TOE VALVE WITH MECHANICAL OVERRIDE

Abstract

A system and method for using a toe valve assembly. The toe valve has a housing with fracturing ports. A fracturing sleeve can slide within the housing to open or close the fracturing ports. The fracturing sleeve can slide with a hydraulic system or a shifting tool. The hydraulic system has a hydraulic sleeve that will hydraulically actuate the fracturing sleeve. The shifting tool can manually shift the tool. The toe valve assembly has a seat within the housing that receives a ball to close the toe valve assembly.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application claiming priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/387783, entitled “Toe Valve with Mechanical Override,” filed Dec. 14, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

In a variety of well applications, a toe valve may be positioned along a casing string to enable selective communication between a wellbore and the surrounding reservoir via circumferential flow ports. In a multistage stimulation, for example, a toe valve may be run at the toe of the casing in a closed position. The toe valve is then actuated to open the circumferential flow ports to provide communication between the interior of the casing and the surrounding reservoir. This allows an operator to run perforation guns, plugs, and other tools via wireline in a horizontal section of the wellbore by pumping fluids down through the casing string. The pumped fluids effectively push the tool or tools along the wellbore before exiting the casing through the flow ports of the toe valve. In some subsequent operations, such as sand control, there is a need to sequentially close one set of ports and open a second set of ports covered by a sand screen assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, a toe valve comprising: a housing comprising fracturing ports; a fracturing sleeve slidably positioned within the housing to block the fracturing ports, the fracturing sleeve is slidable by a hydraulic system, the fracturing sleeve comprising an internal profile to manual override the hydraulic system and sliding the fracturing sleeve to open the fracturing ports; a hydraulic sleeve slidably positioned within the housing adjacent to the valve sleeve and forming a first atmospheric chamber and a second atmospheric chamber with the housing; and a rupture disk positioned within a channel in fluid communication with the lower atmospheric chamber such that, when the rupture disk bursts due to pressurized fluid, the pressurized fluid fills the lower atmospheric chamber and shifts the tool sleeve and the hydraulic sleeve to open the fracturing ports.

According to an aspect of the present invention, sliding the fracturing sleeve comprising engages the internal profile with a shifting tool. The fracturing sleeve has sleeve ports, and the sleeve ports can align with the fracturing ports when the fracturing sleeve is slid to an open position.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a ball seat positioned within the housing, and the ball seat receives a ball creating a seal closing the toe valve.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the hydraulic system comprising a bore of the toe valve in fluid communication with a fluid inlet on the housing, the fluid inlet is in fluid communication with a fluid channel, and the fluid channel is in fluid communication with the second atmospheric chamber. The rupture disk is in the fluid channel and will rupture at a prerequisite pressure.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the fracturing sleeve further comprises a retention member that couples with a groove in the housing to retain the fracturing sleeve in an open position.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for producing hydrocarbons from a well, the method comprising: disposing a toe valve within a wellbore; shifting a fracturing sleeve positioned within a housing of the toe valve via hydraulic system or mechanical system, the hydraulic system has a hydraulic sleeve for opening fracturing ports of the toe valve; and manually overriding the hydraulic system to mechanically shift the fracturing sleeve positioned within the housing with the mechanical system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, shifting a fracturing sleeve via the hydraulic system comprising conveying pressurized fluid through the bore of the toe valve into an inlet in the housing to bust a burst disk in the channel fluidly connected to the inlet. Fluid enters a second atmospheric chamber in the hydraulic sleeve axially sliding the sleeve to contact the fracturing sleeve shifting the fracturing sleeve to an open position. The hydraulic sleeve has a first atmospheric chamber, the first atmospheric chamber is separate from the second atmospheric chamber by a piston, and volume of the first atmospheric chamber is decreased when the hydraulic sleeve is shifted.

According to an aspect of the present invention, manually overriding the hydraulic system comprising coupling a shifting tool to an internal profile in the fracturing tool while the hydraulic sleeve is in a first position.

According to an aspect of the present invention, closing the toe valve comprising seating a ball in a seat located in the housing of the toe valve.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the hydraulic sleeve has sleeve ports, and the sleeve ports can align with the fracturing ports when the fracturing sleeve is slid to an open position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the disclosure will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying figures illustrate the various implementations described herein and are not meant to limit the scope of various described technologies. The drawings are as follows:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a toe valve in a run-in position according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the toe valve of FIG. 1 after hydraulic actuation;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toe valve of FIG. 1 after mechanical override;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the toe valve of FIG. 1 with a ball in a seat; and

FIGS. 5A-5B is a cross-sectional view of the hydraulic system for the toe valve of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of some embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments may be possible.

