WO2013075228A1 - Rotatable and bendable casing connection - Google Patents
Rotatable and bendable casing connection Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2013075228A1 WO2013075228A1 PCT/CA2012/001093 CA2012001093W WO2013075228A1 WO 2013075228 A1 WO2013075228 A1 WO 2013075228A1 CA 2012001093 W CA2012001093 W CA 2012001093W WO 2013075228 A1 WO2013075228 A1 WO 2013075228A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- casing
- connection
- casing connection
- circular radius
- threaded
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B17/00—Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill strings; Kellies; Drill collars; Sucker rods; Cables; Casings; Tubings
- E21B17/02—Couplings; joints
- E21B17/04—Couplings; joints between rod or the like and bit or between rod and rod or the like
- E21B17/042—Threaded
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B17/00—Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill strings; Kellies; Drill collars; Sucker rods; Cables; Casings; Tubings
- E21B17/02—Couplings; joints
- E21B17/08—Casing joints
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B17/00—Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill strings; Kellies; Drill collars; Sucker rods; Cables; Casings; Tubings
- E21B17/20—Flexible or articulated drilling pipes, e.g. flexible or articulated rods, pipes or cables
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L19/00—Joints in which sealing surfaces are pressed together by means of a member, e.g. a swivel nut, screwed on or into one of the joint parts
- F16L19/02—Pipe ends provided with collars or flanges, integral with the pipe or not, pressed together by a screwed member
- F16L19/0212—Pipe ends provided with collars or flanges, integral with the pipe or not, pressed together by a screwed member using specially adapted sealing means
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L19/00—Joints in which sealing surfaces are pressed together by means of a member, e.g. a swivel nut, screwed on or into one of the joint parts
- F16L19/02—Pipe ends provided with collars or flanges, integral with the pipe or not, pressed together by a screwed member
- F16L19/025—Pipe ends provided with collars or flanges, integral with the pipe or not, pressed together by a screwed member the pipe ends having integral collars or flanges
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L27/00—Adjustable joints, Joints allowing movement
- F16L27/10—Adjustable joints, Joints allowing movement comprising a flexible connection only, e.g. for damping vibrations
- F16L27/113—Adjustable joints, Joints allowing movement comprising a flexible connection only, e.g. for damping vibrations the ends of the pipe being interconnected by a rigid sleeve
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a rotatable and bendable casing connection for use in downhole wellbores.
- failures can occur in the casing or in the casing connection.
- the movement of the casing can be caused by many factors such as shifting formations, formation pressures, overburden pressures, and thermal expansion and contraction from steam injection operations. Stresses induced to the casing from factors such as these, can buckle the casing wall, or cause connections to part or leak.
- the casing is cemented into the well bore, however movements have still been observed and failures still occur.
- movement of the casing liner is often even more severe. Thus, movement from thermal expansion has been seen to affect both cemented and non cemented casings.
- Fluids and sands produced from the formations tend to create void spaces in the formation and results in formation pressure decreases. This often causes higher overburden pressures to collapse the formations below, causing further formation movement.
- casings reside in these voided formations, they are subject to various loads from the formations and are forced to move with the formations. Any restrictions of movement due to rigidity of the casing can cause buckling or separation of the casing. Casings are most likely to fail at their threaded connections, which tend to be the weakest link in the casing string.
- Horizontal well drilling is increasingly becoming a popular method of producing oil and gas from formations. Some of these horizontal wells have a shallow vertical depth, and require large degree build angles to hit the target. Casing connections have had to be redesigned in order to handle the severe doglegs from drilling and to place the casing in the wellbore without bending failures.
- a failure to produce a casing in open holes can also result in a loss of wells.
- the sand control features of that liner can be lost. Production of sands can make a well uneconomical to operate.
- a pinched or crimped sand control liner can eliminate passage of other tubing or equipment through the liner, resulting in loss of
- the present invention thus provides a casing connection device allowing both bending and rotating motion and that provides three separate sealing areas for leak prevention.
