DOWNHOLE SYSTEM
The present invention relates to a downhole system for completing a well. The downhole system comprises a downhole well tubular structure having a wall and being configured to be arranged in a borehole of the well and a first annular barrier for being expanded in an annulus between the downhole well tubular structure and a wall of the borehole. The first annular barrier comprises a tubular part for mounting as part of the downhole well tubular structure, the tubular part having a first expansion opening and an outer face; an expandable metal sleeve surrounding the tubular part and having an inner face facing the tubular part and an outer face facing the wall of the borehole; a first connection part and a second connection part configured to connect a first end and a second end, respectively, of the expandable metal sleeve with the tubular part; and an annular space between the inner face of the expandable metal sleeve and the tubular part, the expandable metal sleeve being expanded by pressurising the annular space to an expansion pressure by pressurising the tubular part opposite the expansion opening. The downhole system further comprises a first aperture in the wall of the downhole well tubular structure. The aperture is at least partly plugged with an acid-soluble material. The present invention further relates to a completion method for completing a downhole system according to the present invention.
The present invention relates to a downhole system for completing a well, comprising a downhole well tubular structure having a wall and being configured to be arranged in a borehole of the well; a first annular barrier for being expanded in an annulus between the downhole well tubular structure and a wall of the borehole; and a first aperture in the wall of the downhole well tubular structure. Furthermore, the invention relates to a completion method for completing a downhole system.
BACKGROUND ARTHydrocarbon-containing wells may be completed in very different manners and with very different designs, and the design used depends on the geological structure and composition of the formation in which the well is formed. In sub-salt fields that experience high losses during drilling and completion, it is very important that the well tubular structure is closed off until the annular barriers are expanded so that a zone experiencing a high pressure loss can be closed off after opening for production from that zone.
Also, when using expandable annular barriers where the well tubular structure is pressurised to expand several annular barriers in one run, the well tubular structure needs to be sealed off so that the well tubular structure can be pressurised to a certain pressure. Subsequently, the well tubular structure needs to be opened to let hydrocarbon-containing fluid from the formation into the well tubular structure. For this reason, well tubular structures are often opened for production by perforating the well tubular structure by means of perforation guns after the expansion of the annular barriers. However, such detonation entails a risk of the well tubular structure leaking in unintended areas, and sliding sleeves are therefore often preferred. However, operating such sliding sleeves by intervening the well with a tool takes time and cannot be done remotely as demanded by oil companies nowadays.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to wholly or partly overcome the above disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. More specifically, it is an object to provide an improved downhole system having annular barriers configured to be expanded by pressurising the well tubular structure, in which system opening for production may be done remotely and easily.
The above objects, together with numerous other objects, advantages and features, which will become evident from the below description, are accomplished by a solution in accordance with the present invention by a downhole system for completing a well, comprising:
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- a downhole well tubular structure having a wall and being configured to be arranged in a borehole of the well,
- a first annular barrier for being expanded in an annulus between the downhole well tubular structure and a wall of the borehole, the first annular barrier comprising:
- a tubular part for mounting as part of the downhole well tubular structure, the tubular part having a first expansion opening and an outer face,
- an expandable metal sleeve surrounding the tubular part and having an inner face facing the tubular part and an outer face facing the wall of the borehole,
- a first connection part and a second connection part configured to connect a first end and a second end, respectively, of the expandable metal sleeve with the tubular part, and
- an annular space between the inner face of the expandable metal sleeve and the tubular part, the expandable metal sleeve being expanded by pressurising the annular space to an expansion pressure by pressurising the tubular part opposite the expansion opening, and
- a first aperture in the wall of the downhole well tubular structure, wherein the aperture is at least partly plugged with an acid-soluble material.
The downhole well tubular structure may have a first end nearest a top of the well and a second end, the second end may be configured to be closed or may be closed when inserting the downhole well tubular structure into the well, and the second end may comprise a second aperture in which a burstable element is arranged for closing the second end. By having a burstable element in the second end, the annular barrier can be expanded in that the downhole well tubular structure is closed, and subsequently the well tubular structure is pressurised to a pressure above the expansion pressure to burst the burstable element so that acid can be circulated down past the acid-soluble material to dissolve the plug.
In an embodiment, the material may comprise aluminium.
Moreover, the first aperture plugged with a plug of the material may be configured to withstand a first pressure higher than the expansion pressure.
Further, the plug may have a body part and a flange, the body part extending into the aperture and the flange abutting an inner face of the well tubular structure.
