Patents Examined by Ronald Runyan
  • Electrically conductive proppant and methods for detecting, locating and characterizing the electrically conductive proppant
    Patent number: 8931553
    Abstract: Electrically conductive proppants and methods for detecting, locating, and characterizing same are provided. The electrically conductive proppant can include a substantially uniform coating of an electrically conductive material having a thickness of at least 500 nm. The method can include injecting a hydraulic fluid into a wellbore extending into a subterranean formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to open a fracture therein, injecting into the fracture a fluid containing the electrically conductive proppant, electrically energizing the earth at or near the fracture, and measuring three dimensional (x, y, and z) components of electric and magnetic field responses at a surface of the earth or in an adjacent wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignees: CARBO Ceramics Inc., Sandia Coporation
    Inventors: Chad Cannan, Lewis Bartel, Terrence Palisch, David Aldridge
  • Shunt tube connections for wellscreen assembly
    Patent number: 8931568
    Abstract: A well screen assembly has a base pipe and one or more screen sections attached to the outer surface of the base pipe. The assembly also has one or more shunt tubes attached to the base pipe via top and bottom rings. The shunt tubes can be attached to the screen sections via B-rings and may be transport tubes or packing tubes. Connections are used for securing a jumper tube to adjoining shunt tubes of adjoining screen sections of the wellscreen assembly, which may be used in open or cased holes. At a well site, the joints of the wellscreens have timed threads so that the various shunt tubes can be aligned with one another along the assembly as the joints are made up. The connections of the present disclosure allow operators to install a jumper tubes between shunt tubes at the joint without needing to tighten fasteners or assembly components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Weatherford/Lamb, Inc.
    Inventor: Stephen McNamee
  • Polycrystalline diamond compact including a non-uniformly leached polycrystalline diamond table and applications therefor
    Patent number: 8925655
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a polycrystalline diamond compacts (“PDC”) includes a substrate and a polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) table bonded to the substrate. The PCD table defines an upper surface and at least one peripheral surface. The PCD table includes a plurality of bonded diamond grains. The PCD table includes a first region adjacent to the substrate that includes a metallic constituent disposed interstitially between the bonded diamond grains thereof, and a leached second region extending inwardly from the upper surface and the at least one peripheral surface that is depleted of the metallic constituent. The leached second region exhibits a leach depth profile having a maximum leach depth that is measured from the upper surface. A leach depth of the leach depth profile decreases with lateral distance from a central axis of the PCD table and toward the at least one peripheral surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: US Synthetic Corporation
    Inventors: Mohammad N. Sani, Andrew E. Dadson
  • Automatic control of oscillatory penetration apparatus
    Patent number: 8925648
    Abstract: A system and method for controlling an oscillatory penetration apparatus. An embodiment is a system and method for controlling a sonic drill having a displacement and an operating range and operating at a phase difference, said sonic drill comprising a push-pull piston and eccentrics, said method comprising: operating the push-pull piston at an initial push-pull force while the eccentrics are operated at a plurality of different operating frequencies within the operating range of the sonic drill and measuring the displacement at each operating frequency; determining an efficient operating frequency for the material being drilled and operating the eccentrics at said efficient operating frequency; determining the phase difference at which the sonic drill is operating; and if the phase difference is not substantially equal to minus ninety degrees, operating the push-pull piston at another push-pull force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Inventor: Peter A. Lucon
  • Resilient foam debris barrier
    Patent number: 8919433
    Abstract: A space filler material is used to prevent accumulation of debris that could later foul the operation of adjacent moving parts. In one application a void space that is subsequently closed by actuated parts is initially filled with a material that is highly compressible and has voids that allow it to compress without undue resistance to part movement when the void volume is reduced. Ideally, the pores or voids in the material itself are small enough to keep most if not all the debris from entering and making the space filling material too rigid to collapse under part movement. In an alternative application, the material can be in an annular space such as a seal bore and it can keep debris from getting past the seal bore while allowing hydrostatic pressure across itself thereby helping it to maintain its position until moved such as by shifting of an inner string to which it is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventor: Edward J. O'Malley
  • Varying pore size in a well screen
    Patent number: 8919451
    Abstract: A method can include applying a magnetic field to a well screen, thereby varying sizes of pores via which fluid flows through the well screen. A well screen can include a magnetic shape memory material having a dimension which changes in response to application of a magnetic field. Restriction to flow through the well screen can vary in response to the change in dimension of the magnetic shape memory material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Dagenais, Michael L. Fripp
