Patent Application
20220098929
The present invention relates generally to earth drilling operations and, in particular, to an improved radial support which forms a part of the bearing section of a mud motor used for such earth drilling operations.
Mud motors are used for various drilling tasks such straight hole, horizontal and directional oilfield drilling as well as other diverse uses such as river crossings and underground utility drilling. Drilling motors utilized in drilling oil and gas wells are typically comprised of three main components:
Hunting Energy Services, Houston, Texas, is a leader in progressive-cavity, positive displacement mud motors. Typical sizes range from one and eleven sixteenths to nine and five eighths inches, for various applications, be it coil tubing or large hole applications. These include both straight hole and directional applications. Power sections are available in a wide range of speeds.
In a typical oil well drilling application, surface pumps are used to circulate drilling fluid to flush rock cuttings to the surface for disposal. The drilling fluid flows down through the bore of the drill string, exiting into the annulus of the well through the jets in the drill bit. The cuttings are flushed up the annulus of the well by the returning drilling fluid. The annulus pressure is substantially lower than the drill string bore pressure due to the pressure drop that occurs as the drilling fluid passes through the drill bit jets.
The typical mud motor used in these types of drilling operations is a progressive cavity positive displacement pump (PCPD). As briefly mentioned, the PCPD pump consists of a top sub, which connects the mud motor to the drill string; the power section, which consists of a rotor and stator; the transmission section, where the eccentric power from the rotor is transmitted as concentric power to the bit; the bearing assembly which carries the axial load and radial loads created on the drilling operations from the bottom sub to the outer housings of the motor; and the bottom sub which connects the mud motor to the bit or other downhole tool. These mud motors use drilling fluid (mud) to create eccentric motion in the power section of the motor which is transferred as concentric power to the drill bit. The mud motor uses different rotor and stator configurations to provide optimum performance for the desired drilling operation.
A mud motor may also be described in terms of its number of stages, lobe ratio and external diameter. Stages are the number of full twists that the stator makes from one end to the other and the lobe ratio is the number of lobes on the stator, to the number of lobes on the rotor (the stator always has one more lobe than the rotor). The operating parameters include flow rate, bit rpm and torque. The relationship between the rotor and the stator geometry determines the rotational speed and torque. The rotational speed is proportional to the flow rate and torque is proportional to the pressure drop in the fluid as it flows through the motor. These principles will be familiar to those skilled in the relevant mud motor arts.
The particular improvement toward which the present invention is directed is concerned with the previously mentioned bearing section of the assembly. The bearing section is responsible for the axial and lateral control of the assembly. Axial load is usually the weight applied to the bit (WOB) and sideloads are the result of the well tortuosity and the bend on the motor itself. The bearing section can be “sealed” or “mud lubricated.” The main difference between the two is that the sealed motors have seals to keep the environment surrounding the motor from invading the bearing region which is lubricated with oil or grease. A mud lubricated motor uses the drilling mud to lubricate and cool the bearings. Since the lubricating media is not optimal, the bearings themselves may be oversized. The present invention is concerned solely with the mud lubricated type of bearing assembly.
As will be discussed in more detail in the Detailed Description which follows, there are some shortcomings in the present design of the mud lubricated bearing sections of presently available mud motors. One aspect, in particular, relates to the shape of the bearing mandrel which supports the lower female and male bearings. The shape of the bearing mandrel is determined by the configuration of the radial support employed and by the limitations in packaging all of the required components inside a housing which has an outside diameter (OD) that is determined by the Tool Nominal Size. These constraints have resulted in bearing mandrel designs which have often had a large reduction in cross-sectional area in a region of the mandrel between the point of main load application and the point of radial support. This reduction in cross-sectional area presents a weak point in the prior designs.
Thus, despite the advances that have been made in the art of mud motors, there continues to exist a need for improvements in the component parts of such systems, such as the bearing sections of such drilling motors.
