The disclosure relates to the field of hydrocarbon well perforation. More specifically, apparatus and methods of orienting shaped charges and perforating guns are disclosed.
When a hydrocarbon well is drilled, a casing may be placed in the well to line and seal the wellbore. Cement is then pumped down the well under pressure and forced up the outside of the casing until the well column is also sealed. This casing process: (a) ensures that the well is isolated, (b) prevents uncontrolled migration of subsurface fluids between different well zones, and (c) provides a conduit for installing production tubing in the well. However, to connect the inside of the casing and wellbore with the inside of the formation to allow for hydrocarbon flow from the formation to the inside of the casing, holes are formed through the casing and into the wellbore. This practice is commonly referred to as perforating of the casing and formation. Open-hole wells are also possible, i.e., where a casing is not used and jetting, fracturing or perforation is directly applied to the formation.
During the perforating process, a gun-assembled body containing a plurality of shaped charges is lowered into the wellbore and positioned opposite the subsurface formation to be perforated. Initiation signals are then passed from a surface location through a wireline to one or more blasting caps located in the gun body, thereby causing detonation of the blasting caps. The exploding blasting caps in turn transfer a detonating wave to a detonator cord which further causes the shaped charges to detonate. The detonated shaped charges form an energetic stream of high-pressure gases and high velocity particles, which perforates the well casing and the adjacent formation to form perforation tunnels. The hydrocarbons and/or other fluids trapped in the formation flow into the tunnels, into the casing through the orifices cut in the casing, and up the casing to the surface for recovery.
Prior to perforating, horizontal or highly deviated wells are studied to determine the most advantageous orientation of perforations. The desired orientation may be selected based on the possibility of sand production, based on the heavy overburden pressure and/or shear stress existing, or based on the location of control lines and/or other downhole equipment and tools.
What is needed is an improved, method and apparatus for the achieving the desired orientation of the shaped charges.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. However, many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims. 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.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a perforating assembly, comprising a gun carrier having a longitudinal centerline and a loading tube having a longitudinal centerline mounted within the gun carrier such that the longitudinal centerline of the loading tube is offset from the longitudinal centerline of the loading tube. A plurality of shaped charges are mounted within the loading tube and the loading tube is mounted within the gun carrier on one or more swivel mechanisms that enable the loading tube to rotate within the gun carrier.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method of orienting a loading tube having a longitudinal centerline within a perforating gun carrier having a longitudinal centerline, the loading tube having shaped charges mounted therein, the method comprising the steps of (a) mounting the loading tube on a swiveling device within the perforating gun carrier, wherein the longitudinal centerline of the loading tube is mounted offset from the longitudinal centerline of the perforating gun carrier, (b) conveying the perforating gun carrier downhole; and (c) rotating the loading tube within the gun carrier.
Certain embodiments of the disclosure will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements. It is emphasized that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying figures illustrate the various implementations described herein and are not meant to limit the scope of various technologies described herein, and:
In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. In addition, the disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for purposes of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the system and/or methodology may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments are possible. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but rather made merely for purposes of describing general principles of the implementations. The scope of the described implementations should be ascertained with reference to the issued claims.
As used herein, the terms “connect”, “connection”, “connected”, “in connection with”, and “connecting” are used to mean “in direct connection with” or “in connection with via one or more elements”; and the term “set” is used to mean “one element” or “more than one element”. Further, the terms “couple”, “coupling”, “coupled”, “coupled together”, and “coupled with” are used to mean “directly coupled together” or “coupled together via one or more elements”. As used herein, the terms “up” and “down”; “upper” and “lower”; “top” and “bottom”; and other like terms indicating relative positions to a given point or element are utilized to more clearly describe some elements.
In this disclosure, unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”
In this disclosure, reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature or features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations or one or more embodiments.
In this disclosure, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or” is generally employed in its broadest sense, that is, as meaning “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
The headings and Abstract of the disclosure provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the embodiments.
In the case of a slick-walled perforating gun 1, no further alignment of the loading tube 12 and shaped charges 10 is necessary as the gun carrier 14 has a uniform thickness around its circumference. Similarly, in the case of a perforating gun 1 having machined grooves extending circumferentially around the gun carrier 14 at the interval of each shaped charge 10, no further loading tube 12 alignment is necessary.
The loading tube 12 in
An embodiment of the present disclosure having scallops 18 is illustrated in
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the swivel 26 may comprise a satellite planetary gear mechanism 30, such as shown in
An embodiment of the present disclosure having planetary gears 30 is shown in
The embodiment of the present disclosure illustrated in
In alternate embodiments of the present disclosure in which the orientation of the shaped charges 10 is controlled naturally by gravity, the actuating device 36 illustrated in
It should be understood that in embodiments of the present disclosure in which the loading tube 12 is mounted within planetary gears 30, it is not necessary for the loading tube 12 to be mounted approximate the longitudinal centerline of the gun carrier 14. Embodiments of the present disclosure using planetary gears 30 in which the loading tubes 12 are mounted such that they are offset from the longitudinal centerline of the gun carrier 14 remain within the purview of the present disclosure.
As shown in
The roller chain 60 may be an off-the-shelf product, examples of which are shown in
It should be understood that in embodiments of the present disclosure in which the loading tube 12 is rotated through use of a roller chain 60, it is not necessary for the loading tube 12 to be mounted approximate the longitudinal centerline of the gun carrier 14. Embodiments of the present disclosure using a roller chain 60 in which the loading tube 12 is mounted such that it is offset from the longitudinal centerline of the gun carrier 14 remain within the purview of the present disclosure.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in
An offset mount at each end of the loading tube 12 has thrust bearings 64 that assist in reducing friction and help locate the ballistic transfer in the proper position for reliable performance.
It should be understood that although the offset loading tube 12 shown in
In some embodiments of the present disclosure illustrated in
In some embodiments, such as illustrated in
A large proportion of wells are drilled at high angle to reduce drilling complications as well as improve accessibility of the well by wireline for intervention (sand bailing/isolation). For this reason, many of these wells are drilled between 40° to 60° deviation. As shown in
Some field results indicate sanding from wireline deployed orientated systems in the 40° to 60° deviated wells is factored into future decision-making processes directed towards open hole screens, gravel packs and standard phased guns.
Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims. The scope of the invention should be determined only by the language of the claims that follow. The term “comprising” within the claims is intended to mean “including at least” such that the recited listing of elements in a claim are an open group. The terms “a,” “an” and other singular terms are intended to include the plural forms thereof unless specifically excluded. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. It is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6 for any limitations of any of the claims herein, except for those in which the claim expressly uses the words “means for” together with an associated function.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional No. 62/635,765, filed Feb. 27, 2018, and U.S. Provisional No. 62/747,723, filed Oct. 19, 2018.
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