  • Drilling systems for cleaning wellbores, bits for wellbore cleaning, methods of forming such bits, and methods of cleaning wellbores using such bits
    Patent number: 8887836
    Abstract: Wellbore cleaning bits include a bit body, at least one cutting structure on the bit body, and a shank configured to attach the bit body to a drill string. Drilling systems for cleaning wellbores include a wellbore cleaning bit coupled to a drill string. The wellbore cleaning bit may include a casing bit body and a shank attached to the casing bit body and the drill string. A casing bit may be attached to a shank having a connection portion configured for attachment to a drill string to form wellbore cleaning bits for cleaning at least a section of a wellbore. Furthermore, a casing bit may be advanced into a wellbore using a drill string to clean a wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Adam R. Williams, Chad T. Jurica, Matthew J. Meiners, Jason Coe
  • Oil field system for through tubing rotary drilling
    Patent number: 8875782
    Abstract: An oil field system comprising a main body having a bore therethrough, the main body having a connection at one end of the bore for, in use, connecting the main body to an existing wellhead, tree or other oil field equipment, a transverse cavity through the bore, the cavity having at least one opening to the outside of the main body, a plurality of flow control devices for insertion, at different times, into the cavity in order to selectively control fluid flow through the bore, wherein the plurality of flow control devices includes a gate valve and drilling BOP rams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Cameron International Corporation
    Inventor: Brian Hart
  • Variable frequency fluid oscillators for use with a subterranean well
    Patent number: 8863835
    Abstract: A well tool can include a first oscillator which varies a flow rate of fluid, and a second oscillator which discharges the fluid received from the first oscillator at a variable frequency. A method can include flowing a fluid through a first oscillator, thereby repeatedly varying a flow rate of fluid discharged from the first oscillator, and receiving the fluid from the first oscillator into a second oscillator. A well tool can include a first oscillator including a vortex chamber, and a second oscillator which receives fluid flowed through the vortex chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Roger L. Schultz, Robert Pipkin, Tim Hunter
  • Pressure control device for wireline cables and method
    Patent number: 8863830
    Abstract: An embodiment of a pressure control assembly for a wireline cable disposed in a wellbore comprises a housing frame, at least a pair of sealing devices disposed in the housing, the sealing devices defining an aperture for a cable to pass therethrough and a chamber therebetween, and a lubricant recirculation system for injecting and recirculating a lubricant into the chamber, the assembly operable to lubricate the cable and seal the cable, and maintain a predetermined pressure within the housing frame while the cable is disposed therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph Varkey, Vadim Protasov, Jushik Yun
  • Wired multi-opening circulating sub
    Patent number: 8863852
    Abstract: System and method for circulating fluid within a well bore. A circulation sub configured with communication elements on its ends to link the sub to a downhole communication network. A slideable piston in the sub isolates or exposes an outer port on the sub to an inner fluid flow along the sub depending on a signal transmitted along the communication network. Methods for activating the circulation sub via signals transmitted along the downhole communication network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: National Oilwell Varco, L.P.
    Inventor: Jeffery Ronald Clausen
  • Method for drilling a borehole
    Patent number: 8857538
    Abstract: In a method for drilling a borehole real time geosteering data, including natural gamma ray data is obtained for a plurality of borehole positions for drilling a borehole along a projected trajectory. A formation layer having a thickness equal to or greater than the natural gamma ray sphere of influence and having a first lithology is identified. Data is processed for subsequent borehole positions. Upon location of the boundary of a formation layer of different lithology within the natural gamma ray sphere of influence, at least two points of the different formation layer boundary are determined by using the inverse problem methods, and an extrapolation ahead of the drill bit of at least two points is made utilizing the boundary to determine whether to change the borehole trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Inventor: Michael Pogrebinsky
  • Compact cable suspended pumping system for lubricator deployment
    Patent number: 8851165
    Abstract: A pumping system includes a submersible high speed electric motor operable to rotate a drive shaft; a high speed pump rotationally connected to the drive shaft and including a rotor having one or more helicoidal vanes; an isolation device operable to expand into engagement with a production tubing string, thereby fluidly isolating an inlet of the pump from an outlet of the pump and rotationally connecting the motor and the pump to the casing string; a cable having two or less conductors and a strength sufficient to support the motor, the pump, the isolation device, and a power conversion module (PCM); and the PCM operable to receive a DC power signal from the cable, and supply a second power signal to the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Zeitecs B.V.
