EP0298537B1 - Device and method for underreaming a borehole - Google Patents

Device and method for underreaming a borehole Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0298537B1
EP0298537B1 EP88201228A EP88201228A EP0298537B1 EP 0298537 B1 EP0298537 B1 EP 0298537B1 EP 88201228 A EP88201228 A EP 88201228A EP 88201228 A EP88201228 A EP 88201228A EP 0298537 B1 EP0298537 B1 EP 0298537B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
motor
borehole
clapper body
clapper
pivot means
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP88201228A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0298537A2 (en
EP0298537A3 (en
Inventor
Djurre Hans Zijsling
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV
Original Assignee
Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV filed Critical Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV
Publication of EP0298537A2 publication Critical patent/EP0298537A2/en
Publication of EP0298537A3 publication Critical patent/EP0298537A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0298537B1 publication Critical patent/EP0298537B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B10/00—Drill bits
    • E21B10/26—Drill bits with leading portion, i.e. drill bits with a pilot cutter; Drill bits for enlarging the borehole, e.g. reamers
    • E21B10/32—Drill bits with leading portion, i.e. drill bits with a pilot cutter; Drill bits for enlarging the borehole, e.g. reamers with expansible cutting tools
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B10/00—Drill bits
    • E21B10/46—Drill bits characterised by wear resisting parts, e.g. diamond inserts
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B10/00—Drill bits
    • E21B10/60—Drill bits characterised by conduits or nozzles for drilling fluids
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B4/00—Drives for drilling, used in the borehole
    • E21B4/18—Anchoring or feeding in the borehole
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B44/00—Automatic control systems specially adapted for drilling operations, i.e. self-operating systems which function to carry out or modify a drilling operation without intervention of a human operator, e.g. computer-controlled drilling systems; Systems specially adapted for monitoring a plurality of drilling variables or conditions
    • E21B44/005—Below-ground automatic control systems
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B7/00—Special methods or apparatus for drilling
    • E21B7/28—Enlarging drilled holes, e.g. by counterboring

