Downhole Fluid-Gas Directional Compressor

Abstract

An oil and gas downhole device is disclosed wherein the device separates the oil and gas from undesired water, which returns to the formation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/684,053 filed Aug. 16, 2012, which application is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in its entirety.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/684,059 filed Aug. 16, 2012, which application is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure relates to apparatus and method for well production of fluids and gas.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the production of wells and other product sumps, the effluent of the well may contain materials which are harmful to the operation of the production of desirable materials. An example of this is oil and gas wells. If these wells produce, they usually produce oil and gas and significant amounts of water. The water is not desirable and has to be hauled away in trucks or barges. It is not known how to suppress water as an effluent from the well. This suppression of water effluent might also avoid pollution and pressure loss in the well, which loss decreases the volume of oil and gas produced as the volume of water increases, ultimately making the well unprofitable.

As another illustration, it is not known how to suppress salts and other minerals as effluent from seawater producing water.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The apparatus is located in a well or other producer of liquids which may be used to produce a product. The product production may also involve the production of undesirable by-products, such as the production of a well that produces effluents of oil and gas with a harmful by-product of water. The apparatus is configured to reduce or eliminate the water in the product stream by preventing the harmful by-product from entering the product stream in whole or in part. To accomplish this, a downhole fluid gas directional compressor is inserted below an isolation packer abutting a casing. The isolation packer prevents fluid being in the annulus between the casing and the tubing from flowing to the surface with the desirable product with present production of undesirable fluid. The fluid is forced in the apparatus to flow into the downhole fluid gas directional compressor. The compressor then separates the undesirable product by having the undesirable product impeded from passing through the compressor while the oil and gas passes through the compressor. Thus, in an oil and gas well, the oil and gas will flow through the well annulus to the surface while the water in the well is caused to reenter the formation by the compressor of the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present disclosure, reference should be made to the following drawings in which like parts are given like reference numerals and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a depiction of the installation of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor mounted, in a well and showing the flow of oil gas and water passing through the compressor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor;

FIG. 3 is an end view of a first end of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view of a second end of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor taken along the section lines A-A of FIG, 2;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the device showing three bands or rings on the outside of the compressor 100:

FIG. 7 is a partial view of a screen construction of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of FIG. 2 with the sand screen partially in place; and

FIG. 8 is a side view partly in phantom line of the stepped bars.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a downhole system 110 configured to exclude water from oil and gas stream flowing to the surface 104. The exclusion device 110 comprises a gas directional compressor 200 mounted in a well bore 103. The well bore 103 runs from the length of the well to the surface 104. The well bore 103 has a well casing 102 which supports a well tubing string 106. The lower end of the well tubing siring 106 is attached to an isolation packer 190 configured to provide pressure isolation and disposed between the casing 102 and the tubing 106 as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. The well tubing string 106 may also be used to suppress flow from the well 103 to the surface 104. Oil 302 and gas 301 may flow through the well bore 103 and through the isolation packer connection 190 to tubing 106 and arriving at the surface 104, which is well known in the art. However, for the present disclosure, the flow of the water 303 does not flow into well bore tubing 106 through the downhole device or compressor 200. Instead the water 303, after encountering the compressor 200 through a screen 240, is reinjected by the compressor 200 back into the formation surrounding the casing 102. The compressor 200 separates at least some of the water 303 from the oil 302 and gas 301. The water 303 flows, for example, back through perforations 107 in the casing 102 to the formation. The compressor 200 is the primary part of the exclusion device 110. In some embodiments, an optional second compressor 210 maybe disposed above or below compressor 200 and attached to well bore tubing 106. In some embodiments, the compressor 200 may be disposed uphole, downhole, or level with the perforations 107.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary compressor 100 that may be used as compressor 200 or 210, Compressor 100 may include a housing 105. The screen 240 (or core frame) may be disposed in openings of the housing 105 and configured to allow fluids 301,302,303 to enter into the compressor 100 through openings 260. The compressor 100 may be configured to attach to well bore tubing 106 at threaded connection points 160. Attachment to the well bore tubing 106 may be facilitated by nuts 304, 305 configured to mating with conventional downhole piping tools. Slot 170 may be configured to receive welding material in order for the screen 240 or its sub components (FIG. 8) to be attached to the compressor 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the number of grooves 260 in the device 110 is another means of controlling the flow of oil and gas, as is the diameter of the device 110.

