US554076A - Gas or oil well tubing - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

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Y 2 sheets-#sheet 2.

W. MOORE. GAS 0R OIL WELL. TUBING.

Patented Fb. 4, 1896.

yUNITED STATES PATEIWIA OFFICE.

WILLIAM MOORE, or KOKOMO, I1\I13IAI\TA.

GAS O'R OIL WELL TUBING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,076, dated February 4, 1896.

Application filed February 18, 1895. Serial No. 538,782. (No model.)

fo all whom it may. concern,.- I Be it known that I, WILLIAM MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kokomo,

.in the county of Howard and State of Indiana,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas or Oil Well Tubing; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The Object of my invention is to utilize the pressure of natural gas in gas-wells for the purpose of bringing to the surface and discharging the heavier liquids,-su ch as water and oil, 'which underlie thevolime of gas at the bottom of the well and which follow the gas into thc tubes so as to eventually choke up the outlet and destroy the utility of the well. This I accomplish by a novel con struction and arrangement of a series of valves and checks in the well-tubing whereby any d one of the valves can be operated upon separately from the top of the well.

A' further object of the invention is to inl crease the flow of gas and prolong the life of the well, but in order to understand the nature of my invention fully it is necessary that the usual and general practice of drilling gaswells be explained.

Natural gas in the Ohio and Indiana fields is found in what is called Trenton rock, an open porous formation underlying a sealed covering impervious to the passageof gas and at an average depth of one thousand feet from the surface of the earth. The pressure of the gas thus contained Within the earth will kaverage about three hundred pounds to the square inch. The Trenton -rock formation is of great depth and is more or less porous throughout. yThe upper part of it, next to the impervious strata spoken of, contains the uid gas and the lower portion of the Trenton rock contains generally oil or water, or both. A vertical column of this oil or water one 4 5 thousand feet high gives a pressure of four hundred and fty pounds tothe square inch tte water and Oil will lill up six hundred or n seven hundred feet of the vertical tubing,

balancing the gas-pressure, and the well ceases to flow gas. curs the well is said to be drowned out,

Vhen this condition ooand hundreds of Wells are now in that condi-` j tion throughout the gas-fields of Ohio and Indiana. Vere it not for the accumulation of water in the wells they would continue to flow gas for a much longer period of time.

In the drilling of gas-Wells the usual way is to drill into the Trenton rock only a short distance, great care being takenl not to get down to the Water-line, which in some localities is only a short distance from the commencement i of the rock. Should .the well reach the-water-line it is considered of small value because the water and gas having the same pressure to the square inch the water will commence at once to feed into the tubing Yof the well and if not carried out by the gas will continue to rise six hundred' orseven hundred feet until the weight of the celu-mn of water equals the pressure of the gas and the'column at such a height lheads off the flowing of the gas.

'The new method of equipping a well with my system of valves and tubing is to drill down some distance into the wateror oil bearing portion of the Trenton rock, down much deeper than the general practice, and then inserting my improved system of tubing and valves, whereby the water lor oil which will be admitted at the bottom will be started. in its discharge from the Amouth of the well by a proper manipulation of a series of valves supplied at intervals in the length of the tubing. Upon the removal of the'accumulatiou of water or oil in the -tubinglthe Water and oil inthe vicinity of the well will flow in-by pressure and'gravitation to take its place, thereby emptying the pores of the rock down to a'. much greater depth than formerly and affording an increased outlet for the gas from the y Trenton rock into the tubing, whereby the flow of gas from the well will be largely increased; IIence it is self-evident that'by utilizing the stored energy of the gas through mechauical appliances it is possible to exhaust the liquids underlying the gas, and not only preveniv the drowning out of the gas, \but ncrease its flow and prolong the life of the well,

IOC

I accomplish the objects of this invention 4o are forcedinto locking-position.

45 line 6 6, Fig. 5.

by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichf Figure 1 is a Yview in vertical section of a portion of the earths crust, showing the average rock formation in the gas-producing dish?4 trict of Indiana. The view shows a gas-Well equipped with my improved well-tubing and illustrates diagrammatically the condition' of the Trenton limestone around the bottom of lo the well after the water has been extracted by my mechanism. Several sections of the strata above Trenton rock are shown as broken away and removed in order to shorten the drawing to bring it within the compass of i 5 the sheet; but no material parts are omitted.