In the specification and appended claims: the terms “connect,” “connection,” “connected,” “in connection with,” “connecting,” “couple,” “coupled,” “coupled with,” and “coupling” are used to mean “in direct connection with” or “in connection with via another element.” As used herein, the terms “up” and “down,” “upper” and “lower,” “upwardly” and “downwardly,” “upstream” and “downstream,” “uphole” and “downhole,” “above” and “below,” and other like terms indicating relative positions above or below a given point or element are used in this description to more clearly describe some embodiments of the disclosure.

The disclosure herein generally involves a system and methodology providing improved control of fluid flow between an interior and an exterior of a tubing string, e.g. improved communication between a wellbore and a surrounding reservoir. According to an embodiment, a toe valve assembly may be positioned along a casing string or other type of tubing string.

As described in greater detail below, a pressure increase along the interior of the tubing string may be used to initially open one or more fracturing ports of the toe valve system, thus allowing radial flow between an interior and an exterior of the tubing string. After the initial activation, a drop ball, plug, or similar means may be used to close the fracturing ports.

Referring now to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of a toe valve assembly 100 with a mechanical override in an initial or run-in position, according to one or more embodiments disclosed. The toe valve 100 includes a housing 101 formed from an upper housing 104 and a lower housing 102. The housing 101 has fracturing ports 106 to enable fluid flow between a bore 128 and an exterior of the of the toe valve assembly 100. The toe valve assembly 100 further comprises a ball seat 116, fracturing sleeve 110 and a hydraulic sleeve 108 that is actuated by a hydraulic system.

The fracturing sleeve 110 is slidably mounted within the housing 101 for movement between a closed position, shown in FIG. 1, and an open position show in FIGS. 2-3 and described in more detail below. The fracturing sleeve 110 may comprise a plurality of seals 130 located about the circumference and oriented to form a sealing engagement with an interior surface of the housing 101. The fracturing sleeve 110 has sleeve ports 112. In the closed position, the fracturing sleeve 110 is located so as to cover the fracturing ports 106 with the seals 130 located on both sides of fracturing ports 106, thus preventing flow through the fracturing ports 106, as shown in FIG. 1. In the open position, the fracturing sleeve 110 is located so as to align the fracturing ports 106 with the sleeve ports 112, thus allowing flow through the fracturing ports 106. The fracturing sleeve 110 includes an internal profile 114. A shifting tool (not shown) may engage the internal profile 114 to enable shifting of the tool sleeve 108 aligning the fracturing ports 106 in the housing 101 with the sleeve ports 112 overriding the hydraulic system, as shown in FIG. 3. The fracturing sleeve 110 may have a retention member 124 that couples with a groove 126 in the housing 101 to retain the fracturing sleeve 110 in an open position.

The hydraulic sleeve 108 is slidably mounted within the housing 101. The hydraulic sleeve 108 acts as a piston that is activated by hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic sleeve 108 within the housing 101 creates a first atmospheric chamber 118 and a second atmospheric chamber 120 separated by a piston on the outer surface of the hydraulic sleeve 108. The initial position of the activation sleeve 108 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The hydraulic sleeve 108 may comprise a plurality of seals 132 located about the circumference including the piston and oriented to form a sealing engagement with an interior surface of the housing 101.

As stated before, the toe valve assembly 100 has a ball seat 116. A ball 134 lands in the ball seat 116 creating a seal, as shown in FIG. 4. The seated ball 134 will prevent fluid communication upstream and downstream of the ball 134.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A-5B, the housing 101 has a fluid inlet 138 in fluid communication with a bore 128 of the housing 101. The inlet 138 is in fluid communication with a fluid channel 122. A burst disk 136 is located between the inlet 138 and channel 122. In other embodiments, the burst disk 136 may be located in the channel 122. The burst disk 136 will rupture at a prerequisite pressure.

