Patents Examined by D. Andrews
  • Patent number: 11629574
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a pump system including a pump, a gas relief valve coupled to the pump, a motor configured to turn the pump, and a sensor configured to measure a parameter of at least one of a fluid or the pump system. The gas relief valve includes an actuator and a rotary disk system, and the rotary disk system includes a stationary disk and a rotary disk. The actuator is rotationally coupled to the rotary disk, and in a first position, the gas relief valve directs a flow of a fluid into a production tubing and in a second position, the gas relief valve directs the flow of the fluid into an annulus of a wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Donn Jason Brown, Ketankumar Kantilal Sheth, Casey Laine Newport, Trevor Alan Kopecky
  • Patent number: 11608731
    Abstract: A mechanical automatic vertical drilling tool, with ends that are connected with an upper drilling tool and a bit by a detachable thread, is disclosed. The tool comprises a control device, an actuator and an auxiliary part. The control device detects status of wellbore and controls operations of the actuator when the wellbore leans. The actuator pushes a block out against the well wall to generate a radial force, which pushes against the drill bit to prevent deviation and modify the wellbore trajectory. The auxiliary part transmits the indispensable bit pressure and torque for drilling to assist the control device and the actuator to achieve the function. This disclosure can get automatic deviation correction with only mechanical structures. It is simple and reliable, and unlikely to fail in complicated wells without any manual operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignees: Southwest Petroleum University, Sichuan Jutingzao Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jialin Tian, Tongxu Ge, Zhichao Hu, Lin Yang, Chunyu Xing, Lei Tang
  • Patent number: 11603713
    Abstract: A drill pipe joint includes an annular groove formed within its loadable primary or secondary shoulders. The groove may be formed in both shoulders. The groove may have parallel or non-parallel side walls and an undulating bottom wall. One or more of the respective walls may be deformed by peening that may increase the surface hardness of the respective walls. The hardened region may extend a distance from the deformed wall surfaces. An annular wired channel may be disposed within the groove. The channel may comprise a magnetically conductive electrically insulating material enclosing a wire coil on three sides and partially enclosing a top side of the channel. One end of the wire coil may be attached to a backstop that may be grounded to the walls of the groove. The other end of the wire coil may pass through an opening in the channel exiting the shoulder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Inventor: Joe Fox
  • Patent number: 11603714
    Abstract: A vibration isolating coupler including a first coupler portion, a second coupler portion including an external surface and an internal surface portion, and a vibration isolating portion extending between the first coupler portion and the second coupler portion. The vibration isolating portion including a first solid annular portion and a second solid annular portion. The vibration isolating portion including a plurality of slots extending from the first solid annular portion toward the second solid annular portion forming a plurality of vibration isolating elements. Each of the plurality of vibration isolating elements is disconnected from adjacent ones of the plurality of vibration isolating elements by a corresponding one of the plurality of slots. The plurality of vibration isolating elements enabling torsional rotation of the first coupler portion relative to the second coupler portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Hanno Reckmann, Volker Peters, Axel Ritter, Jannik P. Hartmann
  • Patent number: 11603712
    Abstract: A downhole data transmission system comprising a composite polymeric annular block including a ferrite channel molded therein. The block being suitable for being housed within an annular groove or trough in the shoulder of a drill pipe. The annular block comprising a volume of sub-micron and micron elements of Fe and Mn. The ferrite channel defining an annular core region and an insulated helical coil laying within the core region. One end of the insulated helical coil passing through the ferrite channel and the annular block. A gasket molded into the block and extending from the block provides a sealed pathway for the end of the coil to exit the groove and connect to a cable; the other end of the coil being connected to ground. The annular block further includes a bumper protruding from its peripheral wall and a void opening within the annular block proximate the bumper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Inventor: Joe Fox
  • Patent number: 11591856
    Abstract: A large diameter injection water well is drilled using a drilling derrick and rotary drilling techniques. After snubbing in and drilling a short distance with drilling mud, a temporary drilling header is installed below the blowout preventers. Extending downward from the temporary drilling header is a drop pipe with a valve on the lower end thereof. Drilling pipe with attachments on the lower end thereof, are lowered into the drop pipe with the valve closed. After sealing to the drilling pipe, the valve is opened and the drilling pipe and attachments are lowered to the bottom of the well for the normal drilling operation. Thereafter, the drilling pipe and attachments are removed reversing the process of retracting into the drop pipe and closing the valve before removing the seal from the drilling pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Youngquist Brothers, LLC
    Inventors: Harvey Bruce Youngquist, Jr., Brett Alan Youngquist
  • Patent number: 11591870
