Patent Grant
7367404
1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of this invention relate to a tubing seal, and in particular to a method and arrangement for producing a seal between two tubing sections. Other aspects of the invention relate to a tubing anchor, and to a method and arrangement for anchoring one tubing section relative to another. The different aspects of the invention have particular utility in downhole applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many instances it is desired to provide a seal between two overlapping tubing sections in a downhole environment. Where space permits, the seals may be formed of elastomeric packer elements or perhaps as metal-to-metal seals which are energised by spring packs or the like. However, in many applications there will not be sufficient space to accommodate such a sealing arrangement, for example in thin-wall tubing, and in such cases the seals are more often provided in the form of O-ring or chevron sealing members. It has also been proposed to create seals around expandable tubing using sealing members in the form of bands of relatively soft metal, as described in PCT/GB99/04365. In such cases, in order to create an effective seal, it is necessary for the sealing member to extend beyond the surface of the tubing. This makes the seal vulnerable to damage and dislodgement as the tubing is run into the bore.
It is among the objectives of aspects of the present invention to provide a method of forming a seal which obviates or mitigates these and other disadvantages of the prior art.
In other instances it is desired to anchor or secure one tubing section or tool relative to another. This is often achieved by means of slips, typically fingers or keys having a serrated or grooved outer face which co-operate with wedges or cams to push the slips radially outwards to engage with surrounding casing. However, such slips, and the associated slip energising or setting arrangement, occupy a relatively large volume. As described in applicant's International (PCT) Application No. PCT/GB9904365, it has been proposed to overcome this difficulty in some situations by providing a hanger arrangement in which inner tubing carrying small hard elements on its outer surface is expanded into engagement with surrounding tubing. However, the gripping elements are exposed to damage as the inner tubing is run into the bore and may, for example, be scraped from the tubing by contact with a ledge or other restriction. Also, the relatively hard elements may score or scrape the relatively soft material of the existing casing, or bore restrictions such as valve seats, as the tubing is run in.
It is among the objects of other aspects of the invention to provide an anchoring arrangement which obviates or mitigates these disadvantages.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a seal between two tubular members, the method comprising:
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a seal-forming arrangement comprising:
Preferably, the sealing member initially describes a diameter less than said first diameter, that is the outer surface of the sealing member is recessed from the exterior of the tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a seal between two tubular members, the method comprising:
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a seal-forming arrangement comprising:
As the sealing member is located within the recess, and does not initially extend beyond the external surface of the first tubular member, the sealing member is protected from damage during handling and running into the second tubular member. This is particularly useful in downhole applications, in which the first tubular member may have to pass through several thousand metres of tubing defining ledges, restrictions and other hazards, before reaching the sealing location.
Where reference is made to a second tubular member, this is intended to encompass any appropriate tubing or bore, including a bore formed in a non-cylindrical object, and a drilled bore in an earth formation.
The recess may take any appropriate form, and preferably will be in the form of an annular -or part-annular depression. Alternatively, adjacent surface portions of the first tubular member may be upset, or may define ribs or other projections to protect the sealing member.
The recess may be formed by one or more of a variety of methods, including: deforming the first tubular member at said seal portion to create a localised reduction in external diameter, which may occur while retaining the wall thickness of the tubular member; or moving or removing material from said seal location to create a region of reduced wall thickness. Alternatively, the tubular member may be cast or otherwise formed with the recess.
The sealing member receiving recess may itself be provided within a larger recess. This provides still further protection for the sealing member; for example, fluid flowing in an annulus between the first and second tubular members will decelerate on encountering the larger recess, and thus there is less likelihood of the sealing member being washed out of the recess.
The sealing member may be formed of any appropriate material, including an elastomer or a metal, which metal may be relatively ductile or, alternatively, may be adapted to experience only elastic deformation in the creation of a sealing contact with the second tubing member.
On expanding the seal portion, the sealing member may be deformed to a lens-shaped cross-section.
Preferably, the seal portion is expanded by rolling expansion, with an expansion member being rotated within the first tubular member with a face in rolling contact with an internal surface thereof. Such expansion creates a hoop stress in the first tubular member, which tends to increase the ability of the member to withstand external compressive or crush forces, including external fluid pressure. Most preferably, the seal portion is deformed by compressive plastic deformation, which may produce a localised reduction in wall thickness and a subsequent increase in diameter.
The first tubular member may be expanded only at or in the area of the seal portion, or an extended portion of the tubular member may be expanded; this may be useful in anchoring the first tubular member in the second tubular member.
Preferably, a plurality of longitudinally spaced-apart circumferential seal members are provided.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of forming a coupling or anchor between two tubular members, the method comprising:
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an anchor-forming arrangement comprising:
As the anchoring member is located within the recess, and does not initially extend beyond the external surface of the first tubular member, the anchoring member is protected from damage during handling and running into the second tubular member and will itself not cause damage to the second tubular member.
The anchoring member may be formed of any appropriate material, and typically is formed of a relatively hard material, that is a material harder than the material of the tubular member. The anchoring member may take any appropriate form, and is preferably in the form of a ring, which may be split or otherwise segmented. The member may define serrations or teeth. Alternatively, the anchoring member may be in the form of a volume or area of hard material, or an area of blocks or pieces of relatively hard material.
