AU781820B2 - Fluid cut control device - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Fluid Cut Control Device The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: Freehills Carter Smith BeadleMELC600371821.9

A

A FLUID CUT CONTROL DEVICE CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of an earlier filing date from U.S.

Provisional Application Serial Number 60/168,971, filed December 3, 1999 which is fully incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of Invention The invention relates to the oil field art. More particularly, the invention relates to analysis and control of fluids in an oil well.

Prior Art Electric wireline setting tools are known to the art. These tools have been used for several years to effectively set bridge plugs, packers, etc. in the downhole environment in a reliable manner. Whether or not the plug was set however has been determined only by current draw which increases as the load on the motor increases.

Presumably the increased load is due to the tool being inflated but as one of skill in the art will recognize, there are many reasons current draw may increase that do not necessarily indicate a fully inflated tool.

Another drawback of prior art devices and methods is the amount of time required to determine whether or not the packer or plug is positioned to advantageously control a subject fluid. Prior art methods placed the packer or plug and flowed the well. At the surface the flow was logged and a determination made.

The time it would take for fluid in the inquiry vicinity to reach the surface is lost and S. 25 perhaps even more importantly the produced fluid is affected by other zones before reaching the surface.

In spite of the drawbacks inherent in the prior art, heretofore the conventional methods and apparatuses were the only alternative. Clearly then the art is in need of a device for controlling and testing a subject fluid which avoids the drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the fluid cut control device of the invention.

The invention provides a fluid cut control device comprising: a settable element; an electric wireline setting tool in operable communication with said element and mounted in a housing; and l a fluid inquiry tool connected to said setting tool and mounted in said housing, said inquiry tool being configured to evaluate an effect on a well, in which the device is settable, by setting of the settable element.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a packer or bridge plug operably mounted to a housing which includes an electric wireline setting tool, a fluid 15 inquiry tool a resistivity tool), a locator to determine location of the device in the S: well and a wireline cable head. The locator, preferably a casing collar locator counts collars during run in and movement within the well to determine the position of the tool.

Such locators and their use is known to the art. When the desired position is reached, the packer or bridge plug is set and the fluid inquiry tool is actuated to determine the effect of the placement of the plug on the produced fluids. Depending upon effect, the plug may be released from the setting tool and permanently deployed or unset and repositioned. Since inquiry of the fluid is taken immediately and in the direct vicinity of the plug all of the major drawbacks of the prior art are alleviated. It is important to note that since in the invention the well can be logged in the same run as the setting of the plug is done, a single run only is necessary for the operator to locate the target fluid (water, gas, etc.) and then set the bridge plug. Conventionally this was done in at least two runs and therefore the invention greatly benefits the art. Moreover, since the invention also allows for an immediate test of the effect of the placement and the 4635964 2a unsetting of the plug if desired results are not obtained the prior art need for a run to unset the plug, a run to relog the well and a run to set a new plug are avoided. Another of the benefits of the invention is that time is not lost due to the length of time the newly produced fluid takes to reach the surface for testing. Another benefit, as stated, I that there is an immediate indication regarding whether or not the plug is set which is provided by the setting tool. Moreover a redundant check of the same in addition to current draw is still available and used as was taught in the prior art.

In another embodiment of the invention, an electronically controlled electric wireline setting tool is employed in the device of the invention to increase information obtained about the inflatable element (packer or bridge plug, etc.) and other well parameters. An electronically controlled electric wireline setting tool is disclosed in U.S. Serial No. 60/123,306, under attorneys Docket No. 98-1427, filed March 5, 1999.

The identified U.S. application is fully incorporated herein by reference and is assigned to the assignee hereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several FIGURES: FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration of a fluid cut control device of the invention; and FIGURES 2-7 are sequential schematic views of the invention in operation and passing through a set cycle, logging cycle, and a resetting cycle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A fluid cut control device of the invention is schematically illustrated in Figure 1 where an appreciation of the concept of the invention may be gained. The device as stated above, reduces errors and time in installing a bridge plug to control fluid cut in a well.

