25 but allows flow to the downhole devices (e.g., packers) so that they can be set. The sleeve assembly 5 selectively opens and closes flow into the conduit 20 to allow the actuation of a downhole device and the operation of the inflow control device 25.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating the temporary closed configuration of the example sleeve assembly 5 of FIG. 1. The sleeve assembly 5 may temporarily closed to allow all of the sleeve assemblies 5 within the conduit 20 to shear their shearable elements 45 so that they can be subsequently opened upon bleed down of the tubing pressure applied from the surface.. In the illustrated example, the sleeve assembly 5 has been shifted to the left in the uphole direction. Shifting the sleeve assembly 5 in the uphole direction will cover the check valve (i.e., check valve 35 in FIG. 1) stopping flow back into the conduit 20. Moreover, the covering of the inflow control device 25 port into the conduit 20 will remain and flow into or out of the inflow control device 25 is blocked. As such, flow is closed both to and from the surrounding production zone that surrounds the sleeve assembly 5. FIG. 2 shows the relative orientation of the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 for the closed configuration of the sleeve assembly 5.

In order to place the sleeve assembly 5 in its closed configuration, pressure is applied via a pressurized fluid pumped downhole from the wellhead through the conduit 20 or. The pressurized fluid applies pressure to the conduit 20. This pressure may continue to be built until enough force is applied to shear the shearable element 45 as well as to overcome the force of the spring 50 which is biased towards the downhole (i.e., to the right) direction. When this applied pressure builds to a level to overcome the spring 50 force and to surpass the shear threshold of the shearable element 45, the shearable element 45 is sheared and the sleeve assembly 5 may then translate axially along the length of the conduit 20 in the uphole direction as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this configuration, the selective sleeve 10 covers the check valve 35 as well as maintains its cover over the port of the inflow control device 25. As such, the conduit 20 is temporarily completely closed off to fluids for this production zone. The fluid openings in the conduit 20 may remain closed to allow all sleeve assemblies 5 in the well to shift. When all sleeve assemblies 5 have shifted, the pressure may be bled off.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating the open configuration of the example sleeve assembly 5 of FIG. 1. In the illustrated example, the sleeve assembly 5 has been shifted to the right in the downhole direction. Shifting the sleeve assembly 5 in the downhole direction will maintain the cover over the check valve (i.e., check valve 35 in FIG. 1). However, the port 60 for the inflow control device 25 into the conduit 20 is now uncovered. As such, flow is open both to and from the surrounding production zone via the port 60 of the inflow control device 25. FIG. 3 shows the relative orientation of the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 for the open configuration of the sleeve assembly 5.

In order to place the sleeve assembly 5 in its open configuration, the pressure acting on the bottom sleeve 15 to shear the shearable element 45 may be applied and then bled. Reduction of pressure allows the spring 50 force to axially translate the sleeve assembly 5 in the downhole direction, which is to the right in FIG. 3. The port 60 in the inflow control device 25 may remain open to the conduit 20 until the operator adjusts the sleeve assembly 5, by decoupling the selective sleeve 10 from the bottom sleeve 15 and manually shifting to permanently close off production from the surrounding wellbore zone. At the end of the stroke in the fully open configuration, the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 may detach from one another via the detachable coupling 40. Alternatively, the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 may decouple when a shifting tool pulls the selective sleeve 10 the uphole direction either by disengaging the collet or snap ring or by shearing a shearable element.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating the open configuration of the example sleeve assembly 5 of FIG. 1. In the illustrated example, the selective sleeve 10 and the bottom sleeve 15 have decoupled from one another at the end of the stroke for the fully open configuration. For the life of the sleeve assembly 5, flow into the this portion of the conduit 20 will be controlled by the inflow control device 25 which will choke undesirable fluids when detected. When undesirable fluids are not detected, the inflow control device 25 will fully open to allow flow of the desirable fluids into the conduit 20. If it is ever desired to close off flow completely to this portion of the well, an operator may use a shifting tool or other mechanism to manually shift the selective sleeve 10 to the closed configuration via wireline or coil tubing.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a detachable coupling 40 in the coupling configuration. The detachable coupling 40 may be used to decouple the selective sleeve 10 from the bottom sleeve 15. Although the detachable coupling 40 is illustrated as a collet coupling, additional types of detachable couplings may be used including, but not limited to, a snap ring, a shearable element, a frangible material, or a combination of detachable couplings 40. The upper finger of the coupling is held together with the lower finger because of the surrounding tight inner diameter of the conduit 20 which does not provide space for the fingers of the collet to separate.

