The present disclosure relates generally to devices for use downhole in wells. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to a hydraulic connector that can provide an interface between hydraulic devices in upper and lower completions in a well.
Wellbores are sometimes drilled into subterranean formations that contain hydrocarbons to recover the hydrocarbons. Some wellbore servicing methods employ wellbore tubulars that are conveyed within the wellbore for various purposes, such as producing the hydrocarbons from the wellbore, throughout the life of the wellbore. The wellbore tubulars may be retrieved from the wellbore for a variety of purposes. For example, the wellbore tubular may be retrieved from the wellbore to replace or repair the wellbore tubular, perform a servicing operation on downhole equipment, or abandon the wellbore.
Some wellbore tubulars may be retrieved in components to allow a portion of the wellbore tubular to remain in the wellbore. For example, an upper portion of the wellbore tubular and associated control lines and devices is sometimes referred to as an upper completion. A lower portion of the wellbore tubular and associated control lines and devices is sometimes referred to as a lower completion. A disconnect tool can connect the upper completion and the lower completion and can allow the completions to be disconnected from the surface so that the upper completion can be removed as needed. Each time the upper completion is positioned into the wellbore or retrieved from the wellbore, care is taken to prevent damage to the wellbore, the wellbore tubular, the associated control lines, or the connection hardware.
Certain aspects and features relate to a hydraulic connector that can reduce or eliminate hydraulic fluid leakage that would otherwise occur around hydraulic connections, for example, when an upper and lower completion are separated at a disconnect tool. In certain aspects, a hydraulic coupling in or on the disconnect tool includes one or more hydraulic connectors that can isolate hydraulic fluids in the upper completion and lower completion using hydraulic pistons. The pistons in the upper and lower parts of a hydraulic connector interconnect mechanically when the connector is engaged and communicate pressure without transferring hydraulic fluid across the interface between upper and lower portions of the hydraulic connector. The hydraulic fluid can therefore remain confined within upper and lower hydraulic lines even when the disconnect tool is disengaged or hydraulic lines are separated, reducing or eliminating incidents of hydraulic fluid leaking into the wellbore. The necessity to periodically replace hydraulic seals can also be reduced or eliminated.
In one example, a hydraulic connector includes an upper portion, a lower portion, and a detachable pair of pistons connectable to a hydraulic control line and a downhole hydraulic line. The pair of pistons communicate pressure between the hydraulic control line and the downhole hydraulic line. One piston of the detachable pair of pistons is separable from the other piston of the detachable pair of pistons when the upper portion of the hydraulic connector is separated from the lower portion of the hydraulic connector. However, the pistons can confine the hydraulic fluid within the hydraulic control line and the downhole hydraulic line.
In some examples, the hydraulic coupling includes two or more hydraulic connectors each connectable to one of multiple hydraulic control lines. In some examples, each detachable pair of pistons includes a push rod fixed to one piston and detachable from the other piston of the pair. The hydraulic connectors can be designed as part of a hydraulic coupling of a downhole disconnect tool, where the upper portion and the lower portion of a hydraulic connector are separable with an upper portion and a lower portion of the disconnect tool.
These illustrative examples are given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed here and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts. The following sections describe various additional features and examples with reference to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like elements, and directional descriptions are used to describe the illustrative aspects but, like the illustrative aspects, should not be used to limit the present disclosure.
A wellbore tubular string 120 including hydraulic coupling 200 disposed in or on disconnect tool 202 may be lowered into the subterranean formation 102 for a variety of servicing or treatment procedures throughout the life of the wellbore. Hydraulic coupling 200 includes hydraulic connectors according to certain aspects, as will be discussed in detail below. The embodiment shown in
The drilling rig 106 includes a derrick 108 with a rig floor 110 through which the wellbore tubular 120 extends downward from the drilling rig 106 into the wellbore 114. The drilling rig 106 includes a motor driven winch and other associated equipment for extending the wellbore tubular 120 into the wellbore 114 to position the wellbore tubular 120 within the wellbore 114. For example, the wellbore tubular 120 may including the disconnect tool 202 including the hydraulic coupling 200 that is initially extended into the wellbore, or the wellbore tubular 120 may include an upper portion of the disconnect tool 202 being extended into the wellbore 114 for engagement with a lower portion of the disconnect tool 202. While the operating environment depicted in
Regardless of the type of operational environment in which the wellbore tubular 120 including the hydraulic coupling 200 is used, it will be appreciated that in one or more embodiments, the hydraulic connectors within coupling 200 serve to provide a retrievable connection that allows hydraulic pressure pathways to be established between an upper completion and a lower completion. In some aspects, disconnect tool also contains an additional connector or connectors that may also allow one or more releasable electrical connections. The disconnect tool 202 engages between upper completion 152 and a lower completion 150.
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Terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof. Additionally, comparative, quantitative terms such as “above” and “below” are intended to encompass the concept of equality.
It should also pointed out that references made in this disclosure to figures and descriptions using positional terms such as, but not limited to, “left,” “right,” “upper,” “uphole,” “lower,” and “downhole” refer only to the relative position of features as shown from the perspective of the reader. Such terms are not meant to imply any absolute positions. An element can be functionally in the same place in an actual device, even though one might refer to the position of the element differently due to the instant orientation of the device. Indeed, the hydraulic connector described herein may be oriented in any direction, especially when not in use, and the terminology, therefore, should be understood as encompassing such variations unless specified otherwise. Elements that are described as “connected,” “coupled,” “couplable,” or “connectable” can be connected directly or through intervening elements. Elements referred to as “connected” or “coupled” may be either connected or merely capable of being connected.
