US3661209A

US3661209A - Method for compactly placing material in a well

Info

Publication number: US3661209A
Application number: US786283A
Authority: US
Inventors: James R Solum
Original assignee: B&W Inc
Current assignee: SOLUM OIL TOOL Corp; B&W Inc
Priority date: 1968-12-23
Filing date: 1968-12-23
Publication date: 1972-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 1989-05-09

Abstract

A method for compactly placing a material such as gravel in a well bore exteriorly of a casing at a substantial depth by vibrating the stationary casing through the use of one or more devices positioned in the casing that are actuated by manipulation, rotation or reciprocation, of a drill pipe extending to the surface of the well. The device includes a member which is spring biased and movable relative to the drill pipe with a latch element for repeatedly biasing and releasing the member to impact the casing during continued manipulation of the drill pipe.

Description

United States Patent 1 6 1,209 Solum 1 May 9, 1972 54 METHOD FOR COMPACTLY PLACING 3,239,005 3/1966 Bodine ..166/286 MATERIAL IN A WELL 3,335,801 8/1967 Wilsey ..166/286 x Primary ExuminerDavid H. Brown Attorney-Lyon & Lyon [57] ABSTRACT A method for compactly placing a material such as gravel in a well bore exteriorly of a casing at a substantial depth by vibrating the stationary casing through the use of one or more devices positioned in the casing that are actuated by manipulation, rotation or reciprocation, of a drill pipe extending to the surface of the well. The device includes a member which is spring biased and movable relative to the drill pipe with a latch element for repeatedly biasing and releasing the member to impact the casing during continued manipulation of the drill pipe.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures METHOD FOR COMPACTLY PLACING MATERIAL IN A WELL This invention relates to both a new method for compactly placing the material in the annulus of a well bore in which there is positioned a liner or casing and an apparatus for performing the method. In particular the method is appliable to conventional procedures such as gravel packing of oil wells to improve the compaction of the gravel or the cementing of the casing in a well bore.

There are numerous operations and processes performed in the drilling and completion of oil or water wells which involve placing a fluid or granular material in the annular space between the exterior of a well pipe and the wall of the well bore and in most situations it is highly desirable to achieve the maximum possible compaction or fill of material in the annular space. One such process employed in both water and oil wells that exhibit certain undesirable conditions such as producing fine sand with the production fluid is commonly known as gravel packing" which involves positioning a perforated or slotted liner in the well bore and filling the annular space with accurately sized gravel to preclude the intrusion of the sands. Obviously any voids, cavities or loose placement of the gravel in the annulus will detract from the overall beneficial effect desired. During the gravel packing process it is impossible to move the slotted liner once the filling of the annular space is started and therefore it has heretofore been impossible to beneficially affect the degree of gravel fill or compaction other than by careful dispersion of the gravel in the carrying fluid or the application of extreme fluid pressure which is often undesirable.

In still other operations involving the filling of the annular space exterior of a casing with a particular material, such as in cementing the casing, it is usually possible and is relatively common to rotate or reciprocate the casing to, in part, enhance the material fill. However in some well conditions it is impossible to move the casing as for example in highly deviated wells where the operator must be satisfied to merely run the casing to the desired location and he cannot risk damaging or sticking the casing by attempting rotation or reciprocation.

Accordingly it is a principal object of this invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for mechanically vibrating a liner or casing positioned at a remote depth in a well by providing a mechanical device within the liner or casing which is actuated by manipulation of a drill pipe extending to the surface of the well whereby the device impacts and vibrates the liner or casing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel method for compacting a material externally of a casing fixedly positioned in a well bore by mechanically vibrating the casing through the manipulation of a drill pipe extending into the casing from the well surface.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel device adapted for mounting on a drill pipe string and fitting within a slotted liner with an element releasably engaging a liner slot and having a limited spring-biased movement relative to the drill pipe whereby movement of the drill pipe causes repeated engagement and disengagement of the device with the slotted liner thereby causing vibration of the liner. A still further object is to provide such a device responsive to rotational movement of the drill pipe and'having fins for also causing substantial fluid turbulence due to the repeated engagement and disengagement to further enhance the material compaction.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for compacting material in the annulus surrounding an immovable well casing including providing a multiplicity of impacting devices along the length of drill pipe substantially equal to the length of casing where compaction of the material is desired, manipulating the drill pipe from the well surface to cause actuation of the impacting devices to vibrate the casing and filling the annular space with the desired material during continuance of the manipulation of the drill pipe and vibration of the casing.

