Patent Application
20210340832
Exploration for, location of, and extraction of subterranean fluids, including hydrocarbon fluids, typically involves drilling operations to create a well. Drilling operations, particularly drilling operations involving rotary drilling, often utilize drilling fluids, also called muds, for a variety of reasons including lubrication, removal of cuttings and other matter created during the drilling process, and to provide sufficient pressure to ensure that fluids located in subterranean reservoirs do not enter the borehole, or wellbore, and travel to the surface of the earth. Fluids located in subterranean reservoirs are under pressure from the overburden of the earth formation above them. Specialized equipment is used to provide control of all fluids used or encountered in the drilling of a well.
Conventionally, well pressure control equipment may include a blowout preventer (BOP). BOPs are a specialized valve or similar mechanical device, used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells to prevent blowouts, the uncontrolled release of crude oil or natural gas from a well. In conventional methods, operation specific BOPs form a BOP stack that sits atop of a wellhead. The operation specific BOPs in the BOP stack may include ram BOP(s) or annular BOP(s) for specific operations. Typically, ram BOP(s) or annular BOP(s) is a large valve that may be closed if the well loses control of formation fluids. By closing this valve (usually operated remotely via hydraulic actuators), the well may regain control of the reservoir. BOPs come in a variety of styles, sizes and pressure ratings. Some can effectively close over an open wellbore, some are designed to seal around tubular components in the well (drill pipe, casing or tubing) and others are fitted with hardened steel shearing surfaces that can actually cut through tubular components.
During well operations, multiple services may be required including tubular components, slickline, and wireline intervention. Between each operation, multiple rig up and rig down of equipment associated with these operations are performed. There are different concerns as lifting operation will be required with frequent risks to the people involved. In addition, the operations take longer time for the repetitive rig-up, rig-down and pressure testing of each of the operation specific BOPs.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one aspect, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to a multi-intervention blowout preventer with a body having a bore therethrough. Additionally, a first pair of ram blocks may be coupled to the body and include a ram, a catcher, and a blade operationally connected to the bore via a first pair of openings in the body, wherein the ram, the catcher, and the blade are configured to cut a flexible line extending through the bore while holding the flexible line. Further, a second pair of ram blocks may be coupled to the body and include a second pair of rams operationally connected to the bore via a second pair of openings in the body, the second pair of rams to seal around a tubular. Furthermore, a third pair of ram blocks may be coupled to the body and include a third pair of rams operationally connected to the bore via a third pair of openings in the body, the third pair of rams to seal the bore. The multi-intervention blowout preventer may also include a fourth pair of ram blocks coupled to the body including a fourth pair of rams operationally connected to the bore via a fourth pair of openings in the body, the fourth pair of rams to shear the tubular or flexible line. The multi-intervention blowout preventer may further include a fifth pair of ram blocks coupled to the body including a fifth pair of rams operationally connected to the bore via a fifth pair of openings in the body, the fifth pair of rams to close on the flexible line. The multi-intervention blowout preventer may have a control panel configured to operate the first pair of rams, the second pair of rams, the third pair of rams, the fourth pair of rams, and the fifth pair of rams. The ram of the first pair of ram blocks may be configured to push the wireline or the slickline to a side in the bore. The catcher of the first pair of ram blocks may be configured to grab the wireline or the slickline. The blade of the first pair of ram blocks may be configured to cut the wireline or the slickline at a position above where the catcher holds the wireline or the slickline.
In another aspect, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to a ram apparatus for a blowout preventer that may include a first ram block having a first cavity connected to a first opening and a second cavity connected to a second opening; and a second ram block to be positioned in opposed relation to the first ram block with a passage defined between the first ram block and the second ram block, the second ram block having a third cavity connected to a third opening and an access port to provide external access to the passage. A ram may be disposed in the first cavity and configured to extend and retract through the first opening. The ram may be extendible into the passage to push a flexible line in the passage. A blade may be disposed in the second cavity and configured to extend and retract through the second opening. The blade may be extendible into the passage to cut the flexible line in the passage. A catcher may be disposed in the third cavity and configured to extend and retract through the third opening. The catcher may be extendible into the passage to catch the flexible line in the passage. Additionally, the ram may include a contact surface made of an elastomer or hard rubber to contact the flexible line. The catcher may include a clamp to lock around the flexible line. The blade may include a cutting surface and the cutting surface may be diamond coated. The second ram block may include a fourth cavity connecting the access port to the passage.