' Fig. 2 is a detail inf like vertical section .of the upper part of the Well and illustrates diagramnlatically the saturated condition of the rock above the water-line in a'well which has been 2o drowned out by this encroachment of the oil or water. In this view, the tubing and well end at a point above the water-linepin the manner required in the equipmentof wells prior to m'yinvention. Fig. 3 is a detail in 5 elevation and partially in vertical section of the tubing at the top of the well, showing thelever b y'which the central tube is manipulated in opening and closing the series of valves 'in the tube. The figure also shows the 'receiver 3o into which the gas, oil, and water discharges and in whichthe'gas is separated-from'allforeign ingredients and dried before its delivery to the distributing-main. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of the anchor at the bottom of the well by which the bottom of the middle y tube is held from revolving when the vupper section of the tube is rotated'to operate some ofthe valves. The dotted lines indicateithe position of the parts before the anchor-bars Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of a check-:valve which forms the lowest one in the series of valves used in my improved construction; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section of same on the dotted Fig. 7 `is a slip-valve by means of which outside gas can be admitted at that "point when the 'valve is open, and Fig.,

8 'is a vertical section of same on the lines 8 8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a view in elevation of a 5o screw-valve for the same purpose as the val-ve shown inFig. 7, and Fig.' 10 is a vertical-section of same on the line 10 10 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 ista slip-valve similar to that shown in Fig. 7 with the addition of a locking-notch whereby the -two parts o'f the tube will be locked together when in their closed position,

and Fig. 12 is a vertical section on 'the line 12 12 of Fig. l1'. Fig. 13is a transverse section of the valve shown in Fig. 6 and is taken 6o on the line 13 13 of Fig. 6. 'The direction of view inall of the sectionalviewsis indicated by thearrows in the several elevations.

raised'or open adjustment of the valve in Fig. 11 is indicated by the dotted lines in that figure.

w similar letters refer to like 'parts throughv out the several viewsof the drawings.

The

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents a well which is drilled down through many strata of different formations of rocks to a depth varying from one thousand to three thousand feet into a 4porous gas-bearingformation A', the under portion of which is Iil'led with water or oil. The dotted line I shows; the natural level of the liquids contained in the rock, and, as previously stated, in the usual way of drilling great caution is used not to drill below this Water-line fory fear of spoiling the well.

Under the natural law of gravitation and the equalized pressure of the gas above it the heavier iiuid seeks a level conforming'to the curvature of the earth in obedience to the same law that compels` water to seek its level under the equalized pressure of the atmosphere` vacuum' in la pump. This condition is illustrated in Fig. 3.V As this reduced pressure is maintained by the continual iiowing of the gas, the liquids in the pores of the rock fiow in lthe 'direction of the well, gradually filling up the rock until the gas is shut backA from 'the well. Well until the hydrostatic pressure of the columnat the bottom is equal tothe gas-pressure in the rock. The'wells are 'then abandonedv and new ones. drilled only a 'short distance from the old and which give a large iow of The Water continues to flow'intothe IOO gasfor a short time and are then drowned ou t. I v

in the samewa'y as the first; but with my improved system of tubing these wells would continue to fiow gas fora longperiod of time and with an increasing dow, for the reason that I remove the water from the pores of the rock vand by so doing extend the possible area for the accumulation and free passage of'the gas in the rock to a much greater depth than IIOI before, and by so doing I open up a much larger area `of gas-'bearing rock to supply the well.

B 'in the drawings represents the'top outer casing, which extends only through the top drift for the purpose of excluding the water which 'usually abounds' therein. I B' represents. the original tubing used vin the well before it lwas drowned out, and C is the tubing which I will employ expressly for the purposes of my inventiomand which will be of suiciently smaller diameter than the tubing B to permit of its being inserted within the tubing B. The escape o f. gas around the tube C will be prevented by'means of la suitable packing c at the top of the well and which may be of any desired or usual construction. A packing b is always placed between the out. side of the tube B' and the sides of the well so as to prevent the escape of gas around the outside'of'the tube B'.' This packer is generally placed in the impervious formation iml pin c are suiciently expanded to preventv .the bars up in proper position.

mediately above the Trenton limestone, as shown in Fig. l. Openings b and b2 are provided through the tubing B for the entrance of the gas. The lower end of the tube C terminates with the wedge C. This wedge is slotted vertically to receive the pin c', which pin is also projected through openings in the U-shaped anchor-bars c2. The ends of the their being drawn through the openings in the anchor-bars, and the purpose of the pin is to form a guide for the wedge and to also .hold When the tube is deposited into the well the wedge will be forced between the anchor-bars and the bars spread apart until the ends are impinged against the side of the tube B, thereby holding the wedge in a firm and immovable manner and also -preventing the attached tube from turning. The lower end of the tube C is perforated to allow the free access of gas and water into said tube.

