The present disclosure relates generally to downhole drilling, and more specifically to downhole vibratory tools for reducing friction along the drill string and/or work string, referred to herein as the “drill string.”
In subsurface drilling (“downhole drilling”) such as for hydrocarbon extraction, holes (“wellbores”) are drilled from which the hydrocarbons are produced, and frequently tools are pushed tens of thousands of feet underground. These downhole vibrating tools (“vibrating tools”) operate at the end of the drill string. The wellbores can vary in path, from vertical to horizontal and beyond.
A frequent problem for drilling engineers is tool durability and reliability that can handle the extreme forces that occur downhole, including frictional forces between the surrounding formation and the drill string resisting the forward motion of the drill string. Moreover, in directional drilling, high frictional forces resisting forward motion can result in forces building up in the drill string closer to the surface which raises the risk of buckling the drill string, which results in stick-slip, causing material fatigue or failure of the bottom hole assembly. These high frictional forces along the drill string also reduce the net weight on the drill bit decreasing rate of penetration. Damage and forces resisting forward motion increase the time necessary to reach a downhole target depth due to, e.g., simple restriction in motion from drag and from reduced ability to transfer weight to the drill bit. This in turn increases drilling time and increases drilling costs. Lowered weight on the drill bit is a problem particularly acute in more modern drilling operations, where wellbores frequently are drilled laterally or, in certain scenarios, at angles upward toward the surface. The more extended reach a wellbore is, the more likely these frictional forces will be significant enough to hinder the drilling processes. In these cases, the weight on the drill bit is substantially lessened than in a vertical scenario because the drill string is at an angle to the direction of gravity, including being perpendicular to gravity and at times opposing gravity. Moreover, in any drilling operation, reducing time to reach a target zone is viewed as vital because of the high cost of drilling. At a simplified level, an oil company's margins are inversely related to drilling time because development costs are significantly time-based, e.g., equipment rental rates and personnel salaries. As nonproductive time, including the time to reach the target depth, increases production costs increase and margins shrink. As such, oil companies constantly seek new methods to reduce drilling time.
The drilling process of a single wellbore is a complicated task spread out over tens of thousands of feet involving many different tools and processes. Oil companies look to the varied tools and processes for abilities to reduce the time it takes to produce hydrocarbons. The options are innumerous: within the subset of options to reduce nonproductive time is the option to reduce drilling time. And within the subset of options for reducing drilling time is to reducing opposing frictional forces. Existing methods and tools that attempt to reduce drilling time by reducing the opposing frictional forces on the drill string and increase the weight on the drill bit include attempts to reduce the static and dynamic friction between the drill string and the surrounding formation, through, e.g., centralizers and vibratory tools. Oil companies utilizing existing vibratory tools attempt to resolve the problem of high nonproductive time by placement of the vibratory tools on the drill string, which add motion in certain directions to reduce frictional resistance. Problems with these vibratory tools include limited range of motion, limited ability to work at variable flow rates and limited ability to avoid interference with monitoring equipment. Moreover, the tools are known to have high pressure drop. A rig can operate at a certain standpipe pressure (SPP). The SPP is the total pressure loss in the system that occurs due to fluid friction, which is the total pressure loss in the annulus, pressure loss in drill string, pressure loss in bottom hole assembly and pressure loss across the bit. These existing vibratory tools contribute excessively to the drill string pressure loss and consequently disproportionately to the SPP. Excessive pressure drop across the tool results in over-stressing other portions of the drilling assembly, or requires reduced mud flow and slower drilling.
As a result, there is a need for an improved vibratory tool that provides for vibration in three axes, is low cost, can increase drilling speed, reduce internal drag forces on the drill string, allow for more efficient energy transfer to the drill bit, that is resilient to formation and drilling conditions, usable in various drilling formations, is reliably operable within a range of fluid pressures, and allows for a minimal pressure drop across the tool.
