Abstract: An insert tool for pre-existing casing is disclosed which allows the use of existing control line connections to facilitate independent operation of a pair of safety valves. The insert is particularly useful when a pre-existing well is converted to gas lift operation and requires the use of downhole valves, such as tubing safety valve in combination with an annular-type safety valve. The tool can be readily reconfigured if one of the control lines becomes obstructed so that continuing independent operation of the two valve components can continue. Normal and emergency release techniques are also included when it is time to retrieve the insert assembly.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a modular prosthetic conduit implantable within a mammal and a method of surgically implanting and replacing such a conduit. Specifically, the present invention is directed toward a conduit comprising a first conduit member composed of a biocompatible alloplast and coated on its exterior surface with a porous biocompatible tissue-bonding material. The present invention is further directed toward a second conduit member composed of a biocompatible alloplast. The second conduit member contains a region or component that can be expanded radially by mechanical, hydraulic, chemical, electrical, temperature sensitive or other physical means. The second component can be easily slid into or out of the first conduit member and at temperatures approaching a mammal's body temperature, it expands to form a watertight "docking" fit within the first conduit member. The second conduit member may contain remotely actuable valve and pump.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of dropping a pumpdown plug or ball is revealed. The assembly can be integrally formed with a plug-dropping head or can be an auxiliary feature that is mounted to a plug-dropping head. The release mechanism is actuated by remote control, employing intrinsically safe circuitry. The circuitry, along with its self-contained power source, actuates a primary control member responsive to an input signal so as to allow component shifting for release of the pumpdown plug or ball. Multiple plug-dropping heads can be stacked, each responsive to a discrete release signal. Actuation to drop the pumpdown ball or plug is accomplished even while the components are rotating or are moving longitudinally. Using the apparatus and method of the present invention, personnel do not need to climb up in the derrick to actuate manual valves.

Abstract: A filter is provided which combines a woven wire mesh over a supporting body. The supporting body is typically a metal perforated tube which provides fluid communication between the well bore and the production equipment string. The woven wire mesh acts as a filter to prevent the influx of sand particles, provides openings oriented at various angles relative to its surface, so that some area is available for fluid entry even when particulate matter is lodged on the surface above an opening, provides interior channels that allow fluid to travel from one location on the mesh surface to another location over an opening into the supporting body, and does not provide "straight-through" openings, thus forcing the fluid to make multiple turns to pass through the mesh, thereby dissipating the fluid's energy and increases the mesh's erosion resistance. When particulate matter accumulates on the mesh's surface, the resulting particle cake remains porous, heightening the filter's resistance to plugging.

Abstract: A bleed valve design for a wireline pressure setting tool is disclosed. The chamber within the setting tool is vented through a bleed valve assembly which features a rupture disk secured over an opening with an O-ring seal. A piercing tool is used and in conjunction with the shape of the rupture disk creates a break in the rupture disk in a manner that will not reseal. Lateral passages are provided to direct the vented gases away from operating personnel. An alternative venting mechanism is provided by having a thin wall segment which can be penetrated by a piercing tool in the event the rupture disk assembly for any reason fails to allow venting of the setting tool.

Abstract: A method of seismic prospecting offshore by means of at least one pair of hydrophone-geophone sensors disposed at the water bottom, in which a sound source at the surface of the water emits a sound signal and the sensors at the water bottom take hydrophone and geophone recordings H and G, the method comprising the following various steps:a filtered signal is determined such that:M=H.sub..DELTA. -G.sub..SIGMA.withH.sub..DELTA. =1/2(H-H.sub.R)andG.sub..SIGMA. =1/2(G+G.sub.R)where H.sub.R and G.sub.R correspond respectively to the recordings H and G propagated over a go-and-return path through the layer of water; andthe data obtained in this way is processed to deduce therefrom information about the geology of the subsoil.

Abstract: A non-rotating drill pipe/casing protector is disclosed. The protector has a bi-directional thrust bearing which can be mounted uphole or downhole from the protector. The bi-directional thrust bearing comprises a female and male part where the female is fixed to the tube and the male can relatively rotate with respect to the pipe. The protector has an insert which extends longitudinally out of the sleeve and is used as the male component in the thrust bearing. Thrust loads are absorbed by metallic component contact, thereby eliminating edge wear of the non-rotating sleeve. The thrust bearing components may have wear pads that are replaceable. Roller bearings can also be used to facilitate the relative rotation between the drillpipe and the sleeve. Wear pads can also be employed on the outside of the sleeve to increase its life.

