Patent Grant
9840890
This application claims the benefit of priority from commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/505,385 filed Oct. 2, 2014 corresponding to Canadian Patent Application CA 2,867,207 filed Oct. 3, 2014 and published Dec. 16, 2014, both of which are entitled ‘MULTI-STAGE LINER WITH CLUSER VALVES AND METHOD OF USE” and incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to multi-stage liners used in open hole or cased completions for injection of fluids at successive contiguous locations along a wellbore to create multiple fractures in a hydrocarbon zone along the wellbore.
This background and documents mentioned below are provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention, and in particular allowing the reader to understand advantages of the invention over devices and methods known to the inventor, but not necessarily public. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed as admitting, that any of the following documents or methods known to the inventor constitute legally citable prior art against the present invention.
After an oil or gas well is drilled within an underground hydrocarbon formation, the zones of interest need to be completed, namely conditioned typically by a fracking operation, in order to most quickly and to the greatest extent possible produce oil and/or gas from each particular zone. If the zone of interest requires a type of fracture stimulation, including but not limited to acid fracture or propped fracture, the zone of interest will be isolated to focus the fracture on the particular zone, and to prevent fracture in other zones which may not be desired.
Liner systems can be used prior to conducting the fracture stimulation and can be run in either open hole or cased hole applications.
In the stimulation of directional and horizontal wells, it can be desirable to treat multiple stages in a single zone, known as a cluster, with a single fracture stimulation. It can also be desirable to treat more than one zone with a single fracture stimulation to save time and expense associated with multiple treatments and time spent running tubing and tools in and out of the wellbore.
Various downhole tools and systems have been used to stimulate wells by permitting treatment/fracturing in multiple contiguous regions within a single zone. Many of such tools and systems require components within the bore of the liner at each valve which disadvantageously restricts flow of fluid through the liner during fracture pumping operations, and also, to the extent such systems or remnants thereof remain, similarly restrict production of hydrocarbons. Due to such flow restrictions, pressure drops occur, which result in less efficient operations as there is pressure loss incurred prior to the fracture fluid contacting the zone. Ideally, less pressure drop is desired to conduct a fracture stimulation more efficiently in each stage and in addition. In addition, such tools and methods require milling out of such components at each valve location prior to switching to production flow from the hydrocarbon bearing zones. It is desirous to have fewer materials/components to mill out within the bore liner immediately prior to commencing production from the hydrocarbon bearing zones.
Numerous patents and pending patent applications exist related to apparatus and systems for opening a plurality of ports in a liner within a wellbore at multiple contiguous locations therealong, to thereby permit injection of a fluid from such liner into a hydrocarbon formation, typically for the purpose of fracturing the formation at such locations.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,215,411 teaches a plurality of opening sleeve/cluster valves along a liner for wellbore treatment, and utilizes a ball member or plug to open a sleeve at each valve thereby allowing fluid communication between the bore and a port in the sleeve's housing. This invention requires, however, a ball seat corresponding to each sleeve in a cluster valve, potentially restricting flow. The presence of a ball seat at each valve to be opened, due to the resulting bore restriction at each valve sleeve, creates a significant pressure drop across the cluster valve assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,395,879 teaches a hydrostatically powered sliding sleeve. Again, such configuration utilizes a single ball, but each sliding sleeve configuration requires its own ball seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,678 discloses a multiple-set downhole tool and method that utilizes a single ball. Again, each valve requires a seat which is integral with a sliding sleeve, and which remains with each valve/port. When the sleeve/seat is forced by the ball to slide and thereby open the port, collet fingers may then move radially outwardly, disengaging the ball and allowing the ball to further travel downhole to actuate (open) further ports.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0102709 discloses a tool and method for fracturing a wellbore that uses a single ball, each valve with a deformable ball seat. Again, each valve has a valve seat which remains with each valve/port.
Other patents and published applications avoid the problem of each valve/port having a ball seat which remains with each valve, and provide a dart or ball member which actuates a number of valves/ports. However, such designs are not without their own unique drawbacks.