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a borehole underreamer device for underreaming a borehole penetrating through a subsurface earth formation.
  • a borehole underreamer is used to increase the diameter of a borehole, for example prior to setting a casing inside the borehole or to install a gravel packing in the production zone of an oil production well.
  • US-A-3 472 553 discloses a borehole underreamer device comprising a downhole motor having a rotor part which can be rotated relative to a stator part, the rotor part carrying pivot means, the pivot means carrying a clapper body in which a series of abrasive teeth are embedded, the pivot means allowing the clapper body to describe in use an orbital motion inside a borehole, thereby inducing the abrasive teeth to penetrate into the wall of the borehole.
  • the clapper body is a ball provided with projections, which ball is connected to the rotor part by means of a chain.
  • the known device is inefficient in use and requires maintenance at short time intervals due to increased wear of the projections directed away from the rotor.
  • the underreamer device is characterized in that the pivot means comprises a universal joint.
  • the rotation of the rotor part is transmitted to the clapper body by the universal joint, which clapper body thereby rolls and slides along the borehole wall.
  • all abrasive teeth of the clapper body contribute to the excavating action.
  • US-A-1 485 615 discloses a borehole underreamer device comprising a pivot means arranged at the lower end of a drill string which carries a clapper body provided with abrasive teeth, wherein the pivot means allows the clapper body to describe in use an orbital motion inside a borehole, thereby inducing the abrasive teeth to penetrate into the wall of the borehole.
  • This publication is not relevant to the present invention as the pivot means does not include a universal joint.
  • US-A-4 229 296 discloses a downhole motor for driving a conventional drill bit. This publication, however, does not relate to underreaming a borehole drilled in an underground formation.
  • FR-A-2 370 163 and FR-A-2 275 633 disclose devices suitable to be used in a borehole, which devices are provided with expandable stabilizer means that can be adjusted to various borehole widths.
  • Figs. 1 and 2 an underreamer device comprising a clapper body 26 which is carried via a universal joint 27 by an output shaft 25 of a hydraulically driven downhole motor 24.
  • the motor comprises a housing 23 which is stabilized in a borehole 5 by stabilizer blades 20.
  • the motor housing 23 is connected at the upper end thereof to a pipe string (not shown) which carries the underreamer device and through which a driving fluid is pumped into the motor housing 23 thereby inducing a rotor mounted inside the housing to rotate the output shaft 25 and clapper body 26.
  • the output shaft 25, universal joint 27 and clapper body 26 comprise an axial fluid passage (not shown) and the driving fluid is discharged from the housing via said fluid passage and a series of nozzles 29 into the borehole so as to cool the abrasive teeth 45 mounted the clapper body 26 and to remove drill cuttings therefrom.
  • the output shaft 25 of the motor 24 When after lowering the underreamer device into a pilot hole 21 the output shaft 25 of the motor 24 is rotated the clapper body 26 starts orbiting in the pilot hole 21. This orbiting motion generates a centrifugal force as a result of which the teeth 28 penetrate the side wall 1 of the pilot hole 21 in lateral direction.
  • the teeth 45 are distributed circumpherentially on a frustoconical section 30 of the clapper body 26.
  • Said frustoconical section 30 is located between a hard faced nose section 41 and a tubular section 42 of the clapper 26 which latter sections serve to ensure that during operations the clapper 26 is oriented at a selected angle a relative to a central axis I of the borehole 21 and to avoid that the borehole would be underreamed to an undesired large extend.
  • the underreaming process can be monitored at the surface by measuring the pressure of the driving fluid which is injected via a standpipe into the pipestring carrying the underreamer device.
  • the measured standpipe pressure can be used to control the speed of pulling the underreamer device through the borehole during operation thereof.
  • the universal joint 27 may comprise a fluid passage which restricts the amount of fluid flow into the clapper body 26 with a progressing tilt angle ⁇ .
  • standpipe pressure changes generated as a result of the varying flow restriction in the universal joint may be used as a means for controlling the pulling speed of the device through the borehole during underreaming operations.
  • the universal joint 27 may be provided with a by-pass valve (not shown) having a fluid passage which is controlled by the tilt angle ⁇ of the clapper body 26.
  • the pipe string and motor housing 23 may be rotated or be kept non-rotating and that if the device is lowered into or retrieved from the pilot hole 21 the whole assembly is kept non-rotating so as to ensure that the clapper body 26 is kept in a longitudinal orientation in the pilot hole.
  • an underreamer device provided with hingeable stabilizer blades 20 which can be expanded so as to centralize the underreamer device in boreholes of various widths.
  • a device of this type is able to make more passes to ream the hole to the ultimate diameter.
  • Fig. 1 the device is shown in a small diameter pilot hole 21 with the stabilizer blades 20 in the contracted position, whereas in Fig. 2 the device is shown in a widened hole 22 in which the stabilizer blades 20 are located in an expanded thereof.
  • the underreamer device comprises a motor housing 23 which carries near the lower end thereof the stabilizer blades 20.
  • the motor comprises a hollow output shaft 25 which carries a clapper body 26 via a universal joint 27.
  • the motor is a hydraulic motor, such as a Moineau motor which is driven by a driving fluid which is injected into the motor via a pipe string (not shown) which is connected to the upper end of the motor housing 23.
  • the driving fluid is discharged (see arrows II) from the motor housing 23 into the hollow output shaft 25 via orifices 28 at the upper end of said shaft 25.
  • the driving fluid subsequently flows via the interior of the output shaft 25, universal joint 27 and clapper body towards a series of nozzles 29 which are circumpherentially distributed on a frustoconical section 30 of the clapper body 26.
  • annular piston 31 which is slidably arranged in an annular-shaped piston housing 32.
  • the piston housing 32 is coupled in fluid communication with the interior 34 of the motor housing 23 via an axial fluid passage 33. In this manner the pressure of the driving fluid inside the motor housing 34 exerts a downward force to the piston 31 thereby inducing a smoothly curved noze section 36 of the piston to push away in lateral direction inwardly curved lower portions 37 of the stabilizer blades 20, thereby forcing the stabilizer blades 20 towards an expanded position thereof.
  • the piston 31 may be forced back into the retracted position by spring means (not shown) if no driving fluid is pumped through the motor so as to enable axial movement of the device through the borehole during insertion and retrieval while the stabilizer blades are kept in a retracted position.
  • the clapper body 26 is provided with hard faced cylindrical section 39 located above the frustoconical section 30 in which the abrassive teeth 40 are inserted.
  • the cylindrical section 39 serves to limit the hole diameter increase per pass.
  • the final borehole diameter is limited by the arrangement of a smooth hard faced nose section 41 at the lower end of the clapper body 26.
  • the underreamer device according to the invention may be used for any conventional underreaming operation such as for underreaming of boreholes, for example prior to setting a casing or prior to setting a gravel packing.
  • the underreamer device according to the invention is furthermore particularly suitable for scaling out of at least partly plugged production liners.
  • the smooth nose section of the clapper body prevents damage to the liner itself and the underreamer is able to operate properly in liner sections with various degrees of scaling.
  • the frustoconical section may be shaped such that the top of a mathematical cone enveloping the frustoconical section is located in the pivot centre of the universal joint.
  • the teeth may also be embedded in a spherical section of the clapper body. If desired part of the spherical surface of said section may be oriented tangential to a mathematical cone having its top located at the pivot centre of the universal joint. In that case at least some of the teeth have no tangential movement relative to the borehole wall during operation of the device.
  • the abrasive teeth may be made of any wear resistant material such as diamond, tungsten carbide or sintered diamond or boron nitrite particles which are secured to a tungsten carbide substratum.
  • the teeth may further have a triangular, disk, or any other suitable shape.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Earth Drilling (AREA)
EP88201228A 1987-06-25 1988-06-15 Device and method for underreaming a borehole Expired - Lifetime EP0298537B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB878714921A GB8714921D0 (en) 1987-06-25 1987-06-25 Borehole underreamer device
GB8714921 1987-06-25