FIG. 6 illustrates the detachable coupling 50 when detached. The outer finger is biased outwards during manufacture and is compressed in place when the sleeve assembly 5 is inserted into the conduit 20. When the sleeve assembly 5 is moved to the location in FIG. 3, the detachable coupling now has sufficient space to separate and the bottom sleeve 15 uncouples from the selective sleeve 10 as illustrated by FIG. 4.

It should be clearly understood that the example system illustrated by FIGS. 1-6 is merely a general application of the principles of this disclosure in practice, and a wide variety of other examples are possible. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited in any manner to the details of FIGS. 1-6 as described herein.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an alternative example the spring (i.e., spring 50 in FIGS. 1-4) is replaced with an atmospheric chamber 65 which may function analogously to the spring and may apply force to the bottom sleeve 15 to shift it the downhole direction. The atmospheric chamber 65 comprises air or another gas at atmospheric pressure or vacuum when the sleeve assembly 5 is introduced into the wellbore. The bottom sleeve 15 is biased to the downhole direction which compresses the gas in the atmospheric chamber 65. The pressure in atmospheric chamber is low and wellbore pressure is high. This pressure differential biases the bottom sleeve 15 downhole, but the shearable element 45 prevents movement of the bottom sleeve 15 downhole as discussed above. The adjacent chamber to the atmosphere chamber is the annulus pressure chamber 70 which has a port 75 through the conduit 20 to equalize the annulus pressure chamber 70 with the surrounding annulus. When the tubing pressure is greater than the annulus pressure, the bottom sleeve 15 is biased towards the uphole direction. When the tubing pressure equals the annulus pressure it is biased downhole because of the pressure differential between the wellbore pressure and the atmospheric chamber 65.

It should be clearly understood that the example system illustrated by FIG. 7 is merely a general application of the principles of this disclosure in practice, and a wide variety of other examples are possible. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited in any manner to the details of FIG. 7 as described herein.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are illustrations of an alternative example of the sleeve assembly 5. In this example an additional shearable element 80 has been added. The shearable element 80 is disposed in the conduit 20 and is biased downwards in the direction of the sleeve assembly 5 by compression spring 85. A corresponding slot 90 is placed in the body of the bottom sleeve 15 and is used to house the extended shearable element 80.

Analogous to the example in FIGS. 1-6 above, after setting the downhole tool, the sleeve assembly 5 is temporarily shifted to the closed configuration illustrated by FIG. 2 and the shearable element 45 is sheared in the process of shifting the sleeve assembly 5 uphole. When the tubing pressure applied to the conduit 20 from the wellhead is bled to shift the sleeve assembly 5 to the open configuration of FIG. 3, the shearable element 80 will stop the sleeve assembly 5 from shifting completely to the right as the shear pin 80 is biased to enter the slot 90 when the slot 90 aligns with the shearable element 80. In order to progress the sleeve assembly 5 to the fully open configuration of FIG. 3, tubing pressure must again be applied at the wellhead to shift the sleeve assembly to the left in the uphole direction to shear the shearable element 80 as was done earlier with shearable element 45. After this second application of tubing pressure, the pressure may be bled to allow the spring 50 to force the sleeve assembly 5 into the open configuration of FIG. 3. At the end of the stroke, the sleeve assembly 5 decouples and the bottom sleeve 15 is separated from the selective sleeve 10. The addition of the additional shearable element 80 requires one additional round of pressuring up the conduit 20 before the sleeve assembly 5 is able to shift completely to the open configuration of FIG. 3 Shearable element 80 may be shear pin, a shear screw, or any other similar shearable element and may be the same or a different type of shearable element than shearable element 45.

