CA2719371A1 - Downhole valve member - Google Patents

Abstract

A downhole valve member is disclosed, comprising: a body element; an expandable seal carried by the body element, the expandable seal being expandable from a collapsed position suitable for fitting in a conduit to an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction in use for bearing against a downhole facing annular surface of the conduit; and an actuator carried by the body element and operatively connected to the expandable seal to cause the expandable seal to move from the collapsed position to the extended position. A method comprising: passing a valve member in a downhole direction through a downhole conduit while an expandable seal carried by the valve is in a collapsed position suitable for fitting in the downhole conduit; and actuating the expandable seal, when the expandable seal is positioned sufficiently beyond a downhole facing annular surface of the downhole conduit, into an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction for bearing against the downhole facing annular surface.

Description

DOWNHOLE VALVE MEMBER
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] Downhole valve members.
BACKGROUND

[0002] Various devices are used downhole to divert or restrict fluid flow, including valves, packers, bridge plugs and cement retainers.

SUMMARY

[0003] A downhole valve member is disclosed, comprising: a body element; an expandable seal carried by the body element, the expandable seal being expandable from a collapsed position suitable for fitting in a conduit to an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction in use for bearing against a downhole facing annular surface of the conduit; and an actuator carried by the body element and operatively connected to the expandable seal to cause the expandable seal to move from the collapsed position to the extended position.

[0004] A method comprising: passing a valve member in a downhole direction through a downhole conduit while an expandable seal carried by the valve is in a collapsed position suitable for fitting in the downhole conduit; and actuating the expandable seal, when the expandable seal is positioned sufficiently beyond a downhole facing annular surface of the downhole conduit, into an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction for bearing against the downhole facing annular surface.

[0005] These and other aspects of the device and method are set out in the claims, which are incorporated here by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0006] Embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures, in which like reference characters denote like elements, by way of example, and in which:

[0007] Figs. lA-B are side elevation views, at least partially in section, of a downhole valve member being positioned and deployed at the end of a well conduit.

[0008] Figs. 2A-C are side elevation views, at least partially in section, of another downhole valve member being positioned and deployed at the end of a well conduit.

[0009] Figs. 3A-B are perspective views, partially in section, of the lower portion of the downhole valve member being positioned and deployed at the end of a well conduit.

[0010] Figs. 4A-B are views taken along the 4A and 4B section lines in Figs.
3A-B, respectively.

[0011] Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of an downhole valve member in the collapsed position.

[0012] Figs. 6A-C are side elevation views, partially in section, of another downhole valve member being positioned and deployed within a well conduit.

[0013] Fig. 7A is a bottom-plan section view of another embodiment of a downhole valve member, with dashed lines used to illustrate the expandable seal in the extended position.

[0014] Fig. 7B is a side elevation view of the downhole valve member of Fig.
7A moving from the contracted to the expanded position.

[0015] Fig. 8 is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Immaterial modifications may be made to the embodiments described here without departing from what is covered by the claims.

[0017] There are various situations that call for the application of a valve member downhole. For example, a plug may be used to complete the process of plug and abandon on a well. When a well borehole is drilled to gain access to a prospective production zone, the original natural seal in the form of impermeable rock, termed cap rock, is disturbed.
In abandoning the well, the seal must be reestablished to prevent the vertical migration of fluids through the well from the production zone. It is desirable that any borehole seal have the same sealing characteristics as the original seal.

[0018] Plug and abandon is a process that prepares a well to be closed permanently, usually after either logs determine there is insufficient hydrocarbon potential to complete the well, or after production operations have drained the reservoir. Different regulatory bodies have their own requirements for plugging operations. Most require that cement plugs be placed and tested across any open hydrocarbon-bearing formations, across all casing shoes, across freshwater aquifers, and perhaps several other areas near the surface, including the top 20 to 50 ft [6 to 15 m] of the wellbore. The well designer may choose to set bridge plugs in conjunction with cement slurries to ensure that higher density cement does not fall in the wellbore. In that case, the bridge plug would be set and cement pumped on top of the plug through drillpipe, and then the drillpipe withdrawn before the slurry thickened. In most cases, a series of cement plugs is set in the wellbore, with an inflow or integrity test made at each stage to confirm hydraulic isolation.

