1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of oil and gas production. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus that connects perforating guns. Yet more specifically, the present invention relates to a perforating gun connector utilizing corresponding tapered ends to facilitate connections thereof. Yet even more specifically, the present invention relates to an automated method of connecting perforating guns with a perforating gun connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Perforating guns are used for the purpose, among others, of making hydraulic communication passages, called perforations, in wellbores drilled through earth formations so that predetermined zones of the earth formations can be hydraulically connected to the wellbore. Perforations are needed because wellbores are typically completed by coaxially inserting a pipe or casing into the wellbore, and the casing is retained in the wellbore by pumping cement into the annular space between the wellbore and the casing. The cemented casing is provided in the wellbore for the specific purpose of hydraulically isolating from each other the various earth formations penetrated by the wellbore.
Included with the perforating guns are shaped charges that typically include a housing, a liner, and a quantity of high explosive inserted between the liner and the housing. When the high explosive is detonated, the force of the detonation collapses the liner and ejects it from one end of the charge at very high velocity in a pattern called a “jet”. The jet penetrates the casing, the cement and a quantity of the formation.
Due to the high force caused by the explosive, the shaped charge often shatters into many fragments that exit the perforating gun into the fluids within the wellbore. These fragments can clog as well as damage devices such as chokes and manifolds, thereby restricting the flow of fluids through these devices and possibly hampering the amount of hydrocarbons produced from the particular wellbore. Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus and a method for conducting perforating operations that reduces fragmentation of shaped charges and also provides a manner of retaining fragments of shaped charges produced during the perforation sequence.
The present invention involves a reinforcing system for a shaped charge comprising, a reinforcing buttress, a recess on the reinforcing buttress formed to receive the closed end of the casing of the shaped charge, and a shock absorbing collar seated on the reinforcing buttress formed to coaxially circumscribe at least a portion of the shaped charge casing. The shock absorbing collar includes a shock absorbing material therein. The shock absorbing material may be rubber, foam, cotton, cork, and/or mixtures thereof. Moreover, the shock absorbing material may be comprised of a corrugated element.
The shock absorbing collar may further include supporting structure circumscribing the inner and outer radius of the shock absorbing material. The supporting structure may comprise a bushing in coaxial cooperation with at least a portion of the outer surface of the casing, and a retaining shell coaxially circumscribing the bushing, wherein an annular void is formed between the outer radius of said bushing and the inner radius of said retaining shell. It is within the annular void wherein the shock absorbing material may reside. The casing includes a space capable of receiving an amount of explosive, and the casing is formed into a generally tubular shape.
The reinforcing system is capable of retaining substantially all casing fragments produced during detonation of the explosive. The reinforcing system may further comprise at least one other shaped charge. The reinforcing system may further include a gun body, wherein the presence of the reinforcing buttress and the casing produce an asymmetric radial weight distribution around the axis of the gun body.
With reference to the drawings herein, in
The casing 12 is comprised a base 24 and walls 25, where the walls 25 are generally a tube-like section that extend up and away from the outer circumference of the base 24. The space 28 between the walls 25 and the base 24 is formed to receive explosive 32 and a liner 30. Preferably the base 24 is shaped similar to a bowl in that it has inner and outer surfaces that curve parallel to the axis of the base 24 as the surfaces travel away from the axis 42. The walls 25 and the base 24 meet approximately at the point where the inner surface of the casing 12 is substantially parallel to the axis 42. It is also preferred that the thickness of the base 24 and the walls 25 be roughly the same at the region where they meet. However, the thickness of the walls 25 can decrease as the walls 25 approach the open end 26 of the casing 12.
Rounding the outer surface of the base 24 combined with decreasing the thickness of the walls 25 results in a generally crucible shaped casing 12, this enhances the fit between the casing 12 and the recess 17 formed in the spine 16. Further, the generally curvilinear shaped of the base 24 also helps to equalize the forces that are subjected to the casing 12, this helps to reduce fragmentation of the casing 12 during detonation of the explosive 32. This shape also works to produce fragments that are more uniform in size. Both of these effects result in minimization of metal fragments escaping the gun body 22. However the present invention can accommodate a casing 12 made from any one of a number of different shapes, such as one that has a largely rectangular cross section, a hemispherical shape, or a cross section where the inner and outer surface have different cross sections, such as an outer surface with a rectangular cross section and an inner surface having rounded edges, or vice versa.