In an alternative arrangement of the example illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8B, sleeve assembly 5 is positioned so that the check valve 35 is closed when the sleeve assembly 5 is run in hole. When the sleeve assembly 5 is positioned at its desired location in the wellbore, an operator may perform a negative pressure test with the check valve 35 closed. The check valve 35 may then be opened by shifting the bottom sleeve 15 to the right such that the shearable element 80 is aligned with the slot 90. By applying pressure to shear the shearable element 45 and then bleed down the pressure again to align slot 90 with shearable element 80. When shearable element 80 and slot 90 are aligned, the check valve 35 may be uncovered to allow flow back. In this locked configuration, the covering over the check valve 35 is removed. Flow back may then be conducted as described above in the example of FIGS. 1-6 as the shearable element 85 has locked the sleeve assembly 5 from progressing to the open configuration of FIG. 3. After flow back is completed, the conduit 20 can be pressured up again to shear the shearable element 80 and then that pressure can be bled down to allow the sleeve assembly 5 to shift to the fully open configuration of FIG. 3.

It should be clearly understood that the example system illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8B is merely a general application of the principles of this disclosure in practice, and a wide variety of other examples are possible. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited in any manner to the details of FIG. 8 as described herein.

The systems disclosed herein may directly or indirectly affect one or more components or pieces of equipment associated with or which may come into contact with the apparatus and sleeve assemblies disclosed herein such as, but not limited to, wellbore casing, wellbore liner, completion string, insert strings, drill string, coiled tubing, slickline, wireline, drill pipe, drill collars, mud motors, downhole motors and/or pumps, cement pumps, surface-mounted motors and/or pumps, centralizers, turbolizers, scratchers, floats (e.g., shoes, collars, valves, etc.), logging tools and related telemetry equipment, actuators (e.g., electromechanical devices, hydromechanical devices, etc.), sliding sleeves, production sleeves, plugs, screens, filters, flow control devices (e.g., inflow control devices, autonomous inflow control devices, outflow control devices, etc.), couplings (e.g., electro-hydraulic wet connect, dry connect, inductive coupler, etc.), control lines (e.g., electrical, fiber optic, hydraulic, etc.), surveillance lines, drill bits and reamers, sensors or distributed sensors, downhole heat exchangers, valves and corresponding actuation devices, tool seals, packers, cement plugs, bridge plugs, and other wellbore isolation devices, or components, and the like.

Provided is an apparatus for controlling flow back through a conduit in accordance with the disclosure and the illustrated FIGS. An example apparatus comprises a selective sleeve disposed within the conduit, a bottom sleeve coupled to the selective sleeve, the conduit comprising a check valve, and an inflow control device fluidically connected to the conduit. A shearable element locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit.

Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus may include one or more of the following features individually or in combination. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when the apparatus is introduced into a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when a packer is set in a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The check valve may allow flow into the conduit from a surrounding wellbore annulus but does not allow flow from the conduit into the surrounding wellbore annulus. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve when the inflow control device is opened such that a fluid may flow into or out of the conduit through the inflow control device. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve and the inflow control device to prevent fluid flow into or out of the conduit when in the closed configuration. The selective sleeve may be configured to decouple from the bottom sleeve. The selective sleeve and the bottom sleeve may be coupled with a collet, a shearable element, or a snap ring. The apparatus may further comprise a spring or atmospheric chamber configured to shift the bottom sleeve in the downhole direction. The apparatus may further comprise a second shearable element that locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit until the second shearable element is sheared.

Provided are methods for controlling flow back through a conduit in accordance with the disclosure and the illustrated FIGS. An example method comprises providing an apparatus comprising a selective sleeve disposed within the conduit, a bottom sleeve coupled to the selective sleeve, the conduit comprising a check valve, and an inflow control device fluidically coupled to the conduit. A shearable element locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit. The method further comprises covering the check valve with the selective sleeve when the apparatus is introduced into a wellbore, shifting the selective sleeve to close the check valve and open the inflow control device, and shifting the selective sleeve to close the check valve and the inflow control device.