[0019] Another example of a situation where a downhole valve may be used includes the situation where a portion of the wellbore is determined to be leaking undesirable fluids into production. For example, it may be determined that the lower portion of a perforated casing is in contact with a freshwater aquifer. In such a case, a bridge plug may be sent down the well and installed above the offending portion of casing.

[0020] A further example of a situation where a downhole valve may be used includes placement at a branch point in a well, in order to allow selective access to one, the other, or both branches of well.

[0021] Another example includes the situation where a portion of the well is to be cased.
A lower packer and a casing string with a casing shoe are used to effectively form a valve, and to divert cementitious casing grout into the annular space between the drilled formation and well casing.

[0022] Further examples of downhole valve use include situations of targeted fracturing, well isolation, or simply temporarily preventing the ingress of fluids into the wellbore or production tubing.

[0023] Referring to Figs. 1A-B, a downhole valve member 10 is illustrated, member 10 having a body element 12, an expandable seal 14, and an actuator 15.
Expandable seal 14 is carried by the body element 12 and is expandable from a collapsed position (Fig. IA) suitable for fitting in a conduit 16 to an extended position (Fig. 1B). In the extended position, a sealing surface 18 of the expandable seal 14 faces in an uphole direction 20 in use for bearing against a downhole facing annular surface 22, such as an end 24, of the conduit 16.
Actuator 15 is carried by the body element 12 and is connected to the expandable seal 14 to cause the expandable seal 14 to move from the collapsed position (Fig. IA) to the extended position (Fig. 1B).

[0024] Referring to Fig. 1B, sealing surface 18 may be a suitable gasket, such as an o-ring, disc, resilient coating, or diaphragm 26 as shown. Sealing surface 18 may be flexible, in order to facilitate the deformation of sealing surface 18 that may occur when in the collapsed position and to facilitate sealing under pressure. For example, sealing surface 18 when collapsed may be folded (not shown) or bunched, for example within a conical assembly 28. Thus, upon actuation to the extended position, sealing surface 18 may deploy in a fashion similar to a parachute, umbrella, or accordion.

[0025] Referring to Figs. 7A-B, in other embodiments sealing surface 18 may be formed of a plurality of smaller sealing surfaces 18A provided on uphole facing edges 18B of a plurality of plates 19. Upon actuation (Fig. 7B), plates 19, which are normally overlapped as shown when in the collapsed position (Figs. 7A-B), are pushed laterally outwards to align end-to-end to form a contiguous sealing surface 18 about the downhole facing annular surface 22 of well conduit 16 (Fig. 7A). Sealing surfaces 18A may comprise resilient sealing material such as a rubber coating.
Resilient material may also be placed along the lateral edges 21 of plates 19 (Fig. 7B), so that plates 19 seal laterally against one another to form a complete annular seal.
As shown in Fig. 7A, lateral edges 21 may comprise mating bevel profiles 27 to assist in lateral sealing. Fig. 7B
illustrates the sequence from the collapsed position to the extended position.
A retainer 31, such as a chain attached around the conical assembly 28, may retain the plates 19 from over extending. Although Fig. 7A illustrates plates 19 oriented in an alternating sequence of outer and inner plates 19, it should be understood that other methods of orienting the assembly of plates 19 in the collapsed position may be used. For example, plates 19 may be layered in series, with each plate overlapping a preceding plate 19 and underlapping a subsequent plate 19, much like the metal plates that make up the surface of a luggage pickup conveyor in an airport.

[0026] Referring to Figs. 2A-C, valve member 10 may comprise one or more sensors 30 mounted on the downhole valve member 10, for example carried on the body element 12.

