US2170355A

US2170355A - Bailer

Info

Publication number: US2170355A
Application number: US173467A
Authority: US
Inventors: James P Stephens
Original assignee: Phillips Petroleum Co
Current assignee: Phillips Petroleum Co
Priority date: 1937-11-08
Filing date: 1937-11-08
Publication date: 1939-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1956-08-22

Description

Aug. 22, 1939.

J. P. STEPHENS BAILER Filed Nov. 8, 1937 lll/7l INI/E NToR J. P. STEPHENS BY KM, W'LWkxnl W I ATTORNEYS.

Patented 22, 1939 PATENT OFFICE BAILER James P. Stephens, Oklahoma City,v0kla., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Application November s, 1937, serial No. 173,467

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in bailers which have been primarily designed for bailing oil. wells. More specifically it relates to mechanical equipment for bailing and removing sand or other particles from oil Wells.

Heretofore bailers have been provided wherein the interior chamber of the bailer was kept under a vacuum, which chamber, upon the landing of the bailer on the bottom' of the well hole, was opened to cause an inflow into the chamber. Such bailers, lwhile having certain advantages, are disadvantageous in that no provision is made for washing away the particles and debris which are clogging the said particles around the well hole. With the above mentioned type of bailer, as well as in the conventional type of bailer, the bailer lands in the debris in the bottom of the well without having cleaned the Well hole above the bottom of the well. The debris that is caused to enter the barrel of the bailer is only that debris which is ahead of or beneath the bailer. The debris which is opposite the sides of the bailer remains in close contact therewith and should there be any material settling or caving, such type of bailers may become stuck in the well.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved bailer and oil sand washer wherein the bailer carries with' it a supply of fluid under 'high pressure, which fluid is released on the landing of the bailer on the bottom of the well and causes a washing and agitation of the sand particles forming the wall of the well. When the iluid pressure has been exhausted from the bailer and the lpressure has been reduced there is an inflow of debris into the chamber of the bailer. By releasing fluid pressure in the well, the discharged uid will enlarge the cavity in the debris which is penetrated and formed by the bailer so that there is no danger of the bailers sticking or becoming frozen in the well.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved bailer which will loosen tightly packed cavings, sand, silt, wax and other residues collected in the bottom of the Well or accumulated vide an improved bailer which has a simple and eiective means for releasing the pressure fluid from the chamber when the bailer strikes the bottom of the well hole.

A still further object of the invention is to 5 provide an improved bailer whichv is assembled from a minimum number of parts and is cheap to manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following de- 10 tailed description, and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is made to the accompanying drawing for an illustrative ernbodiment of the invention, wherein:

' Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view throughout l5 the entire length of the improved bailer.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionalyview showing the lower end of the improved bailer with a modied discharge means for the fluid pressure.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the upper 20 valve member in open position.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, in Fig. 1, the improved bailer is shown a-s comprising a barrel 3, which 25 may be constructed of one or more sections of steel tubing, said bailer being shown as passing through the casing 2 into the well hole I. The upper endvof the barrel 3 is closed by a head piece 4 which head lpiece has mounted therein 30 a valvevmember 5. The valve member comprises a main bottom portion 6 having a conical seat portion I screwed into the head piece 4. A cap member I2 having orifices I3 is screwed into the main valve body member B with a space between 35 the members 6 and I2. A valve member having a head 8 has a seat portion 9 which seats on the seat 'I of the body member 6. The valve head has a stem I0 passing through the space between the members 6 and I2 with a coil spring II 40 mounted in the space with the spring being so tensioned as to open the valve when the pressure in the chamber reaches a predetermined point. 'A bolt head on the top of the valve stem holds th'e valve member assembled in the members 45 6 and lI2 and the valve stem has a sliding fit through the member I2. The bailer has a bail I4 mounted on the top thereof which attaches to the line I5 for raising or loweringthe same in the well.

The lower end of the barrel has a bottom piece I 6 mounted thereon secured to .the barrel by either lugs or screw threads. Mounted in the bottom piece I6 is a member Il which is slidable in the bottom piece and closed at the top thereof 55 by the flap valve I8. The bottom piece l@ has a seat I@ on the top thereof on which the ange portion 2E of the slidable member Il seats to form a ground joint seal to close oi the chamber portion ZI. Mounted in the side wall of the barrel 3 is a check. valve 22 through which the chamber is iilled with gas to place the same under pressure. f

High pressure gas is stored in the chamber 2l and the gas employed is the volatile gas which comes from the crude oil in the oil well. If the pressure of this gas is not suihcient as it comes from the well, the pressure of the same is raised suiiiciently by pump means before being placed in the bailer. To accomplish the filling of the chamber 2H, the gas is entered into the chamber through the check valve 22. The pressure of the gas will force the slidable member il to seal with the seat i8 and since the iiap valve is hinged in. the opposite direction, it will also be forced downward by the pressure of the gas, thus causing the bottom portion ofthe bailer to be tightly sealed at this point. At the time the chamber is being lled with gas through the lower fill valve any air in the chamber can beexhausted through the top valve il as the spring holds the same open when the chamber is below a predetermined gas pressure. The holding of the upper valve open to exhaust the air therefrom is to insure against having an explosive mixture of air and gas within the chamber. When all the air has been exhausted from the chamber, pressure will be applied to the upper valve to close the `same and when the gas pressure builds up will hold the valve closed, thus giving a completely sealed and pressure tight chamber.