The present disclosure teaches a tool that is a three axial vibratory tool that can be placed in a drill string to aid in the downhole drilling process. The three axial vibratory tool enhances slide and rotary drilling operations by causing vibrations in three axes to help overcome static and dynamic friction. In the axis parallel with the tool, the tool is vibrated through shock pressure changes caused by variable fluid flow through opening and closing valves. As a valve opens and closes, fluid including drilling fluid, water, or any other suitable fluid is alternatively allowed to flow and partially prevented from flowing through the device, resulting in sudden sharp changes in pressure across the valve. This shock change in pressure is translated to the rest of the vibratory tool, and consequently to the surrounding drill string, as sudden z-axis (the axis parallel with the drill string) forces and movement. In the axes perpendicular with the axis of the tool (x- and y-axis), an internal eccentric mass is rotated accelerating the tool along those axes as the mass rotates. The mass has a center of mass off center from the centerline of the vibratory tool and is rotated. Rotation of this unbalanced load creates the x- and y-axis vibrations Amplitude and frequency of the exciting vibrations can be controlled through a combination of fluid flow controls and sizing of valves and mass. The vibratory tool can be powered by a rotor-stator assembly that derives its power from drilling fluid or any other suitable fluid forced along the assembly causing the rotor to rotate within the stator and nutate around the several lobes. Through advantageous placement, the rotor rotation can both rotate the valves, causing repeated opening and closing of the fluid path, and power the eccentric mass, causing lateral forces. Because of its durable design, compatibility with drill strings, and usability downhole, the vibratory tool can reduce the time to reach a target depth in drilling by reducing friction between the drill string and the formation and by exciting the bottom hole assembly to improve weight transfer to the drill bit.
The above-mentioned aspects and other aspects of the present techniques will be better understood when the present application is read in view of the following figures in which like numbers indicate similar or identical elements:
Where appropriate, sectional views are included and are to be interpreted as continuous of the designs or patterns shown therein, unless specifically described otherwise. That is, pieces appearing as cylindrical sectioned are to be interpreted as continuing cylindrical shape throughout. Where there is conflict in interpretation of a sectional view and a more complete view, the more complete view should be assumed to control. Where there is a conflict in interpretation of a written description and a figure, the written description should be assumed to control. Where descriptions are of geometric or spatial terms, strict mathematical interpretation of those terms is not intended.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The drawings may not be to scale. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
To mitigate the problems encountered in downhole drilling as described herein, the inventors had to both invent solutions and, in some cases just as importantly, recognize problems overlooked (or not yet foreseen) by others in the fields of vibratory tools, hydrocarbon extraction, drilling, and drilling solutions. Indeed, the inventors wish to emphasize the difficulty of recognizing those problems that are nascent and will become much more apparent in the future should trends in hydrocarbon extraction industry continue as the inventors expect. Further, because multiple problems are addressed, it should be understood that some embodiments are problem-specific, and not all embodiments address every problem with traditional systems described herein or provide every benefit described herein. That said, improvements that solve various permutations of these problems are described below.
Certain embodiments of the present disclosure include a linearly arranged vibratory tool that is attachable on a drill string for use in downhole hydrocarbon extraction such as oil and gas production. In the preferred embodiment, the components of the vibratory tool are arranged in a substantially cylindrical manner to fit within a cylindrical space, including a wellbore or a casing joint and constructed to allow for attachment to surrounding drill pipe through, for example, threaded ends.
The vibratory tool can be arranged as various portions from fore to aft in some embodiments with some or all of the following components, with the fore portion being the portion intended to be placed furthest into the wellbore and the aft portion being the portion most near the surface. In many embodiments each the fore end and the aft end is connected to the drilling string or to other appropriate tools for drilling. In a preferred embodiment, the vibratory tool is arranged as in
Percussive forces are advantageous in drilling and movement of a drill string through a formation. Percussive affects can be caused by sharp variations in fluid flow through the vibratory tool, resulting in pressure spikes. Pressure changes across the vibratory tool are enhanced by regulating fluid flow through the vibratory tool. In certain embodiments, fluid flow is increased and lessened by the interaction of a valve created by the interactions of a rotating plate and a stationary plate, with advantageously located cut-outs to allow flow through. A section of one embodiment of the valve assembly is shown in
In a preferred embodiment, shown on
The pass through sections of the stationary plate insert 1601, stationary plate mount 1602, rotating plate mount 1603, and rotating plate insert 1604 vary in different intended deployments to account for different drilling mud weights intended to be used. In each of these preferred embodiments, the orientation and shape of the pass throughs sections are as shown in
With respect to
With reference to
With respect to
Both substantially larger and smaller pass-through areas are contemplated in this disclosure. Additional pass-through areas and differently positioned pass-through areas are contemplated in this disclosure. Of greatest effect on the valve function is the ability to create flow patterns of high flow followed by restricted flow such that resultant pressure rapidly spikes and rapidly drops instead of gradually increasing and decreasing. The percussive effect in these embodiments of the tool is a result of drilling fluid alternately passing through and being restricted by the valve assembly, comprising the stationary plate insert 1601, stationary plate mount 1602, rotating plate mount 1603, and rotating plate insert 1604. The rotating plate mount 1603 and rotating plate insert 1604 rotate with respect to the stationary plate insert 1601 and stationary plate mount 1602. As they rotate, as shown in
In one embodiment, the matching valve pieces have tab-and-slots positioned such that the two pieces with matching circular cuts, the stationary plate mount and the stationary mount insert can be placed together so that each is functionally non-rotational with respect to the other. Likewise, the two pieces with one circular cut-out and one fan-shaped have tab and slots to prevent their relative rotation. With respect the vibrating tool in general, the two aft pieces are in communication with the rotor and stator power section and are therefore capable of rotation as fluid flow causes rotational of the stator. In the preferred embodiment, the two aft pieces are those with the fan cut outs. The two other pieces are non-rotating with respect to the vibrating tool and the other valve pieces.