Sensor(s) 30 are responsive to the expandable seal 14 extending in a downhole direction 32 sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface 22. In other words, sensor 30 may be used to assist the valve member 10 in positioning sufficiently downhole of the annular surface 22 to allow expandable seal 14 to deploy correctly. Sensors 30 may also assist in locating valve member 10 sufficiently close to annular surface 22. Fig. 2A illustrates a situation where valve member 10 has moved sufficiently downhole such that expandable seal 14, shown in the collapsed position, may be actuated into the extended position (Fig. 2B) without contacting conduit 16. In some embodiments, expandable seal 14 may be actuated into contact with well conduit 16, for example if annular surface 22 is formed within well conduit 16, and expandable seal 14 is then actuated within well conduit 16 and drawn uphole to seal against annular surface 22 as in Fig. 6B. Additional sensors, such as a pressure sensor 33 (Fig. 2A) may be provided on valve member 10, for example for sensing pressure downhole of the deployed valve member 10.

[0027] Sensor 30 may generate a signal indicative of the expandable seal 14 extending sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface 22 of the conduit 16.
The signal generated may be an analog or digital electronic signal, or a mechanical sensor. The sensor 30 may comprise a suitable sensor, for example one or more of a mechanical sensor, a laser sensor, a video sensor, an acoustic sensor, a radar sensor, a sonar sensor, radiation sensor, or a pressure sensor. Fig. 2A illustrates an electronic sensor, for example an ultrasonic acoustic sensor. Fig.
1A on the other hand illustrates a mechanical sensor comprising one or more sensor arms 31.
Arms 31 act as feeler trip bars that are biased outwards to contact well conduit 16, and upon reaching the end of conduit 16, arms 31 may trigger the operation of actuator 15. In other words the actuator 15 may be responsive to the signal from the sensor 30 indicative of proper positioning for deployment. In other embodiments, sensor 30 may send a signal to the well operator. In general, the sensor 30 may be set up to automatically actuate upon reaching the desired positioning, or may be set up to simply relay the signal to a computer or the well operator who may then manually actuate the valve member 10. The actuator 15 may itself comprise the sensor 30, for example if the actuator 15 were a simple biasing device (not shown) that applied constant outward lateral force on expandable seal 14 as valve member 10 was lowered down the well. In such a case, well conduit 16 would contain the expandable seal 14 in the collapsed position until expandable seal 14 sufficiently cleared the end (downhole annular surface 22) of well conduit 16, allowing the biasing force of actuator 15 to cause expandable seal 14 to fully deploy to the extended position and hook on the end 24 of conduit 16 (Fig.
1B).

[0028] The actuator 15 may be any suitable actuator for moving the expandable seal 14 from the collapsed to the extended position. In some cases the actuator 15 may also be used to retract the seal 14 from extended to collapsed, for example in order to remove the valve member from the well. Referring to Fig. 2B, a hydraulic actuator 34 is illustrated, comprising a hydraulic piston 36 and cylinder 38. A source of hydraulic fluid may be provided in valve member 10 or supplied from uphole. Piston 36 may be connected to plates 19 of expandable seal 14, in order to cause extension. As shown in Fig. 2B, retraction of piston 36 spreads plates 19 and deploys expandable seal 14. Piston 36 may be connected to a cone or disc 40 that is connected to the inside of plates 19 via diaphragm 26. Although an axial piston/cylinder hydraulic actuator is illustrated in Fig. 2B, laterally-oriented hydraulic piston/cylinder actuation systems may be used. Referring to Figs. 1A-1B, another type of actuator 15 is used, with an actuator rod 46 or cable connecting to a disc 48 as well as connecting to plates 19 at the lower apex 42 of conical assembly 28. Lower apex 42 may be the position of assembly 28 where plates 19 meet and connect in pivotal relation. When valve member 10 is in place downhole, grippers 50 engage the inside walls 51 of the well conduit 16 to hold the valve member 10 in place. Upon grippers 50 stabilizing valve member 10, an uphole tensile force may be exerted on hook 52 through wireline 54 to draw actuator rod 46 in an uphole direction 20, extending the expandable seal 14 as shown (Fig. 2B). Other types of actuators may be used, such as a spring 44 (Fig. 7A) or other biasing devices. Another type of actuator 15 may involve an inflatable bladder (not shown) positioned within conical assembly 28, the bladder then being inflated to deploy the seal 14.

