PROTECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR FLEXIBLE PIPE COILS AND METHOD OF USING SAME
A system includes a coil contacting base. The coil contacting base includes a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of an interior channel of a coil of spoolable pipe, and the coil contacting base includes a length greater than or equal to an axial dimension of the coil. The system also includes a side wall coupled to an inner surface of the coil contacting base. The side wall is configured to block circumferential movement of a coil restraint. The system also includes a passage disposed between the coil contacting base and the side wall. The coil restraint is configured to be disposed in the passage.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 16/582,326 filed on Sep. 24, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 15/880,749 filed on Jan. 25, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 15/869,586 filed on Jan. 11, 2018, and priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/447,396 filed Jan. 16, 2017, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUNDFlexible pipe is useful in a myriad of environments, including in the oil and gas industry. Flexible pipe may be durable and operational in harsh operating conditions and can accommodate high pressures and temperatures. Flexible pipe may be bundled and arranged into one or more coils to facilitate transporting and using the pipe.
Coils of pipe may be positioned in an “eye to the side” or “eye to the sky” orientation. When the flexible pipe is coiled and is disposed with its interior channel facing upwards, such that the coil is in a horizontal orientation, then the coils of pipe are referred to as being in an “eye to the sky” orientation. If, instead, the flexible pipe is coiled and disposed such that the interior channel is not facing upwards, such that the coil is in an upright or vertical orientation, then the coils of pipe are referred to as being in an “eye to the side” orientation.
The flexible pipe may be transported as coils to various sites for deployment (also referred to as uncoiling or unspooling). Different types of devices and vehicles are currently used for loading and transporting coils of pipe, but usually extra equipment and human manual labor is also involved in the process of loading or unloading such coils for transportation and/or deployment. Such coils of pipe are often quite large and heavy. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved method and apparatus for loading and unloading coils of pipe.
SUMMARYThis summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a system that includes a coil contacting base. The coil contacting base includes a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of an interior channel of a coil of spoolable pipe, and the coil contacting base has a length greater than or equal to an axial dimension of the coil. The system also includes a side wall coupled to an inner surface of the coil contacting base. The side wall is configured to block circumferential movement of a coil restraint. The system also includes a passage disposed between the coil contacting base and the side wall. The coil restraint is configured to be disposed in the passage.
In another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method that includes inserting a coil protector into an interior channel of a coil of spoolable pipe. The coil protector includes a coil contacting base. The coil contacting base includes a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of the interior channel and the coil contacting base has a length greater than or equal to an axial dimension of the coil. The coil protector also includes a side wall coupled to an inner surface of the coil contacting base and a passage disposed between the coil contacting base and the side wall. The method also includes inserting a coil restraint in the passage, blocking circumferential movement of the coil restraint via the side wall, and securing the coil restraint to a coil transportation carrier or a pipe coil skid coupled to the coil transportation carrier, thereby securing the coil to the coil transportation carrier.
Other aspects and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to coil protectors used when transporting coils of spoolable pipe. The coils of pipe may be self-supported, for example, using bands to hold coils together. Coil protectors according to embodiments of the present disclosure may include a coil contacting base, a side wall coupled to the coil contacting base, and a passage disposed between the coil contacting base and the side wall.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the figures. In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to embodiments for protecting coils of spoolable pipe during transportation.
As used herein, the term “coupled” or “coupled to” may indicate establishing either a direct or indirect connection, and is not limited to either unless expressly referenced as such. The term “set” may refer to one or more items. Wherever possible, like or identical reference numerals are used in the figures to identify common or the same elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale for purposes of clarification.
Pipe, as understood by those of ordinary skill, may be a tube to convey or transfer any water, gas, oil, or any type of fluid known to those skilled in the art. The spoolable pipe 14 may be made of any type of materials including without limitation plastics, metals, a combination thereof, composites (e.g., fiber reinforced composites), or other materials known in the art. The flexible pipe of the spoolable pipe 14 is used frequently in many applications, including without limitation, both onshore and offshore oil and gas applications. Flexible pipe may include Flexible Composite Pipe (FCP) or Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipe (RTP). A FCP or RTP pipe may itself be generally composed of several layers. In one or more embodiments, a flexible pipe may include a high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”) pipe having a reinforcement layer and an HDPE outer cover layer. Thus, flexible pipe may include different layers that may be made of a variety of materials and also may be treated for corrosion resistance. For example, in one or more embodiments, pipe used to make up a coil of pipe may have a corrosion protection shield layer that is disposed over another layer of steel reinforcement. In this steel-reinforced layer, helically wound steel strips may be placed over a liner made of thermoplastic pipe. Flexible pipe may be designed to handle a variety of pressures. Further, flexible pipe may offer unique features and benefits versus steel/carbon steel pipe lines in the area of corrosion resistance, flexibility, installation speed and re-usability.
