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
  • E21B23/00—Apparatus for displacing, setting, locking, releasing or removing tools, packers or the like in boreholes or wells
  • E21B23/06—Apparatus for displacing, setting, locking, releasing or removing tools, packers or the like in boreholes or wells for setting packers
• • 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
  • E21B33/00—Sealing or packing boreholes or wells
  • E21B33/10—Sealing or packing boreholes or wells in the borehole
  • E21B33/12—Packers; Plugs
  • E21B33/126—Packers; Plugs with fluid-pressure-operated elastic cup or skirt
• • 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
  • E21B33/00—Sealing or packing boreholes or wells
  • E21B33/10—Sealing or packing boreholes or wells in the borehole
  • E21B33/12—Packers; Plugs
  • E21B33/127—Packers; Plugs with inflatable sleeve
• • 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
  • E21B34/00—Valve arrangements for boreholes or wells
  • E21B34/06—Valve arrangements for boreholes or wells in wells
• • 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
  • E21B34/00—Valve arrangements for boreholes or wells
  • E21B34/06—Valve arrangements for boreholes or wells in wells
  • E21B34/063—Valve or closure with destructible element, e.g. frangible disc

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for controlling and isolating a tool in the form of an expansible sleeve for treating a well or a duct, this tool being connected to a casing for supplying a pressurized fluid and is inserted between said casing and the wall of said well or duct.
• a device at the bottom of a well allowing isolation of the upstream space from the downstream space of an annular region comprised between a casing and the formation (i.e. the rock of the subsoil) or else between this same casing and the inner diameter of another casing already present in the well.
• This isolation has to be made while preserving the integrity of the whole of the casing (casing string) of the well, i.e. the steel column comprised between the formation and the well head.
• the aforementioned annular space is generally sealed by using cement which in liquid form is pumped into the casing from the surface, and then injected into the annular space. After injection, the cement hardens and the annular space is sealed.
• this seal protects the casing from areas with salted waters which the subsoil contains, which may corrode them and damage them, causing possible loss of the well.
• this cementation protects the aquifers from the pollution which may be caused by close formations containing hydrocarbons.
• This cementation forms a barrier protecting the risks of blowout caused by high pressure gases which may migrate into the annular space between the formation and the casing.
• the pressures in question may stem:
• the casing (or casing string), the length of which may attain several thousand meters, consists of casing tubes, with a unit length comprised between 10 and 12 m, and assembled to each other through sealed threadings.
• the nature and the thickness of the material making up the casing are calculated in order to withstand very great inner burst pressures or outer collapse pressures.
• the casing should be sealed during the whole lifetime of the well, i.e. for several tens of years. Any leak detection systematically leads to repairing or to abandoning the well.
• the design i.e. the configuration of the completion of the well should minimize the risks of communication between the inside and the outside of the casing.
• the watch points are notably the following:
• one of the techniques consists of positioning a deformable membrane around the casing at the desired location.
• the membrane is then deformed permanently, under the pressure of an inflating fluid, against the wall of the formation.
• This membrane may be in metal or elastomer, either reinforced or not with fibers.
• the inflation of the latter requires the presence of a conduit for circulating the inflating fluid between the inside of the membrane and the inside of the casing.
• This circulation may be accomplished directly or via a system which may include from one to three valves according to the state of the art.
• a metal membrane 3 is positioned around a casing 2, pre-positioned in a well 1 , and the inside of the membrane 3 is supplied with inflating fluid directly through a conduit 200 crossing the wall 20 of the casing 2.
• the membrane 3 deforms permanently.
• the metal membrane retains its shape definitively.
• a first drawback of this technique results from the fact that in the case of a failure of the metal membrane 3 leading to a loss of its imperviousness, direct communication between the annular space and the casing 2 is created.
• a second drawback lies in the fact that in the case of multiple laying of membranes 3 as illustrated in Figs. 2A and 2B, if the level of the hydrostatic pressure is identical in the casing 2 and in the annular space EA, then, when the pressure of the inflating fluid increases in the casing 2, the three membranes 3, distributed around the casing 2 and which may be separated by several hundred meters, are simultaneously deformed while inflation of the membranes one after the other from bottom to top, has more advantages, in particular with the view of ensuring the best possible cementation.
• each membrane 3 continues to be subject to pressurization/depressurization cycles which might occur during the life of the well 1 , embrittling the membranes 3, a little more at each cycle.