[0029] Various embodiments of valve member 10 may incorporate one or more centering devices, such as skid plates 56 (Fig. 2A), spring devices, or rollers. Skid plates 56 may incorporate hydraulic activated scissor hinges, for example. Centering device(s) may be located on the body element 12, which may itself simply be a shaft or structural frame (not shown). The use of a centering device may ensure that expandable seal 14 extends symmetrically about downhole facing annular surface 22, by ensuring that valve member 10 is axially centered or otherwise aligned within well conduit 16. Grippers 50 (Fig. 1B) may serve as a centering device.

Centering devices may be useful for example in Fig. 6A where laterally extendable skid plates 58 are used to ensure that jet nozzles 60 are precisely aimed at inside walls 51, as will be discussed further below.

[0030] As indicated above, downhole valve member 10 may incorporate a coupling such as a hook 52 (Fig. 1 A) for connection with an uphole tool such as a wireline 54 or tubing string.
Other types of couplings may be used, such as a threaded coupling 62 (Fig. 2A) for connection with a tubing string 64, such as a coiled or jointed tubing string assembly. A
threaded coupling may include a box or pin.

[0031] Referring to Fig. 5, the body element 12 may comprise a housing 66 with one or more chambers, for example chambers 68, 70, and 72. One or more of the chambers may be loaded, for example with weight, cement, downhole equipment, or other suitable machinery. The use of one or more weights may facilitate the downhole travel of valve member 10, for example if the valve member 10 is to pass through viscous or pressurized fluids or if a wireline 54 (Fig.
1A) is used. If valve member 10 is loaded with cement, the cement 74 (Fig. 2C) may be released after expandable seal 14 is in place to form a cement plug 75. In these and other embodiments, valve member 10 effectively forms a short term base for plug 75. Cement 74 for plug 75 may also be supplied from the surface, for example by pouring cement 74 down the conduit 16 to seal the well. Before dispensing cement 74, an operator may ensure that valve member 10 has adequately sealed off the conduit 16.

[0032] Referring to Figs. 3A-B and 4A-B, the expandable seal 14 is illustrated in the collapsed (Figs. 3A and 4A) and extended (Figs. 3B and 4B) positions. As shown in Figs. 3B and 4B, expandable seal 14 may be adapted to laterally extend to or beyond conduit 16. Providing expandable seal 14 with a greater lateral extension than conduit 16 may correct for valve member 10 being off-center within conduit 16 prior to deployment. In some cases conduit 16 is a well tubular such as coil tubing or production tubing, and it may not matter if expandable seal 14 over extends. This may allow one size of valve member 10 to be used on a range of tubing diameters. In further embodiments expandable seal 14 may extend laterally sufficient enough past conduit 16 to contact the walls (not shown) of the well or the casing if present. In such cases, valve member 10 may be adapted to seal against the outer casing or well and form a type of casing shoe for well completion and casing. Such embodiments may require that valve member 10 allow passage of fluid flow from the surface into the well annulus around the casing tubing, in order to supply casing cement from the surface. In other cases conduit 16 opens into a cavity large enough to afford lateral expansion of expandable seal 14 to or past conduit 16. In other cases, the formation directly underneath annular surface 22 may be sufficient malleable that extension of expandable seal 14 is able to displace formation material that sits directly against annular surface 22. A hydraulic actuator may be required to supply sufficient lateral force to displace the formation in this manner. In other cases valve member 10 may be used to form annular surface 22 in the walls 51 of conduit 16 (Fig. 6A). As shown in Fig.
3B, an example of sealing surface 18 in diaphragm 26 form is illustrated, the diaphragm 26 carried by edges 18B of plates 19, which are pivotally connected at a downhole apex 42 to allow for lateral extension. In some cases conduit 16 may be formed by a ring packer set in place within a larger conduit such as well casing, with valve member 10 subsequently deploying and hooking upwards against the ring packer to seal the larger conduit. Sufficient tension in the tool string or wireline, or the use of side grippers 56 may hold valve member 10 in place.