FIG. 3 shows a nut 304 and threaded pipe 160 along the A-A. section lines of FIG. 2. Similarly, FIG. 4 shows nut 305 and threaded pipe 160 from the opposite direction.

FIG. 5 shows the inner diameter 155 of the device 100.

FIG. 6 shows the compressor 100 surrounded by rings or bands 280 disposed between the nuts 304,305. The rings 280 may be attached (such as by welding or other suitable techniques known to person of ordinary skill in the art) on both ends of compressor 100 and in the middle. The rings 280 may also be attached outside either of the screen 240 and/or the wire bars 120 (FIG. 7) and configured to protect the screen 240 and/or the wire bars 120. Note that the bands 280 do not fully obstruct or do not obstruct the flow of fluids through the wire screen 240.

Generally the pressure on the outside of the compressor 100 controls the How of oil and gas and other materials. As configured in FIG. 1, the hydrostatic head in the well bore 103 may be 1000 feet. As the well bore length may be 4000 feet, the net hydrostatic head will be 3000 feet, and half of that pressure will be applied to the outside of the compressor 100. Optional pressure relief valve 290 may be disposed on the bottom or lower end of compressor 100. The pressure relief valve 290 may be configured to prevent or control excessive pressures from occurring inside the compressor 100. Alternatively, a choke device may be used to regulate internal pressure of the compressor 100.

FIG. 7 shows a series of bars 120 and wire 121 that may be formed, and form and surround the screen 240 in the compressor 100. The bars 120 may be wrapped symmetrically on the compressor 100 and configured to bar entrance of water 303 into the interior of the compressor 100. The bars 120 may be disposed at different angles to achieve different permeabilities by placing alternate layers perpendicular or at other angles to decrease porosity through the wire gaps 121 to change flow of the oil and gas through the wire gaps 121. The wire bars 120 may be also be configured as a zero tolerance sand screen or mineral screen.

FIG. 8 shows a configuration for welding bars 220 to compressor 100. Welds (not shown) are used to bond industrial bars 220 together for added strength and stability. Each layer of bars 220 is stepped with each bar 220 shorter than the previous bar 220. Each bar 220 is stepped at each end to allow for the proper amount of weld to weld the bars 220 together. This bonds the ends of each layer together and ail ends of bars 220 to the core frame 240 for attaching of the bars 220. The spacing between them is filled to the top of the slot 170 with weld to complete the attaching of the bars 220.

Claims

1. A flow controller mounted in a well bore to control flow of a mixture of desired products and unwanted products comprising:

a packer mounted in the well bore to permit substantial flow of desired products;

a downhole filter device of sizes to inhibit the flow of unwanted products mixed with the desired products;

said downhole filter device powered by hydrostatic pressure of the products in the well bore.

2. The flow controller of claim 1, wherein said flow of the desired product runs from the interior of the well bore to the surface of the well bore.

3. The flow controller of claim 1, wherein the desired product is in a formation having oil and gas and the unwanted product is water.

4. The flow controller of claim 1, wherein said filter device includes a sand screen packed to permit the oil and gas to flow through said filter and packed to repel the water to the formation.

5. A flow controller mounted in an oil and gas well bore in a formation and having means for control of the flow of oil and gas desired effluent and indirectly to control unwanted water, comprising:

a packer mounted in the well bore;

said packer blocking flow around the packer;

a gas and oil directional compressor connected to said packer and ascending into the well bore;

said compressor passing the gas and oil through said compressor and said packer; and

said compressor passing the water into the formation,

6. A process for separating oil and gas from water when procuring a well, comprising:

feeding oil and gas by a downhole drilling device from a formation through a casing and tubing screen to the surface; and

causing the water to flow to the formation and not reach the surface.