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
  • E21B21/00—Methods or apparatus for flushing boreholes, e.g. by use of exhaust air from motor
  • E21B21/01—Arrangements for handling drilling fluids or cuttings outside the borehole, e.g. mud boxes
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
  • Y10T137/0318—Processes
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
  • Y10T137/794—With means for separating solid material from the fluid

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates generally to subterranean drilling and completion operations and, more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for transporting, storing, and deploying a mixture of viscous fluids.
• Drilling and completion operations play an important role when developing oil, gas or water wells or when mining for minerals and the like.
• Drilling fluids are commonly employed during the drilling operations and perform several important functions including, but not limited to, removing the cuttings from the well to the surface, controlling formation pressures, sealing permeable formations, minimizing formation damage, and cooling and lubricating the drill bit.
• steps may be taken to enhance well productivity and additional downhole equipment may be installed.
• LCM Lost Circulation Materials
• Some materials typically used as LCM include, but are not limited to, wood fiber, popped popcorn, straw, bark chips, ground cork, mica, ground and sized minerals and the like.
• a small to medium quantity of specialized fluid is sometimes referred to as a "pill.”
• Fluid compositions used in drilling and completions can be complex and can be classified as various types of pills.
• pills are LCM, barrier, sweeps, spacers, cleaners, push, wetting, and thermal insulation. These pills may contain viscosifiers, hard particles used for plugging and increasing density, gelled particles used for temporary plugging, suspension agents, gelling agents, buffers, corrosion inhibitors, emulsifiers, wetting agents, surfactants, solvents, salts, oils, water, brines, and biocides.
• Many pills are thixotropic and difficult to pump. Some pills form single gelled mass or large gelled clumps during storage that must be separated before pumping into the well bore. Some pills are pumped into the well bore without dilution while other pills are diluted and/or dispersed into a carrier fluid before pumping into the well bore.
• DHEC Derivatized Hydroxyethylcellulose
• HEC Hydroxyethylcellulose
• MAX SEALTM is an example of a product based on DHEC gelled particles that can be used to make a LCM pill that minimizes potential damage to the formation in the reservoir section.
• DHEC gelled particles and other fluids are typically transported and stored in ⁇ five gallon buckets until needed. Prior to their use down hole, these particles and fluids can be transferred from their containers into a rig slug pit or cement unit displacement tank and dispersed into a carrier fluid such as filtered brine. However, during transportation and storage, the gelled particles and viscous fluid may clump together and form a single gelled mass or large clumps of gelled masses. Frequently, agitation inside the slug pit or displacement tank is inadequate to break the mass of gelled particles apart.
• One current method utilized to break apart the gelled mass is to dump the gelled mass onto a shredder screen that is positioned on top of the displacement tank or slug pit and manually push the gelled mass through the shredder screen.
• manually pushing the gelled mass through the shedder screen may require considerable extra time, may introduce safety risks, and may not break all the gelled mass apart.
• the present disclosure relates generally to subterranean drilling and completion operations and, more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for transporting, storing, and deploying a mixture of viscous fluid.
• the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for building, transporting, storing, and deploying viscous fluids, comprising: a cylinder comprising a full bore opening and a discharge outlet; a plunger assembly mounted within the cylinder; and a shredder screen mounted within the discharge outlet.
• the present disclosure is directed to a method for transporting and storing viscous fluids, comprising: providing a viscous fluid; providing a fluid container, wherein the fluid container comprise: a cylinder comprising a full bore opening and a discharge outlet, a plunger assembly mounted within the cylinder; and a shredder screen mounted within the discharge outlet; and storing the viscous fluid in the fluid container.
• the present disclosure is directed to a method for transporting, storing and deploying viscous fluids, comprising: providing a viscous fluid; providing a fluid container, wherein the fluid container comprise: a cylinder comprising a full bore opening and a discharge outlet, a plunger assembly mounted within the cylinder; and a shredder screen mounted within the discharge outlet; storing the viscous fluid in the fluid container; and passing the viscous fluid through the shredder screen by activating the plunger assembly.
• Figure 1 illustrates a disassembled apparatus, incorporating aspects of the present disclosure.
• Figure 2 illustrates an assembled apparatus, incorporating aspects of the present disclosure.
• Figure 3 illustrates a skid system
• the present disclosure relates generally to subterranean drilling and completion operations and, more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for transporting, storing, and deploying a mixture of viscous fluid.
• Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to horizontal, vertical, deviated, or otherwise nonlinear wellbores in any type of subterranean formation. Embodiments may be applicable to injection wells as well as production wells, including hydrocarbon wells.
• the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for transporting, storing, and deploying viscous fluids.
• the viscous fluids that may or may not contain hard particles and/or gelled particles.
• the viscous fluids may or may not be thixotropic in nature.
• the apparatus is capable of quickly deploying fluids such as LCM pills without pre-mixing.