[0033] Referring to Fig. 8, a method is disclosed and will now be described with reference to other figures. Referring to Figs. IA, 2A, 3A, and 6A, in stage 100 a valve member is passed in a downhole direction 32 through conduit 16 while expandable seal 14 is in the collapsed position. At this point, it may be determined whether or not the expandable seal 14 is positioned sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface 22 of the conduit 16.
Determining may be done by sensing with sensor 30 (Figs. 1 A and 2A) or by other methods such as calculating the distance travelled, for example from the surface (not shown), to a known depth where surface 22 is located. The valve 10 may also sense, for example using sensor 30, when the expandable seal 14 is positioned sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface 22.

[0034] Referring to Figs. 1B, 2B, 3B, and 6B, when the expandable seal 14 is positioned sufficiently beyond a downhole facing annular surface 22 of the conduit 16, the expandable seal 14 is actuated in a stage 102 into the extended position in which sealing surface 14 faces in an uphole direction 20 for bearing against the downhole facing annular surface 22. After this stage, additional stages may be carried out to complete the seal, although this is not required. For example, Figs. 2C and 6C illustrate the additional stage of moving the valve member 10 a sufficient distance in an uphole direction 20, after actuating in stage 102, to allow the sealing surface 18 to bear against the downhole facing annular surface 22. In some cases no uphole movement is required, for example if fluid pressure in the well is sufficient to force expandable seal 14 against surface 22, much like a check valve. In other cases the valve member 10 may be positioned and laterally extended precisely underneath and sufficiently close to surface 22, without a need to move the valve member 10 uphole to complete the seal.

[0035] Referring to Figs. 6A-C, the method may comprise creating the downhole facing annular surface 22 in the downhole conduit 16 prior to actuating the expandable seal 14. This method is in contrast with the methods referred to above where the expandable seal 14 seals against a pre-existing downhole facing annular surface 22 such as the end 24 (Fig. 1A) of conduit 16. As shown, creating surface 22 may be achieved by a variety of suitable methods. For example, in Fig. 6A the surface 22 is created with pressurized fluid from jet nozzles 60. Skid plates 58 may first be extended as shown to center and stabilize downhole valve member 10 within conduit 16. Upon stabilization within conduit walls 51, a rotatable portion 76 of valve member 10 is rotated, and fluid is jetted out of nozzles 60, in order to form a suitable annular surface 22 in conduit 16. Preferably, the action of nozzles 60 is controlled such that conduit breakthrough doesn't occur, but this may not be required. Other methods of creating annular surface 22 may be used, such as using methods that cut, score, grind, or otherwise shape annular surface 22 in conduit wall 51. Mechanical methods may be used A laser (not shown) may also be used. Regardless, upon formation of annular surface 22, and after positioning expandable seal 14 sufficiently downhole of annular surface 22, expandable surface 14 may be extended (Fig. 6B) and sealing surface 18 sealed against surface 22 (Fig. 6C). Such methods of creating and sealing against annular surfaces 22 within conduit 16 may be advantageous in situations where it is desired to seal or valve the conduit 16 at a location spaced from the bottom (not shown) of the conduit. For example, in Fig. 6A the conduit 16 is sealed off uphole of perforations 78, which may have been found to be unproductive or may have begun to produce water.
There are numerous reasons why a conduit 16 in a well may be valved or sealed off above the bottom of the conduit, and such reasons need not be elaborated upon further herein.

[0036] The downhole valve members 10 disclosed herein may be used as downhole blowout preventers or packers. In such a situation, conduit 16 may be experiencing positive upflow of fluids without any means of controlling the fluids at the surface.
An example of a situation where this has occurred is in the Gulf Oil disaster of 2010. In such cases, the valve member 10 is advantageous because the collapsed position of expandable seal 14 may allow valve member 10 to be lowered downhole, allowing placement of seal 14 and subsequent sealing of the well. For such situations, the lateral profile of valve member 10 may need to be carefully designed to sufficiently reduce uphole drag of well fluids during the lowering of valve member through well conduit 16. Upon positioning and actuating expandable seal 14, the fluid pressure from the well then acts to firmly press sealing surface 18 against annular surface 22, effectively shutting out the well fluids and averting further disaster.