At a suitable distance above the lower end of the tube C-,is a cheek-valve D, (shown in Figs. and (i and in cross-section in Fig. 13,) which will allow water, oil and gas to pass freely in an upward direction through the tube, but will prevent their return. The construction and operation will be clearly understood from the drawings.

At suitable intervals throughout the length of the tube C-that is, at distances of from one hundred to three hundred feet apart according to eircumstances-l provide valves, each ofA which when opened will admit gas from the tube B' into the tube C. These valves will be constructed in such a manner that by the proper manipulation of the tube C by the .operator at the mouth of the well the valves,

beginning with the top one,"can be opened successively so as to Vadmit the gas at that point. The columnl of water above the first valve will be small enough in quantity to-enable the pressure of the gas toblow it out of the tube, after which the valve will be closed and the one next below will be opened and the body of water in the tube between the first and second valves will be removed by the pressure of the gas in like manner. This operation will be continued with the remaining lower valves .until the tuber is emptied of whatever water or oil may have accumulated therein. E represents the lower sliding lvalve which is represented in enlarged detail in Figs. 7 and 8. vThe upper portion, e, is screwed onto the end of the tube C and is provided with a suitable opening or bore to receive the reduced upperend of thelower section, e', of the valve. A stud-pin c2 integral with or screwed into the part e is projected into a vertical slot through the wall of the section c, as clearly shown in the drawings. v'The part c is provided with the openings e3, through which the gas in the tube B will be admitted to the tube C when the valve is open, but which will be closed by the inside section, e', when the valve is closed. Fig. S shows the valve in closed position. The extent to'which the valve can be opened willfbe controlled by the length'of the slot to receive the pin e2.

F represents the next higher valve which is shown in enlarged scale in Figs. 9 and 10. 'lhe valve'vdiifers fromthe valve E only in the manner in which the upper and lower sections of the valve are connected and are adjusted with relation to each other. In th'ev valve F the two parts are provided with lefthanded threads j' and the valve is opened and closed by giving the upper tubing C a rotary movement. l

G is the uppermost one ofthe valves and is similar to the valve E, the only point of diiference being that the vertical slot in the outer section to receive the pin is provided with a notch g, whereby the valve' is locked Aagainstthe vertical movement by which the valveis operated andthe notch is on that side ment required to unlock the valve will be in the vdirection opposite to that required to open the valve F. The dotted lines in Fig. l1 represent theopen position of the valve'.

H is a lever fastenedto the Vtube C yat the top of the well, whereby the tube can be rotated in the manner required to operate the of the vertical slot whereby the rotary movevalves F and G, and I is a set-screw by which the tube may be moved longitudinally in operating the valves E and G. It is not, however, desired to limit the invention to the ex#A act mechanism as here show-n for operating the tube C in opening and closing the valves. The tube' C will empty into the receiver H IOO in the manner as shown in Fig. 2 and will be provided with the stop-cock C3 of usual construction. The tube is also provided with an outlet C7 into the open air, and the stop-cock C5 will allow the discharge through the pipe C7 to be controlled. The receiver maybe of any suitable construction that will remove the water or oil from the gas, preferably such as is secured to me by former patents, and now in general use throughout the gas-field.

From the above description it is believed a better .understanding of the invention and its objects has been obtained, and I will now give a more detailed description of its operation,k

If a well was closed in at the v and purposes. top and no gas allowed to be drawn from it, the .gas-pressure in the rockin the vicinity of the vwell would become equalized the same as it was before the well was drilledl and the water would again find its level in the rock by gravitation and would be up to thel dotted 4line I in Fig. 1. The lower end of the tubing would beentirel`y submerged in water or oil. No gas could enter the tubing at the lower I'IO end. Nothing but a solid column 0f water or oil would be admitted, and that would be under a pressure of three hundred pounds to the square inch, a pressure suiiicient to drive a column' of water up the tubing six hundred and eighty-two feet to the line marked L, p

lacking some three hundred feet of reaching the` top of the well.' The well would stand sealed at that point, yet an immense quantity of gas would be retained in the rock. As the tube B' is closed at the top, it will be illed with gas trom the rock through the openings b2 below the packing b at a rock-pressure of three hundred pounds to the square inch. All

` of the Water-or oil in the innertube C and outward discharge to atmospheric pressure.