For example, US 2013/0068484 published Mar. 21, 2013, inter alia in
WO 2013/048810 entitled “Multizone Treatment System” published Apr. 4, 2013 teaches a system and method for successively opening flow control devises (which may be sliding sleeves) in a tubing string along a length thereof, commencing with a most downhole valve and opening a sleeve at such location, and by insertion of additional darts progressing successively upwardly in the tubing string to open further uphole sleeves. The tubing string is provided with a plurality of spaced apart flow control devices, such as sliding sleeves, each having an annulary-located recess therein with a unique profile relative to other flow control devices. A first dart, having an engagement feature sized to correspond with a selected annulary-located recess of a particular most-downhole flow control device, is injected, and such dart passes to actuate the flow control device to allow it to open a port. The process is progressively repeated for additional uphole flow control devices by injecting additional darts, having corresponding features to engage a selected flow control device. The darts are then drilled out to allow production from the tubing. Disadvantageously, only one dart can open one port, and thus a plurality of contiguously spaced ports are not capable of being opened by a single dart using such apparatus/method, thereby rendering such system/method time consuming.
CA 2,842,568 entitled “Apparatus and Method for Perforating a Wellbore Casing, and Method and Apparatus for Fracturing a Formation” published May 29, 2014 teaches inter alia dart members similar to the dart of WO 2013/048810, each dart having a protruding spring-biased profile uniquely sized to engage a similarly-sized annular recess on a plurality of downhole sliding sleeves, and thereby open sliding sleeve, with further means being provided on each of such sliding sleeves to allow the single dart member to further travel downhole and open additional sleeves having similar-sized annular recesses. No collet sleeve is provided, and a non-beveled (non-chamfered) surface on the annular recess of the most downhole sleeve is used to retain the dart from travelling further downhole.
It is an object of the invention to provide an additional alternative system to existing systems and methods for opening contiguously spaced-apart ports located along a tubing within a wellbore to allow injection of fluid into a hydrocarbon formation.
It is a further object of the present invention, in certain embodiments thereof, to provide a system which may selectively open groups of continuous ports along a tubing liner separately, to allow separate and discrete fracking of various differently-located hydrocarbon zones which may exist along a length of a tubing liner within a wellbore in a hydrocarbon formation.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system which can do each of the above, yet nevertheless provide a minimum restriction to the bore of the tubing liner to thereby maximize production and flow rate of hydrocarbon therefrom.
It is a still further object of certain embodiments of the present invention to be able to accomplish each of the foregoing objects, yet nonetheless not have to, after the completion of the opening of the ports and the fracking process, insert a reamer to ream out any remaining flow obstructions within the tubing liner, and thereby avoid additional steps prior to being able to produce hydrocarbons from a wellbore.
Accordingly, in a first broad embodiment, the present invention provides for a system for successively uncovering a plurality of contiguous spaced-apart ports along a wellbore, comprising:
(i) A Tubular Liner Having a Bore, Further Comprising:
(ii) an actuation member positioned within said bore, comprising:
wherein fluid pressure applied to an uphole end of said actuation member causes said actuation member to move downhole and successively engage said circumferential groove in each of said sliding sleeve members and move said sliding sleeve members downhole so as to thereby uncover each of said plurality of ports;
wherein fluid pressure required to shear said shear members in all of said slidable sleeve members save and except for a most-downhole of said slidable sleeve members, is less than fluid pressure required to shear said shear pins securing said plug member to said uphole end of said collet sleeve; and wherein said plug member, when opening a most-downhole sliding sleeve member, shears said shear pin therein and moves downhole in said collet sleeve from said first position therein to said second position thereby preventing said protuberance from being inwardly compressed.
In a further refinement, the tubing liner is further provided with burst plates covering each of said ports, said burst plates adapted to rupture and allow fluid communication from said bore to said port upon a fluid pressure in said bore being higher than and exceeding the fluid pressure necessary to:
In a still further refinement, the plug member is dissolvable, and after moving to said second position and after a period of time being exposed to fluid within said bore, becomes dissolved. Such advantageously avoids having to insert a downhole reamer within the tubing liner, once fluid injection into the formation via the opened ports has been completed, in order to ready the tubing liner for production so as to allow hydrocarbons from locations further downhole to flow uphole to surface.
In a further refinement of the aforementioned system, means is provided to lock the sliding sleeves in the open position once such sliding sleeves have been moved by the plug and collet sleeve to the open position uncovering such ports. Thus in a preferred embodiment, a snap ring member is provided with each of said plurality of sliding sleeve members, which snap ring member locks each sliding sleeve member in said open position when said sliding sleeve member is moved to said open position. Other similar means of locking each sliding sleeve in an open position will now occur to persons of skill in the art, and are likewise alternatively contemplated for use in the system of the present invention to lock the sliding sleeves in the open position.
In a still further refinement, the plug member upon movement to said second position prevents said protuberance from being inwardly compressed, and said actuation member is further prevented along from further movement downhole.
