Method and apparatus for handling tubular goods

Details Method and apparatus for handling tubular goods Method and apparatus for handling tubular goods

2003-02-26

2004-05-11

Schoeppel, Roger (Department: 3672)

Boring or penetrating the earth

Wedging slip assembly for supporting a pipe or rod

C294S086250, C294S095000, C166S138000, C166S216000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06732822

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The manufacture, assembly and use of tubular systems in drilling and constructing wells, frequently involves operations where the tubular work piece must be gripped and handled to enable the application of axial and torsional loads. Devices employing jaws, such as elevators, tongs or pipe wrenches are commonly used to engage the pipe body directly, with the risk of damage by distortion of the pipe or marking by the jaw faces. Where the tubular ends are threaded, adapters may be used to temporarily engage the threads and transfer load running the risk of damaging the threads. The present invention provides a means to internally friction grip a tubular work piece with an expandable cage, and apply assembly, handling and drilling loads through an attachment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Historically, petroleum drilling rigs have used an architecture where drilling torque is applied through a rotary table placed in the derrick floor. The rig mast is used to support the block and tackle equipment for hoisting tubular strings comprised of individual joints of pipe connected by threaded connections, in and out of the drilled hole or well. With this architecture, it is inconvenient to use the rotary table to apply torque to make up or break out the connections. Tongs are therefore typically used to apply and react make up or break out torque, by externally gripping the pipe ends to be connected directly above and below the threaded connection. This well known procedure is used to make up and break out drill pipe, casing and tubing to trip tubular strings in or out of the well. In the case of casing and tubing, the method is typically incorporated into devices, referred to as power tongs, which provide a means to apply continuous rotation and torque through a motor and gear box assembly. However these devices still require external grips, typically using some form of jaws as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,613. Whether powered or not, this method requires that one tong grip the upper end of the pipe joint suspended from the rotary table in the derrick floor, to provide a reaction for the torque applied through a second tong which is used to grip and rotate the pipe joint being made up or broken out. The upper end of the pipe joint being rotated is supported by an elevator, hanging from the travelling blocks, thus allowing rotation and providing limited freedom to translate laterally.
However recent advances in drilling rig technology have resulted in increased use of rigs having a new architecture, and known in the industry as top drive rigs. As the name suggests, these rigs are equipped with a hydraulic or electric drive head unit that moves up and down the rig mast constrained by a track, thus enabling the application of rotational force from any position. These rigs employ a drive head capable of applying torque and axial load to the top of the pipe through an output shaft known as a “quill,” and typically employ more automated and powered pipe-handling equipment than conventional rigs. This configuration allows the tubulars to be made up and broken out using the top drive to rotate and apply torque to the top joint, but necessitates a method of coupling the quill to the tubular capable of transmitting full make up or break out torque and at least some axial load.
For tubing and casing, this is typically accomplished using a threaded make up adapter, commonly referred to as a “nubbin”, threaded on the lower end to match the tubing or casing thread and on the upper end to match the thread on the quill. A device capable of stroking up and down and transmitting torque, commonly referred to as a floating cushion sub, is also often placed between the quill and the nubbin to accommodate thread make up and break out length change without top drive movement. This laterally rigid and flexurally stiff device effectively forms an extension of the quill.
Unlike the conventional make up and break out method using tongs, this method of top drive make up requires extra steps to handle, install and remove the nubbin, increasing the time and consequently, the cost of running tubulars. In addition, the risk of thread damage is increased by the extra make up and break out to the nubbin required for each joint run in or out of the well.
This method of top drive make up further exacerbates the potential for connection thread damage because the rigid lateral positioning of the top drive at the top end of the joint, where it is supported during rotation. This prevents the tendency of the thread axis to “self align” as otherwise occurs when the top of the joint is suspended from the cable-supported travelling block on conventional rigs, allowing relatively free lateral movement. Although the axes of the pin and box threads are generally parallel when the connection is stabbed, tolerances for rig mast position with respect to the hole axis, pipe straightness and threading can all conspire to allow significant misalignment. Under these conditions, the potential for connection damage is aggravated by alignment constraints as imposed by relatively rigid support at the upper end of joints. Contrast this with the greater freedom of motion allowed on conventional rigs when the travelling block supports the upper end of the pipe. During rotation of the connection at the lower end, this alignment constraint tends to prevent the pin and box thread axes from self aligning which results in a tendency toward ‘cross threading’ of the connection when significant tolerancing errors exist, with consequent high internal contact stress and galling susceptibility. In many instances known to the inventors, this misalignment has resulted in connection damage and improperly made-up connections.
It is therefore desirable to have a method for gripping the pipe without contacting the threads and that allows the top end of the pipe to displace laterally with relative freedom.
Methods using jaws on the exterior of the pipe to apply torque without contacting the threads are numerous. As mentioned above, jaws are typically employed with power tongs. Torque activated jaws such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,613, are the most typical architecture but the tendency of this method to mark and damage the pipe has led to more controlled active gripping systems such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,613. To further avoid “causing surface damage or structural deformation”, more nearly uniformly radial loading, friction grips, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,909 are known as a means to grip the exterior of tubulars where tolerance to damage is low. While these methods provide a generally satisfactory means for gripping the exterior of pipe, they are not amenable to use in conjunction with a top drive. Gripping the interior of the pipe avoids the need to apply torque through the coupling, or to invoke more complex means to bypass the connection, while all the time avoiding interference with other pipe handling equipment, such as elevators. Neither do these methods address intolerance to connection thread misalignment, which is peculiar to the top drive make up and break out method.
The device/method of the present invention was therefore conceived specifically as a means to friction grip the inside of the tubular and thus provide the capacity to transfer torque and carry most of the axial handling loads presently provided by nubbins. It will also shorten the handling time requirements, eliminate nubbin contact with the threads, and provide increased lateral compliance to accommodate the tendency for top end of the pipe to move off axis during make up.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To meet these objectives, the method of the present invention makes use of a device having an upper end provided with a crossover sub to attach to the quill and having a lower coupling end provided with a grip assembly, which may be inserted into the top end of a tubular work piece to be handled, and expanded to engage or grip the inside surface of the tubular joint. The grip method and contacting element preferably frict

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