Patent Application
20200024918
The invention is in the field of wellbore downhole tools technology. More specifically it is related to a linear actuator to be run in oil and gas wells as part of a wireline operated tool string to perform intervention operations.
Well intervention is a broad topic covering operations in oil or gas wells that are still operational, i.e. able to deliver gas or oil. Intervention operations will typically be carried out to improve the quality or extend the production life of the wellbore.
Wireline tools are increasingly used for a wide variety of wellbore interventions, since only a minimum of equipment and personnel is required to perform the intervention. Intervention operations can be performed both in open-hole and cased wellbores, where some examples of such operations can be replacing equipment in the well such as pumps, valves etc. adjusting or repairing such equipment, fishing operations, monitoring well parameters, well reconfiguration etc.
EP 1686267 A1 describes bidirectional linear actuator with an inner slide member.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,737 B2 describes a system for controlling operation of a downhole tool with an actuator. A control system member is disposed at a location remote from the actuator. A displacement of the control system member causes a displacement of the actuator member, the control system member displacement being proportional to the actuator member displacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,321 B1 discloses an actuator for an orienting device for orienting a borehole apparatus in a borehole, wherein the orienting device is comprised of an orienting mechanism which is actuated by longitudinal movement. The actuator is comprised of a housing having a first end and a second end and a fluid passageway extending through the housing from the first end to the second end. Further, a longitudinally reciprocable piston, positioned within and providing a first partial obstruction of the fluid passageway, engages with the orienting mechanism such that longitudinal movement of the piston actuates the orienting mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,027,650 B2 describes an apparatus with a downhole device and an actuation device for e.g. activating and de-activating a reamer. A housing includes an annular chamber housing a first fluid therein and a piston in the annular chamber that divides the annular chamber into a first section and a second section. The piston is to a biasing member. A control unit enables movement of the first fluid from the first section to the second section to supply a second fluid under pressure to the tool to move the tool into an active position and from the second section to the first section to stop the supply of the second fluid to the tool to cause the tool to move into an inactive position.
The prior art above discloses some devices and principles for activation and de-activation of a wellbore tool. However, they fail to disclose a linear actuator that can be used to position the intervention tool, and at the same time providing power and control means for the tool.
A main object of the present invention is therefore to disclose a wellbore linear actuator that can hold and position a tool or device, and at the same time provide power and control means to the tool.
In this way, the linear actuator according to the invention can be seen as a positioning device that is transparent for the power and control signals, and the attached tool can perform its operation as an autonomous unit, independent of the linear actuator, once positioned.
In an embodiment, the invention is therefore a wellbore linear actuator comprising;
The invention is also a method for providing hydraulic fluid from a hydraulic pump to a tool connected to respective first and second ends of such a wellbore linear actuator, comprising the steps of;
According to the disclosed invention a single fluid circuit can be used for operation of the linear actuator itself, as well as for feeding tools connected to the linear actuator. Thus, a single pump and a single distribution circuit can be used to achieve the two functions. This reduces the complexity of the system and increases efficiency and power, since space is limited by the wellbore diameter.
With less active components such as pumps and valves, a further advantage is that the linear actuator can be made more reliable than systems that require additional components.
The wellbore linear actuator can be used with different types of tools, since the linear actuator provides a well-defined tool interface. Any tool that adheres to this interface can be used with the linear actuator. This interface is mechanical in that it secures the tool to the linear actuator. It is hydraulic since it provides a hydraulic port with fluid under pressure available for the tool. It can in an embodiment be electric, since it provides electric power to the tool, and it can in an embodiment comprise a control interface for controlling the tool.
The attached figures illustrate some embodiments of the claimed invention.
The invention will in the following be described and embodiments of the invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the following the cylinder head (14) end will be defined as the first end (10a) and the far end of the piston rod (41) will be defined as the second end (10b). When the cylinder is extending, the distance between the first and second ends (10a, 10b) will therefore increase, and when the cylinder is retracting, the distance between the first and second ends (10a, 10b) will decrease.