- Figure 1 depicts one embodiment of the top face sub portion of the present casing connection
- Figure 2 depicts one embodiment of the bottom face sub portion of the present casing connection
- Figure 3 depicts one embodiment of a threaded coupling for use in the present casing connection
- Figure 4 depicts one embodiment an assembled casing connection of the present invention.
- the present invention provides a casing connection that can allow bending and also bending under rotation.
- a connection must built in a manner that it equals or exceeds the standard connection specifications, so that it can either replace standard connections or work in conjunction with them.
- the present connection allows bending from any side loads, to allow casing movement without connection failure.
- the present connection further allows bending in the connection, while the casing is rotated. This allows stiff casing strings to be run through severe well doglegs. When a well is drilled, the location and degree of bending of each dog leg is known from the drilling information. Accordingly, the present connection can be set along a length of casing to align with the downhole dog legs, when the casing is in its final resting position or depth.
- the present connection preferably allows for controlled degrees of bending as well as set loads to allow bending to happen.
- the present connection further preferably acts to seal pressure, withstand applied torque, compression and tensile loads when running casing into the well. It must also seal pressure while loads are applied to the connection during the production phase of the well. These loads would be applied from thermal applications, and formation movements.
- the present connection allows standard, stiff casing to be deployed into more severe doglegs or bend, in the build section than typically possible.
- the present connection can allow standard casing to be deployed in bends of up to 15° versus a typical 7° dogleg limit. This allows the forming builds through shallow vertical depths, without the aid of slant drilling rigs.
- Typical connections in the art consist of a pin and box connection consisting of a male pin end and a female box end.
- the box end can be of two styles, the first of which is a coupling connection.
- the coupling is a short x/o sub with two box ends on it.
- the coupling is connected to the pin end of the casing and the other end of the casing is also a pin end. Once the coupling is connected to the joint, the joint now becomes a pin x box joint.
- the box end is machined directly to the casing joint body as a flush connection.
- connections are often weaker due to the lesser cross sectional area of material at the box end, compared to a coupling cross sectional area.
- the coupling joint has a larger outside diameter than the flush joint, at the box ends of the joint.
- Coupling connections are usually stronger than flush connections since they are made from more material. In some connections, the coupling
- connection delivers better sealing than some flush connections.
- Typical thread types used on either a coupling or flush connection can vary. There are several different profiles of threads on the market, each delivering a specific quality. Quality varies to deliver better torque, tensile, compressive, bending, and sealing capabilities. All connections rely on the thread profiles to deliver these qualities.
- the present connection does not depend on the thread type to deliver seal, torque and compressive strengths. Instead, the thread is used only to control maximum tensile loading.
- the new connection does not rely on a thread profile to deliver its seal, torque, compressive, or bending
- the new connection will consist of three major components: a top face sub, a bottom face sub and an adjusting collar.
- the top face sub 2 includes a bored-through inside diameter that is preferably consistent with the nominal inside diameter of the casing that it will be used with.
- An outside surface of the top face sub 2 includes a first circular radius face 4 to mate with an internal face of the adjusting collar.
- the top face sub 2 further has a first plain end 6 which can be preferably machined, welded or threaded to match the casing that it will be run with. Most preferably, the first plain end 6 is threaded.
- a second circular radius face 9 is provided with one or more torque preventing means, preferably in the form of milled with torque cogs 8 along an exterior surface of the second circular radius face 9.
- the bottom face sub 10 includes a bored- through inside diameter to match the nominal inside diameter of the casing that will be used with it.
- An outside surface of the bottom face sub 10 preferably has a threaded portion 12 to mate to and thread into the adjusting collar.
- the bottom face sub 10 further includes a machined third circular radius face 14, having one or more torque preventing means, preferably in the form of torque cogs 16 milled to an exterior surface of the third circular radius face 14.
