Patent Application
20190323810
Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to downhole tools for perforating operations, and more specifically, to a gun string having various components that need to be assembled at the well site, some of the components including explosive materials.
After a well 100 is drilled to a desired depth H relative to the surface 110, as illustrated in
The process of connecting the wellbore to the subterranean formation may include the following steps: (1) placing a plug 112 with a through port 114 (known as a frac plug) above a just stimulated stage 116, and (2) perforating a new stage 118 above the plug 112. The step of perforating is achieved with a gun string 120 that is lowered into the well with a wireline 122. A controller 124 located at the surface controls the speed of the wireline 122 and also sends various commands along the wireline to actuate one or more guns of the gun string.
A traditional gun string 120 includes plural carriers 126 connected to each other by corresponding subs 128, as illustrated in
The explosive materials in the detonator and guns are highly dangerous. Thus, the transport of these materials from the manufacturing location to the wellsite poses logistical and safety problems. For these reasons, many manufacturers ship the various components of the gun string unassembled, with the expectation that the gun string would be assembled at the well location.
In this regard, for a conventional perforating gun string 120, carriers 126 are first loaded with charges and a detonator cord. Gun strings are then built up, one gun at a time, by connecting the loaded carriers 126 to corresponding subs 128. These subs contain the switch 132 with pressure bulkhead capabilities. Once the sub is assembled to the gun string, the wires and detonation cord are pulled through the port in the sub, allowing for the installation of the detonator and the connection of the wiring. Those skilled in the field know that this assembly operation has its own risks.
Many existing models of oilfield detonators are available with a fluid-disabling capability. This capability requires that if the detonator is exposed to fluid for some period of time, the detonator will no longer fire. To accomplish this, many models incorporate a hole through the detonator to allow the fluid to enter inside. Some service companies “interrupt” their detonator by inserting a piece of thick copper wire into this hole, which blocks the detonation train. This method is using the detonator outside of the scope of its design, and thus, it is non-compliant with the existing recommended practices.
After a conventional gun string has been assembled, none of the detonators are electrically connected to the through wire or through line running through the gun string. This is because between each gun there is a pressure-actuated single pole double throw (SPDT) switch. The normally closed contact on these switches connects the through wire from gun to gun. Once the switch has been activated by the blast of the gun beneath (when that guns goes off), the switch changes its state, connecting the through wire coming from above to one lead of the detonator. The other lead of the detonator is wired to ground the entire time.
In this configuration, after assembly, the detonator wires are no longer shunted, but rather one wire is tied to the system's ground, while the other is isolated both from the ground and any live wire, until such time the pressure switch associated with the detonator is actuated. The last detonator in the gun string, which is typically hard-wired in place, is not installed until the gun is at the wellsite.
Wiring the gun string is a common source of field failures. In some cases, the wrong wires are connected together. Other times, the connection breaks apart from vibration and/or shock. In conventional systems, the through wire has a tendency to get pinched in the carrier due to the threads used to connect the uphole end. The through wire is typically wrapped around the post of the downhole-facing pressure switch, and runs along the length of the load tube. The wire is fed out at the opposite end of the carrier. As the first end of the carrier is connected, tension must be applied on the through wire to keep it from getting caught in the threads. If the correct tension is not maintained, the slack generated by the shortening of the gun-sub connection (the carrier is ‘swallowing’ the sub threads) can let the through wire fall into the threads and get pinched.
Thus, mistakes can easily be made by the assembling personal at the well location, which may result in loss of life, safety issues, production delays, etc. The explosive materials are regulated by various government agencies. While these government agencies carve out special exemptions for the storage and transportation of loaded perforating guns, it is still not as safe as assembling the guns at the wellsite.
Thus, there is a need to correct several of these deficiencies by both simplifying the loading process for the personnel servicing the guns, and making safer the assembly and transportation of the perforating gun strings from the manufacturer to the wellsite.
According to an embodiment, there is a detonator block for housing a detonator, which includes a body configured to host the detonator; the body having a first end that is configured to be attached to a gun assembly element; and the body having a second end, opposite to the first end, and configured to electrically connect to a gun.
According to another embodiment, there is a contact end plate mechanism to be attached to a gun. The contact end plate mechanism includes a body, a front face attached to the body, the front face including a printed board circuit, and a cord holder attached to the front face and configured to hold a detonation cord of the gun.
According to still another embodiment, there is a gun string that includes a gun assembly element, a detonator block mechanically attached to the gun assembly element, and a gun having a carrier. The detonator block is located outside the gun assembly element and inside the carrier.
According to still another embodiment, there is a method for assembling a gun string. The method includes attaching a contact end plate mechanism to a charge load tube of a gun, attaching a detonator block to a gun assembly element, wherein the detonator block includes a detonator, and attaching the gun assembly element to the gun so that the detonator block presses against the contact end plate mechanism.