The improved bearing assembly of the invention features a “tapered transitional radial support” in the form of a bearing mandrel which provides a more transitional reduction in outside diameter (OD) and in cross-sectional area than the traditional mandrels employed in the past in the industry. The result is an improved bearing assembly which reduces the bending stress on the assembly and spreads the radial loads in a more effective manner. In addition to improving the transition of the bending moment, the improved bearing mandrel of the invention becomes a more active element on the bending strength of the assembly, rather than relying solely on the lower bearing housing. This modification also allows the use of larger diameter bearings, increasing the friction surface and reducing the surface pressure on the bearings themselves.
In one preferred form, a tapered, transitional radial support for a bearing section of a mud motor is shown where the mud motor has a top sub at one end for connection to a drill string and a bottom sub at an opposite end for connection to a drill bit section, a power section, a transmission section and a bearing section which transfers rotational power from the power section to the drill bit. The improved radial support has a generally cylindrical bearing housing having an upper end facing upstream in the direction of the drill string and a lower end, an outer cylindrical surface and an inner cylindrical surface, and wherein a portion of the inner cylindrical surface surrounds and contains a plurality of axial bearings.
An improved bearing mandrel makes up a portion of the bearing section of the assembly. A portion of the bearing mandrel underlies the plurality of axial bearings and the bearing housing. The bearing mandrel has an upper end for connection with upstream components of the mud motor , a lower end for connection to the drill bit section and an open bore therethrough. The bearing mandrel has an outer surface defined between the upper and lower ends thereof which includes a series of stepped outer diameter regions that define a transitional reduction in cross-section area and a transitional reduction in outer diameter for the mandrel. As mentioned, these features allow the bearing mandrel to become a more active element on bending strength of the mud motor, instead of relying upon the bearing housing.
A number of other features result from the changes in design of the new bearing section. The transitional reduction in cross-section of the bearing mandrel allows the use of larger diameter bearings, providing an increased friction surface and reducing surface pressure on the bearings, providing more uniform bearing wear.
In its most preferred form, the new radial support for the bearing section of a mud motor is provided with a bearing mandrel which has a given overall length which can be divided into an upper half and a lower half, and wherein there are at least two stepped outer diameter regions on the outer surface of the bearing mandrel, both of which are located in the lower half of the outer surface of the bearing mandrel. Most preferably, there is a first region of stepped outer diameter which is located above a second region of stepped outer diameter, the first region constituting a greater relative reduction in outer diameter than the second region. The second region of stepped outer diameter then continues as a constant region of cross-sectional diameter to the upper end of the bearing mandrel.
The improved radial support for the bearing section of a mud motor features a bearing assembly which includes a redesigned lower female bearing which threadedly engages a lower end of the bearing housing at one extent. The newly designed lower female bearing is intentionally designed with decreased wall thickness to accommodate a set of oversize radial bearings. Preferably, the lower female bearing is a ring-shaped body with a first cylindrically shaped outer region which steps down to a second outer cylindrical threaded region. The modified shape of the lower female bearing is designed with an internal diameter which takes advantage of the increase in diameter of the bearing mandrel, which allows a more uniform spread of load across the length of the entire lower female bearing.
In one preferred arrangement, the first cylindrically shaped outer region of the lower female bearing overlies a lower male bearing and the second outer cylindrical threaded region overlies an intermediate male bearing. The lower male bearing is of greater relative outer diameter than the outer diameter of the intermediate male bearing. Also, the first region of stepped outer diameter of the bearing mandrel forms an external shoulder on the outer surface of the bearing mandrel.
Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description which follows.
The preferred version of the invention presented in the following written description and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting examples included and as detailed in the description which follows. Descriptions of well-known components and processes and manufacturing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the principal features of the invention as described herein. The examples used in the description which follows are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed invention.