The coil transportation carrier 16 may refer to any type of transportation carrier capable of being used to transport coils 12 overland or over water. For example, the embodiment of the coil transportation carrier 16 portrayed in
As shown in
As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the spoolable pipe 14 used to make up the coil 12 shown in
After being assembled into a coil, the coil 12 shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the coil protector 10 also includes two side walls 102 coupled to an inner surface 104 of the coil contacting base 90. In other embodiments, the coil protector 10 may include one, three, four or more side walls 102. The side wall 102 may block circumferential 44 movement of the coil restraint 18. In other words, without the side wall 102, the coil restraint 18 may potentially slide or slip off the inner surface 104 when tightened. Thus, the side wall 102 may provide a surface for the coil restraint 18 to rest against when tightened. In certain embodiments, the side wall 102 may be coupled to the coil contacting base 90 via a variety of techniques, such as, but not limited to, welding, brazing, gluing, bonding, bolting, screwing, and so forth. In other embodiments, the side wall 102 may be formed by bending a portion of the coil contacting base 90. Such embodiments may also be referred to as having the side wall 102 coupled to the coil contacting base 90. The side wall 102 may be defined by a side wall height 106 and the side walls 102 may be spaced a distance 108 apart from one another. When the side walls 102 are disposed at the edges 96, the distance 108 may also correspond to the width of the coil contacting base 90. Further, although the side walls 102 are shown at the edges 96 of the coil contacting base 90 in
In the illustrated embodiment, the coil protector 10 also includes a passage 110 disposed between the coil contacting base 90 and the side walls 102. In other words, the passage 110 is formed in the space between the coil contacting base 90 and the side walls 102. As shown previously in
In the illustrated embodiment, the coil protector 10 also includes one or more holes 122 to enable a wire (not shown) to be inserted through the holes 122 and the coil restraint 18 to block movement of the coil restraint 18. In other words, the wire may be threaded through the holes 122 and the coil restraint 18, and the wire tightened or secured to help prevent movement or loosening of the coil restraint 18 during transport of the coil 12. The holes 122 may be disposed a hole distance 124 away from ends of the coil protector 10. Although the holes 122 are shown with circular shapes in
While the present disclosure has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments may be devised which do not depart from the scope of the disclosure as described herein. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure should be limited only by the attached claims.
Claims
1. A method of manufacturing a coil protector, comprising:
- forming a coil contacting base that has: a length that is greater than or equal to an axial dimension of a coil of spoolable pipe to be secured using the coil protector; and a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature that is less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of an interior channel of the coil of spoolable pipe;
- implementing a first side wall such that the first side wall is coupled to a first edge of an inner surface of the coil contacting base; and
- implementing a second side wall such that the second side wall is coupled to a second edge of the inner surface of the coil contacting base opposite the first side wall to define a passage along the inner surface of the coil contacting base that enables a coil restraint to be disposed in the coil protector such that the coil restraint directly abuts the inner surface of the coil contacting base to facilitate securing the coil of spoolable pipe.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein:
- forming the coil contacting base comprises forming the coil contacting base out of metal;
- implementing the first side wall comprises forming the first side wall out of metal; and
- implementing the second side wall comprises forming the second side wall out of metal.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein:
- implementing the first side wall comprises welding, brazing, bonding, bolting, or screwing the first side wall to the coil contacting base; and
- implementing the second side wall comprises welding, brazing, bonding, bolting, or screwing the second side wall to the coil contacting base.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein:
- implementing the first side wall comprises bending first material integrated with a first side of the coil contacting base; and
- implementing the second side wall comprises bending second material integrated with a second side of the coil contacting base opposite the first side.
5. The method of claim 1, comprising forming a first hole through the first side wall and forming a second hole through the second side wall to enable a wire to be inserted through the first hole, the coil restraint, and the second hole to block movement of the coil restraint.