According to yet another embodiment, there is a downhole tool that includes a first gun assembly element having a contact end plate mechanism and a second gun assembly element having two or more spring-loaded contacts. The contact end plate mechanism has two or more round electrical contacts, the two or more spring-loaded contacts of the second gun assembly make an electrical contact with to the two or more round electrical contacts, and the two or more spring-loaded contacts maintain the electrical contact with the two or more round electrical contacts while the two or more spring-loaded contacts rotate about a longitudinal axis of the downhole tool.
According to another embodiment, there is a contact end plate mechanism that includes a body and a front face attached to the body, the front face including a printed board circuit. The printed board circuit includes plural round electrical contacts and the plural round electrical contacts are electrically insulated from each other.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments and, together with the description, explain these embodiments. In the drawings:
The following description of the embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. The following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. The following embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to a gun string having two subs and one gun. However, the embodiments discussed herein are applicable to gun strings having many subs and many guns.
Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the subject matter disclosed. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout the specification is not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
According to an embodiment illustrated in
According to this embodiment, a detonator 242 is not located in the sub 210 or 220 as in the traditional gun strings, but in the detonator block 240. This is advantageous because the repeated activation of the detonator slowly damages the sub, which is expensive to replace. However, the cost of the detonator block 240 is lower than the cost of the sub as the detonator block may be made of cheaper materials (e.g., polymers) and thus it can be changed more often. Details of the detonator block 240 and contact end plate mechanism 232 are now discussed.
The second end 244B of the detonator block 240 has a more complex structure. Plural spring-loaded contacts 246A to 246C (more or less contacts may be used in another embodiment) are attached to a printed circuit board (PCB) 248 and located so that corresponding pins 247A to 247C extend beyond the body 241. The PCB 248 is placed inside the detonator block. In one embodiment, the PCB 248 extends around the detonator 242 as shown in
On the same PCB 248 is located a contact switch 250 which shunts the leads of the detonator 242 when the assembly is not completed. This is a safety feature which prevents an unwanted detonation of the detonator. Note that the detonator cannot be electrically actuated as long as its leads are connected to each other. In this regard, detonator 242 has two leads 242A and 242B that are connected to a wire header 254, which is attached to the PCB 248. The two leads 242A and 242B are shorted by the contact switch 250 when a head 252 of this switch is free, i.e., not in contact with anything. As soon as head 252, which can be made of plastic, is biased by the contact end plate mechanism 232 in
The PCB 248 electrically connects the ground contact 246A to a corresponding ground pin 246A-A and the through-line contact 246B to a corresponding through-line pin 246B-B. The through-line pin 276B corresponds to the line-in or line-out and the through-line pin 246B-B corresponds to the line-out or line-in. The switch contact 246C is electrically connected to a corresponding switch in a downstream sub and also to the wire header 254 and to the contact switch 250. Pins 246A-A and 246B-B ensure that the ground-line and the through-line continue to the next gun.
The detonator block further includes another safety feature, the interrupter mechanism 260. The interrupter mechanism 260 includes, among other elements, a cap 262 and an arm 264. Cap 262 is placed to block a ballistic connection between the detonator 242 and the detonation cord 234 of the gun 230. This means that even if the detonator 242 is accidentally actuated, the produced pressure waves would not ignite the detonation cord 234 inside the gun 230, and thus, the explosive charges 238 of the gun are not actuated. Cap 262 may have the same or a larger diameter than the detonator 242 for preventing the pressure waves from the detonator to propagate downstream to the gun 230. Note that the detonator block does not have to simultaneously have all the safety features discussed herein. The detonator block may include at least one of these safety features. In one application, the detonator block may include any combination of these safety features.
Another safety feature that may be added to the detonator block is now discussed with regard to
The configuration of the contact end plate mechanism 232 is now discussed with regard to
One skilled in the art would appreciate at least two advantages of these electrical contacts. First, the process of making these contacts (i.e., treating a printed circuit board to have three concentric rings) is easier and cheaper than stamping metal contacts as currently done in the industry. Second, the current guns require an accurate alignment of the various components for matching the electrical contacts of these various components. In the present embodiments, the three electrical contacts 246A, 246B and 246C of the detonator block 240 and the corresponding three electrical contacts 502, 504, and 506 of the contact end plate mechanism 232 do not need to exactly match each other because of the circular shape of the contacts 502, 504, and 506. In other words, the electrical contacts of the detonator block may be rotated in any way relative to their longitudinal axis X and they still contact the electrical contacts of the contact end plate mechanism. Further, even if there is a gap between the detonator block and the contact end plate mechanism along the axis X, because of the springs biasing the pins of the electrical contacts of the detonator block against the contact end plate mechanism, a good electrical contact is achieved between the detonator block and the contact end plate mechanism. Thus, assembly of the detonator block and the contact end plate mechanism is simplified as no precise alignment of the two parts is required.
