Patent Application
20240117683
The invention relates to an impact device, in particular for a drill string, which has a pipe with a variable length and a longitudinal extension, which has a first pipe element and a second pipe element that can be moved in the direction of the longitudinal extension relative to the first pipe element, which second pipe element is accommodated at least in sections in the first pipe element, wherein at least one electrical line runs from the first pipe element to the second pipe element, which line is connected to the first pipe element and the second pipe element and is wound coil-like in a central section around at least one of the two pipe elements, preferably the second pipe element.
Impact devices (in English, “jars” or “drilling jars”) are components of drilling equipment known in the field of drilling technology, in particular in crude oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy drilling. An impact device is a tool that is used when the drill string is stuck or can no longer be easily dislodged or run up or down in the borehole. The impact device is normally located approximately in the area of the “neutral point” of the drill string, i.e., any area in which the drill string experiences neither tensile forces nor compressive forces during drilling. This area is usually located in the upper part of the “tool fixture” (in English: “bottom hole assembly” or “BHA”), i.e., approximately 100 m to 200 m above the drill head. However, the impact device can, of course, also be arranged elsewhere, and this makes it possible for an operator on the surface to pound on the drill string or the drill head and to dislodge the drill string or the drill head again. In a frequently-used design of such an impact device, the latter has two parts that can be moved relative to one another in the longitudinal direction of the drill string, wherein the movable part usually has a hammer, which strikes an anvil mounted immovably on the drill string, with which the part of the drill string jammed in the borehole can be dislodged again by the impact or multiple impacts.
An essential element in modern drilling processes, in particular in crude oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy drilling, is the data acquisition and the control of the various modules of the drill string during the drilling process, when going in and out of the borehole or in other treatment actions with the drill string in the borehole, as well as optionally the electric power supply of the modules. To this end, one or more lines extend along the drill string from the surface to the drill head. In the area of an impact device, however, problems arise with a controlled pipeline configuration, since the axial longitudinal change of the drill string in the area of the impact device has to be compensated for. In this case, it has been known for a long time (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,035 B2) to wind the line coil-like around one of the two pipe elements that can be moved axially relative to one another, wherein the longitudinal change of the drill string can easily be compensated for by the coil-like winding. The transition region between the section of the line wound coil-like and the connecting sections adjacent thereto on both sides is problematic, however, since the line there has a sharp bend or a curvature with a relatively small radius, which is subject to high stress in the case of repeated actuation of the impact device and because of the oscillations that occur during the drilling process.
The object of the invention is therefore to improve the fastening of the line in the impact device.
This object is achieved with an impact device with the features of claim 1.
According to the invention, at least one coil-like groove is arranged on a pipe section, preferably on two pipe sections, in which groove in each case lies an area of the central, coil-like section of the line. Since the line in the coil-like groove is held essentially in the same position, as in the central area, in which the line wound coil-like compensates for the longitudinal change, the line can be connected largely stress-free to one or both pipe elements, by which the following transition region is held stress-free in the connecting section(s).
Although the line does not have to be accommodated in the groove in the area of one end of the central section, but rather the central area wound coil-like could extend out over the respective groove, it is nevertheless preferred in the case of the invention when the line is accommodated in the groove in the area of one end of the central section. The transition region can then be located immediately adjacent to the connecting section(s).
The line can be kept in the groove by a fastening means, preferably a clamp or sleeve.
As an alternative, it is also possible in the case of the invention that the line is fastened to the connecting section on the pipe element, preferably by means of a clamp, wherein this fastening is ideally (but not necessarily) carried out immediately behind the groove or the end of the coil-like, central section.
According to the invention, the coil-like groove could be attached directly to one or the other pipe element. It is preferred, however, when the coil-like groove is arranged on a sleeve that is fastened to a pipe element, since this is simpler in manufacturing technology.
It is known from the state of the art that the line is accommodated at least in the central section, optionally also in the adjacent connecting sections, in a preferably metal, elastic cover. This is also preferred in the case of the impact device according to the invention. In this case, according to the invention, the cover is in the groove, wherein all embodiments and advantages described above in connection with the line also apply to the cover with the line accommodated therein.
Additional preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the other subclaims.
Additional features and advantages of the invention follow from the subsequent description of preferred embodiments of the invention that are not limited to the scope of protection, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here:
In the drawings, embodiments of an impact device according to the invention are depicted, which embodiments are intended only as examples, however, and, aside from the features according to the invention, as defined in the claims, can also be implemented differently within the scope of this invention as regards many components, without this requiring special mention below.
The drill pipes 4 are connected via couplings 6 to a connecting rod, wherein one or more electrical lines 7 are arranged in the drill pipes 4, which lines, for example, can run inside the drill pipes 4 as depicted and described in WO 2013/126936 A. The couplings 6 make possible a galvanic connection of the electrical lines 7 that run in the individual drill pipes 4 and can be designed, for example, as depicted and described in WO 2010/141969 A. Another path of the electrical lines 7 inside the drill pipes and another design of the couplings 6 are, of course, also possible. A galvanic connection of the electrical lines 7 is preferred, but not necessary, in the area of the couplings 6.
In the depicted embodiment, instead of the lowest drill pipe 4, an impact device 8 according to the invention is provided.