As illustrated in a cross sectional view in
A ledge 44 is positioned at the outer edge of the recess 17, the contour of the ledge 44 is primarily perpendicular to the axis 42. When viewed from the axis, the ledge 44 has a generally annularly shaped surface with a radius that extends from the terminal edge of the recess 17 up to the threaded portion 46. As can be seen in
When viewed along the axis 42, the bushing 18 is has a mostly annular cross section. While the outer radius of the bushing 18 is preferably constant along its length, its inner radius can vary in size to match the contour of the outer radius of the casing 12. In the embodiment of the present invention shown in
As previously noted, threads 50 on the outer circumference of one edge of the retaining shell 14 are included to mate with the threads of the threaded portion 46. The corresponding threads (49 and 50) provide a means of releasably attaching the retaining shell 14 to the spine 16, either by hand or with the aid of an associated tool. A retaining lip 15 is provided on the inner radius of the retaining shell 14 on the side opposite the threads 50. The retaining lip 15 extends inward towards the axis 42 from the inner radius of the retaining shell 14 having a surface that is generally at an angle oblique from the axis 42. Similarly, a beveled edge 19 is provided on the outer surface of the bushing 18 such that when the retaining shell 14 and the bushing 18 are assembled within the shaped charge assembly 10, the angle of the beveled edge 19 is substantially the same as the angle of the retaining lip 15. The combination of the retaining lip 15 and the beveled edge 19 provide a means of enabling the retaining the bushing 18 within the shaped charge assembly 10 when the retaining shell 14 is secured to the shaped charge assembly 10. It is believed it is well within the scope of those skilled in the art to design and implement adequate dimensions and angles for both the retaining lip 15 and the beveled edge 19 without undue experimentation.
It should be noted that the inner radius of the retaining shell 14 increases along its length such that its width is smaller proximate to its threaded end than proximate to the retaining lip 15. This increase in radius combined with a constant outer radius of the bushing 18 produces an annular void between the bushing 18 and the retaining shell 14. Within the void shock absorbing material can be placed. Examples of shock absorbing material include rubber, cotton, foam, sponge, cork, and combinations thereof. The foam open or closed cell foam and can selected from any known or later developed foam materials. Potential foam compositions include polyethylene foam (both high and low density), polystyrene, neoprene, and urethane, among others.
As shown in
In operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shaped charge assembly 10 is assembled, then combined with a gun body 22, and integrated into a perforating gun 8. As is known in the art, the perforating gun 8 is inserted into a wellbore 5 preferably by a wireline 6. The perforating gun 8 can also be inserted into the wellbore 5 and lowered to the spot where perforations are desired. The perforating gun 8 can be tethered by a slickline, by tubing, or any now known or later developed insertion/suspension technique or devices. Once the surface personnel have determined that the perforating gun 8 has been lowered to the region where perforations are to be conducted, perforating operations can be commenced. Generally perforating is initiated by sending a signal down the wireline 6 from the surface to the perforating gun 8. As is well known, initiators (not shown) within the perforating gun 8 receive that surface signal and in turn transfer a detonative force though the detonation cord 34 that in turn initiates detonation of the explosive 32 within the shaped charge assembly 10. Detonation of the explosive 32 collapses the liner 30 and transforms the solid liner into a metal jet 11 that exits the wall of the gun body 22 and penetrates the inner surface of the wellbore 5. The metal jet 11 pierces the inner surface of the wellbore 5 thereby producing perforations 9 in the formation 13 that surrounds the wellbore 5.
During detonation of the shaped charge assembly 10 of the present invention, the likelihood of fragments of the casing 12 entering the wellbore 5 after detonation of the explosive 32 is highly reduced over that of prior art shaped charges. During detonation, the shock absorbing material within the compression zone 57 compresses due to the shock of the detonation thereby relieving the casing 12 of at least a portion of the detonation shock it may typically experience during detonation. Since the implementation of the shock-absorbing collar 23 transfers detonation stresses away from the casing 12, this shock-absorbing feature necessarily results in less fragmentation of the casing 12 due to explosive detonation.
Furthermore, with regard to the fragmentation that may occur, the presence of the spine 16 combined with the retaining shell 14 serves to contain the fragments of the casing 12 well within the gun body 22 and not allow them to enter the wellbore 5 where the fragments might likely cause clogging or congestion problems. The spine 16 and its associated recess 17 act as a reinforcing buttress that supports the base 24 of the casing 12 during detonation of the explosive 32 to prevent fracturing or fragmentation of the base 24.
The spine 16 also can aid in orientation of the perforating gun 8 in which it is integrated. The eccentric loading of the spine 16 produces an asymmetric mass distribution around the axis (not shown) of the gun body 22. This is important when the perforating gun is in deviated section 7 of the wellbore 5, such that when allowed to rotate about its axis, the gravitational pull on the gun body 22 will attempt to orient it such that the spine 16 is located proximate to the lowermost portion 21 of the wellbore 5.
The components of the present invention should have the capability of withstanding downhole conditions, such as high pressures and temperatures, as well as the ability to withstand attach by corrosive agents. Accordingly steel is a suitable material for the components of the present invention.
The present invention described herein, therefore, is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as others inherent therein. While a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been given for purposes of disclosure, numerous changes exist in the details of procedures for accomplishing the desired results. For example, the corrugated strip 58 can also be formed from other malleable metals such as aluminum, lead, combinations thereof, and alloys made from these substances. These and other similar modifications will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and are intended to be encompassed within the spirit of the present invention disclosed herein and the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/821,075 filed Apr. 8, 2004, the full disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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2782715 | Udry | Feb 1957 | A |
4794990 | Riggs | Jan 1989 | A |
4817531 | Walker et al. | Apr 1989 | A |
5841060 | Skaggs | Nov 1998 | A |
6464019 | Werner et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
20050173118 | Li et al. | Aug 2005 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20070119327 A1 | May 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10821075 | Apr 2004 | US |
Child | 11142900 | US |