Patent Application
20240075493
In the oil and gas industry, there are many situations in which threaded connections are required for the joining of tubulars. In such situations, it is advantageous to apply a thread sealing compound, colloquially referred to as pipe dope, to threaded connections in order to ensure that joints are leak-proof. Pipe dope fills any voids which exist between pipe threads, creating a seal between tubular sections. Furthermore, pipe dope also acts as a lubricant, preventing deformation of pipe threads while applying the high torque required to properly secure tubular sections together.
Typically, pipe dope is applied manually to threaded tubular connections by rig hands. However, such application methods can lead to the application of excess pipe dope to threaded connections, which can cause blockages of drill bit nozzles downhole. In such situations, it would be necessary to remove the drill string from the well to remove the blockage, which leads to unproductive time for the well.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. 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.
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a fluid dispensing apparatus. The fluid dispensing apparatus may include a body, where the body is hollow and has an interior cavity extending axially through the body, and where the interior cavity has a first end and a second end. The fluid dispensing apparatus may also include a cap sealing the first end, a connection mechanism joining the cap and the body, and an applicator assembly disposed within the interior cavity. The applicator assembly may include an applicator disposed at the first end, the applicator having at least one outlet, and a piston connected to the applicator, where the piston may comprise a head disposed within the interior cavity and a plunger rod extending from the head and through the second end of the interior cavity. The fluid dispensing apparatus may further include a pedal connected to the plunger rod.
In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a fluid dispensing apparatus. The fluid dispensing apparatus may include a body comprising an interior cavity extending axially through the body, an applicator disposed at a first end of the body, the applicator having at least one outlet, and a piston. The piston may include a head disposed within the interior cavity, and a plunger rod extending from the head and through a second end of the body. The fluid displacement apparatus may further include a pedal assembly connected to the plunger rod.
In yet another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method of applying a compound to a threaded pipe. The method may include filling a fluid dispensing apparatus with the compound, wherein the fluid dispensing apparatus comprises a body comprising an interior cavity, and an applicator positioned at or proximate to a first end of the body, wherein the applicator comprises at least one outlet. The body may also include a piston comprising a head disposed within the interior cavity and a plunger rod extending from the head and out of a second end of the body, opposite the applicator. The fluid dispensing apparatus may also include a pedal connected to the plunger rod. The compound may be filled into a reservoir formed between the head of the piston and the applicator. The method may further include squeezing the pedal a number of times, where each squeeze of the pedal moves the piston a distance through the interior cavity, dispensing the compound from the reservoir and out of the at least one outlet of the applicator, wherein the compound is dispensed in an amount proportional to the number of times the pedal is squeezed, and applying the compound to the threaded pipe.
Other aspects and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
Specific embodiments of the disclosed technology will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Like elements in the various figures are denoted by like reference numerals for consistency. The size and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some of these elements may be arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn are not necessarily intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements and have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawing.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.
Throughout the application, ordinal numbers (e.g., first, second, third, etc.) may be used as an adjective for an element (i.e., any noun in the application). The use of ordinal numbers is not to imply or create any particular ordering of the elements nor to limit any element to being only a single element unless expressly disclosed, such as using the terms “before”, “after”, “single”, and other such terminology. Rather, the use of ordinal numbers is to distinguish between the elements. By way of an example, a first element is distinct from a second element, and the first element may encompass more than one element and succeed (or precede) the second element in an ordering of elements.
In the following description of
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a fluid displacement apparatus which may be utilized to apply an appropriate amount of thread sealing compound to a threaded connection between two tubular sections. A fluid displacement apparatus according to embodiments disclosed herein may prevent blockages in drilling nozzle bits due to excess application of thread sealing compound, which may in turn reduce unproductive time of the well. In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method of applying a thread sealing compound to a threaded connection with a fluid displacement apparatus.
In one or more embodiments, the fluid displacement apparatus 1 may include a body 3 with a cap 5 disposed at a first end 4 of the body 3. The cap 5 may be connected to the body 3 via a connection mechanism 6. In one or more embodiments, the connection mechanism 6 may be a hinge. In some embodiments, a grip 7 may surround the body 3. The grip 7 may allow for easier handling of the fluid displacement apparatus 1. A thread sealing compound may be filled into an interior of the body 3 (e.g., through an opening at an end of the body 3). For example, in some embodiments, a port may be provided at the second end 8 of the body 3 to provide access to the interior of the body 3. The port may be opened (e.g., via a lid or cap threadably connected to the port) to allow a sealing compound to be injected through the port and into the interior of the body 3. The sealing compound may be stored in a reservoir in an interior cavity of the body 3 and may eventually be dispensed from the reservoir via an applicator of the fluid displacement apparatus 1.
