The use of on and off tools (or on-off tools) for connecting and disconnecting portions of a rod string is known in the petroleum industry. In the typical application, the on and off tool is used to prevent stripping jobs. A stripping job is required when a downhole pump or plunger cannot be unseated from the tubing string. In such cases, unless the rod string can be otherwise disconnected from the pump or plunger, the tubing string and rod string are pulled together, with the tubing “stripped” over the rod string. However, with an on and off tool, the section of the rod string above the tool may be released by activating the tool, leaving the section of the rod string below the tool in the tubing. In this application, the primary purpose of the on and off tool is the “off” function.
However, in some applications, the primary purpose of the on and off tool is the “on” function, where it is desirable to be able to connect an upper section of rods to a lower section of rods previously installed within a tubing string. For example, if the plunger of a downhole pump has a larger diameter than the drift diameter of the tubing, the plunger assembly having a lower portion of the on-off tool attached, will be installed in the well as the tubing string is installed. Once the tubing string is in place, an upper section of the rod string is run into the well, where the lower most rod of the upper section has the upper portion of the on-off tool attached to it. The upper portion of the tool engages the lower portion, thereby connecting the upper section of the rod string to the lower section of the rod string. When servicing is required, the tool is clutched, rotated, and un-latched so that the rod string can be retrieved to surface while the plunger assembly remains down-hole with the tubing.
The currently known on-off tools have in a small gap between a housing member in the upper portion of the tool and a bushing in the lower portion of the tool. Reciprocating motion during pump operation causes the gap to close and to open every cycle. Under certain well conditions, this phenomenon can cause the on-off tool to prematurely un-latch such that the lower portion of the rod string is separated from the upper portion of the rod string. A premature release of the on-off tool causes downtime and a significant monetary loss because a crane or work-over rig, at significant expense, is required to re-engage the on-off tool. During the period the on-off tool is disengaged well production is lost. Moreover, if this event happens once, it's likely that it will happen repeatedly on the same well. There is currently no known solution to this problem.
Embodiments of the present invention solve the above identified problem by providing a rod string connection device which only performs the “on” function described above, and does not perform the “off function”. In other words, the present invention does not have an integral release mechanism. The inventors herein refer to this invention as an “on only” tool. If it is necessary to separate the lower section of the rod string from the upper section of the rod string, other non-integral mechanisms may be used to make the separation, such as a coupling having left-handed threads or a shear coupling.
One embodiment of the system for connecting an upper section of a string of rods to a plunger assembly has an upper mechanism and a lower mechanism.
The upper mechanism has a housing member having an upper end and a lower end, where the upper end has upper internal threads and the lower end has lower internal threads. An internal smooth bore section is disposed between the upper internal threads and the lower internal threads. The internal smooth bore section may have an approximate inverted conical profile. A connector is configured to attach to the upper section of the string of rods, where the connector has a top end and a bottom end. The top end has a connection for connecting to the upper section, where the connection may either be a male pin connector or a female box connection. The bottom end of the connector has external threads configured to attach to the upper internal threads of the housing member. The connector may also have an external circumferential shoulder disposed between the top end and the bottom end. The upper mechanism also has an internal slip member. The slip member has an external profile which is approximates an inverted cone. The slip member is configured so that it will engage the approximate inverted conical profile of the internal smooth bore section of the housing member. When the upper mechanism is in an assembled configuration, with the connector made up to the upper end of the housing member, a biasing member, such as a spring, is disposed between the bottom end of the connector and the slip member.
The lower mechanism or bushing member which has an upward end having, with respect to the well orientation, an upwardly facing pin and a downward end which has threads—either internal or external—which are configured to attach to the plunger assembly. The bushing member also has an intermediate section having threads configured to make up to the lower internal threads of the housing member. The upwardly facing pin is configured to be received and retained within the slip member of the upper mechanism when the upper mechanism engages the lower mechanism, and the external threads of the bushing thereafter making up to the lower internal threads of the housing member as the upper mechanism is attached to the lower mechanism. The connector may have axially-aligned bore through its center which centralizes the upwardly facing pin as it is inserted into the housing member.
It is to be appreciated that the present invention may be utilized for a variety of purposes and in a variety of locations to attach an upper portion of the rod string to a lower portion of the rod string. Typically the connector attaches to a lowermost rod of the upper section, but could attach to other tools utilized within the rod string, to a pony rod, to the polish rod. The downward end of the lower mechanism may attach to the uppermost rod of the lower section of rods, or it may attach directly to a valve rod bushing on the valve rod of a pump plunger.
In some embodiments of the invention, the connector may have a port which prevents hydraulic locking which might otherwise occur when the upwardly facing pin is received within the slip member. The port may extend from an interior wall of the connector to an exterior wall of the connector.
A seat member may be disposed between the biasing member and the slip member, where the seat member provides a positive engagement between the biasing member and the slips. Otherwise, the biasing member may shift which can cause the slips to unevenly grip the upwardly facing pin of the bushing.
The internal slip member may be configured to have a plurality of vertical sections, for example three sections each describing an arc of 120 degrees. The interior surface of the internal slip member may have a plurality of serrations, which provide a gripping surface for the surface of the upwardly facing pin of the bushing member.
The components of embodiments of the invention may be configured to facilitate the receiving for the upwardly facing pin within the housing member. For example, the upwardly facing pin may have a beveled tip and the lower end of the housing member may be beveled inwardly, such that the housing member is guided over the upwardly facing pin as the tool is lowered into the well on the end of upward section of the rod string.
Embodiments of the present invention also provide a method for connecting an upper section of a rod string to a plunger assembly. In the method, a string of tubing is installed into an oil well, where a plunger assembly is disposed within the tubing, and a lower mechanism of rod connection system as described herein is attached to the plunger assembly. An upper mechanism of a rod connection system as described herein is attached to an upper section of the rod string and lowered into the well until the internal slip mechanism slides over the upwardly facing pin of the lower mechanism. The upper section of the rod string is thereafter rotated causing the external threads of the lower mechanism to make up to the threads of the housing member.
The following description may utilize such directional terms as “upper,” “lower,” “inner,” “outer,” “inside,” “outside,” etc. The use of such terms is made with respect to orientation of the figures submitted herewith and as understood with respect to the orientation of an oilwell and the production equipment utilized in an oilwell. However, it is to be understood that such terms may have a different orientation in an actual installation, such that the use of such terms are not to be understood to limit the claimed invention to those particular orientations.
Referring now to the figures,
Slip member 122 may comprise a plurality of vertical sections 122a, 122b, and 122c. Each vertical section may describe an arc of 120 degrees. As indicated in
The upper mechanism 102 further comprises a connector 118 which is configured to attach to the upper section 120 of the string of rods 16. Connector 118 may comprise external threads 130 which make up to upper internal threads 112 of housing member 106. In addition, connector 118 may have an axially-aligned bore 150 which centralizes pin 140 as it is inserted into the housing member. Connector 118 may also have a port 152 which prevents hydraulic locking which may occur as pin 140 of the lower mechanism 104 enters the axially-aligned bore 150. Port 152 extends from an interior wall of the connector 118 to an exterior wall as indicated in
When the upper mechanism 102 is assembled, it is assembled as depicted in
Lower mechanism 104 (also referred to as a bushing member) has an upward end 132 and a downward end 134. Downward end 134 comprises threads 136, which are shown as internal threads in
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