• the deformable membrane 3 consists of an elastomer either reinforced or not with fibers.
• this membrane 3 would deform elastically when the pressure in the casing 2 increases and it would regain a condition close to its initial shape as soon as the pressure decreases, by its elasticity.
• this system of multiple valves is provided in order to allow control of the beginning of the inflating of each membrane 3.
• This system for greater control, may even be completed by a frangible pin, called a « knock-out plug » , which opens the communication of the casing towards the control and isolation valves by breaking it, most often by having a ball circulate in the casing. But the insertion of the ball brings an additional constraint.
• a frangible pin called a « knock-out plug »
• Such a system of valves is also advantageous in the case of a metal membrane in order to avoid inflating the membrane inadvertently and isolating it from changes in pressures of the casings, once it has been deformed.
• Fig. 3B is an enlargement of the system of valves 4 placed under the membrane 3 in Fig. 3A.
• This system is a possible configuration typically consisting of two sliding valves 40 which may either be sliding pistons or sliding sleeves. These valves are placed in the conduit which puts the inside of the casing 2 in communication with the inside of the membrane 3.
• one of the valves 40 Before inflating, one of the valves 40 is an obstacle to the inflating fluid. It is only possible to break this first barrier by increasing the pressure of the inflating fluid in the casing 2 beyond a certain pressure difference P1 predefined by a calibrated breaking element, the pressure difference occurring between the pressure of the casing and the pressure of the annular space. Once this difference P1 has been exceeded, the first barrier is broken and lets the inside of the casing 2 communicate with the inside of the membrane 3.
• This breakage marks the beginning of the phase for inflating the membrane 3.
• the pressure is increased in the casing 2 in order to continue with inflating the membrane 3.
• the end of the inflating is marked by the release of the movement of a second valve 40 in the casing-membrane communication conduit which will be an obstacle to the return of the pressurized fluid, in the direction from the membrane 3 to the casing 2.
• the movement of this valve is released by the breaking of a calibrated element, dimensioned so as to break as soon as the pressure difference between the membrane and the annular space exceeds a threshold P2 greater than P1 . If the pressure further increases in the casing, the membrane 3 cannot be further inflated.
• a return element brings the first valve 40 back to its initial position so as to form a second barrier in the communication conduit between the casing 2 and the membrane 3. Both valves are then in their final state as illustrated by Fig. 3B.
• valves 40 being subject to this casing/annular space pressure difference, whether they consist of a sliding piston or of sliding sleeves, are ensured by joints, noted as J in Fig. 3C and 3D, these joints being most often elastomeric joints.
• the object of the present invention is precisely to propose a device which gives the possibility of avoiding this situation.
• the present invention relates to a device for controlling and isolating a tool in the form of an expansible sleeve for treating a well or a duct, this tool being connected to a casing for supplying a pressurized fluid and is inserted between said casing and the wall of said well or of the duct, which comprises:
• a main inlet conduit which communicates with the inside of said casing, and which is obturated by a first element capable of forming a barrier to a fluid circulating in said casing, while yielding beyond a first predetermined pressure of said fluid
• this conduit communicating, downstream from said first element forming a barrier, with two auxiliary conduits positioned in parallel, the ends of which join up in order to form an outlet conduit which opens into the inside of the pool, - one of these auxiliary conduits, said to be a « first conduit » notably forming with said first element, a first chamber in which prevails an isolation pressure, while in the other, called « second conduit » a second element forming a barrier is provided, moveable between a first position in which it obturates the second conduit while leaving clear communication between the first conduit and the outlet conduit, and a second position in which it prevents any communication between the auxiliary conduit and the outlet conduit, the passing from one position to the other being accomplished by the breaking of a pin under the effect of the increase in the pressure of the fluid up to a second predetermined pressure, greater than said first pressure, characterized by the fact that in said first position, said second element forming a barrier and the wall of said second auxiliary conduit make between them a sealed annular chamber wherein a so-called « isolation
• said second element comprises a piston constantly urged towards said second position
• said second element includes a frangible part, such as a pin, positioned in the sealed chamber and which yields when the second predetermined pressure is attained;
• isolation pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure or is slightly greater
• said second element includes a metal « nose » which, in said second position, is in contact and provides a seal with the wall of the outlet conduit, also in metal;
• an anti-return valve is positioned inside the outlet conduit
• the device includes means for acoustically recording the breaking of the elements forming a barrier and means for recording the pressure in the annular space; - said recording means may be remotely polled via an RFID technology.