- the bottom sub face 10 mates with the top face sub 2 by bringing together the second circular radius face 9 and associated torque cogs 8 with the third circular radius face 14 and associated torque cogs 16 such that the sets of torque cogs 8, 16 interlock.
- the bottom face sub 10 further has a second plain end 18.
- the second plain end 18 can be preferably machined, welded or threaded to match the casing that it will be run with. Most preferably, the second plain end 18 is threaded.
- the adjusting collar 20 has a bore through inside diameter in which an upper portion of the inside diameter is larger than the outside diameter of the first plain end 6 of the top face sub 2.
- a center portion of the inside diameter of the adjusting collar 20 preferably consists of a machined fourth circular radius face 22, which will mate to the first circular radius face 4 of the top face sub 2.
- a lower portion of the inside diameter includes a threaded connection 24, which mates to the threaded portion 12 of the bottom face sub 10.
- the threaded connection 24 of the adjusting collar 20 is a female threaded connection and the threaded portion 12 of the bottom face sub 10 is a male threaded connection.
- the outside diameter of the adjusting collar 20 preferably resembles the coupling of the casing being used.
- the adjusting collar 20 can optionally contain one or more set screws (not shown) to secure against any additional movement or makeup to the connection after initial makeup.
- the present connection can be assembled prior to being run in downhole along with the casings.
- One embodiment of the assembled connection of the present invention is depicted in Figure 4.
- the adjusting collar 20 is first slid over the first plain end 6 portion of the top face sub 2.
- the top face sub 2 is then positioned with the bottom face sub 10, such that their mating circular radius faces 9, 14 and torque cogs 8, 16 mate with one another.
- the adjusting collar 20 is then lowered until the threaded connection 24 of the adjusting collar 20 mates with the thread portion 12 of the bottom face sub 10.
- the adjusting collar 20 is then rotated to engage the threaded connection 24 with the threaded portion 12 of the bottom face sub 10.
- the rotation acts to tighten the adjusting collar 20 until the internal fourth circular radius face 22 of the adjusting collar 20 mates to the first circular face 4 of the top face sub 2.
- a dust seal 28 and O-ring 26 can be added between the adjusting collar 20 and the top face sub 2 at the
- a further optional "0" ring can be inserted within each pair of circular radius faces 4, 22 and 9, 14 to provide additional sealing.
- the amount of torque applied to the threaded connections 12, 24 will determine the amount of force required to bend or rotate the top and bottom face subs 2, 10 away from each other along their mating circular radius faces 9, 14 and 4, 22.
- the amount of force required can be
- the one or more torque preventing means preferably in the form of mating torque cogs 8, 16 act to prevent over-torque or unscrewing of the connection during rotation and bending downhole.
- any number of known means in the art can be additionally used to prevent against over-torque, or loosening of the connections, including but not limited to set screws or spot welds.
- the present connection After the present connection is assembled, it is attached to the casing to be used.
- the present connection provides three separate sealing areas.
- the first sealing area consists of the seal created by top face sub 2 and bottom face sub 10 circular radius faces 9, 14.
- the second sealing area consists of the seal created by the top face sub 2 and adjusting collar 20 circular radius faces 4, 22.
- the third sealing area consists of the seal created by the adjusting collar 20 and bottom face sub 10 threaded connections 12, 24.
- a leak path from well annulus to casing interior or vice versa can only develop if two of the three sealing areas fail. That is, a failure of a combination of circular radius faces 9, 14, circular radius faces 4, 22, or circular radius faces 9,14 together with threaded connections 12, 24 would be required to cause a leak.
- Typical casing connections have only one sealing area, the threaded connection and bending of this threaded
- connection most commonly contributes to the formation of a leak path in known casing connections.
- the casing and the present connections When the casing and the present connections are run into the downhole well, they will encounter dog legs located in the well as a result of drilling. As the casing is run through these dog legs, the stiffness of the casing can cause the casing to become stuck within the dog leg. In such cases, the present connection allows some bending when induced with bending forces, allowing the casing to conform better to the direction of the bends in the well. If casing has to be rotated through these bends, the present connection can be rotated at the same time it is bending to conform to the wellbore. If the depths or location of the dog legs are predetermined, the present connections can be positioned at predetermined lengths along the casing string that correspond with the depths or locations of the dog legs. This reduces the amount of stress on the casing lengths themselves after the casing has been installed.
