1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to downhole tools useful for drilling oil, gas and water wells. More specifically, the present invention relates to a downhole drilling tool used to pass through a smaller hole and drill a larger hole.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods have been devised for passing a drilling assembly through an existing cased borehole and permitting the drilling assembly to drill a new borehole that is of a larger diameter than the inside diameter of the existing upper cased borehole. One such method uses an under-reamer, which is collapsed to pass through the smaller diameter existing, cased borehole and then expanded to ream the new, larger diameter borehole for the installation of larger diameter casing. Another method is the use of a winged reamer disposed above a conventional bit.
Under-reamers usually have hinged arms with attached cutters. The tool typically has pocket recesses formed in the body where the arms are retracted when the tool is in a closed state. Most of the prior art under-reamers utilize swing out cutter arms that are pivoted at an end opposite the cutting end of the reamer and are actuated by mechanical or hydraulic forces acting on the arms to extend or retract them. Some examples of these types of under-reamers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,224,507; 3,425,500; and 4,055,226.
An example of a hydraulically expandable, concentric reaming tool is the RHINO reamer of Smith International, Inc. The tool includes three cutter blocks that are equally spaced around the tool circumference and carrying PDC cutting elements. The cutter blocks are extended from a collapsed position by hydraulic actuation. The cutter blocks include a stabilizer gauge pad and a formation cutting structure. A lock-up system restricts fluid from actuating the cutter blocks during shoe track drill out.
Another example of a hydraulically expandable, concentric reaming tool is the REAMASTER reamer of Smith International, Inc. This tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,065, which describes it as having a tubular body for connection to a drill string and a cutting arm received within a recess in the tubular body. The cutting arm is moved between a retracted position approximately aligned with the axis of the tubular body and a deployed position extending laterally outwardly of the body by a hydraulic plunger that actuates the cutting arms from a fully retracted to a fully deployed position.
An example of a mechanically actuated expandable drill bit that does not use pivoting cutter arms to ream a borehole is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,010. Blades with cutters ride in opposed, axially oriented channels angled with respect to the axis of the tool. When the blades impact the bottom of the borehole, shear pins retaining the blades are broken allowing the blades to move up the channels thereby expanding out against the borehole wall for subsequent borehole enlargement. A large pin for each blade retains the expanded blades in a desired position to control the gage of the borehole. When the expandable drill bit is tripped out of the borehole, the blades fall down the angled tracks through frictional and gravitational forces.
The under-reamer shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,313 has a tubular body with a sleeve movably positioned therein and adapted to move responsive to the pressure of drilling fluid. Movement of the sleeve deploys the cutters to their cutting position. The sleeve is moved in the opposite direction with a wireline tool to retract the cutters from their cutting position and also stop the flow of drilling fluid to allow retraction of the cutters.
An expandable under-reamer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,632 having an under-reamer body forming at least a pair of opposed downwardly and inwardly angled slots. Fluid is circulated through the under-reamer body. At least a pair of cutter assemblies housed within the under-reamer body is adapted to engage in the opposed angled slots formed by the under-reamer body. Each cutter assembly consists of a cutter support body having a track at a first end, a piston at a second end, and cutters formed in between the ends. The piston is slides within a sleeve formed in the under-reamer body and extending parallel with the angled slots formed in the under-reamer body. The sleeve is in fluid communication with a control port formed in the under-reamer body. Fluid under pressure, when admitted to the piston sleeve below the piston, drives the cutter assembly upwardly and outwardly along the angled slots to commence an under-reaming operation. A spring means in the under-reamer body retracts the cutter assemblies when fluid is shut off at the control port. The hydraulically operated under-reamer opens a borehole below a restriction that is larger than the restriction itself. The under-reamer has a cutter system with a pair of cutters that engage the formation by traversing upward and outward along a track that is angled with respect to an axis of the under-reamer body. The cutters are forced to the extended position by a piston built into each cutter support. Pressure acting on the piston comes from the pressure differential between the annulus and the drill string during circulation of the drilling fluid.
A related type of tool available from Halliburton Security DBS is the Near Bit Reamer. The tool is designed to open the borehole to a larger diameter than the pilot bit. Once the tool is below the casing shoe, the reamer blades are hydraulically actuated. The Near Bit Reamer is adapted for use just above the drill bit or above a rotary steerable system. Also available from Halliburton Security DBS is the XL2 Series under-reamer. This tool can be provided as an expandable stabilizer and is run in conjunction with an under-reamer for better stability. The arms are opened hydraulically and closed mechanically by a return spring.
Another tool described as an eccentric adjustable diameter blade stabilizer is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,312. The eccentric stabilizer is adapted for mounting on a bi-center bit having an eccentric reamer section and a pilot bit. A pair of adjustable stabilizer blades is recessed within openings in a housing. The blades are radially extended by a camming action produced upon axial movement. An extender piston causes the blades to radially extend and a return spring causes the blades to retract.
Bi-center bits have been used as an alternative to under-reamers as a downhole drilling tool. The bi-center bit is a combination reamer and pilot bit. The reamer section is disposed up-hole of the pilot bit. The pilot bit drills a pilot borehole and the eccentric reamer section follows the pilot bit reaming the pilot borehole to the desired diameter for the new borehole. A desirable aspect to the bi-center bit is its ability to pass through a small hole and then drill a hole of a larger diameter. The drill out diameter of a bi-center bit is limited by the pass-through diameter and the maximum tool diameter. The maximum drill out diameter is related to these parameters by the equation Ddrill out=2*Dpass-through−Dmax tool. It would be desirable to have a downhole tool capable of drilling to a diameter significantly larger than the pass-through diameter.