Abstract: A method is disclosed which allows running liners with external casing packers on coiled tubing in a single trip. The compact design afforded by being able to support the liner near its lower end adjacent the lowermost external casing packer allows for a combined overall length of running tool and inflation tool short enough to fit into a standard lubricator.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of dropping a pumpdown plug or ball is revealed. The assembly can be integrally formed with a plug-dropping head or can be an auxiliary feature that is mounted to a plug-dropping head. The release mechanism is actuated by remote control, employing intrinsically safe circuitry. The circuitry, along with its self-contained power source, actuates a primary control member responsive to an input signal so as to allow component shifting for release of the pumpdown plug or ball. Multiple plug-dropping heads can be stacked, each responsive to a discrete release signal. Actuation to drop the pumpdown ball or plug is accomplished even while the components are rotating or are moving longitudinally. Using the apparatus and method of the present invention, personnel do not need to climb up in the derrick to actuate manual valves.

Abstract: A casing/drillpipe protector is disclosed that has a composite structure made up of two separate parts. Both parts have cages to secure skeleton functions. The inner part is nested within the outer part such that the open ends of both cages form loops which can be aligned for insertion of a pin to secure the protector to the pipe. The cage of the inner part is smaller but stronger than the cage of the outer part and provides the significant portion of the hoop stress, and therefore radial force of the protector which is used to retain it to the drillpipe.

Abstract: A casing patch is disclosed which uses one or more fins which elastically flex to accept a casing stub. The casing stub is prepared with a dressing tool containing a special mill to obtain the requisite finish on its outer surface prior to insertion of the casing patch. The flexible fin or fins provide a metal-to-metal seal to the outer surface of the casing patch and a grip assembly holds the joint together. In certain applications, the fins can be combined with a resilient seal where the fins preferably provide a complete extrusion barrier to the resilient seals. Using the fins which preferably are integral to the body, alone or in combination with a resilient seal or seals, the wall thickness of the joint can be maintained at thicker values for a given size as compared to prior designs, thus, ensuring a sufficient pressure rating for the joint which is at least equal to the rating of the casing stub.

Abstract: In the context of an oil and gas drilling rig flare system, a purge system is introduced so that in the event of a flammable gas release at the rig, the purge system can be activated. Activation of the system shuts off gas supply from a separator in the mud return system to the flare line and initiates a purge of an inert gas. Any ignition sources in the flare line are immediately turned off. The purging cools the flare line to a point where it cannot act as an ignition source itself. The inert gas prevents the presence of oxygen in the flare line to additionally prevent combustion within the flare line. The flowing inert gas cools the flare line to the point where it cannot ignite any escaping gas from the rig floor. The system can be manually or automatically actuated.

Abstract: The present invention is an improved method and apparatus for testing and monitoring wellbore operations. The invention is (1) a data acquisition device capable of monitoring, recording wellbore and/or reservoir characteristics while capable of fluid flow control; and (2) a method of monitoring and/or recording at least one downhole characteristic during testing, completion and/or maintenance of a wellbore. The invention includes an assembly within a casing string comprising a sensor probe having an optional flow port allowing fluid flow while sensing wellbore and/or reservoir characteristics. It also includes a microprocessor, a transmitting device, and a controlling device located in the casing string for processing and transmitting real time data. A memory device is also provided for recording data relating to the monitored wellbore or reservoir characteristics.

Abstract: A packer is disclosed having a setting piston mounted on the body thereof. The packer is hydraulically set prior to treating or cementing. The packer has a sliding sleeve valve which is open during run-in. After the packer has set, the setting tool is released from the valve. The valve may then be operated through manipulation of the tubing string. The tubing string can be disengaged and reengaged into the packer body to determine if the valve has closed by measuring the pressure conditions at the surface.