I then open the valve G, admitting gas into the tubing() at three hundred pounds pressure, which will throw out all ,of the water above the point of ingress -of the gas, and-for l' awhile the water-pressure will continue to drive the water up to that point and the gas entering through the openings in the valve will. keep up a constant ow. Ithen close the valve G and open thenext lower valve F,

. whereupon the gas entering the tu'besC will throw the column of water out from this point.

rPhen closing it, I open valve E. This last operation :will exhaust the water from the well until the gas and 'water will bothenter thetubing at the'bottom of the well, and .When all-of the 'valves E, F, and G are closed the well will continue -to `flow a mixture of water or oil and gas.v I -then close -thecock' C5 and Vopen thecock C3 to the receiver for separating the gas from the oil and water.

- When the rock givesayery large quantity of water the valves E and F may be left a little open to assist in Araising the water along the line of tubing.

Misa -pipe leading from the -receiver H and emptying into the tube B'. It rhas the stop cock or valve m. The purpose of this pipe is to supply'the tubingB -With -high-pressure gas 4from -other wells when fno -gas in the rock below enters the well. The 'high-pressure gas f Jams supplied will empty the tube c in the same manner as vabove described.

The valves in the 4tube C are independent of=each other, 4and the vnumber required in any well Will/depend uponitsdepth and on the gaspressure in the rock. ,The average well lin Indiana would require but two of the valves and the check, and in some cases only one valve and the check. Where there is a large flow of gas the inner tubing should gradually increase in size as it nears the top of the well, and the valves in many cases should remain partially'open when a large flow of gas is-desired.

It is not-desired in this invention to limit the construction of the valves-D, E, F, and G t6 that here shown and described, as other forms equally as electi-ve might be employed;

but

What `I do claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l.' `In the working of natural-gas wells, the method of emptying a gas-well of the column of liquids, oil or water, elevated in said well by the pressure of the gas confined in the gasbearing rock or stratum, which consists in conveying, by a conduit independent of said well, gas from said stratum to diiierent portions of the well and admitting it into said column at different points thereof in succession, beginning at a point suchthat the pressure of the gas willelevate and discharge the portion of the column above the point of admission, -and when the level of the column lhas been reduced below said point, then at the nexft lower level, and so on, and ateach operation preventing the downward return of the column, substantially as described.

2. In a gas-well, the combination of a tube reaching from the top to the bottom of the ,wel1, providedL with a plurality of valved bottom of the well, an -opening in the tube at a suitable interval between the check-.valve and the top of the-well for the admission of high-pressure gas into the tube', an independent conduit from said opening to the gasbearing strata below said packing and a closure for said opening operatively connected with the top of the well, substantially as described.

4. In a gas-well, the combination of a tube reaching -from Vthe, top to the bottom of the well, a packing around the tube whereby a volume of high-pressure4 gas will be maintained around the tubing, a check-valve in the'tube near the bottom of the well, openings in the tube at suitable intervals between the check-valve andthe top of the well for the admission of high-pressure gas into the tube, an independent conduit from said openings to the gas-bearing strata below said packing, andclosures for said openings operatively connected'with the top of the well, substantially as described.

5. Tubing for gas-or oil wells having a plurality of valves for the admission of highpressure gas, said valves being operated by the movement of the upper tubing, said movement being in a-different direction for each of the different valves, as rotary, longitudinal, or combined rotary and longitudinal, substantially as described.

6. vIn a gas-well, the combination with an vouter tube, of an inner tube constructed of a series of sections connected with each other so as to have limited relative diverse movements at these connections, an anchor at tached to saidinner tube, valved openings IOO IIO

located at said connections in the side of said inner tnbe and leading froin the outei` tube land adapted to be operated by thc na-i't'iular relative movement to be given. to said connections, and means to operate said valved openings from the top of the well, substantially as described.

7. In a gas-Well, the combination with an outer tube, of an inner tube having a series of valves, arranged at intervals, leading from said outer tube thereinto through its sides,

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 5515076, granted February 4, 1896,

upon the application of William Moore, of Kokomo, Indiana, for an improvement in Gas or Oil Well Tubing, errors appear requiring correction, as follows In line 93,4

page 2, A Fig.` should read Fig. 2, and in line 103, page 3, Fig. 2 should' read Fig. and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

gsigned, countersigned, and sealed this 31st day of March, A. D. 1896.

JNO. M. REYNOLDS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Countersigned:

S. T. FISHER,

` Acting Commissioner of Patents.

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