• the apparatus can be mounted on a skid such that the entire system is certified for marine and/or ground transport allowing a pre-mixed pill to be transported, stored, and deployed from one container. After discharge of the pill, the empty skid mounted apparatus can be returned to a fluid blending site and re-filled with a pill.
• Figure 1 shows an example a disassembled apparatus 100 according to aspects of the present disclosure.
• the disassembled apparatus 100 may include a cylinder 110, a plunger stop ring 120, a plunger assembly 130, a dish head 140, and a strainer bowl 150.
• cylinder 110 may be of a metal construction.
• Cylinder 1 10 be certified to transport and store drilling fluids for downhole operations and may comply with all applicable codes and regulations.
• Cylinder 1 10 may be generally cylindrical, and may comprise a cylinder wall 1 1 1 that defines an inner chamber 1 12.
• Cylinder wall 1 11 may be fabricated to a specified roundness and may be polished to a smooth finish.
• the inner chamber 1 12 may be accessible through at least one opening 113 at the bottom of cylinder 110 and one opening 1 14 at the top of cylinder 1 10.
• opening 1 14 may be a full bore opening.
• opening 1 13 may be a discharge outlet.
• the full bore opening may allow the insertion of fluid composition into inner chamber 1 12.
• the full bore opening may allow for the insertion of plunger assembly 130 into the cylinder 1 10.
• the full bore opening may be sealed using dish head 140 that may removably engageable with cylinder 110.
• Cylinder 110 may further comprise a strainer element 1 15.
• strainer element 1 15 may comprise a shredder screen.
• cylinder 1 10 may further comprise one or more vents 116 and one or more pressure gauges 117.
• the cylinder 1 10 may further comprise one or more flanges 1 18 for assembly.
• cylinder 1 10 may further comprise plunger stop ring 120.
• Plunger stop ring 120 may be installed into cylinder 1 10 and welded into place. Once assembled, plunger stop ring 120 may prevent plunger assembly 130 from extending to the discharge end of cylinder 1 10.
• plunger assembly 130 may comprise cable pull eye 131 , a machined groove 132 containing a seal ring 135, a pressure equalization port 133, and a screw plug 134.
• pressure equalization port 133 may be manually opened and then closed wherein refilling the apparatus by use of a screw plug.
• pressure equalization port 133 is only opened when installing the plunger back into the cylinder on top of the pill.
• Plunger assembly 130 may be fabricated to a specified roundness and diameter. In certain embodiments, plunger assembly 130 may have the same roundness and slightly less diameter than the cylinder wall 1 1 1. Plunger assembly 130 may have a slip fit tolerance with cylinder wall 1 1 1 and an elastomeric, plastic, or piston seal ring on the surface that contacts cylinder wall 1 1 1 in order to prevent pill from by-passing the plunger assembly 130 as the plunger forces the pill out of cylinder 1 10. The discharge side of plunger assembly 130 may have a convex shape that allows for a more complete discharge of pill from the cylinder 1 10.
• Plunger assembly 130 may be driven with a pressurized gas or a liquid displacing a pill into a drilling rig vessel, pit, or directly into a wellbore.
• the apparatus can be designed for low or medium pressure applications, such as transfers to pits or vessels, or for high pressure applications, such as a direct transfer into the wellbore.
• the plunger assembly 130 Upon activation, the plunger assembly 130 is designed to displace the pill out of the apparatus with very little by-pass across the seal ring 135 and deploy the pill to the desired pit or vessel.
• the plunger assembly 130 is designed to allow disassembly, refill, and reassembly. Once the reassembly step is completed, the apparatus is ready to deploy another pill.
• dish head 140 may comprise flange 141, one or more pressure detection devices 142, propellant port 143, lift eye 144, one or more pressure gauges 145, and one or more vents 146. Dish head 140 and the entire apparatus may be of a metal construction and certified to meet a specified operating pressure.
• dish head 140 may be a removable lid. The removable lid may be sealed to the cylinder 1 10 by the use of a flange connection, a screw connection, a clamped connection, or a welded connection. The removable lid provides access to the cylinder 1 10 and allows for plunger assembly 130 to be removed, cylinder 110 to be charged with a pill, and plunger assembly 130 to be re-installed. The removable lid may are may not be a dished head and may or may not be attached to the container with a hinge.
• strainer bowl 150 may comprise flange 151 and discharge port 152.
• Strainer bowl 150 may be of a metal construction.
• a shredder screen may be needed in or just below the discharge port in order to break gelled clumps up before reaching transfer lines.
• the shredder screen may be comprised of a course grid or a course strainer that is designed to break large gelled clumps into smaller clumps as the pill is extruded through the shredder.
• the detailed specifications of the shredder element may be set to eliminate gelled clumps of excessive size while minimizing the pressure drop across the element.
• the shredder screen may be mounted near discharge outlet.
