Claims
- 1. In a system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, wherein the well has a wellhead housing and a casing hanger connected to a casing and sealed in the wellhead housing by a packoff, the system comprising:at least one flow passage through a sidewall of the wellhead housing in communication with an annulus surrounding the casing; an injection ring having an inner surface in contact with an exterior surface of the wellhead housing, the injection ring having an external port and defining an internal annular gallery in communication with the flow passage; and a cuttings injector coupled to the injection ring that has a passageway sealable to the external port through which the drill cuttings can be pumped for flowing through the gallery, flow passage, and into the annulus.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein a lower end of the flow passage is in communication with an inner surface of the housing below the packoff of the casing hanger and an upper end in communication with an outer surface of the housing above the packoff of the casing hanger.
- 3. The system of claim 1 where the at least one flow passage comprises a plurality of flow passages.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the cuttings injector has an injection stab extendable into the external port to seal the passageway with the injection ring.
- 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the cuttings injector has a center ring having an inner surface that concentrically engages an outer surface of the injection ring and supports the cuttings injector on the injection ring.
- 6. In a system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, wherein the well has a wellhead housing and a casing hanger connected to a casing and sealed in the wellhead housing by a packoff, the system comprising:at least one flow passage through a sidewall of the wellhead housing in communication with an annulus surrounding the casing; an injection ring on the wellhead housing having an external port and defining an internal annular gallery in communication with the flow passage; a cuttings injector coupled to the injection ring that has a passageway sealable to the external port through which the drill cuttings can be pumped for flowing through the gallery, flow passage, and into the annulus; and wherein the injection ring is mounted to rotate relative to the wellhead housing.
- 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the well has guide posts, the system further comprising:a first guide frame joined to the injection ring adapted to engage the guide posts and angularly position the injection ring; and a second guide frame joined to the cuttings injector adapted to engage the guide posts and position the passageway of the cuttings injector relative to the external port of the injection ring.
- 8. In a system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, wherein the well has a wellhead housing and a casing hanger connected to a casing and sealed in the wellhead housing by a packoff, the system comprising:at least one flow passage through a sidewall of the wellhead housing in communication with an annulus surrounding the casing; an injection ring on the wellhead housing having an external port and defining an internal annular gallery in communication with the flow passage; a cuttings injector coupled to the injection ring that has a passageway sealable to the external port through which the drill cuttings can be pumped for flowing through the gallery, flow passage, and into the annulus; and wherein the wellhead housing is supported by a low pressure wellhead housing and the injection ring is above the low pressure wellhead housing.
- 9. A system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, comprising:a low pressure wellhead housing; a high pressure wellhead housing supported in and protruding above the low pressure wellhead housing, the high pressure wellhead housing having a casing hanger connected to a string of casing and sealed to an inner diameter of the high pressure wellhead housing by a packoff, a flow passage having a lower end on an inner diameter of the wellhead housing beneath the packoff of the casing hanger, and an upper end on an outer diameter of the high pressure wellhead housing above the packoff; a cuttings injector carried by the high pressure wellhead housing above an upper end of the low pressure wellhead housing and having a central passage that is in fluid communication with the flow passage; and wherein the drill cuttings are injected through the central passage and through the flow passage into an annulus surrounding the casing.
- 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the flow passage has an axially extending portion in a sidewall of the high pressure wellhead housing between the upper and lower ends.
- 11. The system of claim 9 wherein the well has guide posts, the system further comprising:an injection ring that has an inner diameter that engages the outer diameter of the high pressure wellhead housing, the injection ring having an external port that is in fluid communication with the flow passage; and wherein the cuttings injector has an injection stab through which the central passage passes, the injection stab being hydraulically extendable into the external port to seal the central passage with the external port.
- 12. The system of claim 9 further comprising an injection ring having an inner surface that sealingly engages the outer diameter of the high pressure wellhead housing.
- 13. A system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, comprising:a wellhead housing supported in the well and having a casing hanger connected to a string of casing and sealed therein by a packoff; a flow passage having a lower end on an inner diameter of the wellhead housing beneath the packoff of the casing hanger, and an upper end on an outer diameter of the wellhead housing above the packoff; an injection ring on the wellhead housing having an internal annular gallery and an external port, the gallery in communication with the upper end of the flow passage; a cuttings injector landed on the injection ring and having a central passage sealed to the external port; wherein the drill cuttings are injected through the central passage into the gallery of the injection ring and through the flow passage into an annulus surrounding the casing; and wherein the wellhead housing is supported by a low pressure wellhead housing and the injection ring is above the low pressure wellhead housing.
- 14. A system for injecting drill cuttings into a well, comprising:a wellhead housing supported in the well and having a casing hanger connected to a string of casing and sealed therein by a packoff; a flow passage having a lower end on an inner diameter of the wellhead housing beneath the packoff of the casing hanger, and an upper end on an outer diameter of the wellhead housing above the packoff; an injection ring on the wellhead housing having an internal annular gallery and an external port, the gallery in communication with the upper end of the flow passage; a cuttings injector landed on the injection ring and having a central passage sealed to the external port; and wherein the drill cuttings are injected through the central passage into the gallery of the injection ring and through the flow passage into an annulus surrounding the casing; and wherein the injection ring is mounted to rotate relative to the wellhead housing.
- 15. The system of claim 14 wherein the well has guide posts, the system further comprising:a first guide frame joined to the injection ring adapted to engage the guide posts and position the injection ring; and a second guide frame joined to the cuttings injector adapted to engage the guide posts and position the central passage of the cuttings injector relative to the external port of the injection ring.
- 16. A method of injecting drill cuttings into a well comprising:(a) providing a high pressure wellhead housing in the well having a sidewall with a flow passage extending therethrough and landing the high pressure wellhead housing in a low pressure wellhead housing with an inlet to the flow passage being above the low pressure wellhead housing; (b) landing a cuttings injector on the well the cuttings injector having a central passage in fluid communication with the inlet of the flow passage; and (c) injecting the drill cuttings through the cuttings injector and flow passage into the well.
- 17. The method of claim 16 wherein step (a) further comprises the step of providing a casing hanger connected to a casing and sealed in the high pressure wellhead housing by a packoff, the inlet of the flow passage being above the packoff and an oulet for the flow passage being below the packoff, with a central portion of the flow passage extending downward through the sidewall, bypassing the packoff, and step (c) further comprises the step of injecting the drill cuttings into the well from the outlet of the flow passage beneath the packoff of the casing hanger and into an annulus surrounding the casing.
- 18. The method of claim 16 wherein step (b) further comprises extending an injection stab from the injector into engagement with the inlet of the flow passage.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefits of provisional application Ser. No. 60/131,043 filed on Apr. 26, 1999, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2239471 |
Mar 1991 |
GB |
2327442 |
Jan 1999 |
GB |
2327958 |
Oct 1999 |
GB |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/131043 |
Apr 1999 |
US |