In a preferred embodiment, all components are made of alloy steel except the valve inserts which are tungsten carbide and the rotor which is stainless steel. In most embodiments for use of hydrocarbon extraction, the vibratory tool can have a diameter as small as 3⅛″ and can be as large as industry application requires.
In certain embodiments, lateral movement is enhanced by the rotational movement of an eccentric mass. The center of mass of the eccentric mass is off the z-coordinate midline of the vibratory tool. The eccentric mass is rotated about the vibratory tool causing substantial motion in the directions perpendicular to the axis of the vibratory tool. From a coordinate perspective, with the z-axis running the length of the vibratory tool, the eccentric mass causes movement in the x- and y-directions. In a preferred embodiment as shown in
In some embodiments, the eccentric mass is an elongated piece with pronounced asymmetry such that its center of mass on an axis perpendicular to the z-axis, or longitudinal axis, is offset of the centerline of the vibratory tool. With respect to the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, power is generated by a rotor and stator arrangement. In a preferred embodiment, the rotor has five lobes and the stator has six lobes. The flow of drilling fluid along the rotor provides torque as it rotates within the stator. In some embodiments, the stator is constructed of materials that minimize the likelihood of delamination from the housing. The rotor-stator can have various numbers of lobes. In the embodiment of
In some embodiments, the rotor stator power section assembly is connected to the eccentric mass assembly with the use of the transmission section, where the eccentric motion from the rotor is transmitted as concentric motion to the eccentric mass and drive shaft using a constant-velocity (CV) joint and a CV shaft. As shown in the partially exploded embodiment of the transmission section of
In a preferred arrangement, the vibratory tool is placed several thousand feet behind the bottom hole assembly, e.g., drill collars, subs such as stabilizers, reamers, shocks, hole-openers, and the bit sub and drilling bit. In this arrangement, the vibratory tool can provide pulsating forces along the drill string and to the drilling bit and can provide lateral forces to reduce the incidence of static friction.
In some arrangements, the tool is deployed with one or more shock tools fore or aft of the three axis vibration tool described herein. The shock tool can be utilized to reduce impact loading on the bottom hole assembly to extend bit life. The shock tool absorbs axial vibrations and isolates those vibrations from the bottom hole assembly. In doing so, the shock tool reduces lateral and torsional drill string vibrations, and related fatigue damage or failure of the rotary connections.
The teachings herein provide for, among other things, a downhole vibrating tool comprising a power station comprising a rotor and a stator; an axial shock assembly comprising a valve assembly; and a lateral vibration assembly comprising an eccentric mass, wherein the valve assembly comprises a rotating valve and a stationary valve, the rotating valve being rotated by the power station wherein the rotor is a five lobe rotor and the stator is a six lobe stator, wherein the eccentric mass is rotated by the power station wherein the rotor and stator generate torque through fluid flow through the vibratory tool, and wherein said rotor is rotationally coupled with the eccentric mass by a constant velocity shaft, the constant velocity shaft being functionally coupled with both the rotor and the eccentric mass.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include a vibrating tool having an interconnected power section, axial shock assembly and lateral vibration assembly wherein the power section comprising a rotor and a stator, the rotor comprising a plurality of lobes and the stator comprising a second plurality of recesses adapted to receive the plurality of lobes, the number of recesses greater than the number of lobes; the axial shock assembly comprising a valve assembly, the axial shock assembly adapted to vary fluid flow therethrough; and the lateral vibration assembly comprising an eccentric mass; wherein the power section, the axial shock assembly and the lateral vibration assembly are aligned linearly.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the valve assembly comprises a rotating valve and a stationary valve, the rotating valve being rotated by the power section.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the rotor is a five lobe rotor and the stator is a six lobe stator.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the eccentric mass that is rotated by the power section.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the rotor and stator that generate torque through fluid flow through the vibrating tool, and wherein said rotor is rotationally coupled with the eccentric mass by a constant velocity shaft, the constant velocity shaft being functionally coupled with both the rotor and the eccentric mass.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the vibrating tool above, wherein the rotating valve comprises a pass through section offset from a centerline of the rotating valve; and wherein the vibrating tool is tuned such that the eccentric mass is within 10° of the pass through section.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the valve assembly comprises a rotating valve and a stationary valve sized and positioned such that the valve assembly has a highest flow-through area and a lowest flow-through area, wherein the ratio of the highest flow-through area to the lowest flow-through area is greater than 10:1.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein at least one of the rotating valve and the stationary valve comprising a fan-shaped pass-through area.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the eccentric mass that comprises a substantially cylindrical mid-section with a wall thickness that varies from its thickest to its thinnest at a ratio of greater than 5:1.