In a further preferred embodiment, a plurality of actuation members, each comprised of a collet sleeve having a protuberance thereon of a different with, are utilized to uncover a plurality of groups of discrete/separate spaced apart ports, wherein each of the groups of ports in the liner are positioned in different zones of the formation. Such allows injection of fluid in separate zones of the wellbore, at a time and in a sequence determined by the completions engineer who controlling the fracking/completion process to be most optimal for allowing greatest recovery from the well.
Accordingly, in such further preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention, a system for successively uncovering at least two separate groups of contiguous spaced-apart ports along a wellbore is provided, comprising:
(i) a tubular liner having a bore, further comprising:
(ii) a first actuation member positioned within said bore, comprising:
wherein fluid pressure applied to an uphole end of said first actuation member causes said first actuation member to move downhole and cause said collet sleeve thereof to successively engage said second circumferential groove in each of said second slidable sleeve members and move each of said second sliding sleeve members downhole so as to thereby uncover each of said plurality of second ports;
wherein fluid pressure required to shear said shear members in all of said second slidable sleeve members save and except for a most-downhole of said slidable sleeve members, is less than fluid pressure required to shear said shear pins securing said plug member to said uphole end of said collet sleeve; and
wherein said plug member in said first actuation member, when opening a most-downhole second sliding sleeve member, shears said shear pin therein and moves downhole in said collet sleeve from said first position therein to said second position thereby preventing said protuberance from being inwardly compressed;
said system further comprising:
(iii) a second actuation member positioned within said bore, comprising:
wherein fluid pressure applied to an uphole end of said second actuation member causes said second actuation member to move downhole and said collet sleeve thereof successively engage said circumferential grooves in each of said first slidable sleeve members and move each of said first sliding sleeve members downhole so as to thereby uncover each of said plurality of first ports; and
wherein fluid pressure required to shear said shear members in all of said first slidable sleeve members save and except for a most-downhole of said first slidable sleeve members, is less than fluid pressure required to shear said shear pins securing said plug member to said uphole end of said collet sleeve of said second actuation member.
In a further embodiment the plug member of said second actuation member, when opening a most-downhole sliding sleeve member, shears said shear pin therein and moves downhole in said collet sleeve from said first position therein to said second position thereby preventing said protuberance from being inwardly compressed.
In a further refinement burst plates may likewise be provided covering each of said first and second ports, said burst plates adapted to rupture and allow fluid communication from said bore to said port only upon a fluid pressure in said bore exceeding:
(i) the fluid pressure necessary to cause said plug member in each of said first and second actuation member and said associated collet sleeve to shear said shear member; and
(ii) the fluid pressure necessary to cause said plug member in each of said first and second actuation member to shear said shear pin and move to said plug member to said second position in each collet sleeve.
In such manner, as fracking operations are typically conduced commencing with a most downhole/furthest extremity of the wellbore, the wellbore may be progressively fracked in each zone, commencing from the most downhole/furthest extremity of the wellbore.
The above summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all features of the invention. For a complete description of the invention, reference is to further be had to the drawings and the detailed description of some preferred embodiments, read together with the claims.
Further advantages and other embodiments of the invention will now appear from the above along with the following detailed description of the various particular embodiments of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings each of which are intended to be non-limiting, in which:
In the following description, similar components in the drawings are identified with corresponding same reference numerals.
The system of the present invention is to be used in the conditioning of a wellbore (i.e. “completion” of a wellbore in oilfield parlance) prior to production of hydrocarbons from such wellbore.
Specifically, the present system can advantageously be used to provide and allow the injection of pressurized fluid into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation at desired optimal locations along the wellbore, for the purposes of initially fracturing the hydrocarbon formation and/or injecting flow-enhancing agents into the formation (such as acids, flow enhancing agents, and/or proppants) all for the purpose and objective of increasing the rate and quantity of hydrocarbons to be subsequently recovered from the hydrocarbon formation.
A tubing liner 200 inserted into a drilled wellbore serves a variety of purposes, one of which is the reinforcement of the wellbore and preventing collapse of the wellbore, another of which is to allow supply of such completion fluids under pressure to desired zones of the hydrocarbon formation, via ports situated longitudinally in spaced-apart relation along the tubing liner.
Tubing liner 200 is typically constructed of segments of steel pipe members 211, 212. 213 each of uniform length threadably coupled together at their respective ends. Pipe members 211, 212, 213 are typically manufactured in various standardized lengths, widths, thicknesses, and material strengths, depending on the wellbore depth, diameter, pressures to which the tubing liner 200 will be exposed to, and the like. Tubing liners 200 typically contain a bore 210, and further possess a plurality ports, such as ports 206, 206′, 206″, which in certain conditions are permitted to fluidly communicate with bore 210. Ports 206, 206′, 206″ are initially closed during insertion of the tubing liner 200 into a wellbore, in order to avoid ingress into the bore 210 of detritus such as residual drill cuttings typically present in a wellbore which would otherwise clog ports 206, 206′ and/or bore 210 thereby preventing collection of hydrocarbons in the tubing liner and/or preventing production of such hydrocarbons to surface.