In yet another aspect, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method for operating a multi-intervention blowout preventer coupled to a wellhead. The method may include actuating a ram within a first pair of ram blocks to extend into a bore of the multi-intervention blowout preventer; engaging, with the ram, a flexible line running within the bore; actuating a catcher within the first pair of ram blocks and grabbing the flexible line with the catcher; actuating a blade within the first pair of ram blocks to extend into the bore; cutting, with the blade, the flexible line; and holding, with the catcher, the flexible line to hang within the bore. The method may also include retrieving the flexible line with a retrieving tool via an access port in the first pair of ram blocks. Additionally, the holding of the flexible line may include locking a clamp of the catcher on the flexible line. The method may further include actuating a second pair of rams within a second pair of ram blocks to extend into the bore and close on the flexible line; actuating a third pair of rams within a third pair of ram blocks to extend into the bore and seal the bore; actuating a fourth pair of rams within a fourth pair of ram blocks to extend into the bore and shear a tubular running within the bore; and actuating a fifth pair of rams within a fifth pair of ram blocks to extend into the bore and seal around the tubular.
Other aspects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying Figures. Like elements in the various figures may be denoted by like reference numerals for consistency. Further, in the following detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description. Additionally, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the scale of the elements presented in the accompanying Figures may vary without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
As used herein, the term “coupled” or “coupled to” or “connected” or “connected to” “attached” or “attached to” may indicate establishing either a direct or indirect connection, and is not limited to either unless expressly referenced as such. Wherever possible, like or identical reference numerals are used in the figures to identify common or the same elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale for purposes of clarification. In addition, any terms designating ram or ram block (i.e., a single or a pair of actuating rods with a contact surface) should not be deemed to limit the scope of the disclosure. As used herein, tubulars may refer to any string of tubulars that connect end-to-end such as, but not limited to, drill pipe, casing, or production strings. As used herein, wireline may refer to single-strand or multistrand wire or cable for intervention operations in oil or gas wells. Additionally, the wireline may be an electrical cable to lower tools into the well and transmit data for logging. As used herein, slickline may refer to a single-strand wireline or a nonelectric cable for running and retrieving tools within the well. The term “flexible line” may be used to generically refer to wireline and slickline. As used herein, fluids may refer to slurries, liquids, gases, and/or mixtures thereof. It is to be further understood that the various embodiments described herein may be used in various stages of a well, such as rig site preparation, drilling, completion, abandonment etc., and in other environments, such as work-over rigs, fracking installation, well-testing installation, oil and gas production installation, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The different embodiments described herein provide a multi-intervention blowout preventer (MIBOP) including an integration of operation specific BOPS into a single body. By integrating the operation specific BOPs into a single body, in one or more embodiments, the MIBOP of the present disclosure may hold and cut equipment for retrieval, seal off an annulus between tubulars and a wellbore, seal off the wellbore when there are no tubulars in therein, shear equipment (e.g., tubulars, wireline, and slickline) therein, and/or maintain a seal around tubulars during rotation and stripping in/out in well control situation. The MIBOP may be used on and off in various stages of the well's life for pressure control and safety. The MIBOP as a single piece equipment may be installed, for example, at a wellhead in the place of a conventional BOP stack.
In one or more embodiments, MIBOP 100 includes multiple pairs of ram blocks attached to an outer surface 104 of the single body 102. In a non-limiting example, a first pair of ram blocks 105a, 105b, a second pair of ram blocks 106a, 106b, a third pair of ram blocks 107a, 107b, a fourth pair of ram blocks 108a, 108b, and a fifth pair of ram blocks 109a, 109b may be secured to the outer surface 104 of the single body 102. As an example, bolts 110 may removably attach each ram block 105a-109b via a connection flange 111 to the outer surface 104 of the single body 102. Although MIBOP 100 is shown as having five pairs of ram blocks, MIBOP 100 may generally have two or more pairs of ram blocks. In one or more embodiments, at least one of the pairs of ram blocks in MIBOP 100 is a catch-shear-seal ram as described in
In some embodiments, while at least one of the pairs of ram blocks 105a-109b may be catch-shear-seal ram, the other pairs of ram blocks 105a-109b may be any type of ram, such as a pipe/slip ram, a shear ram, a blind ram, or a ram to close on both the wireline and the slickline. In one non-limiting example, ram blocks 105a, 105b may variable bore pipe rams to hold and close around flexible lines (wirelines or slicklines) of various sizes; ram blocks 106a, 106 may be catch-shear-seal rams to catch and shear a flexible line (wireline or slickline) and seal a wellbore; ram blocks 107a, 107b may be blind rams to seal a wellbore; ram blocks 108a, 108b may be shear rams to shear a tubular (e.g., coiled tubing) or flexible line (wireline or slickline); and ram blocks 109a, 109b may be pipe or slip rams to hold and close around a tubular (e.g., a coiled tubing). The positions of the ram blocks in the stack may be as shown in
As shown in in
In one or more embodiments, the MIBOP 100 may have a control panel 115. The control panel 115 may be a computing system for implementing methods disclosed herein. The control panel 115 may include one or more computer processors, non-persistent storage (e.g., volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory), persistent storage (e.g., a hard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory, etc.), a communication interface (e.g., Bluetooth interface, infrared interface, network interface, optical interface, etc.), and numerous other elements and functionalities. Additionally, the control panel 115 may include an human machine interface (“HMI”) using a software application and may be provided to aid in the automation of the MIBOP 100. The HMI may include a screen, such as a touch screen, used as an input (e.g., for a person to input commands) and output (e.g., for display) of the computing system. In some embodiments, the HMI may also include switches, buttons, knobs, joysticks and/or other hardware components which may allow an operator to interact through the HMI with the MIBOP 100. Additionally, the human machine interface may have wireless communications such that a user from remote location may operate the MIBOP 100.
