Fuzzy control: An alternate mean of sand exclusion in wells?

In contrast to classical logic systems, fuzzy logic is a technique of reasoning by "cheap" approximations, significance and human-like terminologies rather than by the "expensive" exactness and precision. The technique is based on the fuzzy set theory and is considered a handy tool for quantifying vagueness. This paper combines the fact that sanding can sometimes benefit the well-reservoir system with the need to keep its intrusion into the wellbore at a tolerable level to create a fuzzy sanding controller. The system monitors the sanding level and its rate of change;, and adjusts the choke valve accordingly. Fuzzy logic resulted in a smooth/continuous solution no matter how the input varied within the universe of discourse (domain) and/or crossed boundaries between (fuzzy) sets. Thus, the technique allowed the machinery to operate in small refinements, avoided creating any abrupt changes to the drawdown, and secured the stability of the system.