Patent Grant
8720564
1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates generally to techniques for performing wellsite operations. More specifically, the present invention relates to techniques for preventing blowouts, for example, involving severing a tubular at the wellsite.
2. Description of Related Art
Oilfield operations are typically performed to locate and gather valuable downhole fluids. Oil rigs are positioned at wellsites, and downhole tools, such as drilling tools, are deployed into the ground to reach subsurface reservoirs. Once the downhole tools form a wellbore to reach a desired reservoir, casings may be cemented into place within the wellbore, and the wellbore completed to initiate production of fluids from the reservoir. Downhole tubular devices, such as pipes, certain downhole tools, casings, drill pipe, liner, coiled tubing, production tubing, wireline, slickline, or other tubular members positioned in the wellbore and associated components, such as drill collars, tool joints, drill bits, logging tools, packers, and the like, (referred to as ‘tubulars’ or ‘tubular strings’) may be positioned in the wellbore to enable the passage of subsurface fluids to the surface.
Leakage of subsurface fluids may pose a significant environmental threat if released from the wellbore. Equipment, such as blow out preventers (BOPs), are often positioned about the wellbore to form a seal about a tubular therein to prevent leakage of fluid as it is brought to the surface. Typical BOPs may have selectively actuatable rams or ram bonnets, such as pipe rams (to contact, engage, and encompass tubulars and/or tools to seal a wellbore) or shear rams (to contact and physically shear a tubular), that may be activated to sever and/or seal a tubular in a wellbore. Some examples of BOPs and/or ram blocks are provided in U.S. Pat./Application Nos. 4,647,002, 6,173,770, 5,025,708, 5,575,452, 5,655,745, 5,918,851, 4,550,895, 5,575,451, 3,554,278, 5,505,426, 5,013,005, 5,056,418, 7,051,989, 5,575,452, 2008/0265188, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,735,502, 5,897,094, 7,234,530 and 2009/0056132. Additional examples of BOPs, shear rams, and/or blades for cutting tubulars are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,946,806, 4,043,389, 4,313,496, 4,132,267, 4,558,842, 4,969,390, 4,492,359, 4,504,037, 2,752,119, 3,272,222, 3,744,749, 4,253,638, 4,523,639, 5,025,708, 5,400,857, 4,313,496, 5,360,061, 4,923,005, 4,537,250, 5,515,916, 6,173,770, 3,863,667, 6,158,505, 4,057,887, 5,178,215, and 6,016,880.
Despite the development of techniques for addressing blowouts, there remains a need to provide advanced techniques for more effectively severing a tubular within a BOP. The invention herein is directed to fulfilling this need in the art.
In at least one aspect, the invention relates to a blade for severing a tubular of a wellbore, the wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation. The blade is extendable by a ram of a blowout preventer positionable about the tubular. The blade includes a blade body having a front face on a side thereof facing the tubular. At least a portion of the front face has a vertical surface and at least a portion of the front face has an inclined surface. The vertical surface is perpendicular to a bottom surface of the blade body. The blade body has a loading surface on an opposite side of the blade body to the front face (the loading surface receivable by the ram, a cutting surface along at least a portion of the front face for engagement with the tubular, and a piercing point along the front face for piercing the tubular. The piercing point has a tip extending a distance from the cutting surface.
The piercing point may be positioned along a central portion of the front face, or offset from a central portion of the front face. The blade body may further have at least one trough along the front face. The trough may be flat and/or curved. The tip may be pointed, rounded, inverted, and/or flat. The tip may have at least one bevel extending therefrom, or a pair of puncture walls adjacent thereto. At least a portion of the piercing point may have an angled blade step. The piercing point may be stepped, serrated, and/or replaceable. A top surface of the blade body may be stepped. The inclined surface may be at an acute angle to the bottom surface of the blade. The blade body may have a geometry to provide at least a portion of the cutting surface and the tip with simultaneous contact with the tubular. The blade body may have a geometry to provide the tip with initial contact with the tubular. The blade body may have a geometry to provide a portion of the cutting surface with initial contact with the tubular. The blade body may also have a pair of shavers along the front face. The pair of shavers may be positioned a distance from the tip on either side thereof for engagement with the tubular. The pair of shavers each may have a projection extending a distance beyond the cutting surface.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a blade for severing a tubular of a wellbore, the wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation. The blade extendable by a ram of a blowout preventer positionable about the tubular. The blade includes a blade body having a front face on a side thereof facing the tubular. The blade body has a loading surface on an opposite side of the blade body to the front face (the loading surface receivable by the ram), a cutting surface along at least a portion of the front face for engagement with the tubular, a piercing point along the front face for piercing the tubular, and a pair of shavers along the front face of the blade body. The piercing point has a tip extending a distance from the cutting surface. Each of the pair of shavers has a projection extending a distance beyond the cutting surface. The pair of shavers are positioned a distance from the tip on either side thereof for engagement with the tubular.