Additionally, a plurality of sensors (not shown separately) may be provided on and within the MIBOP 100 to communicate with the control panel 115. In a non-limiting example, the plurality of sensors may be a microphone, ultrasonic, ultrasound, sound navigation and ranging (SONAR), radio detection and ranging (RADAR), acoustic, piezoelectric, accelerometers, temperature, pressure, weight, position, or any sensor in the art to detect and monitor the one or more pairs of ram blocks 105a-109b. Additionally, the plurality of sensors may be any sensor or device capable of wireline/slickline monitoring, valve monitoring, and equipment performance and damage. The plurality of sensors may be used to collect data on status, process conditions, performance, and overall quality of the MIBOP 100, for example, on/off status of equipment, open/closed status of valves, pressure readings, temperature readings, and others. One skilled in the art will appreciate the plurality of sensors may aid in detecting possible failure mechanisms in individual components, approaching maintenance or service, and/or compliance issues. In some embodiments, the plurality of sensors may transmit and receive information/instructions wirelessly and/or through wires attached to the plurality of sensors.
In one or more embodiments, the first ram block 201 may have a first cavity 201a and a second cavity 201b. In the first cavity 201a, a first actuation device 204, such as a hydraulic piston, may be provided. The first actuation device 204 may be connected to a surface of the first cavity 201a at an end opposite the first opening 203a of the single body 102. At an end approximate the first opening 203a, a ram 205 may be connected to the first actuation device 204. The ram 205 may be made of a metal or steel. The ram 205 may have a contact surface 206 for interacting with a wireline or slickline 114. The contact surface 206 may include an area 207 made from an elastomer or hard rubber to avoid breaking or cutting the wireline or slickline 114. In the second cavity 201b, a second actuation device 208, such as a hydraulic piston, may be provided. The second actuation device 208 may have be connected to a surface of the second cavity 201b at an end opposite the second opening 203b of the single body 102. At an end approximate the second opening 203b, a blade 209 may be connected to the second actuation device 208. The blade 209 may have a cutting surface 210 to cut the wireline or slickline 114. The blade 209 may be made of metal or steel material hard enough to cut through the wireline or slickline 114. The cutting surface 210 may be diamond coated or have resilient material to increase durability and cutting performance. In some embodiments, the first cavity 201a and the second cavity 201b may be integrated together to form a single cavity for both the ram 205 and the blade 209.
In some embodiments, the second ram block 202 may have a first cavity 202a and a second cavity 202b. A third actuation device 211, such as a hydraulic piston, may be provided in the first cavity 202a. The third actuation device 211 may be connected to a surface of the first cavity 202a at an end opposite the third opening 203c of the single body 102. At an end approximate the third opening 203c, a catcher 212 may be connected to the third actuation device 211. The catcher 212 may include a clamp 213 for grabbing the wireline or slickline 114. In the second cavity 202b, an access port 214 may be provided. The access port 214 may be used to retrieve the wireline or slickline 114 from the catcher 212. Additionally, a latch or door 214a may be used to close the access port 214.
Now referring to
Now referring to
Non-limiting examples of the rams 305, 306 are shown in
Thus, there are a number of variations that may be made on the MIBOP of the present disclosure. The MIBOP may integrate a catcher-shear-seal ram disclosed herein with conventionally separate rams for various blowout preventer operations within a single body. By having such an integration, the MIBOP optimizes operation time and enhances safety as only one rig-up is required as only one MIBOP is need to be installed on the wellhead and used for tubulars, wireline, and slickline. As also described above, the catcher-shear-seal ram may eliminate the need for fishing operations after shearing the wireline or slickline. Overall, the MIBOP may minimize product engineering, risk associated with rig-ups, reduction of assembly time, hardware cost reduction, and weight and envelope reduction.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