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0298537A2 EP0298537A2 (en) 1989-01-11
EP0298537A3 EP0298537A3 (en) 1989-04-12
EP0298537B1 true EP0298537B1 (en) 1992-12-02

Family

ID=10619554

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88201228A Expired - Lifetime EP0298537B1 (en) 1987-06-25 1988-06-15 Device and method for underreaming a borehole

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0298537B1 (da)
DE (1) DE3876318T2 (da)
DK (1) DK169483B1 (da)
GB (1) GB8714921D0 (da)
NO (1) NO302587B1 (da)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8899339B2 (en) 2008-02-29 2014-12-02 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Systems and methods for regulating flow in a wellbore
WO2015142333A1 (en) * 2014-03-20 2015-09-24 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Automated locking joint in a wellbore tool string

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2677402A1 (fr) * 1991-06-06 1992-12-11 Geostock Procede pour forer un puits aveugle notamment de grand diametre et outil de forage pour le mettre en óoeuvre.
NO992514D0 (no) * 1999-05-26 1999-05-26 Faanes Per & Ge Boreanordning for utboring av koniske hull
GB2462306B (en) * 2008-08-01 2012-12-26 Deep Casing Tools Ltd Reaming tool
DE102017115939A1 (de) 2017-07-14 2019-01-17 Saurer Spinning Solutions Gmbh & Co. Kg Verfahren zum Betreiben einer Luftspinnvorrichtung, Fadenleitkanal und Luftspinnmaschine umfassend einen solchen Fadenleitkanal
CN116427853B (zh) * 2023-04-19 2024-01-09 河北省地质矿产勘查开发局第一地质大队(河北省清洁能源应用技术中心) 一种适用于卵砾石地层的钻探扩孔装置及方法