Abstract: A flexible stent is disclosed that can be constructed in a variety of ways. It can be made from a continuous wire formed into discrete rings of undulating bends where the end rings are closed up on themselves, and the continuous wire which forms the rings between the end rings defines longitudinal gaps in each of the internal rings, which gaps are in turn straddled by crossties which, in the preferred embodiment, extend in a perpendicular plane to the longitudinal axis of the stent, while being disposed in alignment with the cylindrical surface defined by the stent. The crossties act to keep the opening in the inner rings constrained during expansion of the stent. The presence of the longitudinal openings in the internal rings adds to the flexibility of the stent to ease delivery to the desired location. Alternatively, the flexible stent can be etched from a tube. In this preferred embodiment, alternating rings of an undulating wire-type element, etched from a tube, are presented.

Abstract: An inhibitor to suppress or inhibit the viscosity increase of a hydrocarbon, e.g. in a bottom section of an oil quench tower, featuring the use of a sulfonic acid and/or its salt as an effective inhibitor composition, which may optionally contain a polymerization inhibitor including one or more inhibitors selected from the group of aromatic amines, phenols and dialkyl hydroxyl amines. Furthermore, the method to inhibit the increasing viscosity of hydrocarbon, e.g. in a bottom section of a tower, may be accomplished by adding the hydrocarbon viscosity inhibitor to the feed oil, reflux oil or directly to the tower bottom oil in the tower. Such an oil quench tower is used for an olefin production process in which the hydrocarbon may include naphtha, light oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, etc. in the raw material.

Abstract: A dog sub is provided for use in an assembly for running liners with a weight-set packer. The dog sub allows rotation of the work string in an effort to set down weight on the dogs. The dogs are allowed to move radially outwardly by a pick-up force from the surface whereupon a set-down force, the dogs engage the setting sleeve on the weight-set packer. The dog sub is provided with a shear pin or other mechanism that breaks at about the requisite set force necessary to set the weight-set packer. When the assembly is retrieved to the surface, the breakage of the shear mechanism within the dog sub indicates to the surface personnel that an appropriate amount of set-down force has been applied to the weight-set packer below. Each of the dogs has an insert which rides on the polished surface of the packer setting sleeve to protect it as the dog sub is raised to allow the dogs to expand for setting the packer.

Abstract: A packer is disclosed which uses applied pressure to set the slips and initiate a compressive force on the sealing elements. The compressive force applied to the sealing elements moves components above the sealing elements and allows the available hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore to create an opposing force on the sealing elements to ensure that they properly set. The sealing elements are mounted directly to the packer body, thus eliminating a leakpath from the fluid pressure application port which is located below the sealing elements on the packer body. Various lock rings hold the set of the packer to avoid the creation of boost forces on the sealing elements from applied or induced pressures from above or below the sealing elements. Movement of the body is not required to accomplish setting of this packer. In applications with low hydrostatic pressure, the annulus can be pressurized to assist in obtaining the necessary pack-off pressure.

Abstract: A one-trip assembly that includes the mill or mills for milling a window, the whipstock, the whipstock anchor or packer, and a valving assembly is disclosed which permits running in all the equipment needed for setting and orienting a whipstock and squeezing cement below the whipstock in one trip. Valving is provided which allows for the squeezing to go on after the whipstock packer is set. A feedback technique to determine that the milling assembly been pulled away from the cementing tube is incorporated into the assembly. In one embodiment, upon initiation of milling, pressure differential is used to shift a tube for valve actuation, effectively isolating the squeezed formation from pressures above the whipstock. In another embodiment, the whipstock is shifted to actuate an upper flapper. A second flapper valve is provided, preferably below the whipstock packer, which, responsive to pressure from below, is urged into a closed position.

Abstract: The invention relates to a slip design with substantially longitudinally oriented wickers, which can be used alone or in combination with transversely oriented wickers, to secure a downhole tool, such as a bridge plug or packer, against rotational forces, such as those imparted from a whipstock, as well as longitudinal forces, such as those ultimately delivered by pressure fluctuations from uphole or downhole. The longitudinally oriented wickers are further cammed against the casing since any imparted torque on the packer body contacts a corner or edge of the slip, imparting to it a camming action making it dig further into the casing surface.