• the apparatus may further include instrumentation for safe and reliable operations, such as pressure gauges, plunger position sensors, vacuum and pressure relief devices, propellant flow indicators, propellant flow totalizers, and instrument mounting and control panel boards.
• instrumentation for safe and reliable operations such as pressure gauges, plunger position sensors, vacuum and pressure relief devices, propellant flow indicators, propellant flow totalizers, and instrument mounting and control panel boards.
• Figure 2 shows an example of an assembled fluid deployment system 200.
• plunger assembly 130 may be inserted inside cylinder 1 10 such that a pill 210 is on the discharge side of the plunger assembly 130.
• propellant may be introduced into propellant port 143 such that a pressure differential is created across plunger assembly 130 causing the plunger assembly 130 to push pill 210 out of cylinder 1 10.
• Seal ring 135 mounted in machine groove 132 contacts cylinder wall 1 1 1 and prevents pill 210 from by-passing plunger assembly 130.
• Suitable propellant fluids may include gaseous propellants such as compressed air, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide or liquid state propellants such as water, hydraulic fluids, completion fluids, or drilling fluids.
• gaseous propellants such as compressed air, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide
• liquid state propellants such as water, hydraulic fluids, completion fluids, or drilling fluids.
• suitable operating pressures for gaseous and liquid state propellants may be from 30 to about 120 psi. In other embodiments, suitable operating pressures for gaseous and liquid state propellants may be from 30 to about 5000 psi or higher.
• propellant Upon activation, propellant enters the apparatus under pressure through propellant port 143 and causes plunger assembly 130 to move against pill 210 resulting in pill 210 being transferred out of cylinder 1 10 through strainer 1 15 and out opening 113 into a receiving vessel, pit, or wellbore. The propellant continues to move plunger assembly 130 until plunger assembly 130 contacts stop ring 120 near opening 113.
• FIG. 3 shows an example of the skid frame 300 with protective cage for housing an assembled fluid deployment system.
• the apparatus may be skid mounted for safe handling, transport, and storage.
• Skid frame 300 may comprise cage 310, one or more skid lift eyes 320, a ladder 330, and one or more fork truck lift slots 340.
• the use of a skid mounted apparatus may simplify the supply chain for special pills, simplifies operations at the drilling rig site, improves safety at the rig site, and eliminates the need to clean and dispose of numerous empty ⁇ 5 gallon plastic buckets as well as pallet wrap and other packaging materials.
• an assembled apparatus as discussed herein may be used to store a pill.
• the apparatus may be disassembled, filled with pill, and reassembled as follows.
• Flange bolts and nuts attaching the dish head to the cylinder may be removed.
• a cable assembly may be attached to lift eye of the dish head and the dish head may be lifted off of the cylinder.
• the discharge port may be opened to allow for equalization of pressure across plunger assembly.
• a cable assembly may be attached to cable pull eye of the plunger assembly, and the plunger assembly may be removed from the cylinder.
• the plunger assembly may be inspected and cleaned and the plunger seal may be replaced as needed.
• the interior of the cylinder may be cleaned and inspected and polished as needed.
• the discharge port may then be closed and a pill may be transferred into the cylinder to a desired level.
• the pressure equalization port of the plunger assembly may then be opened and the plunger assembly may be slid into the cylinder until the plunger assembly is on top of the pill.
• the pressure equalization port may then be closed by screwing in the plug.
• the dish head may be repositioned on top of the cylinder and sealed to the cylinder with flange bolts and nuts.
• the instrumentation on the skid mounted apparatus can then be checked and the apparatus may be labeled to meet all transport requirements.
• an assembled apparatus containing a stored pill may be used to discharge the pill as follows.
• the receiving vessel, pit, or wellbore and fluid transfer lines may be checked to ensure they are ready to make the transfer.
• the plunger may be checked to confirm that the plunger assembly is in the loaded position ready to make the transfer.
• the propellant port may be opened to confirm that acceptable operating pressures may be reached inside the container.
• the discharge port may then be opened to allow the pill to flow into the desired receiving vessel.
• the propellant port may be closed once the desired quantity of pill is transferred or the plunger reaches the travel stop ring.
• the discharge port may then be closed.
• the container vent ports may then be opened to bleed off all pressure from the container.
• the container may be attached to another loaded apparatus and repeat the process until the desired quantity of pill is transferred.
• the empty apparatus may then be tagged and stored until return shipment is possible.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Filling Or Discharging Of Gas Storage Vessels (AREA)
• Filling Or Emptying Of Bunkers, Hoppers, And Tanks (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (3)

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ID=50231994

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• 2012
  • 2012-09-13 US US13/614,053 patent/US20140069505A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2013
  • 2013-08-23 AU AU2013315997A patent/AU2013315997A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-08-23 CA CA 2881907 patent/CA2881907A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-08-23 EP EP13836580.4A patent/EP2895680B1/de active Active
  • 2013-08-23 WO PCT/US2013/056333 patent/WO2014042844A1/en not_active Ceased

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