Wells – Processes – Placing or shifting well part
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-03
2001-02-06
Neuder, William (Department: 3622)
Wells
Processes
Placing or shifting well part
C166S053000, C166S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182765
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed, in general, to subterranean well completion, servicing and rework and, more specifically, to a system and method for deploying (and retrieving) selected ones of a plurality of tools into a subterranean well for purposes of completion, servicing or rework.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Although modern oil and gas well production has progressed to a fine art, a variety of difficult problems may still be encountered during well completion, production, servicing and rework. Of necessity, these situations must be remedied from the well platform. Each well presents a unique challenge depending upon the well type, i.e., oil or gas, and the action to be taken. Typical problems requiring correction within a well are: crushed regions in the tubing, sand bridges or accumulation of paraffin, scale, rust or other debris. Maintenance procedures that must also be accomplished from the surface include the need to set or remove lock mandrels, collar stops or safety valves. Specific, commercially-available tools have been developed for each of these maintenance actions or problem solutions.
Although the actual tools may be very similar, at least three different prior art methods exist for powering the tools in the downhole environment. These methods for performing maintenance or for solving downhole problems are: wireline, pumpdown and plunger lift systems. As usual, each of these methods has both advantages and disadvantages.
Wireline systems use a variety of tools on the end of a wire acting through the flowline or wellbore. Various combinations of tools and accessories, e.g. swage, gauge cutter, broach, knuckle joint, stem, jars or accelerator, are assembled in a linear method creating a tool string which is used to perform the necessary action. Each tool string is custom-tailored to perform a required function. In wireline, a key part of the tool string is the stem, which is used to overcome stuffing box packing friction as the line passes from outside the well head into the well bore. With a set of mechanical jars below the stem, the combined weight of the jars and stem is used to jar up or down by pulling and then releasing the wireline. The combination of gravity and momentum, acting on the stem and jars, creates the force to perform the necessary function acting through the tool which is at or near the end of the tool string. In many cases, when the tool has successfully performed its function, additional jarring is used to shear a pin to release the tool from the work or newly-installed part. The tool string is then retrieved to the surface with the wireline. Wireline is most effective in near vertical wells, as the effects of gravity on the tool string diminish rapidly as the well bore departs from the vertical.
The most significant downhole problem that can occur with the use of a wireline is breaking of the wire, stranding a tool string in the flowline. This necessitates an additional maintenance action of retrieving the stranded tool string. This is usually accomplished by fishing with another tool string to acquire either the broken wire or the fishneck of the stranded tool string.
Pumpdown or through-flowline (TFL) service systems use hydraulic pressure and flow to provide the force required for tool movement and manipulation. In any TFL service system, there are five basic components: (1) a pump to provide power at the surface, (2) fluid to convert the pump power to work, (3) a circulation member to provide a complete circulation path, (4) a suitable conduit to carry the working fluid and (5) a tool string to perform the needed transport and service.
A TFL service system requires a fluid circulation path from a central service station into a well, through a communication port, and then returning to the point of origin. This path may be through the tubing/casing annulus, dual tubing strings or tubing side string in single or multiple zone completions. A hydraulic pump provides the hydraulic power and fluid flow to move the tool string through the circulation path to the desired depth in the well and to accomplish work downhole. A hydraulic manifold is controlled from the TFL operator's console at the surface. The manifold allows for the required fluid direction changes during a service action. Typical TFL service fluids are seawater, dead crude oil or diesel fuel. The TFL tool string consists of elastomeric piston units that convert the fluid flow into force to provide tool manipulation downhole.
TFL techniques are particularly useful for subsea completions, directional holes drilled from offshore platforms and/or deep, deviated holes where wireline work is sometimes impossible or, at best, extremely difficult. TFL provides additional power beyond that capable with wireline service equipment to cut through extreme paraffin deposits, jet-erode stubborn sand bridges and accomplish other downhole maintenance tasks effectively. The greatest drawback to TFL systems is the extended fluid circulation path which connects to the pump at the surface. Thus, both wireline and TFL systems require some physical connection to the wellhead.
Plunger lift systems have much narrower application than wireline or TFL systems. Plunger lift is used primarily to unload excess fluids from a gas well or to increase production on an oil well. In these systems a tubing stop is inserted (usually by wireline) in the flowline at a desired depth, and a bumper spring is installed above the stop. The plunger is allowed to free-fall to the bumper spring. The plunger expands to the inside diameter of the flowline and the gas in the well lifts the plunger. The plunger is designed to surface as a solid interface between the fluid column and the lifting gas. As the plunger rises to the surface, the plunger acts as a swab, removing liquids in the tubing string. When the plunger rises to the surface, the liquids and gases are diverted to separate flowlines. The plunger may be used repeatedly to remove successively more of the accumulated liquid in the well or may be retrieved from the wellhead. The system may be automated or manually controlled.
Unfortunately, each of the above-described systems fails to address automatic selection and deployment of tools appropriate to the job to be performed. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an automated system capable of selecting and acquiring an oil/gas well tool, deploying the tool to the required location downhole, performing the required task and returning to the wellhead.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a system for, and method of deploying a selected one of a plurality of tools into a subterranean well and a well employing the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a tool selector capable of receiving each of the plurality of tools into a separate location thereof and placing a selected one of the plurality of tools proximate an entrance to the subterranean well in response to a tool selection command and (2) a tool displacement mechanism, couplable to the selected one of the plurality of tools, that causes the selected one of the plurality of tools to enter and traverse at least a portion of the subterranean well.
The present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of automating the selection and deployment of a variety of tools for a given well. A computer can be adapted to control the selection, deployment, operation and retrieval of tools, providing remote completion, servicing and rework of a well.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the tool selector comprises a plurality of tool containment chambers corresponding to the plurality of tools, the tool selector moving a selected one of the plurality of tool containment chambers proximate the entrance in response to the tool selection command. “Tool containment chambers,” as that phrase is used above, is broadly defined to include any station or interface for receiving, holding and releasing a tool. A “tool containmen
Halliburton Energy Service,s Inc.
Herman Paul I.
Hitt David H.
Neuder William
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