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the vibrating tool has an aft end and a fore end, wherein the fore end is an end of the vibrating tool in the direction of drilling; wherein to vibrating tool is axially arranged from the fore end to the aft end: the axial shock assembly, the lateral vibration assembly, and the power section.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein at least one of the rotating valve and the stationary valve comprising a circular pass-through section and a fan-shaped pass-through section and the other of the rotating valve and the stationary valve comprises two circular pass-through sections; and the rotating valve can rotate about an axis and with the stationary valve form an open-most configuration and a closed-most configuration, wherein the open-most configuration comprises a total open-most pass-through area in which a circular pass-through section of the rotating valve and a circular pass-through section of the stationary valve are axially concentric and the other circular pass-through section of the stationary valve or the rotating valve and the fan-shaped pass-through section have a largest overlap; and wherein the closed-most configuration comprises a total closed-most pass-through area in which the fan-shaped pass-through section of the rotating valve or the stationary valve is not axially aligned with any portion of the two circular pass-through sections on the other of the rotating valve or the stationary valve and the circular pass-through section of the same rotating valve or the stationary valve is minimally axially aligned with the two circular pass-through sections of the of the other of the rotating valve or the stationary valve.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein each of the circular pass-through areas that are the same diameter; the total pass-through area in the closed-most configuration is 8-16% of the pass-through area of one of the circular pass-through areas; and the total pass-through area in the open-most configuration is 170-195% of the pass-through area of one of the circular pass-through areas.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include a three axis vibrating tool for use in a drilling string having an operating state, comprising: a power section powered by fluid flow that generates torque when in its operating state; a lateral vibration section comprising lateral vibration components that, when in its operating state, vibrate the tool in a lateral direction, the lateral direction being perpendicular to the drilling string at a point nearest the vibrating tool; an axial vibration section comprising axial vibration components that, when in its operating state, vibrate the tool in an axial direction, the axial direction being parallel to the drilling string at a point nearest the vibrating tool; and wherein the power section is aft of the lateral vibration section and the lateral vibration section is aft of the axial vibration section; and wherein in the operating state, the torque is transferred to the lateral vibration section and the axial vibration section to cause movement of at least one of the lateral vibration components and at least one of the axial vibration components, resulting in vibration in the lateral direction and the axial direction.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the three axis vibrating tool having a centerline, such centerline being defined as a line parallel with the longest dimension of the three axis vibrating tool and located at the center of a cross section of a cylindrical portion of the three axis vibrating tool; and the lateral vibration section comprises an eccentric mass, said eccentric mass having a center of mass distant from the centerline and capable of rotation about the centerline.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the power section comprising a five lobe stator and a six lobe rotor.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the axial vibration section comprising a valve comprising a plurality of valves plates, at least one of the plurality of valve plates capable of rotation about the centerline and at least one of the plurality of valve plates stationary about the centerline.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the valve is positionable at different total pass-through areas, the different total pass-through areas defined by areas created by overlap of pass-through areas of the plurality of valve plates in the valve plates' different positions as the at least one valve plate rotates about the centerline, wherein for all different positions of the valve plates, the total pass-through area is greater than zero.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein at least one of the plurality of valve plates has a fan-shaped pass-through area and a circular pass-through area, and at least one of the plurality of valve plates has two circular pass through areas.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein each pass-through area on each of the plurality of valve plates is sized and positioned such that some portion of a pass-through area of each of the plurality of valve plates overlaps with some portion of a pass-through area of each of the other valve plates at all positions of the at least one of the plurality of valve plate capable of rotation about the centerline.
Some aspects of the present disclosure include the tool above wherein the valve is positionable at an open-most configuration and a closed-most configuration, wherein in the open-most configuration a pass-through area of at least one of the plurality of valve plates capable of rotating about the centerline is axially colinear with a pass-through area of at least one of a plurality of valve plates incapable of rotating about the centerline, and the closed-most configuration is the configuration in which a valve plate capable of rotation about the centerline is rotated 90 degrees from the open-most configuration.