• FIGs. 4A and 6B are simplified views, in a longitudinal sectional view, of a well portion equipped with a casing with an expansible sleeve and with the device according to the invention.
• Figs. 4B, 5 and 6A are more detailed, enlarged longitudinal sectional views of an embodiment of the device.
• Figs. 7A and 7B are sectional views similar to those of Figs. 4A and 6B further illustrating detection means
• Figs. 8A to 8D show in a longitudinal sectional view, a well portion, the casing of which is equipped with several sleeves.
• Fig. 4A illustrates a sectional view of a casing 2 positioned in the well 1 before cementation.
• This casing is equipped with a deformable membrane 3 in metal which is provided with the control and isolation device illustrated here surrounded by an oval. A case allowing the recording of the breakages of the elements of the control device forming a barrier on the one hand and of a pressure of the annular space placed above the metal membrane, i.e. inserted between this membrane and the surface, on the other hand.
• the control and isolation device includes a conduit C, this conduit including a burst disc and two anti-return valves V1 and V2, one of which is equipped with a frangible element F.
• the space between the burst disc and the valve V1 delimiting a chamber CH1 is at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, and the device also includes a second isolated chamber CH2 at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure.
• the device comprises a main inlet conduit C which communicates with the inside of the casing 2 via a drilled hole 200 opening into the wall 20 of the casing.
• the conduit C is obturated by a first disc-shaped element 5, for example in metal, which is able to form a barrier to a fluid circulating in the casing, while yielding beyond a first predetermined fluid pressure P1 .
• This conduit C opens into a chamber 60, the cylindrical wall of which is referenced as 600.
• the conduit C communicates with two auxiliary conduits 6 and 8 positioned in parallel, the end of which join up in order to form an outlet conduit 9 which opens into the inside of the tool 3.
• One of these auxiliary conduits includes an inlet 80 and an outlet 81 which extends perpendicularly to the axis of the casing.
• the inlet 80 opens into the chamber 60, while the outlet 81 slightly opens upstream from the two anti-return valves when they are in the closed position.
• This first auxiliary conduit 8 forms a first chamber.
• the chamber 60 is part of the second auxiliary conduit 6 and has, from upstream to downstream, i.e. from left to right, when Fig. 4B and the fluid flow direction, a first cylindrical segment 61 with a wall 610, of a small diameter, an intermediate segment 62 of larger diameter and with a wall 620, an intermediate region of which 630 has a diameter slightly larger, are considered. As this will be seen later on, this wall contributes to delimiting a second chamber CH2.
• the segment 62 substantially continues with the same diameter as its inlet, but includes a section restriction which makes it join the outlet conduit 9.
• an anti-return valve V1 is positioned, which consists of a piston 7 having an elongated body 71 .
• a head 70 In its upstream portion, it includes a head 70 having a longitudinal recess 700 in which a coil spring R extends. This spring is supported on the upstream end of the segment 62 and tends to push the piston from upstream to downstream.
• the head 70 is peripherally provided with a joint J, which ensures a perfect seal between the piston and the segment 62 of the conduit 6.
• the body 7 Downstream from the recess 700, the body 7 is crossed right through by a frangible element or pin F which, as this will be seen later on, is intended to break under the effect of a pressure P2 greater than P1 . For this purpose, it has regions of lower strength.
• the piston In its downstream portion, the piston continues with a nose 72, the diameter of which is substantially equal to that of the corresponding segment of the conduit 6. It is also provided with a seal gasket J similar to the previous one, and with a truncated end surface 720, the function of which will be explained later on.
• the outlet conduit 9 from downstream to upstream has a segment 90 with a wall 900, which opens inside a conduit of smaller diameter 91 , and with a wall 910 in which a coil spring is positioned.
• This spring bears against a bead B which forms an anti-return valve obturating a segment 92 with a still smaller diameter, which itself communicates with the conduits 6 and 8.
• a frustroconical transition area 930 makes the upstream end of the outlet conduit 9 communicate with the auxiliary conduit 6.
• Fig. 4B illustrates a preliminary situation in which the device has not yet been lowered into the well.
