Field Experience of an Innovative Downhole Energy Harvesting System

Downhole power harvesting is an enabling technology for a wide range of future production systems and applications, including self-powered downhole monitoring, downhole robotics, and wireless intelligent completions. This paper presents the field experience of an innovative energy harvesting system that was successfully deployed and tested in the harsh downhole conditions of an oil producer. There is a critical need for robust and reliable downhole power generation and storage technologies to push the boundaries of downhole sensing and control. This paper provides an analysis of available ambient energy sources in the downhole environment, and various energy harvesting techniques that can be employed to provide a reliable solution. Advantages and limitations of conventional technique like turbine are compared to advanced energy harvesting technologies. The power requirements and technical challenges related to different downhole applications have also been addressed. The field experience of the novel flow-based energy harvesting system are presented, including the details of both the lab and field prototype design, deployment and testing.