    Abstract: A reentry guide tool includes an overshot defining a lower end and comprises a bowl and grapple. The bowl defines an interior space of the overshot, and the grapple is disposed in the bowl and is operable to engage a tubular. A tubular guide nipple has a downhole and an uphole end, the downhole end complementary to the overshot and the uphole end complementary to the reentry guide. The guide nipple is operable to connect and provide a transition between the overshot and reentry guide. The reentry guide is a tubular piece having an uphole end with a bevel. A deployment mechanism is defined on the overshot, reentry guide, or guide nipple, and is operable to connect the reentry guide to a running tool for deployment. A method of providing a transition from a first to a second tubular in a wellbore is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Benton L Kelly, III, Ahmed A Ramadhan, Ahmed A Mousa
  • Patent number: 11591874
    Abstract: A packer for anchoring and sealing to a tubular in a well, the packer including a packer element, an anchoring arrangement, a setting mechanism and a release mechanism. The release mechanism holds a thin-walled section of tubing in the packer in tension using a biasing mechanism. On severing the tubing, the bias releases an engagement mechanism which allows the anchor arrangement and the packing element to move relative to the body and thereby unset the packer. An embodiment of a dual bore packer is described. A method of well isolation is described, with an assembly including the dual bore packer. The primary bore forms the short string and a secondary bore forms the long string. By severing the short string the integrity of the long string is maintained to pull lower devices on the long string and the short string does not require tension below the packer to release.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: VIKING COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY FZCO
    Inventors: Bartosz Krupski, Simon Peter Leiper, David Mills, William Morrison
  • Patent number: 11585176
    Abstract: A method and a tool for sealing cracked casing cement are described. In a wellbore in which a casing is deployed, the casing and the wellbore define an annulus sealed with a casing cement. The method includes vibrating a portion of the casing cement adjacent an outer wall of the casing. The portion of the casing cement includes multiple discrete cracks. Vibrating the casing cement connects the discrete cracks to form a crack network. After vibrating the casing cement to form the crack network, a sealant is injected into the crack network through the casing. The sealant seals the crack network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventor: Graham Hitchcock
  • Patent number: 11572752
    Abstract: A method of deploying a flexible cable in a wellbore includes carrying, by a tubular assembly, a cable spool cartridge into the wellbore. The cable spool cartridge is attached to an exterior of the tubular assembly and contains the flexible cable. A first end of the flexible cable is attached to a buoyancy device, and the buoyancy device is releasably attached to the cable spool cartridge. A fluid is flowed by the tubular assembly in a downhole direction through an interior of the tubular assembly and in an uphole direction within an annulus at least partially defined by the exterior of the tubular assembly. The fluid has a greater density than the buoyancy device. The buoyancy device is released by the cable spool cartridge, and the buoyancy device is configured to travel after release in the uphole direction with the fluid and thereby pull the flexible cable from the cable spool cartridge and into the annulus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Timothy E. Moellendick, Amjad Alshaarawi, Chinthaka Pasan Gooneratne, Bodong Li, Richard Mark Pye
  • Patent number: 11566494
    Abstract: A wellbore assembly can include a completion string having a side pocket. A downhole device can be positioned within the side pocket of the completion string. The downhole device can have a first end sized and shaped for coupling to a tool for inserting and removing the downhole device in the side pocket while the completion string is positioned downhole in a wellbore. The downhole device can be an electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Michael Greci, Michael Linley Fripp
  • Patent number: 11566491
    Abstract: The pump-activated manual water well comprises a valve, a gate structure, a pulley structure, a cord, and a well. The gate structure, the pulley structure, and the cord attach to the valve. The valve installs in the well. The well is a mechanical structure that pumps underground water, commonly called ground water, to the surface of the ground. The gate structure, the pulley structure, and the cord control the flow of water through the well by controlling the flow of water through the valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Inventor: Keith Little
  • Patent number: 11566496
    Abstract: A gravel packing apparatus includes a base pipe defining an interior fluid conduit, the base pipe having a production section configured to provide fluid communication between an exterior of the base pipe and an interior of the base pipe, the base pipe having a blank section. The apparatus also includes a screen surrounding the production section, the screen in fluid communication with an annular region of a borehole and configured to prevent particulate matter from passing therethrough, and a filtration assembly disposed proximate to the blank section, the filtration assembly including a fluid passage extending between an exterior of the blank section and an interior of the blank section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Vusal Rajabov, Christophe Malbrel
  • Patent number: 11566476
    Abstract: A downhole release tools, systems, and methods are described. The tool configured to release a string in a wellbore includes: a cylindrical body with an uphole end defining a first set of internal threads and a downhole end defining a second set of internal threads; a sensor operable to measure strain in the cylindrical body, a magnetic field, or both; a release joint with an uphole end defining a first set of external threads and a frustoconical downhole end defining a second set of external threads, the release joint attached to the cylindrical body by engagement between the first set of external threads of the release joint and the second set of internal threads of the cylindrical body; safety pins rotationally fixing the release joint in position relative to the cylindrical body; and a drive system operable to rotate the release joint relative to the cylindrical body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventor: Peter Ido Egbe