As may be seen from all figures herein, hollow cylindrical sliding sleeve members 203, 204, 205 are provided within tubing liner 200, initially each in a closed position overlapping and thereby covering respective ports 206, 206′, 206″ thus preventing fluid communication between bore 210 and any of ports 206, 206′, 206″. Each of sliding sleeve members 203, 204, 205 is provided with a circumferential groove or aperture 220, of a uniform width ‘W’ as shown in
Shear members, which in one embodiment comprise shear screws or shear pins 222, are provided to secure, at least initially, each of sliding sleeve members 203, 204, 205 to tubing liner 200, to thereby secure each of sleeve members 203, 204, 205 in an initial closed position overlapping each of respective ports 206, 206′, 206″. Shear screws 222 are configured to shear upon a force being applied to the respective sliding sleeve members 203, 204, 205 exceeding a given design value, so as to allow slidable downhole movement of sleeve members 203, 204, 205 to uncover a respective ports 206, 206′, 206″.
To operate the system of the present invention and open a single group of contiguous, spaced-apart ports 206′, 206″ as shown in
Protuberance 234 is configured of a width equal to or slightly less than width ‘W′’ of circumferential groove 220, to thereby allow matingly engagement with each of respective interior circumferential grooves 220 in each of sliding sleeve members 206′, 206″. Finger members 240, being radially outwardly biased, may be inwardly compressed to allow collet sleeve 232 and associated protuberances 234 to become radially inwardly compressed to thereby allow disengagement of collet sleeve 232 and protuberance 234 from a respective sliding sleeve member and associate groove 220, once the respective sliding sleeve member 204, 205 is moved so as to uncover respective port 206′, 206″, to thereby allow actuation member 202 to continue to move downhole and further actuate (open) all desired remaining sliding sleeve members 204, 205 having circumferential grooves 220 therein of width ‘W′’.
A plug member 250 is provided within collet sleeve 232 of actuation member 202. Plug member 250 is initially secured by shear pins 275 to collet sleeve 232 at an uphole end of collet sleeve 232, as shown for example in
Shear pins 275, when a fluid pressure is applied on an unphole side of plug member 250 in excess of a given value, are adapted to shear so as to release plug member 250 from being secured to the uphole side of collet sleeve 232 and to then travel downhole within collet sleeve 232 to a downhole portion of collet sleeve 232, where further movement of plug member 250 is prevented by an extremity (a chamfered shoulder 255) of collet sleeve 232.
Fluid pressure applied to an uphole end of said actuation member 202 and plug member 250 causes collet sleeve 232 to move downhole, as shown in successive
The fluid pressure required to shear said shear members 222 securing slidable sleeve members 204 is less than the fluid pressure required to shear said shear pins 275 securing said plug member 250 to said uphole end of said collet sleeve 232, save and except for the fluid pressure required to shear the shear members 220 securing the most downhole sliding sleeve member 205.
Accordingly, when opening a most-downhole sliding sleeve member 205, due to the higher shearing strength in shearing members 222 than shear pins 275, plug member 250 firstly shears shear pin 275 therein and thereby allows plug member 250 to move downhole in collet sleeve 232 from the first uphole position (
In the system shown in
In such embodiment, a series/group of first uphole sleeve members 203, as shown in
In the embodiment of the system 200 shown in
Operation of Preferred Embodiment Shown in
The manner of operation of the system 200 for uncovering two separate groups of ports, namely first ports 206, and second group of (second) ports 206′, 206″ as shown in
Specifically, as regards the operation of the system 200 for uncovering two separate groups of ports, a first actuation member 220 having thereon a protuberance 234 of width W2 is firstly inserted into bore 210, and propelled downhole by fluid pressure applied to bore 210. First actuation member 220, having a collet sleeve 232 and protuberances 234 thereon of width W2 does not engage circumferential groove 220 on (first) (uphole) sliding sleeve member(s) 203 covering first port 206 due to width W2 of protuberance 234 on first actuation member 220 being greater than width W1 of groove(s) 220 in first sliding sleeve member(s) 203. First actuation member 220 continues to travel further downhole in tubing liner 200.