Other and more detailed objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical slant-drilled well in which the method and apparatus of this invention may be used for gravel packing.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of one form of an impact device of this invention positioned in a slotted liner pipe.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation of a device shovm in FIG. 2 in a position of disengagement with the slots of the liner pipe as will occur at the beginning of vibration force imposing movement of the device relative to the liner pipe.

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view of the impacting device taken substantially on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

The method of this invention will be described specifically with respect to gravel packing wells but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the method may also be used for a variety of other processes and operations involving the placing of material externally of a well pipe including the conventional cementation of a casing in a well bore. Further the method of this invention will be described with respect to a specific form of vibration or impacting device although it will readily be appreciated that numerous other forms of devices would be usable in the method.

Referring now to FIG. I of the drawings, the derrick l0, ground level 11 and the initial portion I2 of the well are shown diagrammatically while the lower portion of the figure illustrates the producing zone of the well in a somewhat less diagrammatic and an enlarged scale. The lower portion of the well is shown as slant-drilled which is a relatively common practice and further illustrates an advantage of this invention as will appear more fully hereinafter. Further it is to be noted that while FIG. 1 illustrates a rather small deviation from a vertically drilled well, it is now becoming relatively common to slant-drill wells at angles up to 70 deviation from vertical and with varying deviations whereby the vertical profile of the well may form a somewhat S curve. In such wells the problems involved with placing a material and manipulating the casing are compounded and the method and apparatus of this invention become even more useful.

In a typical oil well to be gravel packed a well casing 13 will be cemented in the well bore to the depth of the producing zone 14 which may be left as open hole, as shown, or also contain a cemented casing appropriately perforated to admit the production fluid. Where the production zone 14 exhibits characteristics requiring or rendering ravel packing advantageous, a perforated or slotted liner I5 is employed having slots or perforations of a size selected in conjunction with selection of the gravel to preclude the gravel from passing through the perforations or slots. One typical form of liner is shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 in which longitudinal slots 16 are cut in the liner in circumferentially spaced relationship. The appropriate length of liner I5 is run into the well bore with a releasing tool 17 connected to the top of the liner and a so called cross-over tool 18 thereabove. When appropriately manipulated at the conclusion of the gravel packing the releasing tool 17 serves to disconnect the liner 15 from the cross-over tool 18 and drill pipe 19 used to lower the liner into the well. Conventional well packers and liner hangers may also be used but do not form any part of this invention and therefore have been omitted for simplicity. As is well known, the cross-over tool 18 includes resilient sealing elements 20 and appropriate upper and

lower ports

21 and 22, respectively, whereby fluid pumped downwardly through drill pipe 19 will flow outwardly through the lower port 22 into the annular space externally of the liner I5 and fluid returning internally of the liner 15 will flow outwardly through upper port 21 into the annular space between the casing I3 and drill pipe 19 to return to the well surface. In this manner the gravel dispersed in fluid may be pumped downwardly through drill pipe 19 and pass through cross-over tool 18 into the annular space externally of liner 15 to deposit the gravel in the space, allowing the fluid to enter the slots 16 and return to the well surface in the annular space between casing 13 and drill pipe 19. As thus far described, the gravel packing procedure and the tools are somewhat conventional.

In order to accomplish the method of this invention, a length of drill pipe 23 or other relatively strong pipe, such as a thick-walled wash pipe, is connected to the liner releasing tool 17 and cross-over tool 18 and extends downwardly through a substantial proportion of the slotted liner 15. The pipe 23 is connected through

tools

17 and 18 in a manner whereby rotation of the drill pipe 19 from the surface of the well will cause rotation of pipe 23. The connection between releasing tool 17 and liner is such that through appropriate manipulation either the liner 15 will be released or at least the pipe 23 will be rotatable relative thereto upon rotation of the drill pipe 19 during placement of the gravel.