The reader should appreciate that the present application describes several inventions. Rather than separating those inventions into multiple isolated patent applications, applicants have grouped these inventions into a single document because their related subject matter lends itself to economies in the application process. But the distinct advantages and aspects of such inventions should not be conflated. In some cases, embodiments address all of the deficiencies noted herein, but it should be understood that the inventions are independently useful, and some embodiments address only a subset of such problems or offer other, unmentioned benefits that will be apparent to those of skill in the art reviewing the present disclosure. Due to costs constraints, some inventions disclosed herein may not be presently claimed and may be claimed in later filings, such as continuation applications or by amending the present claims. Similarly, due to space constraints, neither the Abstract nor the Summary of the Invention sections of the present document should be taken as containing a comprehensive listing of all such inventions or all aspects of such inventions.
It should be understood that the description and the drawings are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description and the drawings are to be construed as illustrative only and are for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as examples of embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed or omitted, and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims. Headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description.
As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). The words “include”, “including”, and “includes” and the like mean including, but not limited to. As used throughout this application, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content explicitly indicates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “an element” or “a element” includes a combination of two or more elements, notwithstanding use of other terms and phrases for one or more elements, such as “one or more.” The term “or” is, unless indicated otherwise, non-exclusive, i.e., encompassing both “and” and “or.” Terms describing conditional relationships, e.g., “in response to X, Y,” “upon X, Y,”, “if X, Y,” “when X, Y,” and the like, encompass causal relationships in which the antecedent is a necessary causal condition, the antecedent is a sufficient causal condition, or the antecedent is a contributory causal condition of the consequent, e.g., “state X occurs upon condition Y obtaining” is generic to “X occurs solely upon Y” and “X occurs upon Y and Z.” Such conditional relationships are not limited to consequences that instantly follow the antecedent obtaining, as some consequences may be delayed, and in conditional statements, antecedents are connected to their consequents, e.g., the antecedent is relevant to the likelihood of the consequent occurring. Statements in which a plurality of attributes or functions are mapped to a plurality of objects (e.g., one or more processors performing steps A, B, C, and D) encompasses both all such attributes or functions being mapped to all such objects and subsets of the attributes or functions being mapped to subsets of the attributes or functions (e.g., both all processors each performing steps A-D, and a case in which processor 1 performs step A, processor 2 performs step B and part of step C, and processor 3 performs part of step C and step D), unless otherwise indicated. Further, unless otherwise indicated, statements that one value or action is “based on” another condition or value encompass both instances in which the condition or value is the sole factor and instances in which the condition or value is one factor among a plurality of factors. Unless otherwise indicated, statements that “each” instance of some collection have some property should not be read to exclude cases where some otherwise identical or similar members of a larger collection do not have the property, i.e., each does not necessarily mean each and every. Limitations as to sequence of recited steps should not be read into the claims unless explicitly specified, e.g., with explicit language like “after performing X, performing Y,” in contrast to statements that might be improperly argued to imply sequence limitations, like “performing X on items, performing Y on the X'ed items,” used for purposes of making claims more readable rather than specifying sequence. Statements referring to “at least Z of A, B, and C,” and the like (e.g., “at least Z of A, B, or C”), refer to at least Z of the listed categories (A, B, and C) and do not require at least Z units in each category. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion, it is appreciated that throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining” or the like refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic processing/computing device. Features described with reference to geometric constructs, like “parallel,” “perpendicular/orthogonal,” “square”, “cylindrical,” and the like, should be construed as encompassing items that substantially embody the properties of the geometric construct, e.g., reference to “parallel” surfaces encompasses substantially parallel surfaces. The permitted range of deviation from Platonic ideals of these geometric constructs is to be determined with reference to ranges in the specification, and where such ranges are not stated, with reference to industry norms in the field of use, and where such ranges are not defined, with reference to industry norms in the field of manufacturing of the designated feature, and where such ranges are not defined, features substantially embodying a geometric construct should be construed to include those features within 15% of the defining attributes of that geometric construct. With respect to the cylindrical arrangement, shape, or orientation of particular portions, components or assemblies, the description should be understood in context of the art at issue, in that the overwhelming majority of all devices used in this field tend to be cylindrical in nature or designed to fit within cylindrical tubing or holes. As such, cylindrical (and the like) descriptions should be understood to allow for substantial deviation from the Platonic ideal and instead interpreted to mean that the described object is designed to function in a cylindrical environment with little interference.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/760,127, filed Nov. 13, 2018.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62760127 | Nov 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16682700 | Nov 2019 | US |
Child | 18313659 | US |