The thrust or pull of the linear actuator (1) can be determined by the difference in pressure in the first and second chambers (12, 13) multiplied by the respective effective piston surface area, according to Pascal's law.
The double acting cylinder (10) further comprises a fluid passage all the way between the first and second ends (10a, 10b), i.e. between the cylinder head (14) and the far end of the piston rod (41). This fluid passage is comprised of at least three different sections. Starting from the bottom in
The tool drain line (74) allows low pressure fluid to flow back from the tool (3) to a reservoir (63) or similar on the opposite side of the double acting cylinder (10). In
In an embodiment, the invention comprises an actuate fluid port (61), arranged at the first or second end (10a, 10b), and the first or second end (10a, 10b), opposite the fluid port (61), is arranged for holding a downhole tool (3) to allow connection to a hydraulic system above the fluid port (61) and linear actuator feed-through of hydraulic fluid from the actuate fluid port (61) to the downhole tool (3).
In an embodiment, the wellbore linear actuator comprises a fluid pump (64), and a fluid control circuit (60) interconnecting the fluid pump (64) and the actuate fluid port (61). The fluid control circuit (61) is further arranged for opening and closing the fluid passage between the fluid pump (64) and the first chamber (12). This will, when the fluid passage is open, provide pressurized fluid to the first chamber (12) and to the tool (3). This will allow the actuator to extend and to feed pressurized fluid into the tool. The actual behavior of the system in such a case will be explained below.
In an embodiment, the wellbore linear actuator (1) comprises a fluid reservoir (63), and the fluid control circuit (60) interconnects the fluid reservoir (63) and the actuate fluid port (61). Further, the fluid control circuit (60) is arranged for simultaneously opening a drain fluid passage between the fluid reservoir (63) and the first chamber (12) and for closing the fluid passage between the fluid pump (64) and the first chamber (12). This action will allow the fluid in the first chamber (12) and the first fluid line (73) to flow back into the reservoir (63) if the linear actuator should be retracted.
In an embodiment, the control circuit (60) comprises an actuate valve (71a) that is arranged for opening and closing the fluid passage between the fluid pump (64) and the first chamber (12), as mentioned above.
Further, the control circuit (60) comprises, in an embodiment, an actuate drain valve (71b) arranged for opening and closing the drain fluid passage between the fluid reservoir (63) and the first chamber (12), as mentioned above.
The embodiments above have been related to the active expansion of the double acting cylinder (10), and also passive retract by allowing fluid to flow back to the reservoir.
For active retract, the wellbore linear actuator (1) comprises in an embodiment, that can be combined with any of the embodiments above, a retract fluid port (62) arranged at the first or second end (10a, 10b). In
In a specific embodiment with regard to the embodiment above, the fluid control circuit (60) interconnects the fluid pump (64) and the retract fluid port (62) and is arranged for opening and closing the retract fluid passage between the fluid pump (64) and the second chamber (13) to actively retract the double acting cylinder (10) when the retract fluid passage is open. This can be achieved by a retract valve (72a) arranged for opening and closing the retract fluid passage. This will, when the retract fluid passage is open, provide pressurized fluid to the second chamber (13), and allow the actuator to retract.
Further, the control circuit (60) may comprise a retract drain valve (72b) arranged for opening and closing a retract drain fluid passage between the fluid reservoir (63) and the second chamber (13).
In an embodiment, the fluid control circuit (60) is further arranged for simultaneously opening the retract drain fluid passage between the fluid reservoir (63) and the second chamber (13) and for closing the fluid passage between the fluid pump (64) and the second chamber (13) to allow the double acting cylinder (10) to extend.
In order to expand and retract the wellbore linear actuator (1) and to provide pressurized fluid to the tool, the fluid control circuit (60) may operate the valves (71a, 71b, 72a, 72b) as explained below.
In an embodiment, the fluid control circuit (60) is arranged for simultaneously opening the actuate valve (71a) and the retract drain valve (72b) and for closing the retract valve (72a) and the actuate drain valve (71b) to extend the double acting cylinder (10). This will open a fluid passage between the pump (64) and the first chamber (12), and another fluid passage between the reservoir (63) and the second chamber (13). In this way the pressurized fluid from the pump (64) will be pumped into the first chamber (12) and the fluid in the second chamber (13) will be pressed into the reservoir (63).
