Seal for a joint or juncture – Seal between relatively movable parts – Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
Patent
1995-12-13
1997-12-30
Cummings, Scott
Seal for a joint or juncture
Seal between relatively movable parts
Relatively rotatable radially extending sealing face member
166187, F16J 1546
Patent
active
057021090
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns an expandable high-pressure flexible-tube device, in particular for use in working underground wells, especially oil and gas wells. It is also suitable for use in other areas such as geological work or mining.
In gas or oil wells, this type of device is normally used to seal well piping and is thus termed a "packer", which may be inflatable or expandable. In mining, these devices are normally known as expandable tubes. Whatever the terminology used, this type of device comprises a deformable tubular membrane comprising an elastomeric matrix strengthened by reinforcements, the two ends of which membrane are solid with end pieces which mount the device on a mandrel for insertion into the well or hole. These devices, which are also suitable for use in consolidating ground by injection of cement, for measuring permeability by injecting water, for hydrogeological prospecting installations, etc . . . , are known in a number of embodiments, as shown, for example, in "New Generation Inflatable Packing Elements" by R. K. Mody and M. P. Coronado, presented at the "Offshore Technology Conference", Houston, Tex., May 6-9, 1991, or in French patents FR-A-2 625 254, FR-A-2 582 077, FR-A-2 523 206, or U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,581,816, 5,101,908, 5,109,926, etc . . . .
When flexible-tube devices of the type described above are used in working oil or gas fields, a non limiting example being for stimulation, they are subjected to extremely severe operating conditions as regards temperature, pressure, chemical environment and mechanical stress. Regarding the latter, specifications sometimes require that the tubular element composed of elastomeric material must be able to expand to three times its outside diameter and contract again reversibly (for example, from an initial diameter of 52 millimeters (mm) to a final diameter of 162 mm and vice versa) and must resist a working pressure which can be of the order of at least 100 bars, this value corresponding to that necessary for pressing the tubular element against the inside face of the piping and to the differential counterpressures exercised on parts of the device when in this condition. The majority of known devices with a deformable elastomeric annular element--including those provided with reinforcing members--cannot completely satisfy the conditions encountered in actual working and, as indicated in the conference article cited above or in FR-A 2 625 254, the expandable tubular element must be combined with metal reinforcements at its ends. These must be very carefully designed, greatly increasing the cost of the device, and they are sometimes subject to operational malfunctions when the device returns to its unexpanded condition, meaning that the device cannot be used again.
The problem is thus to provide an expandable high-pressure flexible-tube device which does not have the problems of known devices. In general, then, one aim of the invention is to provide such a device.
A further aim of the invention is to provide such a device which, in contrast to the majority of known devices, can be reliably reused a number of times.
A still further aim of the invention is to provide such a device which can seal as efficiently as known devices and in particular which presses strongly, when expanded, against the wall of the borehole or casing which is to be sealed, despite the extremely high stresses (which can be of the order of several metric tons) which occur in the zones where the tubular element is connected to the end connectors when the outside diameter of the tubular element is multiplied by three.
A yet still further aim of the invention is to provide such a device which is suitable for working gas and/or oil fields where operating conditions comprise cycles of inflation for a short period, maintenance under pressure for several hours and deflation, with the deformable portion returning--to within only a few percent--to its initial diameter.
It is known that, in order to allow the deformable portion to expand, the reinforcing members it contains must be se
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Blin Philippe
Mahin Daniel
Cummings Scott
Hutchinson
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