Also, the body part of the plug may have a bore. By having a hollow body part, fluid communication between the inside of the well tubular structure and the annulus can be established by the bore.
The body part may have a notch for initiating separation between the body part and the flange.
Furthermore, the first aperture plugged with the material may be configured to withstand a first pressure being higher than the expansion pressure.
Moreover, the burstable element may be configured to burst at a burst pressure.
The first aperture plugged with the material may be configured to withstand a first pressure higher than the burst pressure.
The downhole system may further comprise a second annular barrier, and the aperture may be arranged between the first annular barrier and the second annular barrier.
Furthermore, the downhole system may further comprise a sliding sleeve arranged opposite the aperture and having a first initial position uncovering the aperture.
In another embodiment, the annular barrier may have only one or no connection parts.
In addition, the downhole system may further comprise:
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- an inner well tubular structure arranged inside the downhole well tubular structure, the inner well tubular structure comprising a wall,
- a first inner annular barrier and a second inner annular barrier, each inner annular barrier comprising:
- a tubular part for mounting as part of the inner well tubular structure, the tubular part having an inner expansion opening,
- an expandable metal sleeve surrounding the tubular part and having an inner face facing the tubular part and an outer face facing the wall of the downhole well tubular structure,
- a first connection part and a second connection part configured to connect a first end and a second end, respectively, of the expandable metal sleeve with the tubular part, and
- an annular space between the inner face of the expandable metal sleeve and the tubular part, the expandable metal sleeve being expanded by pressurising the annular space to an inner expansion pressure by pressurising the tubular part opposite the inner expansion opening, and
- a second aperture in the wall of the inner well tubular structure.
In an embodiment, a burst disc may be arranged in the second aperture and be configured to burst at a burst pressure higher than the inner expansion pressure.
Moreover, the inner well tubular structure may comprise a sliding sleeve arranged opposite the second aperture.
Also, the downhole well tubular structure may comprise other annular barriers.
In addition, the inner well tubular structure may comprise other inner annular barriers.
Furthermore, the downhole well tubular structure may comprise other first apertures arranged between two annular barriers.
Additionally, the inner well tubular structure may comprise other second apertures arranged between two inner annular barriers.
The downhole system may further comprise a tool configured to close and/or open the sliding sleeves.
In an embodiment, the tool may be arranged at the bottom of the well or be inserted when needed.
Furthermore, the downhole system may further comprise a dart tool having projecting elements for engaging a groove in the sliding sleeve and an inflatable element.
The present invention furthermore relates to a completion method for completing a downhole system as described above comprising
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- inserting the downhole well tubular structure into the borehole,
- pressurising the downhole well tubular structure to expand the annular barriers, and
- acidising the acid-soluble material to clear the first aperture.
Said completion method as described above may, before acidising the acid-soluble material, further comprise pressurising the well tubular structure to a pressure above the expansion pressure to burst a burstable element in a second end of the well tubular structure below the annular barrier.
Also, the well tubular structure may comprise a sliding sleeve which is run in hole in an open position, uncovering the first aperture.
In an embodiment, the completion method may, before acidising the acid-soluble material, further comprise inserting an inner well tubular structure.
Furthermore, the completion method may, before acidising the acid-soluble material and after inserting the inner well tubular structure, further comprise pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the inner expansion pressure to expand inner annular barriers connected with the inner well tubular structure.
In addition, the completion method may, before acidising the acid-soluble material and after pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the inner expansion pressure, further comprise pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the burst pressure to burst a burst disc.
Finally, the completion method may, after pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the burst pressure to burst the burst disc, let acid through a second aperture into a second annulus between the inner well tubular structure, the downhole well tubular structure and the inner annular barriers to acidise the acid-soluble material.
The invention and its many advantages will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, which for the purpose of illustration show some non-limiting embodiments and in which
All the figures are highly schematic and not necessarily to scale, and they show only those parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the invention, other parts being omitted or merely suggested.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONWhen having well tubular structures with annular barriers which are expanded by pressurising fluid inside the well tubular structure and letting the pressurised fluid in through the expansion opening and into the annular space, the apertures for the subsequent production of hydrocarbon-containing fluid need to be sealed off to be able to pressurise the well tubular structure. After the pressurisation and the expansion, the production apertures in known completions need to be opened by sliding sleeves arranged opposite the apertures. However, this has to be done in a separate run and with the risk of not being able to slide the sleeve and thus not being able to open for production in one or more production zones. For this and other reasons, well tubular structures are often opened for production by perforating the well tubular structure by means of perforation guns after the expansion of the annular barriers. However, such detonation entails a risk of the well tubular structure leaking in unintended areas, and sliding sleeves are therefore preferred. After sliding the sliding sleeves and thereby uncovering the apertures, the well tubular structure is pressurised with acid to acidise the formation and increase the production contact area and thus increase formation contact.