The present invention provides a downhole tool to be disposed in a drill string up-hole of a conventional drill bit. In one embodiment, the downhole tool provides a drilling tool for drill out diameter for the borehole that is significantly larger than a pass-through diameter. In another embodiment, the downhole tool provides a stabilizer tool.
An elongated body defining a longitudinal axis has first and second ends for attachment to a drill string. An internal space of the body is supplied with a drilling fluid under pressure. A reamer blade having a plurality of cutter elements is housed within the elongated body and actuated by the pressure of the drilling fluid to radially extend for deployment to a drill out diameter larger than a pass-through diameter. The reamer blade has a curved outer edge configuration that positions the cutters thereon to prevent them from engaging a casing of a well borehole upon deployment. The body has an eccentrically shaped outer surface configuration to house the reamer blade. The downhole tool can be characterized as an “expandable eccentric reamer” and is distinguishable from “concentric” reamers, which have a body with a tubular shaped outer surface configuration.
In a method of drilling a well borehole, a drill bit is affixed to a drill string and an expandable eccentric reamer is provided in the drill string up-hole from the drill bit. The drill bit can be a bi-center bit having reamer blades. If so, an area of eccentricity on the eccentric reamer is aligned with the reamer blades of the bi-center bit. A second expanded eccentric reamer can be provided in the drill string up-hole from the first eccentric reamer. The first eccentric reamer deploys its cutters to a first drill out diameter and the second eccentric reamer deploys its cutters to a second drill out diameter. The first and second drill out diameters may be the same or different wherein the second drill out diameter is larger than the first drill out diameter. An area of eccentricity on the first expandable eccentric reamer is evenly spaced radially from an area of eccentricity on the second expandable eccentric reamer.
In
Housed within a cavity 20 of body 12 is a piston, which forms a reamer blade 22. The cavity 20 is in the form of an elongated, radial slot. The length of the slot extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of tool 10 and the depth of the slot extends radially of the longitudinal axis of the tool 10. As seen in
The blade 22 is extended by exposure to the drilling fluid pressure in the internal space 26. In order to assure that blade 22 is maintained in the retracted position until time of deployment, a retaining shear pin 36 is provided. Until drilling fluid pressure builds to a sufficient level to break pin 36, blade 22 remains within body 12. The force necessary to break pin 36 can, of course, be varied as desired. To insure proper deployment and use of blade 22, the internal space 26 must be sealed from the external fluid pressure of the well bore. Two O-rings 38 and 40 are provided to isolate the internal space 26 from the external fluid pressure of the well bore.
To maintain proper deployment of blade 22, a reservoir 42 of grease is provided within the body of blade 22. The reservoir is closed-off by cap 44. The cap is in direct contact with the drilling fluid pressure, which pushes down on cap 44 and forces grease from the reservoir 42 into the region between the O-rings 38 and 40. The grease provides lubrication of the steel surfaces to permit easier movement of the piston arm. Further, the region between the O-rings is pressurized to assist in maintaining the seal between the internal space 26 and the external space of the well bore.
Retraction of blade 22 can be accomplished by reducing fluid pressure within internal space 26 and pulling the tool 10 into the casing. To this end, the edge 46 of blade 22 has a tapered portion 50. The angle of the tapered edge provides a cam action that causes the blade to be retracted into slot 20.
Referring to
In
Blade 102 is housed within a cavity 114 formed in body 106. The cavity 114 is in the form of an elongated, radial slot. The length of the slot extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of tool 100 and the depth of the slot extends radially of the longitudinal axis of the tool 100. As seen in
In a method of drilling a well borehole, tool 10 or tool 100 can be provided up-hole of a drill bit. In the case of a bi-center bit, its reamer blades can produce a large cutting force. The blade of the tool extends from the opposite side and serves to offset the bi-center reamer blades cutting force. The opposing forces assist in stabilizing the bi-center reamer and makes for a more accurate well borehole size. In order to further increase hole size and stability, in a method of drilling, a pair of tools 10 or 100 can be coupled into the drill string up-hole from a drill bit. When used behind a bi-center bit, a first of the tools 10 or 100 is aligned with the bi-center bit as described. The second tool 10 or 100 will have the eccentricity of the body extending in the opposite direction. The tools 10 or 100 would drill to the same drill out diameter and serve to act as a two-bladed stabilizer. As an alternative drilling configuration, the stacked tools 10 or 100 could be sized to drill to a different diameter. In that situation, the distal tool nearer the drill bit would have a smaller drill out diameter than the proximal tool, which would extend to the final drill out diameter. If multiple tools are used, preferably a standard drill bit rather than a bi-center bit would be employed. Also, if multiple tools are used, the hump area on each would be evenly spaced radially from one another. That is, if two tools were used, the hump areas on them would be spaced apart 180°. If three tools were used, the hump areas on them would be spaced apart 60°.
In
A stacked arrangement of tools can comprise a combination of a stabilizer in accordance with tool 200 and a reamer tool in accordance with tool 10. Thus, a method of drilling a wellbore may be implemented using a combination of a stabilizer, a reamer tool, and a drill bit. It is to be understood that, as in the stacked combination shown in
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof, and it will appreciated by those skilled in the art, that various modifications and may be made in the illustrated embodiments. While the present invention has been described in connection with presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the illustrated embodiments are not intended to be limiting of the invention to those embodiments. Rather, the scope of the invention contemplates all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that are included within the scope of the appended claims.
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Number | Date | Country |
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001398455 | Mar 2004 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050092526 A1 | May 2005 | US |