20 The device 10 comprises packer/bridge plug 12 operably connected to an electric wireline setting tool (EWST) 14. The setting tool may be a conventional electric wireline setting tool such as part number 437-14 which is commercially available from Baker Oil Tools, Houston, Texas, or preferably may be an electronically controlled electric wireline setting tool as disclosed in the aboveidentified U.S. patent application which has been incorporated herein by reference. In operable communication with the EWST 14 is a fluid inquiry tool 16 which preferably comprises a fluid logging tool (resistivity, neutron, etc.) such as the FDN or WHI *which is which is commercially available from Baker Atlas, Houston, Texas. With the fluid logging tool 16 located immediately adjacent plug 12, fluid produced from the well uphole of plug 12 is immediately testable to determine the effect of the placement of the plug. In the event desired results are not obtained, as shown by the log, the operator will decide to keep or unset the plug when this decision is to unset the plug the EWST 14 is instructed to unset plug 12 so that the device of the invention may be moved and plug 12 reset.

To help determine the location of the device of the invention, a locator 18 is positioned within device 10. Locator 18 is preferably in communication with the surface of the EWST 14. When the locator 18 has determined the position of the device to the satisfaction of the operator or the EWST (intelligent embodiment), the EWST will be directed to inflate plug 12. In a preferred embodiment, locator 18 is a casing collar locator which are commercially available from many sources.

A wireline cable head 20 is preferably located at an uphole end of device for connection to the wireline from the surface. Preferably cable head 20 is a conventional tool commercially available from many sources.

The various tools assembled into the fluid cut control device of the invention synergistically enhance each other to provide a significantly better tool than heretofore available from the stand points of reduced time, more accurate logging and placement and economy.

Referring to Figures 2-7 a representative sequence of events employing the invention is illustrated. Upon run in (Figure 2) and determining location by locator 18, a first log is taken to establish base line readings. Following the initial log, plug 12 is set (Figure Another log is then taken and compared to the base line log.

Depending upon the results of the comparison the plug might either be left permanently installed or moved to a different location because the desired results were not obtained. In the sequence illustrated for exemplary purposes Figure 4 indicates that desired results were not obtained from the position of Figure 3. Consequently the 25 plug is illustrated to be unset. Moving to Figure 5 it will be appreciated that the device 10 has been moved uphole to set the plug 12 at a new location. The plug is set at Figure 6. Another log is then taken by resistivity tool 16 and results compared. If the desired results are not achieved, the plug 12 may be moved again and the process repeated indefinitely until the desired results are achieved. In the exemplary sequence of Figures 2-7, the results desired have been achieved by the Figure 6 setting and therefore as illustrated in Figure 7, the plug 12 has been released.

With the device of the invention an operator can move a plug several times and log until desired results are obtained. This is accomplished in a single run as opposed to multiple runs that would have been required in the prior art.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention where an intelligent EWST is employed, the programming therein may be configured to take all of the foregoing actions automatically.

While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.

It will be understood that the term "comprises" or its grammatical variants as used herein is equivalent to the term "includes" and is not to be taken as excluding the presence of other elements or features.

Claims (11)

1. A fluid cut control device comprising: a settable element; an electric wireline setting tool in operable communication with said element and mounted in a housing; and a fluid inquiry tool connected to said setting tool and mounted in said housing, said inquiry tool being configured to evaluate an effect on a well, in which the device is settable, by setting of the settable element. i ll:

2. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said device further includes a locator to locate said settable element.

3. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said fluid inquiry tool is a resistivity or neutron tool.

4. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said settable element is one of a packer and a bridge plug. '15

5. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said element is settable S• and unsettable until released from said device.

6. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electric wireline setting tool includes a controller.

7. A fluid cut control device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said settable element is an inflatable settable element.

8. A method for controlling fluid cut in a hydrocarbon well comprising: running a device as claimed in claim 1; logging said well; setting said settable element; relogging said well; comparing said logging and relogging; and selecting one of releasing said settable element and unsetting said element.

9. A method for controlling fluid cut in a hydrocarbon well as claimed in claim 8 wherein said method further includes moving and resetting said settable element.

A method for controlling fluid cut in a hydrocarbon well comprising: running a device as claimed in claim 1; setting said settable element; :10 logging said well; and determining an effect of said settable element on said well.

11. A method for controlling fluid cut in a hydrocarbon well comprising: i* running a device as claimed in claim 1; e setting said settable element; 5 logging said well; and determining an effect of said settable element on said well in a single run. Dated 21 April 2005 Freehills Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/s: Baker Hughes Incorporated 4635964