In operation, fluid is applied through the bore 128 of the toe valve assembly 100. The fluid will enter the inlet 138 and applies a pressure to the rupture disk 136 positioned within the channel 122. The rupture disk will burst allowing the fluid to enter the second chamber 120 in the first stage of the axial movement of the actuation of the hydraulic sleeve 108. As the hydraulic sleeve 108 slides the second atmospheric chamber 120 will be open and be in fluid communication with the bore 128 creating the second stage of the axial movement of the actuation of the hydraulic sleeve 108. In the second stage, fluid in the channel will not impact the hydraulic sleeve 108. Instead, the fluid in the bore 128 will directly push the piston since the second atmospheric chamber 120 is in fluid communication with the bore 128, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5A. The hydraulic sleeve 108 is adjacent to the fracturing sleeve 110 and will push the fracturing sleeve 110 during the axial movement of the hydraulic sleeve 108. The fracturing sleeve 110 will slide and align the port 106 with the sleeve ports 112, as shown in FIG. 2.

Alternatively, the fracturing sleeve 110 alone may also be shifted via the shifting tool engaging with the profile 114 of the fracturing sleeve 110, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The fracturing sleeve 110 is shifted mechanically without fluid pressure as an override incase the toe valve assembly 100 hydraulic system is damaged. In this configuration, the hydraulic sleeve 108 will remain in the run in position.

The toe valve assembly 100 can be opened hydraulically and mechanically as stated above. Additionally, the toe valve assembly 100 is closed by conveying a ball 134 downhole and landing on the seat 116.

Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A toe valve comprising:

a housing comprising fracturing ports;

a fracturing sleeve slidably positioned within the housing to block the fracturing ports, the fracturing sleeve is slidable by a hydraulic system, the fracturing sleeve comprising an internal profile to manual override the hydraulic system and sliding the fracturing sleeve to open the fracturing ports;

a hydraulic sleeve slidably positioned within the housing adjacent to the valve sleeve and forming a first atmospheric chamber and a second atmospheric chamber with the housing; and

a rupture disk positioned within a channel in fluid communication with the lower atmospheric chamber such that, when the rupture disk bursts due to pressurized fluid, the pressurized fluid fills the lower atmospheric chamber and shifts the tool sleeve and the hydraulic sleeve to open the fracturing ports.

2. The toe valve of claim 1, wherein sliding the fracturing sleeve comprising engages the internal profile with a shifting tool.

3. The toe valve of claim 1, wherein the fracturing sleeve has sleeve ports, and the sleeve ports can align with the fracturing ports when the fracturing sleeve is slid to an open position.

4. The toe valve of claim 1, further comprising a ball seat positioned within the housing, and the ball seat receives a ball creating a seal closing the toe valve.

5. The toe valve of claim 1, wherein the hydraulic system comprising a bore of the toe valve in fluid communication with a fluid inlet on the housing, the fluid inlet is in fluid communication with a fluid channel, and the fluid channel is in fluid communication with the second atmospheric chamber.

6. The toe valve of claim 5, wherein the rupture disk is in the fluid channel and will rupture at a prerequisite pressure.

7. The toe valve of claim 1, wherein the fracturing sleeve further comprises a retention member that couples with a groove in the housing to retain the fracturing sleeve in an open position.

8. A method for producing hydrocarbons from a well, the method comprising:

disposing a toe valve within a wellbore;

shifting a fracturing sleeve positioned within a housing of the toe valve via hydraulic system or mechanical system, the hydraulic system has a hydraulic sleeve for opening fracturing ports of the toe valve; and manually overriding the hydraulic system to mechanically shift the fracturing sleeve positioned within the housing with the mechanical system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein shifting a fracturing sleeve via the hydraulic system comprising conveying pressurized fluid through the bore of the toe valve into an inlet in the housing to bust a burst disk in the channel fluidly connected to the inlet.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein fluid enters a second atmospheric chamber in the hydraulic sleeve axially sliding the sleeve to contact the fracturing sleeve shifting the fracturing sleeve to an open position.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the hydraulic sleeve has a first atmospheric chamber, the first atmospheric chamber is separate from the second atmospheric chamber by a piston, and volume of the first atmospheric chamber is decreased when the hydraulic sleeve is shifted.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein manually overriding the hydraulic system comprising coupling a shifting tool to an internal profile in the fracturing tool while the hydraulic sleeve is in a first position.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein closing the toe valve comprising seating a ball in a seat located in the housing of the toe valve.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the hydraulic sleeve has sleeve ports, and the sleeve ports can align with the fracturing ports when the fracturing sleeve is slid to an open position.