  • Patent number: 11566486
    Abstract: A transforming bridge-to-flow-through frac plug has a mandrel, a retaining sleeve, a pair of cones, a pair of slips, a packing element, and a keeper ring. The mandrel is concentrically connected within the retaining sleeve, and is constructed of a dissolvable material such that the mandrel is dissolvable through application of a solvent in order to form a big bore flow-through frac plug if removal of the frac plug by milling is not possible. The pair of cones, pair of slips, packing element, and keeper ring are positioned on the exterior of the retaining sleeve in order to secure the frac plug in place after a setting operation, even if the mandrel is dissolved in order to form the big bore flow-through frac plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: FRAC MASTER FZ-LLC
    Inventor: Anwar Ahmed Maher Abdelaziz Assal
  • Patent number: 11555366
    Abstract: A drill pipe string conveyed retrievable plug system has a central through bore. The plug system includes a drill pipe string; a control section; a running tool with a connector at a lower end of a drill pipe string with the control section, and a top connector on a mechanical plug section with a bridge plug. The mechanical plug section includes a mandrel with the through bore, a ball valve arranged for closing the through bore, and a packer sleeve on the mandrel with slips and a packer element. The control section includes an electric supply, an electric control unit, and sensors connected to the electric control unit. The mechanical plug section includes a motor controlled by the electrical control unit. The motor is arranged to turn a selector ring to a selected first rotational position so as for allowing a piston sleeve to slide to an axial first stop position in order for opening to fluid channels through the mandrel from the through bore to the packer sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: ARCHER OIL TOOLS AS
    Inventors: Trond Skjeie, Andreas Fliss
  • Patent number: 11555400
    Abstract: A system to determine a contamination level of a formation fluid, the system including a formation tester tool to be positioned in a borehole, wherein the borehole has a mixture of the formation fluid and a drilling fluid and the formation tester tool includes a sensor to detect time series measurements from a plurality of sensor channels. The system includes a processor to dimensionally reduce the time series measurements to generate a set of reduced measurement scores in a multi-dimensional measurement space and determine an end member in the multi-dimensional measurement space based on the set of reduced measurement scores, wherein the end member comprises a position in the multi-dimensional measurement space that corresponds with a predetermined fluid concentration. The processor also determines the contamination level of the formation fluid at a time point based the set of reduced measurement scores and the end member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Bin Dai, Dingding Chen, Christopher Michael Jones
  • Patent number: 11555396
    Abstract: An electric submersible pump (ESP) monitoring system is described herein. The ESP monitoring system includes a base monitoring unit and a discharge monitoring unit that are communicably coupled via a ground path. The discharge monitoring unit is hydraulically coupled to the pump discharge and is configured to measure a discharge parameter relating to the pump discharge and transmit data corresponding to the discharge parameter to the base monitoring unit via the ground path. The base monitoring unit is electrically connected to the motor of the ESP system and is configured to measure a base parameter relating to the motor and/or the pump intake, receive the transmitted data corresponding to the discharge parameter from the discharge monitoring unit, combine the data corresponding to the discharge parameter and the data corresponding to the base parameter, and transmit the combined data to an ESP surface unit via an ESP power cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Michael C. Romer, Wilfried Manfoumbi
  • Patent number: 11536094
    Abstract: A retention system for attaching a collar to a pipe. The collar has an internally-disposed groove configured for placement of a ring. The ring is sized such that in one orientation, it can enter the collar between torque-transmitting features into the internally-disposed groove. Once in the groove, the ring may be adjusted such that its aperture is generally aligned with the axis of the collar. In this orientation, the features retain the ring within the groove. A bolt and a pipe may then be placed within the collar from opposite sides. The bolt is attached to the pipe through the ring. Once joined, the collar is joined to the pipe, forming its box end. Such a retention system may be used to join a series of inner pipe members of a dual-member pipe assembly, as in horizontal directional drilling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
    Inventor: Greg L. Slaughter, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11530610
    Abstract: A drilling system for drilling a borehole. The drilling system includes a drilling fluid pump operable to circulate fluid through the borehole and a fluid analysis system to analyze returned fluid from the borehole. The fluid analysis system includes a sensor system, a recirculation system, and a control system in electronic communication with the drilling fluid pump and the recirculation system. The sensor system is operable to measure one or more properties of the returned fluid. The recirculation system includes a pump and controllable valves and is operable to control flow of the returned fluid through the fluid analysis system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Mathew Dennis Rowe, Shaun Patrick Lawrence