Patent Application
20230358351
None.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the presently described embodiments. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
The present invention generally relates to oil well operations. In particular, the invention relates to a pipe connection system for conveying pressurized fracturing fluids from a wellbore through a fracturing tree in harsh environments.
Production systems for oil and natural gas generally, include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies may include a wide variety of components, such as various casings, valves, fluid conduits, and the like, that control drilling or extraction operations. Additionally, such wellhead assemblies may use a fracturing tree and other components to facilitate a fracturing process and enhance production from a well.
As will be appreciated, resources such as oil and natural gas are generally extracted from fissures or other cavities formed in subterranean rock formations or strata. To facilitate extraction of such resources, a well may be subjected to a fracturing process that creates one or more man-made fractures in a rock formation. Such fracturing processes typically include injecting a fracturing fluid—which is often a mixture including sand and water—into the well to increase the well's pressure and form the man-made fractures. A fracturing manifold may provide fracturing fluid to one or more fracturing trees via fracturing lines (e.g., pipes); however, the fracturing manifolds and associated fracturing trees are typically large and heavy and may be mounted to other equipment at a fixed location, making adjustments between the fracturing manifold and a fracturing tree difficult.
It is well known that current fracturing trees for delivering pressurized fluids are difficult to maintain. In general, the equipment used to direct the flow of fluid from a wellbore in extraction of natural resources present significant challenges to an operator. For example, it is often necessary to interrupt extraction operations to investigate a malfunction or to repair fracturing lines. Additionally, to be cost effective, once operations are complete at a first well pad site, the complex system of equipment must often be disassembled, transported, and reassembled at a different well pad site for reuse. These connections and disconnections consume a considerable amount of time.
Current technology involves threaded joints and hydraulic clamps to join fracturing lines within the fracturing tree. A threaded male end is connected to a threaded female end having a collar with big shoulders that workers beat with a hammer to tighten. This process regularly results in injuries. Additionally, hydraulic clamps are used to for connecting pipes within a fracturing line. Hydraulic clamps are inherently prone to various failures which creates unnecessary delays in the field.
Once a desired subterranean resource is discovered, drilling and production systems employed to access and extract the resource may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of the desired resource. Space is a limiting factor at these extraction locations. Space for joining fracturing lines of the fracturing tree may be relatively limited in the field. Current technology does not allow for rotational movement between adjoining fracturing lines relative to one another.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a pipe connection system that can deliver high-pressure fracturing fluid to a fluid distribution system in a harsh operating environment and allow for rotational movement of adjoining pipe sections.
Certain aspects of some embodiments disclosed herein are set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of certain forms the invention might take and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Indeed, the invention may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.
Embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to pipe connection systems that satisfy the need to deliver high-pressure fracturing fluid through a fracturing tree system in harsh operating environment with the ability for adjoining pipe sections to rotate. In one embodiment, the pipe connection system includes a female connector, a male connector, at least one seal, a hinged clamp, and a closure.
The female connector defines a central bore therethrough with a primary diameter and a larger second bore extends inwardly from an end that further defines an external shoulder adjacent to the end. The male connector defines a central bore therethrough substantially identical to the primary diameter. The male connector has a male projection that is adapted to be received within the second bore and defines at least one channel on an external surface of the male projection adapted to receive a seal. The male connector further has an external shoulder adjacent to a proximate end of the male projection. The seal engaged within each channel of the male connector is adapted to sealingly engage the second bore. A hinged clamp defines jaws which are adapted to envelop the shoulders for affixing the system in a colinear fashion. A closure means is provided for releasably joining the jaws of the hinged clamp and securing the pipe connection system.
An operator can easily and rapidly engage and disengage the female and male connectors with the hinged clamp. The system allows the connection between the female and male connectors to rotate while not under pressure to accommodate variable site conditions. The central bore (primary diameter) of the system can be configured from 2 inches to 9 inches.
Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present embodiments. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. Again, the brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of some embodiments without limitation to the claimed subject matter.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate various embodiments of the invention. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
When introducing elements of various embodiments, the articles “a,” “an,” “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Moreover, any use of “top,” “bottom,” “above,” “below,” “left,” “right,” other directional terms, and variations of these terms is made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientation of the components.
Turning now to the present figures, an example of a fracturing system 100 is provided in
The fracturing system 100 includes various components to control flow of a fracturing fluid into the well 112. For instance, the fracturing system 100 depicted in
As depicted in
In a preferred embodiment the female connector 300 is a single forged steel piece; however, to one skilled in the art, the material may be comprised of a variety of high strength steels and may be coated to increase corrosion resistance.
In some embodiments, such as when installed in the fracturing system 100, the fluid port 608 may be considered an output port and the fluid port 802 may be considered an inlet port. But it is noted that the output port can be considered an inlet port in some embodiments. In a preferred embodiment the male connector 600 is a single forged steel piece; however, to one skilled in the art, the material may be comprised of a variety of high strength steels and may be coated to increase corrosion resistance.
The pipe connection system 204, in accordance with one embodiment, is illustrated in greater detail in
The pipe connection system 204 facilitates the flow of high pressurized fluid in harsh environments. In the presently illustrated embodiment, the pipe connection system 204 facilitates the flow of fracking fluid in harsh environments, but it will be appreciated that other high pressurized fluids may be facilitated as well, such as oil. The fracking fluid flows from an end of the pipe connection system 204 and can flow therethrough. The pressurized fluid can exceed 10 k psi reaching an excess of 20 k psi. The pipe connection system 204 securely facilitates the flow of fracking fluid.
The pipe connection system 204 expeditiously facilitates the flow of fluid when on site. The pipe connection system 204 allows for rotation of the female connector 300 and the male connector 600 when static providing a translational degree of freedom in aligning the fracking tree. Thus, eliminating the need of changing end connectors for varying degrees of connections.
The pipe connection system 204 further eliminates the need of using bolt-on flange commonly used in the oil and gas industry. It is well known that bolt-on flanges require a multitude of bolts. The fastening of each bolt is tedious and time consuming. The elimination of this flange saves on cost and time for securing the pipe connection system 204. The pipe connection system 204 provides a safe and secure alternative to other pipe connection systems of pressurized fluids.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For example, the pair of receivers for accepting a bolt closure of the hinged clamp can be a hydraulic system. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein. Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C § 112, ¶6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C § 112, ¶6.