To actively retract the wellbore linear actuator (1) the fluid control circuit (60) is arranged for simultaneously opening the retract valve (72a) and the actuate drain valve (71b) and for closing the actuate valve (71a) and the retract drain valve (72b) to retract the double acting cylinder (10). The pressurized fluid from the pump (64) will be pumped into the second chamber (13) and the fluid in the first chamber (13) will be pressed into the reservoir (63).
The wellbore linear actuator (1) will in an embodiment be able to feed hydraulic fluid from the pump (64) to the tool (3) fixed to the wellbore linear actuator (1). In this embodiment, the fluid control circuit (60) is arranged for opening the fluid passage between the pump (64) and the first chamber (12) and for closing all other passages mentioned above in the control circuit (60), i.e. the drain fluid passage between the first chamber (12) and the reservoir (63), the retract fluid passage between the pump (64) and the second chamber (13) and the retract drain fluid passage between the second chamber (13) and the reservoir (63). In an embodiment with the valves mentioned previously, this corresponds to opening the actuate valve (71a) and closing the actuate drain valve (71b), the retract valve (72a), and the retract drain valve (72b). In this valve configuration the position of the piston (40) is locked, since the fluid on the retract side is trapped inside a closed circuit. Hydraulic fluid under pressure can therefore be provided to the tool (3) through the same fluid lines that are used for expanding and positioning the second end (10b) of the wellbore linear actuator (1).
In an embodiment, the valves are controlled by hydraulic solenoid valves. In this embodiment, the fluid control means (80) comprises a retract solenoid valve (82) arranged to control the retract valve (72a) and the actuate drain valve (71b). Thus, since these valves operate in pair, they can be controlled by a common solenoid valve.
Further, a tool pressure solenoid valve (83) is arranged to enable or disable opening of the retract drain valve (72b), and an actuate solenoid valve (81) is arranged to control the actuate valve (71a) and the retract drain valve (72b) when the retract drain valve (72b) is opened, and control the actuate valve (71a) when the retract drain valve (72b) is closed. Thus, the position of the tool pressure solenoid valve (83) has priority over the position of the retract solenoid valve (82), so that as long as the tool pressure solenoid valve (83) is closed, or disabled, the actuate drain valve (71b) will stay closed.
Three operational states may then be controlled by opening and closing these valves;
First, expansion is achieved by opening the actuate solenoid valve (81) and closing the retract solenoid valve (82).
Second, retraction is achieved by closing the actuate solenoid valve (81) and opening the retract solenoid valve (82).
Third, hydraulic feed through is activated by opening the actuate solenoid valve (81) and closing the retract solenoid valve (82) and the tool pressure solenoid valve (83).
In order to control the operation of the wellbore linear actuator, it comprises in an embodiment, an actuator control system (100) connected to the solenoid valves. The solenoids may be controlled from the control system via electrical or hydraulic control lines. The control system may also be responsible for controlling the hydraulic pump (4). The control system may be arranged in a separate compartment as illustrated in
In an embodiment, the wellbore linear actuator comprises an electric feed through for feeding electric energy to the tool (3) and bidirectional signals to/from the tool (3). In this embodiment, it comprises an electric connection (90) through the first and second telescoping tubular elements (74a, 74b), interconnecting first and second electric terminations (91, 92) arranged in the first and second ends (10a, 10b), respectively. The electric terminations have been illustrated as filled boxes in the drawings. The electric feed through connection can comprise any type of wire or cable suitable for the intended purpose, such power cables and signal cables.
In an embodiment, the electric connection (90) is a stretchable helical wire comprising e.g. the power and signal cables. The helical wire will stretch when the double acting cylinder expands, and retract when the cylinder retracts. Since the wire is confined by the tubular elements (74a, 74b) it will stay in place during operation.