By having the first aperture at least partly plugged with an acid-soluble material, the step or run of intervening the well in order to slide the sliding sleeves can be avoided since the acid provides access through the aperture to the formation. In the event that one production zone opposite one of the first apertures 23 produces too much water, that zone can be shut off by sliding the sliding sleeve to close off the flow through the first aperture opposite that zone. Thus, the sliding sleeve 26 is run in hole in its open position.
As can be seen in
The downhole system 100 further comprises a sliding sleeve 26 arranged opposite the first aperture 23 and having a first initial position uncovering the first aperture so that a second run is not necessary to open the first apertures. However, the sliding sleeves 26 can be closed later, e.g. if one of the production zones starts producing water, that zone can be closed by sliding the sliding sleeve arranged opposite that aperture through which the water flows from that zone.
In order to expand the expandable metal sleeves 15 of the annular barriers 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, the inside of the well tubular structure 1 is pressurised so that several annular barriers 10 are set in one pressurising step. The first apertures 23 between the annular barriers 10a, 10b, 10c are plugged by a plug 9 of an acid-soluble material 24 and the plugs 9 are configured to withstand a first pressure being higher than the expansion pressure. The downhole well tubular structure 1 has a first end 6 and a second end 7 as shown in
In
In
By having an inner well tubular structure 29 arranged in the downhole well tubular structure 1, the completion is double-skinned and the production fluid flows from the first production zone 101 in through the first aperture 23, into the second annulus 45 and further into the inner well tubular structure 29 through the second aperture 40.
As can be seen in
The inner well tubular structure 29 may be an intelligent completion with surface control of the inner valves, e.g. sliding sleeves 26 or other types of valves, for controlling the flow from the multiple zones. By using an acid-dissoluble material in the apertures in the downhole well tubular structure 1, the risk of losing mud out of the apertures when running the inner well tubular structure is decreased, while it is ensured that the zones are open for flow once the inner well tubular structure has landed in its position downhole.
In order to be able to expand the inner annular barriers 30 as shown in
Furthermore, when having an inner well tubular structure, it is not easy to operate the sliding sleeves 42 covering/uncovering the first apertures 23 as soon as the inner well tubular structure has been inserted. Therefore, the combination of having a burst disc in the second apertures 40 in the inner well tubular structure and having the acid-soluble material 24 in the downhole well tubular structure 1 makes it possible to make a very operationally safe completion, since the first and second apertures are inserted in the uncovered position, but “plugged” with acid-soluble material or a burst disc, respectively, so that the apertures can be opened in one run after expanding the inner annular barriers 30.
As shown in
In
As shown in
The well 2 is completed by inserting the downhole well tubular structure 1 into the borehole 3, by pressurising the downhole well tubular structure to expand the annular barriers 10, and by subsequently acidising the acid-soluble material 24 to clear the first aperture 23 and allow the acid to enter the first aperture to acidise the formation as well.
When completing a double-cased completion as shown in
The first apertures may also comprise a burst disc configured to burst at a burst pressure higher than the expansion pressure in order to expand the annular barrier.
A flow control valve may be arranged in one of the apertures in the well tubular structures to control flow in or out of the well tubular structures.
By fluid or well fluid is meant any kind of fluid that may be present in oil or gas wells downhole, such as natural gas, oil, oil mud, crude oil, water, etc. By gas is meant any kind of gas composition present in a well, completion, or open hole, and by oil is meant any kind of oil composition, such as crude oil, an oil-containing fluid, etc. Gas, oil, and water fluids may thus all comprise other elements or substances than gas, oil, and/or water, respectively.
By a casing, well tubular structure, downhole well tubular structure, inner well tubular structure, or production casing is meant any kind of pipe, tubing, tubular, liner, string etc. used downhole in relation to oil or natural gas production.
In the event that the tool is not submergible all the way into the casing, a downhole tractor can be used to push the tool all the way into position in the well. The downhole tractor may have projectable arms having wheels, wherein the wheels contact the inner surface of the casing for propelling the tractor and the tool forward in the casing. A downhole tractor is any kind of driving tool capable of pushing or pulling tools in a well downhole, such as a Well Tractor®.