The anchoring member may be releasable, that is the member may be movable to disengage from an inner surface of the second tubular member. This may be achieved by moving the engaged anchor member relative to the second tubular member to locate the anchor member above a groove or the like, or by otherwise removing support for the anchor member.
The invention also relates to a method of reinforcing a thin-walled tubular member against crush forces, the method comprising:
This aspect of the invention allows relatively thin walled tubing to be utilised as, for example, a patch or straddle in circumstances where the tubing, before expansion, would not be capable of resisting the external pressure forces which the expanded tubing will experience. This allows use of a thinner wall and thus less expensive tubing, and also facilitates expansion of the tubing.
These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a, 3b and 3c illustrate steps in the creation of a seal in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and utilising the seal forming arrangement of
a, 16b and 16c illustrate the expansion of the inner tubing member of
a, 17b and 17c illustrate an alternative expansion process for the inner tubing member of
a and 22b show steps in the creation of the coupling arrangement of
a and 25b show steps in the release of the coupling arrangement of
a and 28b show steps in the release of the coupling arrangement of
Reference is first made to
Machined in an outer face of the first tubing member 30 is an annular groove 34, which groove is occupied by a sealing member in the form of an elastomeric sealing ring 36. The outer surface of the sealing ring 36 has a maximum diameter which is less than the adjacent portions of the tubing member 30.
To form a seal between the tubing members 30, 32, the first tubing member 30 is expanded by a rolling expansion process which reduces the thickness of the wall of the first tubing member from T to t, as illustrated in
In another embodiment, a pipe or a casing may include a circumferentially extending and fully recessed elastomeric ring as shown in FIGS. 11A-11B and described in paragraph 0069 of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0019638, which is herein incorporated by reference. In a further embodiment, an elastomeric ring may be flush mounted in a circumferential groove formed in an outer surface of the pipe or the casing as shown in FIGS. 12A-12B and described in paragraph 0070 of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0019638.
Reference is now made to
As will be noted from
Reference is now made to
In the arrangement illustrated in
In
It will be noted by comparing the different forms of groove arrangements that the use of formed grooves tends to result in a greater degree of deformation of the sealing member. Thus, the form of the groove and the form of the sealing member may be varied according to the intended application.
Reference is now made to
One example of the expansion process is illustrated in
A slightly different expansion operation is illustrated in
Reference is now made to
To engage the ring slip member 130 with the second tubing member 140, and lock the first tubing member 138 relative the second tubing member 140, an expander is passed through the first tubing member 138 to “take out” the protrusion 144 created in forming the groove 134. After expansion, and as illustrated in
To subsequently release the first tubing member 138 from the second tubing member 140, a tool 148 is run into the bore to provide fluid communications between the tool interior 150 and the fluid port 142, as illustrated in
Reference is now made to
The ring slip member 160 is engaged with the outer tubing 158, to lock the tubing members 156, 158 together, in a similar manner to the above described embodiments, that is by passing an expander through the inner tubing member 156. The ring slip 160 may or may not be split, however during the locking process the slip member 160 is not deformed completely past the yield point of the material; this provides a restoring force to facilitate release of the member 160, as described below.
To release the inner tubing member 156, an upwards force is applied to the inner tubing member 156, which force may be applied mechanically or hydraulically. The release force must be sufficient to shear the pin 164, allowing the tubing 156 to move upwards relative to the outer tubing 158 and the slip member 160, which is of course locked relative to the tubing 158. This relative movement positions the slip member 160 in the deeper portion of the groove 162b (
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
When the tubing 260 is located within a larger diameter tubing (not shown), and expanded as described above, the sealing members in the grooves 262, 263 form seals with the outer tubing, and the blocks of material in the slip areas 264 key into this surrounding larger diameter tubing. Thus, the expanded tubing 260 is sealed and anchored within the larger diameter tubing.
It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the above-described embodiments provide relatively simple yet effective means for sealing and anchoring a thin wall tubing member within a larger diameter tubing. Further, the provision of one or both of an anchor and a seal may be achieved without any significant loss of diameter, and the arrangement of seals and slip members is such that the seals and slip members are protected from damage while running in and are thus more likely to provide an effective sealing and anchoring arrangement.
It will further be apparent to those of skill in the art that the above-described embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the present invention. For example, the invention is not limited to use in thin wall tubing, and may be utilised in any deformable tubing. Further, the deformable tubing may form part of a larger tubing member which is otherwise non-deformable, or not intended for deformation.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/102,543, filed on Mar. 20, 2002 now abandoned, which claims benefit priority of Great Britain Application No. 0106820.4, filed on Mar. 20, 2001 and this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/750,208, filed on Dec. 31, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,826 which claims benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,833, filed on Aug. 13, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,030, which claims benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/469,690, filed on Dec. 22, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,532 which claims benefit of United Kingdom application serial number 9828234.6, filed Dec. 22, 1998, United Kingdom application serial number 9900835.1, filed Jan. 15, 1999; United Kingdom application serial number 9923783.6, filed Oct. 8, 1999 and United Kingdom application serial number 9924189.5, filed Oct. 13, 1999. Each of the aforementioned related patent applications is herein incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10217833 | Aug 2002 | US |
| Child | 10750208 | US | |
| Parent | 09469690 | Dec 1999 | US |
| Child | 10217833 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10102543 | Mar 2002 | US |
| Child | 10990331 | US | |
| Parent | 10750208 | Dec 2003 | US |
| Child | 10102543 | US |