Means are provided on the well pipe 23 for impacting and vibrating the liner 15 and, as shown in the drawings, these means may include a plurality of impacting devices, generally designated 25, positioned in spaced relation along the pipe 23. Any convenient spacing of devices 25 along pipe 23 may be used as dictated by the particular circumstances and for convenience it is contemplated that a device 25 will be provided as a coupling between each joint of pipe 23 thereby producing a spacing of approximately feet under the usual conditions of 30 foot joints of pipe.

Referring more particularly to FIGS 2, 3 and 4, each impacting device 25 includes a collar member 26 rotatably mounted on a section of tubing 27 which is connected by threads 28 at both ends into the string of well pipe 23. A collar or flange 29 is fixedly mounted on tubing 27 by set screw 30 and/or weld 31. The flange 29 supports the collar 26 against longitudinal downward movement as shown in the figures. A second collar or flange 32 is fixedly mounted to tubing 27 above collar 26 by set screw 33 and/or weld 34. A plurality of fins 35 are mounted on collar 26 to extend longitudinally for engaging the interior of the liner 15 partially to center the well pipe 23 within the liner 15. As shown in FIG. 4 it is preferred that three fins 35 be provided and spaced 90 apart although more or fewer fins may be used. Each fin 35 is preferably of a longitudinal length greater than the length of each slot 16 in the liner pipe 15 whereby the fin bridges the slot and further that the fins 35 be of a thickness to also bridge each slot 16 in the circumferential direction.

A latching and releasing mechanism is provided on the collar 26 for repeatedly connecting and disconnecting the collar from the liner pipe 15 and, as shown in the drawings, this mechanism may include a slide bar 36 mounted in collar 26 for sliding, radial movement. A compression spring 37 is captured between the base of slide bar 36 and the collar 26 to reiliently urge the slide bar 36 radially outwardly. The slide bar 36 has a tapered nose portion 38 which is sufficiently pointed to project into and engage the interior of a slot 16 in the liner 15 as shown in FIG. 2. The upper and lower extremities of the nose portion 38 may be rounded as shown to permit longitudinal entry into and exit from the slots 16 as the well pipe 23 is moved longitudinally relative to the liner pipe 15. A coil torsion spring 40 encircles tubing 27 between collar 26 and flange 32 and has one end 41 anchored to flange 32 such as by a bolt 42. The other end 43 of coil torsion spring 40 is connected to the slide bar 36 such as by a bolt 44. Thus rotation of collar 32 relative to collar 26 will cause stressing of the spring 40. Since it is preferred in general oil field practice to rotate drill pipe in a right-hand direction to avoid unthreading, the spring 40 is coiled in a counter-clockwise direction proceeding from end 41 to end 43 when viewed from above. In this manner as pipe 23 is rotated in a clockwise direction to in turn rotate collar 32 the spring 40 will be wound in a direction toward tightening on the tubing 27 since the collar 26 is held against rotation by engagement of the slide bar 36 with a slot 16. However as the coil torsion spring 40 is tightened from the unstressed condition shown in FIG. 2 toward the condition shown in FIG. 3, the spring is stressed to store energy and eventually the end 43 of the spring will pull inwardly on the slide bar 36 in opposition to the outward force of spring 37. This will pull the nose 38 of the slide bar free from a slot 16 whereupon the collar 26 will be free to rotate relative to the liner l5 and the energy stored in the torsion spring 40 will cause rapid rotation in excess of the speed of rotation of the pipe 23. During this rapid rotation of the nose portion 38 of slide bar 36 will repeatedly engage slots 15 around the circumference of liner 15' and each such engagement will produce an impact on liner 15 with a resultant vibration being induced. Eventually the speed of rotation of collar 26 will decrease to the point where the nose portion 38 of slide bar 36 will again become engaged in a slot 16 to resist rotation of collar 26 relative to liner pipe 15. Continuing rotation of well pipe 23 repeatedly causes this cycle of engagement of the slide bar 36, biasing of the torsion spring 40 and the release to produce vibration. The fins 35 and also the slide bar 36 induce substantial fluid turbulence during the rapid rotation of collar 26 to further enhance the gravel compaction.