6. The method of claim 1, comprising securing a handle to the inner surface of the coil contacting base to facilitate lifting or handling the coil protector.
7. The method of claim 1, comprising securing a beam along the inner surface of the coil contacting base to facilitate increasing stiffness of the coil protector.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein:
- the coil contacting base, the first side wall, and the second side wall are made from a first type of material; and
- the beam is made from a second type of material different from the first type of material.
9. The method of claim 1, comprising implementing another coil contacting base such that the other coil contacting base is coupled to the first side wall and the second side wall to define the passage between the coil contacting base, the first side wall, the second side wall, and the other coil contacting base.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the other coil contacting base comprises forming the other coil contacting base such that the other coil contacting base has:
- another length that is greater than or equal to the axial dimension of the coil of spoolable pipe to be secured using the coil protector; and
- another radially curved outer surface with another radius of curvature that is less than or equal to the coil radius of curvature of the interior channel of the coil of spoolable pipe.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising forming a hole through the coil contacting base to enable the coil restraint to be inserted into the passage via the hole.
12. The method of claim 1, comprising securing a ring to an end of the coil contacting base to enable the coil restraint to be inserted into the passage via an opening in the ring.
13. The method of claim 1, comprising securing a rod to the inner surface of the coil contacting base to enable the coil restraint to be looped around the rod to facilitate blocking movement of the coil restraint relative to the coil protector.
14. The method of claim 1, comprising securing a side protector to an end of the coil contacting base to facilitate blocking the coil restraint from contacting a circular base of the coil of spoolable pipe.
15. The method of claim 14, comprising securing another side protector to an opposite end of the coil contacting base to facilitate blocking the coil restraint from contacting an opposite circular base of the coil of spoolable pipe.
16. A coil protector, comprising a first side wall coupled to a first edge of an inner surface of the coil contacting base; and a second side wall coupled to a second edge of the inner surface of the coil contacting base opposite the first side wall to define a passage along the inner surface of the coil contacting base, wherein the passage is configured to enable a coil restraint to be disposed in the coil protector to facilitate securing the radially curved outer surface of the coil contacting base directly against the coil of spoolable pipe.
- a coil contacting base, wherein:
- the coil contacting base comprises a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature that is less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of an interior channel of a coil of spoolable pipe to be secured using the coil protector; and
- a length of the coil contacting base is greater than or equal to an axial dimension of the coil of spoolable pipe;
17. The coil protector of claim 16, wherein the radially curved outer surface of the coil contacting base is configured to be secured directly against the coil of spoolable pipe when the coil restraint is secured such that the coil restraint directly abuts the inner surface of the coil contacting base.
18. The coil protector of claim 16, comprising:
- a first side protector coupled to a first end of the coil contacting base, wherein the first side protector is configured to block the coil restraint from contacting a first circular base of the coil of spoolable pipe; and
- a second side protector coupled to a second end of the coil contacting base, wherein the second side protector is configured to block the coil restraint from contacting a second circular base of the coil of spoolable pipe.
19. A method of securing a coil of spoolable pipe on a transportation carrier, comprising:
- inserting a coil protector into an interior channel of the coil of spoolable pipe, wherein the coil protector comprises a coil contacting base that has a radially curved outer surface with a radius of curvature that is less than or equal to a coil radius of curvature of the interior channel of the coil of spoolable pipe;
- disposing a coil restraint within a passage of the coil protector that is defined between the coil contacting base, a first side wall coupled to a first edge of an inner surface of the coil contacting base, and a second side wall coupled to a second edge of the inner surface of the coil contacting base; and
- securing the coil restraint to the transportation carrier such that the coil restraint directly abuts the inner surface of the coil contacting base to facilitate securing the radially curved outer surface of the coil contacting base directly against the coil of spoolable pipe.
20. The method of claim 19, comprising:
- disposing a pipe coil skid on the transportation carrier; and
- disposing the coil of spoolable pipe on the pipe coil skid in an upright orientation.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 7, 2020
Publication Date: Mar 25, 2021
Inventors: Max Reedy (Kemah, TX), Brett Hamner (Seabrook, TX), Alexander Lee Winn (Houston, TX), Matthew Allen Hegler (Kingwood, TX), Sanjay Bhatia (The Woodlands, TX)
Application Number: 17/114,018