[0037] As embodiments of valve member 10 may be used as a valve, one or more fluid passages (not shown) may be provided through expandable seal 14 when extended.
Such passages may be always open to restrict fluid flow, or may be operable from the surface for example to selectively control fluid flow across valve member 10.

[0038] In some embodiments, valve member 10 is retrievable, for example by collapsing from the extended position to the collapsed position. This may be achieved by various suitable methods. For example the valve member 10 may simply be pushed downhole a sufficient distance, collapsed, and then retracted.

[0039] The use of up, down, above, below, uphole, downhole, and directional language in this document illustrates relative motions within conduit 16, and are not intended to be limited to vertical motions and motions carried out while valve member 10 is positioned downhole. It should be understood that valve member 10 may be used in any type of well, including, for example, vertical and deviated wells, including horizontal wells.

[0040] In the claims, the word "comprising" is used in its inclusive sense and does not exclude other elements being present. The indefinite article "a" before a claim feature does not exclude more than one of the feature being present. Each one of the individual features described here may be used in one or more embodiments and is not, by virtue only of being described here, to be construed as essential to all embodiments as defined by the claims.

Claims (20)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A downhole valve member, comprising:
a body element;
an expandable seal carried by the body element, the expandable seal being expandable from a collapsed position suitable for fitting in a conduit to an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction in use for bearing against a downhole facing annular surface of the conduit; and an actuator carried by the body element and operatively connected to the expandable seal to cause the expandable seal to move from the collapsed position to the extended position.

2. The downhole valve member of claim 1 further comprising a sensor mounted on the downhole valve member, the sensor being responsive to the expandable seal extending in a downhole direction sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface to generate a signal indicative of the expandable seal extending sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface of the conduit.

3. The downhole valve member of claim 2 in which the actuator is responsive to the signal indicative of the expandable seal extending sufficiently in a downhole direction beyond the downhole facing annular surface to cause the expandable seal to move from the collapsed position to the extended position.

4. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 2 - 3 in which the actuator comprises the sensor.

5. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 2 - 4 in which the sensor comprises one or more of a mechanical sensor, a laser sensor, a video sensor, an acoustic sensor, a radar sensor, a sonar sensor, or a pressure sensor.

6. The downhole valve member of claim 5 in which the mechanical sensor comprises one or more sensor arms.

7. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1- 6 in which the downhole facing surface is a downhole facing end of conduit.

8. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1- 7 in which the body element comprises a housing with one or more chambers.

9. The downhole valve member of claim 8 in which a chamber of the one or more chambers is loaded with weight.

10. The downhole valve member of claim 8 or 9 in which a chamber of the one or more chambers is loaded with cement.

11. The downhole valve member of any one of claims 1-10 in which the expandable seal comprises a conical assembly with a sealing gasket forming the sealing surface.

12. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1- 11 in which the body element comprises one or more centering devices.

13. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1- 12 further comprising grippers for gripping the inside of the conduit in use to hold the downhole valve member in place.

14. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1 - 13 further comprising one or more of a hook or threaded coupling for connecting to an uphole tool in use.

15. The downhole valve member of any one of claim 1- 14 used as a downhole blowout preventer.

16. A method comprising:
passing a valve member in a downhole direction through a downhole conduit while an expandable seal carried by the valve is in a collapsed position suitable for fitting in the downhole conduit; and actuating the expandable seal, when the expandable seal is positioned sufficiently beyond a downhole facing annular surface of the downhole conduit, into an extended position in which a sealing surface of the expandable seal faces in an uphole direction for bearing against the downhole facing annular surface.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising moving the valve member a sufficient distance in an uphole direction after actuating to allow the sealing surface to bear against the downhole facing annular surface.

18. The method of any one of claim 16 - 17 further comprising determining, before actuating, when the expandable seal is positioned sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface of the downhole conduit.

19. The method of any one of claim 16 - 18 further comprising sensing when the expandable seal is positioned sufficiently beyond the downhole facing annular surface of the downhole conduit.

20. The method of any one of claim 16 - 19 further comprising creating the downhole facing annular surface in the downhole conduit prior to actuating.