Since the impacting devices are provided in space relation along the entire length of the liner 15 the liner is effectively vibrated for its entire length but without requiring any rotational or reciprocal movement of the liner. Each impacting device 25 operates independently of the others and therefore the torsional forces induced in the well pipe 23 are not necessarily cummulative to an undesirable magnitude. Each of the impacting devices 25 may be specifically located to be directly opposite and in alignment with a circumferential series of slots 16 or merely a random placement of more than adequate number of impacting devices 25 will naturally be positioned to engage slots 16. As an alternative, and in unslotted casing and liners, the interior of the liner casing may be provided with longitudinal grooves or fixedly mounted bars to engage the slide bar 36 for producing the vibrational forces. In addition to the beneficial vibration produced by rotation of the drill pipe 19 during placement of the gravel, such rotation also serves to maintain the gravel dispersed in fluid suspension while being pumped downwardly through the drill pipe and prevents any gravel from accumulating at the couplings between joints of drill pipe which would otherwise occur with well bores inclined at substantial angles from the vertical. It is to be noted that the connections between joints of liner pipe 15 should be made extremely tight or even pennanent by welding since the vibrational and torsional shock forces induced by the impacting devices may otherwise tend to unthread the joints of liner pipe, particularly if the upper end of the liner pipe is secured against rotation such as by a liner hanger.

Having fully described my invention in connection with a specific embodiment of the impacting device 25 which is actuated by rotation of the drill pipe and further in specific connection with a gravel packing process for clarity of understanding and description of the invention, it is to be understood and will readily appear to those skilled in the art that my invention may be performed by and include impacting devices having a variety of constructions and is applicable to numerous processes in the completion of wells and therefore is not to be limited to the herein described embodiment and method.

I claim:

1. In a method for compacting a material in the annular space of a well bore exteriorly of a casing remotely positioned in the well, comprising the steps of extending a drill pipe from the well surface to a position within the casing, providing at least one mechanical impacting device on said drill pipe at a point to be removably positioned within the casing, manipulating the drill pipe from the well surface for causing actuating movement of said mechanical device for physically impacting against and vibrating the casing while retaining the casing in the same position, and pumping the material through the drill pipe to the casing and into the annular space while continuing said manipulation of the drill pipe.

2. In a method for compacting a material in the annular space of a well bore exteriorly of a casing remotely positioned in the well, comprising the steps of providing a drill pipe of a length for extending from the well surface to a position within the casing, providing at least one rotation-actuated impacting device and said drill pipe at a point therealong to be positioned in the casing, lowering the drill pipe into the well and casing, rotating the drill pipe from the well surface while pumping the material into the annular space for causing actuation of said impacting device for physically impacting against and vibrating the casing.

3. In a method for gravel packing the producing zone of a well, comprising the steps of positioning a slotted liner in the producing zone with a drill pipe extending from the well surface to a position within the liner, providing a fluid cross-over tool on the drill pipe at the top of the liner, providing at least one rotationally-actuated impacting device on said drill pipe at a point within the liner, pumping fluid and gravel down the drill pipe and through the cross-over tool into the annulus externally of the liner to deposit the gravel in the annulus and returning the fluid through the cross-over tool to the well sur' face externally of the drill pipe, the drill pipe from the well surface for causing actuation of said impacting device for physically vibrating the liner and compacting the gravel in the annulus during placement of the gravel in the annulus.

4. The method of claim 3 including providing the impacting device with fins and causing fluid turbulence during gravel placement by such rotation.

Claims

3. In a method for gravel packing the producing zone of a well, comprising the steps of positioning a slotted liner in the producing zone with a drill pipe extending from the well surface to a position within the liner, providing a fluid cross-over tool on the drill pipe at the top of the liner, providing at least one rotationally-actuated impacting device on said drill pipe at a point within the liner, pumping fluid and gravel down the drill pipe and through the cross-over tool into the annulus externally of the liner to deposit the gravel in the annulus and returning the fluid through the cross-over tool to the well surface externally of the drill pipe, the drill pipe from the well surface for causing actuation of said impacting device for physically vibrating the liner and compacting the gravel in the annulus during placement of the gravel in the annulus.