A drill head 9 or any other tool or element of the drill string is mounted on the lower end of the impact device. In the drill head 9 and, moreover, also on or in several or optionally also all drill pipes 4, there can be electrical consumers, sensors, modules, or the like, which are not depicted and which are connected to the electrical lines 7.
On the surface, i.e., over the bottom 11 or, for example, a platform of an offshore rig on which the drill rig 1 can be arranged, there is, in a protected area, for example, a building 12, a container or the like, a connector 13 for electric power, and/or a control unit 14 for feeding and/or receiving control signals or measurement data.
In partial cutaway,
The central part 15, which forms the functionally active part of the impact device 8, has—in the installation position—an upper part 17 and a lower part 18, which can be moved relative to one another. In particular, in the depicted embodiment, the smaller-diameter upper part 17 can be moved inside the larger-diameter lower part 18.
The lower part 18 has a sheath 19, in which a first pipe element 21 and a second pipe element 22 are accommodated that can be moved relative to one another. In the embodiment depicted in the drawings, the first pipe element 21 has a larger diameter than the second pipe element 22, and the second pipe element 22 can be moved inside the first pipe element 21 in the longitudinal extension of the pipe elements 21, 22 or the impact device 8.
The upper part 17 is connected mechanically securely to the second pipe element 22. When the upper part 17 is extracted from the lower part 18, the second pipe element 22 is thus also extracted from the first pipe element 21.
The electrical line 7 also runs through the impact device 8 from the box 6a to the pin 6b. Since the connecting part 16a is connected rigidly to the upper part 17, and the upper part 17 is connected rigidly to the second pipe element 22, the conductor 7 can run essentially extended in this area and in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the impact device 8. In turn, the lower part 16b is connected rigidly to the first pipe element 21, so that the conductor 7 can also run essentially extended in this area and in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the impact device 8.
Between the first pipe element 21 and the second pipe element 22, however, equalizing the length of the line 7 is necessary, since these two pipe elements 21, 22 can be moved against one another in the longitudinal direction. For this purpose, the line 7 is wound coil-like in a central section 23 around the second pipe element 22, wherein length can easily be equalized by the windings, as
The line 7 (there can also be multiple lines) is accommodated in the impact device 8 from the box 6a to the pin 6b in a metal cover 24 or a metal tube, by which the line 7 is protected from harmful environmental influences.
In order to connect the line 7 or the cover 24 thereof to the first pipe element 21 and the second pipe element 22, a coil-like groove 25, 26 is attached to each of the pipe elements 21, 22, in which groove in each case lies an end section 34, 35 of the central section 23 of the line 7 or the cover 24. This can best be seen in
A first connecting section 29 and a second connecting section 30 of the line 7 or cover 24 connect to the end sections 34, 35 of the central, coil-like section 23 of the line 7 or the cover 24.
The grooves 25 and 26 could theoretically be formed directly on the pipe elements 21, 22, for example by machining. In the preferred embodiments depicted in the drawings (see in particular
The line 7 or the cover 24 thereof can be held with sufficient depth of the grooves 25, 26, a sufficiently high strength of the cover 24, and a sufficiently large winding number without special, additional fastening, without the cover 24 being extracted from the grooves 25, 26 when the first pipe element 21 and the second pipe element 22 are pulled apart in the position depicted in
For safety purposes, however, it is also possible that the cover 24 is in addition fastened in the grooves 25, 26. This can be done by any fastening technology, in particular a non-positive, positive, and/or integral connection, for example, gluing, or a clamp or sleeve, not depicted in the drawings, which is driven via the connecting area. Also, a stabilization of the cover 24 by a sheath 19 arranged in the critical area above the grooves 25, 26 (at a short distance from the cover 24), which prevents the cover 24 from slipping out of the grooves 25, 26, is possible. This embodiment is depicted in, for example,
In an especially preferred embodiment of the impact device according to the invention, the connecting sections 29, 30 behind the bent transition region (between the ends 34, 35 of the coil-like, central section 23 and the extended connecting sections 29, 30) are additionally secured by means of clamps 31, 32, with which, on the one hand, a reliable traction relief of the connecting sections 29, 30, and, on the other hand, a safety device are provided, so that the cover 24 is not extracted from the grooves 25, 26.
Any combination of the above-described measures for keeping the conductor 7 or the cover 24 from being extracted from the grooves 25, 26 is, of course, also possible.
The design of the impact device 33, i.e., the unit inside the impact device 8, which generates the pounding or impact, if necessary, is not described structurally in any further detail, since it is well known from the state of the art. The function of the impact device 33 consists in storing the deformation energy (in the case of double-acting impact devices both by tension and compression) of the drill string, when a snug drill string is extracted from the borehole 5 or is pressed into the borehole 5, since, for example, the drill head 9 or a part of the drill rod is clamped.
In this invention, in this case, in the example of an impact device acting only in tension, starting from the position depicted in
The invention can be applied in the same way with an impact device operating under pressure. In this case, the starting position would be the extended position depicted in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 50306/2021 | Apr 2021 | AT | national |
This application is the US national stage of PCT/EP2022/060551, filed Apr. 21, 2022 and designating the United States, which claims the priority of AT A 50306/2021, filed Apr. 23, 2021. The entire contents of each foregoing application are incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/060551 | 4/21/2022 | WO |