Additionally or alternatively, the method may include one or more of the following features individually or in combination. The method may further comprise setting a packer in a wellbore when the check valve is uncovered by the selective sleeve. The method may further comprise decoupling the selective sleeve and the bottom sleeve. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when the apparatus is introduced into a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when a packer is set in a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The check valve may allow flow into the conduit from a surrounding wellbore annulus but does not allow flow from the conduit into the surrounding wellbore annulus. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve when the inflow control device is opened such that a fluid may flow into or out of the conduit through the inflow control device. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve and the inflow control device to prevent fluid flow into or out of the conduit when in the closed configuration. The selective sleeve may be configured to decouple from the bottom sleeve. The selective sleeve and the bottom sleeve may be coupled with a collet, a shearable element, or a snap ring. The apparatus may further comprise a spring or atmospheric chamber configured to shift the bottom sleeve in the downhole direction. The apparatus may further comprise a second shearable element that locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit until the second shearable element is sheared.

Provided are systems for controlling flow back through a tubing in accordance with the disclosure and the illustrated FIGS. An example system comprises an apparatus and a packer. The apparatus comprises a selective sleeve disposed within the conduit, a bottom sleeve coupled to the selective sleeve, the conduit comprising a check valve, and an inflow control device fluidically coupled to the conduit. A shearable element locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit.

Additionally or alternatively, the system may include one or more of the following features individually or in combination. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when the apparatus is introduced into a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The selective sleeve may be configured to leave the check valve uncovered when a packer is set in a wellbore, and the inflow control device may be closed to fluid flow when the check valve is uncovered. The check valve may allow flow into the conduit from a surrounding wellbore annulus but does not allow flow from the conduit into the surrounding wellbore annulus. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve when the inflow control device is opened such that a fluid may flow into or out of the conduit through the inflow control device. The selective sleeve may be configured to cover the check valve and the inflow control device to prevent fluid flow into or out of the conduit when in the closed configuration. The selective sleeve may be configured to decouple from the bottom sleeve. The selective sleeve and the bottom sleeve may be coupled with a collet, a shearable element, or a snap ring. The apparatus may further comprise a spring or atmospheric chamber configured to shift the bottom sleeve in the downhole direction. The apparatus may further comprise a second shearable element that locks the bottom sleeve to the conduit until the second shearable element is sheared.

The preceding description provides various examples of the systems and methods of use disclosed herein which may contain different method steps and alternative combinations of components. It should be understood that, although individual examples may be discussed herein, the present disclosure covers all combinations of the disclosed examples, including, without limitation, the different component combinations, method step combinations, and properties of the system. It should be understood that the compositions and methods are described in terms of “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components or steps. The systems and methods can also “consist essentially of or “consist of the various components and steps. Moreover, the indefinite articles “a” or “an,” as used in the claims, are defined herein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces.

For the sake of brevity, only certain ranges are explicitly disclosed herein. However, ranges from any lower limit may be combined with any upper limit to recite a range not explicitly recited, as well as ranges from any lower limit may be combined with any other lower limit to recite a range not explicitly recited. In the same way, ranges from any upper limit may be combined with any other upper limit to recite a range not explicitly recited. Additionally, whenever a numerical range with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number and any included range falling within the range are specifically disclosed. In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from about a to about b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a to b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to set forth every number and range encompassed within the broader range of values even if not explicitly recited. Thus, every point or individual value may serve as its own lower or upper limit combined with any other point or individual value or any other lower or upper limit, to recite a range not explicitly recited.

One or more illustrative examples incorporating the examples disclosed herein are presented. Not all features of a physical implementation are described or shown in this application for the sake of clarity. Therefore, the disclosed systems and methods are well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those that are inherent therein. The particular examples disclosed above are illustrative only, as the teachings of the present disclosure may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular illustrative examples disclosed above may be altered, combined, or modified, and all such variations are considered within the scope of the present disclosure. The systems and methods illustratively disclosed herein may suitably be practiced in the absence of any element that is not specifically disclosed herein and/or any optional element disclosed herein.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.

SELECTIVE SLEEVE FOR USE WITH INFLOW CONTROL DEVICES

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