- the present connection can absorb some of these thermal loads which would otherwise be placed on the threaded portion of typical connections.
- Most thermal movement observed in the casing is located in the open hole sections of the wells, where casing is allowed to move most freely. In many of these open holes, sand production, fluid production, and formation movements are evident. As voids are created from displaced solids and fluids, formations will shift and create unwanted casing movement . The movement of a casing within the open hole also affects the forces acting on the casing liner hangers. Most wells will produce closer to the heel of the well than at its toe. Most formation movements are noticed at the heel as well.
- the present connections can also be used in a number of different applications such as mining or producing salt caverns or any circumstance where casing are subject to bending for any number of reasons .
- the present connection can be optionally manufactured directly onto plain end casings and used as a total casing connection, or it can be assembled to existing threaded casings and specifically placed throughout the casing string as required.
- All seals are preferably made of metal, and more preferably made from steel, and can thus withstand extreme temperatures and pressures.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
MX2014006226A MX349423B (en) | 2011-11-25 | 2012-11-23 | Rotatable and bendable casing connection. |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US13/304,533 | 2011-11-25 | ||
CA2759606A CA2759606C (en) | 2011-11-25 | 2011-11-25 | Rotatable and bendable casing connection |
CA2,759,606 | 2011-11-25 | ||
US13/304,533 US20130134704A1 (en) | 2011-11-25 | 2011-11-25 | Rotatable and bendable casing connection |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2013075228A1 true WO2013075228A1 (en) | 2013-05-30 |
Family
ID=48468946
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/CA2012/001093 WO2013075228A1 (en) | 2011-11-25 | 2012-11-23 | Rotatable and bendable casing connection |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
AR (1) | AR088958A1 (en) |
CO (1) | CO6960520A2 (en) |
MX (1) | MX349423B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2013075228A1 (en) |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2276217A (en) * | 1993-03-15 | 1994-09-21 | John Norman Gladstone | A connector with a dowel device for connecting rotary drill casings |
CN2374638Y (en) * | 1999-05-25 | 2000-04-19 | 辽河石油勘探局钻采工艺研究院 | Oil pipeline universal pilot |
CN200985748Y (en) * | 2006-12-21 | 2007-12-05 | 新疆石油管理局钻井工艺研究院 | Rotetable type casing tube flexible joint |
US7472763B2 (en) * | 2001-07-18 | 2009-01-06 | Tesco Corporation | Wear resistant tubular connection |
-
2012
- 2012-11-22 AR ARP120104398A patent/AR088958A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2012-11-23 WO PCT/CA2012/001093 patent/WO2013075228A1/en active Application Filing
- 2012-11-23 MX MX2014006226A patent/MX349423B/en active IP Right Grant
-
2014
- 2014-05-21 CO CO14109574A patent/CO6960520A2/en unknown
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2276217A (en) * | 1993-03-15 | 1994-09-21 | John Norman Gladstone | A connector with a dowel device for connecting rotary drill casings |
CN2374638Y (en) * | 1999-05-25 | 2000-04-19 | 辽河石油勘探局钻采工艺研究院 | Oil pipeline universal pilot |
US7472763B2 (en) * | 2001-07-18 | 2009-01-06 | Tesco Corporation | Wear resistant tubular connection |
CN200985748Y (en) * | 2006-12-21 | 2007-12-05 | 新疆石油管理局钻井工艺研究院 | Rotetable type casing tube flexible joint |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CO6960520A2 (en) | 2014-05-30 |
AR088958A1 (en) | 2014-07-16 |
MX349423B (en) | 2017-07-28 |
MX2014006226A (en) | 2014-07-11 |
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