The tool (3) attached to the linear actuator (1) may require accurate positioning to be able to perform the required operation. In an embodiment, the wellbore linear actuator (1) therefore comprises a telescopic position sensor (95), arranged through the first and second telescoping tubular elements (74a, 74b), and arranged to provide an output value corresponding to a longitudinal position of the piston head (40) within the cylinder bore (11). This will correspond to the displacement of the tool (3) relative a reference position, e.g. the fully retracted position of the linear actuator (1). Other relative references may be used to indicate the position of the tool relative the opposite end of the cylinder.
In an embodiment, the telescopic position sensor (95) is a potentiometer, where the relative position is indicated by resistance of the potentiometer. A sliding contact, or wiper (96) is indicated in
In the case where a helical wire is used for electric feed through, the telescopic position sensor (95) is arranged in the middle of the helical wire. The wiper (96) may be electrically connected to the end of the electric connection (90) and in this way become available to an electric control circuit above the linear actuator.
The other end of the position sensor (95), i.e. the outer telescopic element opposite the termination of the wiper is electrically terminated in the first electric termination (91) in
In an embodiment, the linear actuator (1) comprises a tool adapter (30) fixed to the first or second end (10a, 10b) of the linear actuator (1). The tool adapter (30) is arranged for releasably holding the tool (3). The tool adapter (30) can in this embodiment be seen as a socket where corresponding terminations of the tool (3) are connected to the hydraulic and electric terminations of the linear actuator described previously. Further, the tool adapter (30) has fixing means to hold the tool, such as threads, pins, bolts or similar. The tool adapter (30) provides a tool interface that allows different tools to be connected to the same linear actuator, provided they have the required characteristics of the tool interface. In
In
In another embodiment of the invention that can be combined with any of the embodiments above, expect where specifically referred to
The disclosed wellbore linear actuator will usually be implemented as one or more modules in a larger tool string, e.g. a tool string (200) for milling, as illustrated in
Next, a hydraulic module (202) comprising the hydraulic pump and an electric motor driving the pump, is attached below the head assembly (201). The electric motor is in this embodiment powered from a surface power supply, through the wireline.
The actuator module (203) is connected below the hydraulic module (202), and comprises, in an upper part, an anchor module (213), a control section (214) comprising the fluid control circuit (60), and in the lower part, the stroker (215) comprising the double acting cylinder (10) according to the invention.
At the bottom, a key tool (204), or shifting tool, is connected to the lower end of the double acting cylinder (10). The key tool (204) is just one example of different tools that can be connected to the linear actuator.
When the hydraulic module (202) is implemented as a separate module, it has the advantage that it can be re-used in other configurations with other modules. Thus, the linear actuator, as defined previously in this document, is in the embodiment of
The master control unit in the head assembly (201) is arranged to communicate with a surface device through the telemetry section.
Depending on the sensors, and processing capacity available in the toolstring, the telemetry module may send sensor data, or elaborated data from the ongoing intervention process to the surface device.
The master control unit of the invention communicates preferably digitally with its subordinate modules, i.e. digital control and monitoring signals. In the specific case of the linear actuator, the master control unit communicates with the actuator control system (100) in the control section (214).
The toolstring (200) may comprise a tractor module (not shown) between head assembly and the hydraulic module (202).
The key tool (204) of the toolstring (200) is operated with hydraulic oil under pressure from the hydraulic module (202), fed through the actuator module (203).
Thus, in a typical scenario for a shifting operation, the tool string is deployed into the wellbore until the shifting tool is close to a valve to shift. Then, the anchor (213) is set, and the stroker (215) is expanded until the key tool (204) is in the right position for shifting. This may be achieved by measuring expansion by position sensor (95). The next step is then to lock the longitudinal position of the stroker (215), as described previously, allowing pressure to be feed through the stroker (215) and further into the key tool (204).
In addition to making use of the hydraulic feed through feature, according to the invention, the key tool (204) also comprises a control circuit that communicates with the master control unit by using the electric feed through of the stroker (215). Thus, hydraulic pressure in the key tool (204) may then be controlled by the electric circuit.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NO2016/050233 | 11/18/2016 | WO | 00 |