Turning first to
As will be familiar to those skilled in the relevant arts, the typical mud motor of the type under consideration has a top sub (17 in
As briefly discussed, in a typical drilling application, surface pumps are used to circulate the drilling fluid to flush rock cuttings to the surface for disposal. The drilling fluid flows down through the bore of the drill string, exiting into the annulus of the well through the jets in the drill bit. The cuttings are flushed up the annulus of the well by the returning drilling fluid. A mud lubricated motor, of the type under consideration, uses the drilling mud to lubricate and cool the bearings. The present invention is concerned solely with the mud lubricated type of bearing assembly. Such an improved assembly is shown in perspective, with portions broken away, in
In order to explain the principles involved in the improved bearing assembly of the invention illustrated in
As has been mentioned, the shape of the bearing mandrel 32 is determined by the configuration of the radial support and the limitations that result from the requirement of packaging all the required component inside a housing which outside diameter (OD) is determined by the tool nominal size. The main disadvantage of this approach is a significant reduction in cross-sectional area of the prior art bearing mandrel 32 between the point of load application (arrow 41 in
With further reference to
The advantages of the invention will now be described, primarily with respect to
As illustrated in
The lower male bearing 53 and the intermediate bearing 55 are sleeve like cylinders which surround a portion of the outer surface 57 of the new bearing mandrel. They are separated by a cross-over piece 59. The intermediate bearing 55 is situated between the cross-over piece 59 and a catch ring 61. The upper male bearing 53 is situated between the cross-over piece 59 and a thrust ring 63 which abuts an external shoulder 65 of the bearing mandrel. It will be appreciated that there are now two lower male bearings, rather than the single male bearing 39 of the prior art device. The tapered transitional nature of the new radial support made up by the new bearing mandrel can be appreciated with respect to the isolated view of the mandrel 49 shown in
Note the stepped outer surface regions 67, 69 located below the shoulder 71 of the box connection 73, which in this case is a 6.625 API Regulation Box having an outer diameter of 8.000 inches. In an actual example, the difference in OD between the box end 73 and the region of the first arrows 75 for an 8.50 inch bearing mandrel is 8.000-5.893 inches or 2.107 inches, as compared to the difference in OD of the prior art example, which was 2.370 inches. The difference in OD between the region of the first arrows 75 and the region of the second arrows 77 is 5.893-5.003 inches, or 0.890 inches.
The lower male bearing 53 and the intermediate bearing 55 are generally cylindrical sleeve like bodies that are mode of metal carbides, typically tungsten carbide. Since tools used in conjunction with the drilling of oil and gas wells are subject to considerable abrasion and wear during use, metal carbides are used to form a bearing or wear surface for downhole tools because of their desirable properties of hardness, toughness and wear resistance. For example, these radial bearings may have a wear surface which is comprised of a steel support which is inlaid with a layer of solid rectangular tungsten carbide “Tiles”, surrounded by a powered tungsten carbide matrix. This type bearing surface has been found to provide maximum protection against wear while providing the superior durability necessary for extreme applications.
As will be appreciated from
The new profile of the female bearing 79 takes advantage of the available space to increase the diameter of the lower radial support. The decrease in wall thickness and mechanical strength of this part itself is compensated by the increase in strength of the bearing mandrel 49 that allows a more uniform spread of the load across the length of the female bearing 79.
The remaining components of the bearing assembly are of conventional design. The bearing housing 51 overlays the axial bearing assembly 89 which, in this case, is a series of ball bearings. The assembly terminates in a flow restrictor/upper female bearing 91 and a flow diverter/upper radial bearing 93, in the example shown.
An invention has been provided with several advantages. The improved bearing assembly features oversized radial (male) bearings which can be formed with tungsten carbide Tiles. There are two sets of lower radial bearings instead of one. The maximized diameter of lower radial support allows for a progressive mandrel cross-sectional diameter transition. The dual radial bearing design improves the mitigation of bending stress moments through the bearing pack. The new bearing mandrel design allows the mandrel to become a more active element on the bending strength of the assembly. The modification in design allows the use of larger diameter bearings, increasing its friction surface and reducing the surface pressure on the bearings.
While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms, it will be appreciated that it is not thus limited, but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.