• the burst disc 5 is not yet installed and the water may then cover the inlet conduit C, the auxiliary conduit 8 and then the outlet conduit 9 by pushing the bead B against the spring R.
• conduit portion 62 is filled with liquid but the valve V1 is always blocked by the presence of the frangible finger F.
• the breaking of the disc 5 corresponds to the beginning of the inflating of the membrane 3. This breaking may be acoustically detected and recorded by a case provided for this purpose and positioned close to the surroundings of the membrane.
• the membrane 3 can no longer be inflated. It cannot either be deflated because of the presence of the valve V2 since the bead B bears against its seat.
• valve V1 would remain in the closed position and therefore the membrane 3 would remain also completely isolated.
• the end of the expansion is marked by the breakage of the pin which gives the possibility of closing the access path in the direction from the casing to the deformable membrane, while releasing the movement of an anti-return valve.
• This valve is maintained in its closed position by means of a spring.
• the pin is broken, the valve moves and sets the chamber initially at atmospheric pressure to the pressure of the casing. Both joints J then no longer have any function.
• the breakage of the pin may be acoustically detected and recorded by a case provided for this purpose and positioned in the surroundings of the membrane.
• the membrane At the end of the inflating, the membrane remains at its inflating pressure and for each valve, the seal is guaranteed by a metal/metal contact.
• Fig. 6B illustrates a schematic diagram of the membrane + control and isolation device assembly after inflating the membrane.
• the conduit C now includes 2 anti-return valves which are opposed to each other, the chamber, initially at atmospheric pressure, is now at the pressure of the casing and is no longer of any use.
• Fig. 7A the case BO giving the possibility of recording the breakages of the elements of the barrier-forming control device on the one hand and the long term changes in the pressures of the annular space EA on the other hand, is placed above the metal membrane, i.e. inserted between this membrane 3 and the surface or between two membranes 3.
• each membrane will be equipped with a case BO placed as close as possible to the membrane 3 with which it is associated.
• Each case BO then allows detection and recording of the breakages of the disc 5 and of the pin F, the breaking of the disc indicating that the pressurized filling of the membrane has properly taken place, while the breaking of the pin indicates that the inflating was finished and that the membrane is isolated.
• the case also allows recording of possible pressure variations in the annular space for several years after laying the membrane.
• case BO is advantageously placed above the membrane 3 since it gives the possibility for example, in the case of imperfect cementation under the membrane leading to a loss of the seal of the cement along the wall of the formation, of checking whether the metal membrane 3 has ensured its role by sealing the annular space EA situated between the membrane 3 and the surface of the well 1 .
• the case BO if it records the pressure variations of the annular space, therefore has a risk of possible communication between the inside of the case and the annular space EA. Still, for the sake of ensuring the integrity of the casing 2 relatively to the annular space EA, the case BO is therefore detached from the membrane 3 and from the control device.
• the disc 5 and pin F breakages are acoustically detected remotely by the case BO placed at a few tens of centimeters.
• the querying of the case BO and the recovery of the data may be accomplished in the well 1 before or after laying the membrane 3 by using a tool A provided for this purpose and connected from the surface through a « wireline » cable for example.
• the reference pressure is not the pressure of the well, so that a conduit has been removed between the inside of the casing 2 and the annular space of the well 1 .
• the opening pressure is exclusively related to the pressure in the casing.
• Figs. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D if in the well there exist several devices of this kind, because of the hydrostatic pressure which increases with the depth and since the reference pressure is substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, they will naturally open from bottom to top, which will avoid generations of traps for the fluid.
• the seal is proportional to the applied pressure, and the more the pressure increases, the more the seal is efficient.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (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)
• Safety Valves (AREA)
• Branch Pipes, Bends, And The Like (AREA)
• Moulds For Moulding Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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ID=48979891

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Families Citing this family (15)

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• 2013
  • 2013-03-27 FR FR1352768A patent/FR3003891B1/fr active Active
• 2014
  • 2014-03-11 WO PCT/EP2014/054704 patent/WO2014154480A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2014-03-11 BR BR112015024591A patent/BR112015024591A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2014-03-11 US US14/779,848 patent/US20160053568A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2014-03-11 EP EP14708911.4A patent/EP2978927A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2014-03-26 AR ARP140101359A patent/AR095749A1/es unknown

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