SINTEF was involved in developing a system for monitoring and control of fluid flows from different productive zones in complex oil wells. The equipment was designed for Aker Kværner Well Service AS (AKWS), and financed by a consortium of oil companies and the Research Council of Norway. 

The idea is to give the operator a good picture of all parts of the well and how they interact. With a simple order from the control room, you may choke a sand producing zone or avoid gas/water coning by reducing the local flow. You will have full information of 3-phase flow as well as zone pressure and inflow temperature from each producing zone. The individual sensors are combined to obtain robust data even if a sensor is lost.
 
The system consists of several control modules connected together on a downhole string. Between the control modules, packers isolate each individual zone flow which have to pass an electrically controlled choke and an integrated sensor station. The well fluids flow through the ports indicated on each control module and are mixed together inside the control string after being measured. The string of control modules is connected to topside through an inductive coupler. This allows the complete control assembly to be drawn out with light intervention if a failure should occur during installation or after some time in operation. The only part permanently installed in the well is a single wire standard downhole cable and the primary coupler. Each control module comprise nine sensors, motor control electronics, communication electronics and power conditioning. All sensors and electronics are designed and tested to operate continuously in an environment temperature of 180°C in combination with a well pressure of 600 bar.