In one embodiment, the downhole tool 200 includes a first gun assembly element (e.g., gun 230) having a contact end plate mechanism 232 and a second gun assembly element (e.g., detonator block 240) having two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B. The two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B of the second gun assembly 240 make an electrical contact with to the two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504. In this embodiment, the two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B maintain the electrical contact with the two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504 while the two or more spring-loaded contacts rotate about a longitudinal axis of the downhole tool.
The contact end plate mechanism 232 shown in
On the back of the PCB front face 500, an electrical connector 540 may be attached and this connector electrically connects the three electrical contacts 502, 504, and 506 to corresponding wires 502′, 504′ and 506′ for extending the ground, through-wire and fire-wire along the gun 230.
To attach the contact end plate mechanism 232 to the charge load tube 236, one or more clamps 542 may be used. In one application, the one or more clamps 542 may be formed in the body 520 of the contact end plate mechanism 232, as shown in
As discussed above with regard to
According to an embodiment, when the detonator block 240 is not in mechanical contact with the contact end plate mechanism, i.e., when the detonator block is not assembled, the leads of the detonator 242 are shunted (a first safety protection), and the interrupter 260 ballistically isolates the detonator (a second safety protection) from the detonator cord.
Because of these features, the detonator block and the contact end plate mechanism can be shipped from the manufacturer site to the well site in a variety of ways. According to one approach, a complete gun string can be shipped as it poses no more danger than shipping a conventional gun string. Another approach is to ship gun subassemblies in a palletized manner, with the detonator blocks attached to the respective subs. This is safe, as the detonator is on the opposite side of a pressure bulkhead from the secondary explosive, and is shunted by contact switch 250 and interrupted by interrupter mechanism 260. Still another approach would be to keep the detonator blocks separate from the carrier assemblies, and have them installed right before sending the gun string into the well.
While the various features illustrated above have been discussed in the context of the oil and gas industry, those skilled in the art would understand that the novel features are applicable to devices in any field. For example, the rotatable multipin connection between the detonator block and the contact end plate mechanism utilizing the printed circuit board as an electromechanical connection may be used in the electronics field. The spring loading of the pins 247A to 247C may account for tolerances in makeup and add practicality to any two elements that need to be electrically connected. Furthermore, the cost of such PCB connector is much below other multipin designs.
The electrical connections of the gun string, un-shunting and un-interrupting the detonator may be all performed when one gun 230 is attached to the next during thread makeup. These actions can be timed such that the electrical connections are made first, while the detonator is still shunted and interrupted. A fuse 251 (see
A method for assembling a gun string is now discussed with regard to
The contact end plate mechanism 232 to be attached to a gun 230, includes a body 520; a front face 500 attached to the body 520, the front face including a printed board circuit 501; and a cord holder 526 attached to the front face 500 and configured to hold a detonation cord of the gun. In one application, the printed board circuit includes plural electrical contacts 502, 504. The plural electrical contacts are circular and formed on an external face of the printed circuit board. In one application, the contact end plate mechanism may also include an electrical connector 540 formed on an internal face of the printed board circuit, which is opposite to the plural electrical contacts, wherein the electrical connector electrically connects each of the plural contacts to a corresponding ground line and through line. The contact end plate mechanism may also include a retainer 512 that attaches the front face to the body with clamps, where the cord holder is attached with clamps to the body. In one application, the body has clamps that connect to one end of a charge load tube of the gun.
In another embodiment, a contact end plate mechanism includes a body 520 and a front face 500 attached to the body 520, the front face including a printed board circuit 501. The printed board circuit includes plural round electrical contacts 502, 504, and the plural round electrical contacts are electrically insulated from each other. The plural round electrical contacts may be circular. The printed board circuit has a central opening. The plural round electrical contacts are configured to achieve corresponding electrical connections with plural spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B. The corresponding electrical contacts are maintained when the plural round electrical contacts rotate or the plural spring-loaded contacts rotate.
In one embodiment, a downhole tool 200 includes a first gun assembly element 230 having a contact end plate mechanism 232 and a second gun assembly element 240 having two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B. The contact end plate mechanism 232 has two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504, wherein the two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B of the second gun assembly 240 make an electrical contact with to the two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504 and where the two or more spring-loaded contacts 246A, 246B maintain the electrical contact with the two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504 while the two or more spring-loaded contacts rotate about a longitudinal axis of the downhole tool.
In one application, the first gun assembly is a gun and the second gun assembly is a detonator block. The two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504 are circular. The two or more round electrical contacts 502, 504 are formed on a printed circuit board and are circular.
The disclosed embodiments provide methods and systems for assembling in a more safer manner a gun string. It should be understood that this description is not intended to limit the invention. On the contrary, the exemplary embodiments are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which are included in the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Further, in the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the claimed invention. However, one skilled in the art would understand that various embodiments may be practiced without such specific details.
Although the features and elements of the present exemplary embodiments are described in the embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements disclosed herein.
This written description uses examples of the subject matter disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the same, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the subject matter is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62613802 | Jan 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16136459 | Sep 2018 | US |
| Child | 16437754 | US |