Each projection may have a leading edge for engagement with the tubular. The leading edge may be linear. Each leading edge may have an exit angle. The exit angle may be greater than zero. The leading edge may be stepped or curved. The tip may extend further from the cutting surface than each projection. Each projection may extend further from the cutting surface than the tip. The blade body may also have at least one recess between the tip and each of the projections.
In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a blowout preventer for severing a tubular of a wellbore, the wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation. The blowout preventer has a housing with a channel therethrough for receiving the tubular, a plurality of rams slidably positionable in the housing, and at least one pair of opposing blades supportable by the plurality of rams and selectively extendable thereby. At least one of the pair of opposing blades has a blade body having a front face on a side thereof facing the tubular. At least a portion of the front face has a vertical surface and at least a portion of the front face has an inclined surface. The vertical surface is perpendicular to a bottom surface of the blade body. The blade body has a loading surface on an opposite side of the blade body to the front face. The loading surface is receivable by at least one of the plurality of rams. The blade body further having a cutting surface along at least a portion of the front face for engagement with the tubular, and a piercing point along the front face for piercing the tubular. The piercing point has a tip extending a distance from the cutting surface.
The pair of opposing blades may be the same. At least a portion of the blades may be different. At least one of the blades may have a trough for receivingly positioning the tubular for engagement by at least one other blade. The pair of opposing blades may include an upper cutting blade and a lower cutting blade. The upper cutting blade may pass through the tubular at a position above the lower cutting blade.
Finally, in yet another aspect, the invention may relate to a method of severing a tubular of a wellbore. The method involves positioning a blowout preventer about the tubular, the blowout preventer having a plurality of rams slidably positionable therein, and providing each of the rams with a blade. At least one of the blades includes a blade body having a front face on a side thereof facing the tubular. At least a portion of the front face has a vertical surface and at least a portion of the front face has an inclined surface. The vertical surface is perpendicular to a bottom surface of the blade body. The blade body has a loading surface on an opposite side of the blade body to the front face (the loading surface receivable by at least one of the plurality of rams), a cutting surface along at least a portion of the front face for engagement with the tubular, and a piercing point along the front face for piercing the tubular. The piercing point has a tip extending a distance from the cutting surface. The method further involves advancing the plurality of rams such that the piercing point pierces a hole in the tubular, and advancing the rams such that the cutting surface rakes through at least a portion of the tubular.
The blade body may also have a pair of troughs on either side of the blade body. The step of raking may involve advancing the plurality of rams such that the pair of troughs rake through at least a portion of the tubular. The blade body may also have a pair of shavers on either side of the tip. The step of raking may involve advancing the plurality of rams such that the pair of shavers rake through at least a portion of the tubular.
The tubular may be pierced before the tubular is raked. The method may further involve continuing to advance the plurality of rams until the tubular is severed.
So that the above recited features and advantages of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The Figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features, and certain views of the Figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
The description that follows includes exemplary apparatus, methods, techniques, and/or instruction sequences that embody techniques of the present inventive subject matter. However, it is understood that the described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.
This application relates to a BOP and at least one blade used to sever a tubular at a wellsite. The tubular may be, for example, a tubular that is run through the BOP during wellsite operations. The severing operation may allow the tubular to be removed from the BOP and/or the wellhead. Severing the tubular may be performed, for example, in order to seal off a borehole in the event the borehole has experienced a leak, and/or a blow out.
The BOP is provided with various blade configurations for facilitating severance of the tubular. These blades may be configured with piercing points, cutting surfaces and/or shavers intended to reduce the force required to sever a tubular. The invention provides techniques for severing a variety of tubulars (or tubular strings), such as those having a diameter of up to about 8.5″ (21.59 cm). Preferably, the BOP and blades provide one or more of the following, among others: efficient part (e.g., blade) replacement, reduced wear, less force required to sever tubular, automatic sealing of the BOP, efficient severing, incorporation into (or use with) existing equipment and less maintenance time for part replacement.