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1485615A (en) * 1920-12-08 1924-03-04 Arthur S Jones Oil-well reamer
US1667155A (en) * 1927-03-18 1928-04-24 Zalmon B Higdon Drilling bit
US2290502A (en) * 1938-12-29 1942-07-21 Dow Chemical Co Apparatus for forming subterranean cavities
US2922627A (en) * 1956-06-07 1960-01-26 Rotary Oil Tool Company Rotary drill bits and cutters
US3203184A (en) * 1963-10-15 1965-08-31 Whittle Fluid pressure motive systems, for borehole drilling
US3472553A (en) * 1967-05-03 1969-10-14 Bruno H Miller Method of and apparatus for extracting bitumen
FR2275633A1 (fr) * 1974-06-19 1976-01-16 Ferodo Sa Tete de forage du genre comportant notamment un outil de forage auquel est associe un moteur propre a assurer l'entrainement en rotation de cet outil de forage
US4299296A (en) * 1979-07-06 1981-11-10 Smith International, Inc. In-hole motor drill with bit clutch

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2350973A (en) * 1943-02-16 1944-06-06 Shell Dev Pressure-actuated tubing anchor
US2799475A (en) * 1953-01-08 1957-07-16 Texas Co Reaming apparatus
US2823901A (en) * 1955-11-07 1958-02-18 Kammerer Jr Archer W Expansible rotary drilling tools
FR1271163A (fr) * 1960-07-26 1961-09-08 Dispositif élargisseur de la base d'un forage
DE1207907B (de) * 1962-09-07 1965-12-30 Servco Co Bohrlochwerkzeug
US3196960A (en) * 1963-03-19 1965-07-27 Lamphere Jean K Fluid pressure expansible drill bits
US3757877A (en) * 1971-12-30 1973-09-11 Grant Oil Tool Co Large diameter hole opener for earth boring
SE414805B (sv) * 1976-11-05 1980-08-18 Sven Halvor Johansson Anordning vid don avsedda for uppberning resp forflyttning av en bergborrningsanordning som skall uppborra mycket langa, foretredesvis vertikala schakt i berggrunden
CA1067819A (en) * 1977-10-14 1979-12-11 Harold F. Green Mining and extracting process and apparatus

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1485615A (en) * 1920-12-08 1924-03-04 Arthur S Jones Oil-well reamer
US1667155A (en) * 1927-03-18 1928-04-24 Zalmon B Higdon Drilling bit
US2290502A (en) * 1938-12-29 1942-07-21 Dow Chemical Co Apparatus for forming subterranean cavities
US2922627A (en) * 1956-06-07 1960-01-26 Rotary Oil Tool Company Rotary drill bits and cutters
US3203184A (en) * 1963-10-15 1965-08-31 Whittle Fluid pressure motive systems, for borehole drilling
US3472553A (en) * 1967-05-03 1969-10-14 Bruno H Miller Method of and apparatus for extracting bitumen
FR2275633A1 (fr) * 1974-06-19 1976-01-16 Ferodo Sa Tete de forage du genre comportant notamment un outil de forage auquel est associe un moteur propre a assurer l'entrainement en rotation de cet outil de forage
US4299296A (en) * 1979-07-06 1981-11-10 Smith International, Inc. In-hole motor drill with bit clutch

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8899339B2 (en) 2008-02-29 2014-12-02 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Systems and methods for regulating flow in a wellbore
WO2015142333A1 (en) * 2014-03-20 2015-09-24 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Automated locking joint in a wellbore tool string

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DK169483B1 (da) 1994-11-07
NO882798L (no) 1988-12-27
DE3876318T2 (de) 1993-04-01
DE3876318D1 (de) 1993-01-14
EP0298537A2 (en) 1989-01-11
GB8714921D0 (en) 1987-07-29
EP0298537A3 (en) 1989-04-12
DK347088A (da) 1988-12-26
NO882798D0 (no) 1988-06-23
NO302587B1 (no) 1998-03-23
DK347088D0 (da) 1988-06-23

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