A piston 9 may extend from the interior of the body 3 through the second end 8 of the body 3. When a fluid (e.g., a thread sealing compound) is filled within the interior of the body 3, the piston 9 may be in direct or indirect contact with the fluid, such that the piston 9 may be used to exert a dispensing force on the fluid to dispense the fluid from the fluid displacement apparatus 1. In one or more embodiments, the body 3 may also have a strap 11 secured to the second end 8, which may be used, for example, to tether the fluid displacement apparatus 1 to another object.
The fluid displacement apparatus 1 in
In some embodiments, the grip 7 may be operatively connected to an applicator assembly held within the interior of the body 3, such that axial movement of the grip 7 along the outside of the body 3 axially moves the applicator assembly within the body 3. In such embodiments, as described in more detail below, from a closed configuration (e.g., as shown in
In one or more embodiments, the body 3 of the fluid displacement apparatus 1 may be hollow, where an interior cavity (not shown) extends axially through the body 3 from the first end 4 to the second end 8 of the body 3. In a closed configuration, as shown in
In one or more embodiments, the applicator 13 may have bristles for applying thread sealing compound. However, there are additional embodiments where the applicator 13 is composed of different materials, such as a foam layer positioned around the applicator 13 in place of the bristles.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the applicator 13 may be held inside the body 3 of the fluid displacement apparatus 1 when the fluid displacement apparatus 1 is in a closed configuration, with the cap 5 closed. In such embodiments, the applicator 13 may be positioned within and movable within the interior cavity and may be extended past the cap 5 from the first end 4 of the body 3, as shown in
A connection mechanism 6 may facilitate the joining of the cap 5 to the body 3. In order to allow the applicator 13 to extend from the interior cavity, the cap 5 may open about the connection mechanism 6. In one or more embodiments, the connection mechanism 6 may comprise a plurality of hinges, such that the cap 5 may split into a number of sections, where each section is movable about its own hinge. In other embodiments, the connection mechanism 6 may comprise only a single hinge and the cap 5 may swing open in a single piece.
A pedal 17 may be assembled to the fluid displacement apparatus 1. In one or more embodiments, the pedal 17 may be a pedal assembly, which may include a pedal lever connected to the second end 8 of the body 3. A spring (not shown) may be positioned between the pedal lever and the body 3. The pedal lever may also include or be connected to a gripping portion, which may selectively grip a plunger rod portion of the piston 9 as the pedal 17 is operated. In operation, when the pedal 17 is squeezed, the gripping portion contacts and moves the plunger rod portion of the piston 9, and when the pedal 17 is released, the spring pushes the pedal 17 outwardly back to its initial position prior to being squeezed. In one or more embodiments, the pedal 17 may be manually operated by an operator.
When the fluid displacement apparatus 1 is in a closed configuration, the applicator assembly, including the applicator 13 and the fluid chamber 16, may be enclosed within the interior cavity 23 of the apparatus body 3. A grip 7 provided around an exterior of the body 3 may be operatively connected to the applicator assembly, such that when the grip 7 is slid axially along the body 3, the applicator assembly may also move axially through the interior of the body 3. In some embodiments, a grip 7 may be operatively connected to the fluid chamber 16 of the applicator assembly via a connection bridge extending through a slot formed along a partial length of the body 3. The grip 7 may be slid in a direction toward the cap 5 to push a front end of the applicator 13 through the cap 5 to open the cap 5 and extend the applicator 13 completely out of the interior of the body 3 to move the fluid displacement apparatus 1 in an open configuration (e.g., as shown in
A piston 9 may be assembled to the body 3, such that a head of the piston 9 is disposed within an interior cavity 23 of the body 3 and a plunger rod portion of the piston 9 extends from the head to outside of the a second end of the body 3. Additionally, a fluid may be filled in a reservoir 15 portion of the interior cavity 23. The piston head may move axially through the interior cavity 23 to exert a force on fluid filled in the reservoir 15 and dispense fluid from the reservoir 15 out of the applicator 13 provided at the first end 4 of the fluid displacement apparatus 25.