    Inventors: Lance I. Fielder, Matthew Crowley, Holger Franz, Johannes Schmidt, Benjamin Eduard Wilkosz
  • Dual metal seal system
    Patent number: 8851185
    Abstract: A wellhead seal assembly has a primary seal and a secondary seal, each seal forming a metal-to-metal seal between inner and outer wellhead members. A primary metal seal ring has inner and outer walls separated by a slot. A secondary metal seal is located below the seal ring and has a bottom portion that contacts an upward facing shoulder of a hanger. A primary energizing exerts downward force on the primary seal, causing a secondary energizing ring, located below the primary energizing ring, to energize the secondary seal. Once the secondary seal is energized, thus stopping downward movement of the (primary seal and secondary energizing ring, the primary energizing ring energizes the primary seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Vetco Gray Inc.
    Inventor: Khanh Anh Duong
  • Method for withdrawal and insertion of a drill pipe string in a borehole and also a device for use when practicing the method
    Patent number: 8844616
    Abstract: A device for tripping, in which, at a drill-floor opening which is arranged to receive a pipe string, two or more cooperating pipe-handling units are arranged, each, independently of the other(s) or in cooperation with the other(s), being arranged to releasably hold the pipe string fixed and to move the pipe string in its axial direction, and also to move a pipe section in the axial direction of the pipe string and rotate the pipe section around the axis of the pipe string.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: West Drilling Products AS
    Inventors: Helge Krohn, Mads Grinrød
  • Side-tracking system and related methods
    Patent number: 8844620
    Abstract: A sidetracking tool includes a setting tool having an expandable anchor, a whipstock connected to an upper end of the setting tool, the whipstock having a ramp face along an axial length thereof, and a drilling assembly including a drill bit disposed on an end thereof, wherein the drill bit is configured to interface with the ramp face of the whipstock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Smith International, Inc.
    Inventors: Philip M. Gregurek, Charles H. Dewey
  • Composite sintered carbides
    Patent number: 8839887
    Abstract: A carbide composite material that includes a continuous ductile phase; and at least one discrete carbide region surrounded by the continuous ductile phase, each discrete carbide region may comprise an integrally bridged plurality of cast and/or sintered carbide particles, and each discrete region may have a nodular particle morphology.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Smith International, Inc.
    Inventors: Sike Xia, Zhou Yong
  • Retrievable swellable packer
    Patent number: 8833443
    Abstract: A well tool can include a swellable material, and a degradable material which supports the swellable material, but which degrades in response to contact with a selected fluid in a well. A packer for use in a subterranean well can include a swellable material, and a degradable material which supports the swellable material. A method of unsetting a packer in a subterranean well can include the steps of, after the packer has been set in the well, exposing a degradable material of the packer to a selected fluid, thereby degrading the degradable material, and a seal element of the packer being unsupported by the degradable material in response to the exposing step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventor: Alf Kolbjørn Sevre
  • Flow diverter ring for reducing wear in mud saver valves
    Patent number: 8820407
    Abstract: A valve assembly includes a main housing having a central bore therethrough, an upper valve subassembly disposed within the main housing, the upper valve subassembly including an upper seat configured to contact a corresponding lower seat of a lower valve subassembly, and a flow diverter ring disposed proximate the upper seat of the upper valve subassembly, wherein the flow diverter ring is configured to direct a fluid flow radially away from the upper seat of the upper valve subassembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Smith International, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Mohon, Vishal Saheta
  • Devices and methods for horizontal directional drilling with a boring tool library
    Patent number: 8807241
    Abstract: Various embodiments are directed to a method and apparatus for horizontal directional drilling with a tool library. Various methods include storing a plurality of operational tool profiles in memory, the operational tool profiles of the plurality respectively associated with a plurality of boring tools attachable to a drill string for HHD and each of the operational tool profiles of the plurality including operating parameters for the boring tool of the plurality with which the operational profile is associated, and selectively displaying the operational tool profiles on a display screen based on user input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Vermeer Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Philip R. Lane