DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR WELL COMPLETION AND CONTROL AND METHOD FOR COMPLETING AND CONTROLLING A WELL
A drill-in liner assembly including a tubular and a plurality of substantially radially oriented openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern; the pattern selected to substantially maintain torsional strength of the tubular while facilitating in-flow of target fluid. Also including a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings such that torsional load placed upon the plurality of openings in the tubular is borne by the plugs. An erosion resistant filtering arrangement including a tubular, a plurality of openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern, and a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings.
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The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/052,919, filed May 13, 2008, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/875,584, filed Oct. 19, 2007, the entire contents of which are specifically incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUNDWell completion and control are the most important aspects of hydrocarbon recovery short of finding hydrocarbon reservoirs to begin with. A host of problems are associated with both wellbore completion and control. Many solutions have been offered and used over the many years of hydrocarbon production and use. While clearly such technology has been effective, allowing the world to advance based upon hydrocarbon energy reserves, new systems and methods are always welcome to reduce costs or improve recovery or both.
SUMMARYA drill-in liner assembly including a tubular and a plurality of substantially radially oriented openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern; the pattern selected to substantially maintain torsional strength of the tubular while facilitating in-flow of target fluid. Also including a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings such that torsional load placed upon the plurality of openings in the tubular is borne by the plugs.
An erosion resistant filtering arrangement including a tubular, a plurality of openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern, and a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several Figures:
Referring to
In the
The matrix itself is described as “beaded” since the individual “beads” 30 are rounded though not necessarily spherical. A rounded geometry is useful primarily in avoiding clogging of the matrix 14 since there are few edges upon which debris can gain purchase.
The beads 30 themselves can be formed of many materials such as ceramic, glass, metal, etc. without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Each of the materials indicated as examples, and others, has its own properties with respect to resistance to conditions in the downhole environment such as temperature, pressure erosional forces, etc. and so may be selected to support the purposes to which the devices 10 will be put. The beads 30 may then be joined together (such as by sintering, for example) to form a mass (the matrix 14) such that interstitial spaces are formed therebetween providing the permeability thereof. In some embodiments, the beads will be coated with another material for various chemical and/or mechanical resistance reasons. One embodiment utilizes nickel as a coating material for excellent wear/erosion resistance and avoidance of clogging of the matrix 14. Further, permeability of the matrix tends to be substantially better than a gravel or sand pack and therefore pressure drop across the matrix 14 is less than the mentioned constructions. In another embodiment, the beads are coated with a highly hydrophobic coating that works to exclude water in fluids passing through the device 10.
In addition to coatings or treatments that provide activity related to fluids flowing through the matrix 14, other materials may be applied to the matrix 14 to render the same temporarily (or permanently if desired) impermeable.
Each or any number of the devices 10 can easily be modified to be temporarily (or permanently) impermeable by injecting a hardenable (or other property causing impermeability) substance 26 such as a bio-polymer into the interstices of the beaded matrix 14 (see
The PVC, PEO, PVA, etc. can then be removed from the matrix 14 by application of an appropriate acid or over time as selected. As the hardenable material is undermined, target fluids begin to flow through the devices 10 into a tubular 40 in which the devices 10 are mounted. Treating of the hardenable substance may be general or selective. Selective treatment is by, for example, spot treating, which is a process known to the industry and does not require specific disclosure with respect to how it is accomplished.
In a completion operation, the temporary plugging of the devices can be useful to allow for the density of the string to be reduced thereby allowing the string to “float” into a highly deviated or horizontal borehole. This is because a lower density fluid (gas or liquid) than borehole fluid may be used to fill the interior of the string and will not leak out due to the hardenable material in the devices. Upon conclusion of completion activities, the hardenable material may be removed from the devices to facilitate production through the completion string.
Another operational feature of temporarily rendering impermeable the devices 10 is to enable the use of pressure actuated processes or devices within the string. Clearly, this cannot be accomplished in a tubular with holes in it. Due to the pressure holding capability of the devices 10 with the hardenable material therein, pressure actuations are available to the operator. One of the features of the devices 10 that assists in pressure containment is the shoulder 20 mentioned above. The shoulder 20 provides a physical support for the matrix 14 that reduces the possibility that the matrix itself could be pushed out of the tubular in which the device 10 resides.
In some embodiments, this can eliminate the use of sliding sleeves. In addition, the housing 12 of the devices 10 can be configured with mini ball seats so that mini balls pumped into the wellbore will seat in the devices 10 and plug them for various purposes.
As has been implied above and will have been understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, each device 10 is a unit that can be utilized with a number of other such units having the same permeability or different permeabilities to tailor inflow capability of the tubular 40, which will be a part of a string (not shown) leading to a remote location such as a surface location. By selecting a pattern of devices 10 and a permeability of individual devices 10, flow of fluid either into (target hydrocarbons) or out of (steam injection, etc.) the tubular can be controlled to improve results thereof Moreover, with appropriate selection of a device 10 pattern a substantial retention of collapse, burst and torsional strength of the tubular 40 is retained. Such is so much the case that the tubular 40 can be itself used to drill into the formation and avoid the need for an after run completion string.
In another utility, referring to
In another embodiment, the devices 10 in tubular 40 are utilized to supplement the function of a screen 80. This is illustrated in
Referring to
It is noted that while in each discussed embodiment the matrix 14 is disposed within a housing 12 that is itself attachable to the tubular 40, it is possible to simply fill holes in the tubular 40 with the matrix 14 with much the same effect. In order to properly heat treat the tubular 40 to join the beads however, a longer oven would be required.
While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustrations and not limitation.
Claims
1. A drill-in liner assembly comprising:
- a tubular;
- a plurality of substantially radially oriented openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern, the pattern selected to substantially maintain torsional strength of the tubular while facilitating in-flow of target fluid;
- a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings such that torsional load placed upon the plurality of openings in the tubular is borne by the plugs.
2. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pattern is selected to distribute steam evenly throughout a target formation.
3. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the beaded matrix plugs includes a metal to metal seal with the tubular.
4. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the beaded matrix plugs includes an elastomer to seal with the tubular.
5. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the elastomer is an o-ring.
6. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the beaded matrix is permeable to a target fluid.
7. The drill in liner assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the beaded matrix plugs include a plurality of rounded beads joined into a mass having a number of interstitial spaces therein.
8. An erosion resistant filtering arrangement comprising:
- a tubular;
- a plurality of openings in the tubular arranged in a pattern;
- a plurality of beaded matrix plugs disposed within one or more of the plurality of openings.
9. The arrangement as claimed in claim 3 wherein the beaded matrix comprises hard material beads formed into a mass having a multiplicity of interstitial spaces receptive to fluid flow.
10. The arrangement as claimed in claim 4 wherein the beaded matrix is sintered.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 24, 2008
Publication Date: Apr 23, 2009
Applicant: BAKER HUGHES INCORPORATED (Houston, TX)
Inventors: MICHAEL H. JOHNSON (KATY, TX), ROBERT O'BRIEN (KATY, TX)
Application Number: 12/145,083
International Classification: E21B 43/08 (20060101); E21B 43/00 (20060101);