Although the invention has been described in the above in connection with preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be evident for a person skilled in the art that several modifications are conceivable without departing from the invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A downhole system for completing a well, comprising:
- a downhole well tubular structure having a wall and being configured to be arranged in a borehole of the well,
- a first annular barrier for being expanded in an annulus between the downhole well tubular structure and a wall of the borehole, the first annular barrier comprising: a tubular part for mounting as part of the well tubular structure, the tubular part having a first expansion opening and an outer face, an expandable metal sleeve surrounding the tubular part and having an inner face facing the tubular part and an outer face facing the wall of the borehole, a first connection part and a second connection part configured to connect a first end and a second end, respectively, of the expandable metal sleeve with the tubular part, and an annular space between the inner face of the expandable metal sleeve and the tubular part, the expandable metal sleeve being expanded by pressurising the annular space to an expansion pressure by pressurising the tubular part opposite the expansion opening, and
- a first aperture in the wall of the downhole well tubular structure,
- wherein the aperture is at least partly plugged with an acid-soluble material.
22. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the downhole well tubular structure has a first end nearest a top of the well and a second end, the second end is configured to be closed, and the second end comprises a second aperture in which a burstable element is arranged for closing the second end.
23. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the first aperture plugged with a plug of the material is configured to withstand a first pressure higher than the expansion pressure.
24. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the plug has a body part and a flange, the body part extending into the aperture and the flange abutting an inner face of the well tubular structure.
25. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the body part of the plug has a bore.
26. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the body part has a notch.
27. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the first aperture plugged with the material is configured to withstand a first pressure being higher than the expansion pressure.
28. A downhole system according to claim 21, further comprising a second annular barrier, the aperture being arranged between the first annular barrier and the second annular barrier.
29. A downhole system according to claim 21, further comprising a sliding sleeve arranged opposite the aperture and having a first initial position uncovering the aperture.
30. A downhole system according to claim 21, further comprising:
- an inner well tubular structure arranged inside the downhole well tubular structure, the inner well tubular structure comprising a wall,
- a first inner annular barrier and a second inner annular barrier, each inner annular barrier comprising: a tubular part for mounting as part of the inner well tubular structure, the tubular part having an inner expansion opening, an expandable metal sleeve surrounding the tubular part and having an inner face facing the tubular part and an outer face facing the wall of the downhole well tubular structure, a first connection part and a second connection part configured to connect a first end and a second end, respectively, of the expandable metal sleeve with the tubular part, and an annular space between the inner face of the expandable metal sleeve and the tubular part, the expandable metal sleeve being expanded by pressurising the annular space to an inner expansion pressure by pressurising the tubular part opposite the inner expansion opening, and
- a second aperture in the wall of the inner well tubular structure.
31. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein a burst disc is arranged in the second aperture and configured to burst at a burst pressure higher than the inner expansion pressure.
32. A downhole system according to claim 21, wherein the inner well tubular structure comprises a sliding sleeve arranged opposite the second aperture.
33. A downhole system according to claim 21, further comprising a dart tool having projecting elements for engaging a groove in the sliding sleeve and an inflatable element.
34. A completion method for completing a downhole system according to claim 21, comprising:
- inserting the downhole well tubular structure into the borehole,
- pressurising the downhole well tubular structure to expand the annular barriers, and
- acidising the acid-soluble material to clear the first aperture.
35. A completion method according to claim 34, which before acidising the acid-soluble material further comprises pressurising the well tubular structure to a pressure above the expansion pressure to burst a burstable element in a second end of the well tubular structure below the annular barrier.
36. A completion method according to claim 34, wherein the well tubular structure comprises a sliding sleeve which is run in hole in an open position, uncovering the first aperture.
37. A completion method according to 34, which before acidising the acid-soluble material further comprises inserting an inner well tubular structure.
38. A completion method according to claim 37, which before acidising the acid-soluble material and after inserting the inner well tubular structure further comprises pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the inner expansion pressure to expand inner annular barriers connected with the inner well tubular structure.
39. A completion method according to claim 38, which before acidising the acid-soluble material and after pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the inner expansion pressure further comprises pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the burst pressure to burst a burst disc.
40. A completion method according to claim 38, which after pressurising the inner well tubular structure to the burst pressure to burst the burst disc lets acid through a second aperture into a second annulus between the inner well tubular structure, the downhole well tubular structure and the inner annular barriers to acidise the acid-soluble material.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 16, 2016
Publication Date: Jun 22, 2017
Inventor: Ricardo Reves VASQUES (Allerød)
Application Number: 15/381,374