First actuation member 202 when travelling further downhole then encounters sliding sleeve member 204 covering second port 206′ (of the second group of second ports 206′, 206″), and protuberance 234 matingly engages groove 220 therein, since width W2 of protuberance 234 on first actuation member is equal to (or somewhat less than) width W2 of groove 220 on collet sleeve 232. Fluid pressure on the uphole side of actuating member 202 causes further downhole movement thereof, causing sliding sleeve 204 to move downhole and thus uncover/open associated port 206′. A snap ring 270 may further engage the sliding sleeve 204 when in such open position, in order to retain sliding sleeve 204 in such position uncovering associated port 206′.
Due to chamfering (i.e. provision of chamfered shoulders 221) in groove 220, collet sleeve 232 (and in particular collet fingers 240 and protuberances 234 thereon) are radially inwardly compressed when downhole force is continued to be applied to actuation member 202, causing disengagement of protuberances 234 from groove 220. Such allows first actuation member 202 to continue to further downhole to actuate/open additional ports in said group of second ports 206′, 206″.
Upon protuberances 234 of width W2 on actuating member 202 encountering circumferential groove 220 on the most-downhole sliding sleeve 205 associated with downhole port 206″, protuberance(s) 234 matingly engage groove 220 thereon. However, as the shear force necessary to shear the shear screws 222 securing sliding sleeve member 205 to associated pipe member 213 is greater than the force necessary to shear the shear pins 275 securing plug member 250 to uphole end of collet sleeve 232, continued fluid pressure acting on actuation member 202 therefore causes shear pins 275 to shear thereby allowing plug member 250 to slidably move to a second position within collet sleeve 232, namely to the downhole end of collet sleeve 232 as shown in
Where a dissolvable plug member 250 has been used, action of fluid remaining in bore 210 dissolves plug member 250 leaving pipe members 212. 213 in a configuration to allow ingress of hydrocarbons from the formation via opened ports 206, 206′, and 206″ into the tubing liner for subsequent production to surface.
Alternatively, plug member 250 if not dissolvable may be reamed out by insertion of a reaming member (not shown) within liner 200 to thereby remove actuation member 202 and associated plug member 250 from within tubing liner 200 to prevent obstruction of fluids within liner 200.
In order to actuate/open additional uphole (first) port(s) 206 in a similar manner, in such further refinement another (second) actuating member 202 is employed, also having protuberance profiles 234 thereon. Second actuating member 202 differs only from the first actuating member 202 in that the second actuating member 202 has protuberances profiles 234 thereon of width W1, where W1 is less than the width W2 of protuberances 234 on first actuating member 202. The operation of second actuation member 202 on uphole sliding sleeve member(s) 203 to thereby actuate/uncover uphole (first) port(s) 206 is identical to the manner described above for utilizing first actuating member 202 in actuating downhole sliding sleeve members 204, 205 to open second ports 206′, 206″. Again, if desired, a snap ring 270 may further be provided to engage sliding sleeve 203 when in such open position, to thereby retain sliding sleeve 203 in such position uncovering associated port 206.
Again, if desired, burst ports may be provided over each of ports 206, 206′, and 206″. Likewise in such further embodiment utilizing groups of ports, burst plates 300 covering each of said ports in a plurality of groups of ports are expressly configured to rupture and allow fluid communication from said bore 210 only upon a fluid pressure in said bore exceeding:
(i) the fluid pressure necessary to cause plug member 250 in each of said first and second actuation member 202 and said associated collet sleeve 232 to shear the shear screws 222; and
(ii) the fluid pressure necessary to cause plug member 250 in each of said first and second actuation members 202 to shear the shear pins affixing plug member 250 to the uphole side of collet sleeve 232 to shear and allow plug member 250 to move to said second position in each collet sleeve 232 when actuating/opening the most downhole sleeve in a group of ports.
The above description of some embodiments of the system and method of the present invention is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention.
For a complete definition of the invention and its intended scope, reference is to be made to the summary of the invention and the appended claims read together with and considered with the disclosure and drawings herein.
Reference to an element in the singular, such as by use of the article “a” or “an” is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more”. In addition, where reference to “fluid” is made, such term is considered meaning all liquids and gases having fluid properties.
Reference made to “lowermost”, “lower, “uppermost”, and “upper”, and all other adjectives of relativistic reference mean in relation to the position of a component when placed in a vertical wellbore.
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2867207 | Dec 2014 | CA |
| 2007112211 | Oct 2007 | WO |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160312580 A1 | Oct 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14505384 | Oct 2014 | US |
| Child | 14697271 | US |