'I'he high pressure gas in the chamber is discharged from the bottom of the barrel through theispace 23 between the members I6 and Il.

The sliding member ll extends below the bottomv of the member IG so that the bottom of the sliding member Il comes into Contact with the bottoni. of the well first, thus lifting the sliding member from the seat I9, allowing the gas to flow out through the passage 23. The valve 8 in the head piece of the bailer has the spring il sotensioned that the valve will open when the pressure in the chamber has been reduced to a predetermined amount which will insure complete evacuation of the high pressure gas within the bailer body. The sand and silt will be broken loose and thrown into suspension in the liquid iilling the bottom of the well and since the pressure in 'the chamber has been completely exhausted, the sand and silt will rush into the space in the chamber formerly occupied by the gas under pressure. The pressure of the fluid in the well now being higher than the interior of the chamber, the fluid will force the fiapper valve to open and thus allow the liquid tolpass into the chamber. When the bailer is removed from the well, the Weight of the fiuid in the chamber will force the slidable member to seat on the seat I9 and the flapper valve to close, thus sealing Ithe contents in the chamber.

In operation the chamber 2l of the bailer is lled with gas under pressure as previously described which gas pressure automatically closes the top valve 8, the flapper valve I 8 and seats the slidable member Il so as to give a closed sealed chamber. The bailer is then attached by the bail I 4 to the sand line or cable I5 and lowered into the well. When the bailer reaches the bottom of the Well I, the slidable sleeve I'I will seat the seat II'I and allows the gas in the chamber to be discharged. This discharge of gas breaks up the sand and silt accumulations and reduces the pressure within the bailer to such an extent that the top valve 8 opens and allows the chamber to be completely exhausted of its gas. When the gas pressure is completely exhausted, the sand and silt particles in suspension in the oil wili rush into the bailer through the fiapper valve to occupy the area formerly occupied by the gas. v

This inrush of sand and silt particles will take place through the bottom sleeve valve although some will enter through the top valve which will remain open until the bailer is recharged with gas. After suflicientvtime has elapsed for the bailer to iill it is lifted from the bottom of the hole and returned to the surface to be emptied. The weight of the liquid in the chamber when the b ailer is raised from the bottom of the weil willv cause the flapper valve to close and hold the sand and silt within the body of the bailer. Upon reaching the surface of the ground, the bailermay be emptied by removing the bailer, bottom which is attached to the bailer body by lugs or a threaded joint.

Fig. 2 shows a modified structure of the slidable sleeve member mounted in the bottom of the barrel. Mounted in the bottom of the barrei is a bottom piece i6 similar to the one disclosed in Fig. 1 having a seat portion i9 at the upper end and a seat portion 33 at its lower end. Slidable in the bottom piece is the sleeve il', having fiapper valve i8' on top, ledge 20' to seal on the seat I9 and a lower flange member 3l having a seat 32 to seal with the seat 33 when the sleeve is moved upwardly. The bottom piece has ports 3U' therein bored at approximately a. 45 angle -to thel main ybody ofthe bailer barrel having one end of the bore discharging into the well hole bottom and the other end connecting with the passage 23'. The operation of the modied structure is similar to that previouslydescribed except that the gas is discharged at an angle into the formation. In some` Well holes encountered,`

this modied structure has been found more desirable than thatdisclosed in Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bailer comprising a main barrel portion A closed at both the top and bottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel for holdingfluid under pressure and means for releasing the pressure fluid upon the landing of the bailer on the bottom of the well-hole comprismounted in the Y thereby a closed chamber within the barrel fork first and be raised which unseats the sleeve'fromholding fluid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mounted therein a sleeve member, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a ledge portion on top -of the slidable member to seal with the seat portion on the sleeve and a channel space between the sleeve and slidable member discharging the fluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailer.

4. A bailer comprising a. main barrel portion closed at both top and bottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel for holding fluid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mounted therein a sleeve member, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a ledge portion on top of the slidable member to seal with the seat portion on the sleeve, a channel space between the sleeve and slidable member discharging the fluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailer and the slidable member extending below the sleeve member so as to strike the bottom vof the well first when the bailer is lowered to break the seal between the sleeve and the slidable member.

5. A bailer comprising a main barrel portion closed at both top and bottom thereof forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel for holding iuid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mounted therein a sleeve member, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a ledge portion on top of the slidable member to seal with the seat portion on the sleeve, a channel space between the sleeve and slidable member discharging the fluid under pressure at the bottom of the bailer and a. apper valve mounted in the slidable member functioning to allow liquid from the well to enter the chamber after the pressure fluid has been discharged therefrom.

6. A bailer comprising a. main barrel portion closed at both top and bottom thereofl forming thereby a closed chamber within the barrel for holding fluid under pressure, the bottom of the barrel having mounted therein a sleeve member with discharge ports through the side wall thereof, the top thereof forming a seat portion, a slidable member mounted within and spaced from the sleeve member, a. ledge portion on top of the slidable member to seal with theseat portion on the sleeve and a channel space between the sleeve and slidable member discharging the fluid under l pressure through the channel and ports in the wall of the sleeve member.

JAMES P. STEPHENS.