In some aspects, a hydraulic connector for a disconnect tool is provided according to one or more of the following examples. As used below, any reference to a series of examples is to be understood as a reference to each of those examples disjunctively (e.g., “Examples 1-4” is to be understood as “Examples 1, 2, 3, or 4”).
Example 1. A hydraulic connector for use in a wellbore, the hydraulic connector including an uphole portion, a downhole portion, and a detachable pair of pistons connectable to a hydraulic control line and a downhole hydraulic line to communicate pressure therebetween. A first piston of the detachable pair of pistons is separable from a second piston of the detachable pair of pistons in response to the uphole portion of the hydraulic connector separating from the downhole portion of the hydraulic connector, while confining hydraulic fluid within the hydraulic control line and the downhole hydraulic line.
Example 2. The hydraulic connector of example 1 further including a push rod, the push rod including a first end connected to the first piston and a second end connected to the second piston.
Example 3. The hydraulic connector of example(s) 1-2 wherein the push rod includes two detachable parts.
Example 4. The hydraulic connector of example(s) 1-3 wherein the first piston is fixedly connected to the first end of the push rod and the second piston is detachably connected to the second end of the push rod.
Example 5. The hydraulic connector of example(s) 1-4 configured to be used in a hydraulic coupling including multiple hydraulic connectors, wherein the fixedly and detachably connected pistons are oriented in opposite directions among the plurality of hydraulic connectors.
Example 6. The hydraulic connector of example(s) 1-5 wherein the uphole portion and the downhole portion are operable to be respectively separable with an upper portion and a lower portion of a disconnect tool.
Example 7. A method of operating a disconnect tool includes placing an upper completion in proximity to a lower completion at a disconnect tool within a wellbore, engaging a first push rod with a first detachable piston and a second push rod with a second detachable piston, the first detachable piston and the second detachable piston being disposed in a hydraulic coupling of the disconnect tool, pressurizing a first hydraulic control line in fluid communication with the first detachable piston to move the first detachable piston to communicate pressure to a first downhole hydraulic line while fluidly isolating the first hydraulic control line from the first downhole hydraulic line, and pressurizing a second hydraulic control line in fluid communication with the second detachable piston to move the second detachable piston to communicate pressure to a second downhole hydraulic line while fluidly isolating the second hydraulic control line from the second downhole hydraulic line.
Example 8. The method of example 7 further including disengaging the first push rod from the first detachable piston and the second push rod from the second detachable piston while confining hydraulic fluid to the first hydraulic control line, the second hydraulic control line, the first downhole hydraulic line, and the second downhole hydraulic line; and withdrawing the upper completion from the wellbore.
Example 9. The method of example(s) 7-8 further including moving a first fixed piston with the first detachable piston; and moving a second fixed piston with the second detachable piston.
Example 10. The method of example(s) 7-9 further including moving a first push rod with the first fixed piston and the first detachable piston, and moving a second push rod with the second fixed piston and the second detachable piston.
Example 11. The method of example(s) 7-10 further including bleeding pressure from the second hydraulic control line while pressuring the first hydraulic control line, and bleeding pressure from the first hydraulic control line while pressurizing the second hydraulic control line.
Example 12. The method of example(s) 7-11 further including activating a downhole device or tool in response to applying pressure to the first or second downhole hydraulic line.
Example 13. The method of example(s) 7-12 wherein the downhole device or tool comprises an interval control valve.
Example 14. The method of example(s) 7-13 wherein activating the interval control valve further comprises moving a carbide carrier.
Example 15. A disconnect tool for use in a wellbore, the disconnect tool including an internal wall at least partially defining a flow bore to allow production fluid to pass through the disconnect tool between an upper completion and a lower completion, and a hydraulic coupling operable to be in fluid communication with at least one hydraulic control line associated with the upper completion and at least one downhole hydraulic line associated with the lower completion while fluidly isolating the at least one hydraulic control line and the at least one downhole hydraulic line and communicating pressure downhole.
Example 16. The disconnect tool of example 15 wherein the hydraulic coupling includes a plurality of hydraulic connectors, each hydraulic connector connected to a hydraulic control line and a downhole hydraulic line.
Example 17. The disconnect tool of example(s) 15-16 wherein the hydraulic control line leads to a surface of a formation, and wherein the disconnect tool further includes a detachable pair of pistons associated with each of the plurality of hydraulic connectors.
Example 18. The disconnect tool of example(s) 15-17 wherein the detachable pair of pistons includes a push rod. The push rod includes a first end and a second end, a fixed piston connected to the first end of the push rod, and a detachable piston connected to the second end of the push rod.
Example 19. The disconnect tool of example(s) 15-18 wherein the fixed piston is fixedly connected to the first end of the push rod and the detachable piston is detachably connected to the second end of the push rod.
Example 20. The disconnect tool of example(s) 15-19 wherein the first end of the push rod of a first detachable pair of pistons is oriented in an opposite direction from the first end of the push rod of a second detachable pair of pistons relative to an axis of the disconnect tool.
The foregoing description of the examples, including illustrated examples, has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the subject matter to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications, combinations, adaptations, uses, and installations thereof can be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The illustrative examples described above are given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed here and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2018/067841 | 12/28/2018 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2020/139367 | 7/2/2020 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210332655 A1 | Oct 2021 | US |