Initially, a fluid displacement apparatus 1 may be filled with a compound, S602. In one or more embodiments, the compound may be a thread sealing compound. The fluid displacement apparatus 1 may have a reservoir designed to hold the compound prior to use, where the reservoir may be provided within the interior cavity 23 (e.g., within a fluid chamber provided within the interior cavity or formed by the interior cavity 23), between the applicator 13 and the head 19 of the piston 9. Once the reservoir has been filled with the compound, the piston 9 may be inserted such that the head 19 seals the reservoir 15 from an opposite end of the applicator. The pedal 17 may be fitted to the plunger rod 21 before or after filling a reservoir with a compound depending on the location and operation of an opening through which the compound is injected into the reservoir. For example, in some embodiments, a reservoir may be filled with a compound via a port formed through the body 3 of the fluid displacement apparatus, where the port may be fluidly connected to the reservoir, and where the port may be opened and closed without disassembling the pedal.
In some embodiments, a fluid displacement apparatus 1 may be filled with a compound while the fluid displacement apparatus 1 is in a closed configuration, where an applicator assembly is stored in an interior of the apparatus body 3.
When a fluid displacement apparatus 1 is provided in a closed configuration, the fluid displacement apparatus 1 may be moved to an open configuration prior to its use. In one or more embodiments, moving the apparatus from a closed configuration to an open configuration may include moving a grip 7 provided on an exterior of the body 3 to move a connected applicator 13 from the interior cavity 23 to outside of the body 3. In other embodiments, the applicator 13 may be fixedly positioned at a first end 4 of the body 3.
Next, the pedal 17 may be squeezed a number of times, where each squeeze moves the piston head a given distance through the reservoir 15, S604. Moving the piston 9 through the reservoir 15 induces the dispensing of a certain volume of compound through the applicator 13, which is proportional to the given distance moved by the piston 9, S606. In such manner, the compound may be dispensed from the reservoir 15 out of the at least one outlet on the applicator 13 in a volume proportional to the number of times the pedal 17 is squeezed. Finally, the dispensed compound may then be applied to a threaded pipe connection, S608.
In one or more embodiments, the method depicted in flowchart 600 may be tailored to a tubular of a particular size. For example, for a given threaded pipe, an operator may determine the size of the threaded pipe. In one or more embodiments, the size may refer to a diameter or a circumference, for example. Based on the determined size, an amount of compound needed may be calculated. Such a calculation may ensure that an adequate amount of compound is applied to provide appropriate lubrication and sealing without inducing blockages downhole. Since each pedal squeeze dispenses a given volume of compound, an operator may then calculate the number of pedal squeezes required to dispense the required amount of compound to the selected size of threaded connection.
Further, the calculation of the required number of pedal squeezes may be repeated to standardize the number of squeezes required per tubular size. For example, to create a standardized system for determining a required number of pipe squeezes, an operator may obtain a number of threaded pipes, where each of the threaded pipes has a different diameter. The operator may then calculate a required amount of compound for each of the threaded pipes, which can be used to calculate a required number of pedal squeezes for each of the threaded pipes. For example, X1 amount of pedal squeezes may be calculated to dispense a required amount of compound to a threaded connection having a diameter D1, X2 amount of pedal squeezes may be calculated to dispense a required amount of compound to a threaded connection having a diameter D2, etc. As such, the operator may then create a standardized system, where a specific number of pedal squeezes are assigned to each tubular size.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide at least one of the following advantages. Use of a fluid dispensing apparatus allows for application of an appropriate amount of thread sealing compound to a threaded pipe connection. The fluid dispensing apparatus prevents excess thread sealing compound from creating a blockage, e.g., in downhole drill bit nozzles. Such blockages necessitate removal of the entire drill string from the well in order to clear the obstruction. Removal of a drill string from a well induces well unproductive time, which can be extremely expensive. Using a fluid dispensing apparatus as discussed herein also helps with minimizing waste of thread sealing compound. Such fluid dispensing apparatuses may also be used in many other industries in which fluid is applied to a surface.
Although only a few example embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims.