The tubing delivery system 112 may be configured to convey one or more downhole tools 114 into the wellbore 116 on the tubular 118. Although the BOP 108 is described as being used in subsea operations, it will be appreciated that the wellsite 100 may be land or water based and the BOP 108 may be used in any wellsite environment.
The surface system 120 may be used to facilitate the oilfield operations at the offshore wellsite 100. The surface system 120 may comprise a rig 122, a platform 124 (or vessel) and the controller 126. As shown the controller 126 is at a surface location and the subsea controller 128 is in a subsea location, it will be appreciated that the one or more controllers 126/128 may be located at various locations to control the surface 120 and/or the subsea systems 106. Communication links 134 may be provided by the controllers 126/128 for communication with various parts of the wellsite 100.
As shown, the tubing delivery system 112 is located within a conduit 111, although it should be appreciated that it may be located at any suitable location, such as at the sea surface, proximate the subsea equipment 106, without the conduit 111, within the rig 122, and the like. The tubing delivery system 112 may be any tubular delivery system such as a coiled tubing injector, a drilling rig having equipment such as a top drive, a Kelly, a hoist and the like (not shown). Further, the tubular string 118 to be severed may be any suitable tubular and/or tubular string as previously described. The downhole tools 114 may be any suitable downhole tools for drilling, completing, evaluating and/or producing the wellbore 116, such as drill bits, packers, testing equipment, perforating guns, and the like. Other devices may optionally be positioned about the wellsite for performing various functions, such as a packer system 104 hosting the stripper 102 and a sleeve 130.
The actuators 28 may move a piston 30 within a cylinder 32 in order to move a rod 34. The rod 34 may couple to a blade holder 24 and 26, or first and second ram. Each of the blade holders 24 and 26 may couple to one of the blades 150a,b. Thus, the actuators 28 may move the blades toward and away from the bore 14 in order to sever the tubular 118 within the bore 14. The actuators 28 may actuate the blades 150a,b in response to direct control from the controllers 126 and/or 128, an operator, and/or a response to a condition in the wellbore 116 (as shown in
One or more ram guideways 20 and 22, or guides, may guide each of the blades 150a,b within the BOP 108 as the actuator 28 moves the blades 150a,b. The ram guideways 20 and 22 may extend outwardly from opposite sides of the bore 14.
The blades 150a,b of blade holders 24 and 26 may be positioned to pass one another within the bore 14 while severing the tubular 118. As shown, the pair of blades 150a,b includes an upper cutting blade 150a (any blade according to the present invention) on the blade holder (or ram) 24 and a lower cutting blade 150b (any blade according to the present invention) on the blade holder (or ram) 26. The cutting blades 150a and 150b may be positioned so that a cutting edge of the blade 150b passes some distance below the cutting edge of the blade 150a when severing and/or shearing a section of a tubular 118.
The severing action of cutting blades 150a and 150b may pierce, rake, shear, and/or cut the tubular 118 (see
The blade 350 is preferably configured to pierce, rake, shear and/or shave the tubular 118 as the blade 350 travels through a tubular, such as the tubular 118 of
The apertures 310 may be configured for receipt of one or more connectors 312 for connecting the blade 350 to the blade holders 24 and 26 (as shown in
The piercing point 300 may be configured to substantially engage the tubular 118, preferably near the center (or a central portion) thereof. As the piercing point 300 engages the tubular 118, a tip (or apex) 314 of the piercing point 300 pierces and/or punctures the tubular 118. The piercing point 300 terminates at the tip 314, which may have a variety of shapes, such as rounded, pointed, an edge, etc., as described herein. As the piercing point 300 continues to move through the tubular 118, the blade cutting surfaces 306 on either side of the piercing point 300 may cut through the tubular 118 from the initial puncture point. The blade cutting surfaces 306 may also assist in centering the tubular 118 therebetween. Centering the tubular 118 may facilitate positioning the tubular 118 for optimized piercing and/or cutting.
The one or more shavers 302 may be configured to engage the tubular 118 at a location toward an outer portion and/or away from a center (or a central portion) of the tubular 118 as shown in
As the blade 350 continues to move through the tubular 118, the shavers 302 may pass through the tubular. The blade cutting surface 306 on the shavers 302 may have a cutting (or incline) angle γ for passing through the tubular 118. The cutting angle γ of the blade cutting surface 306 may vary at locations about the blade 350 as needed to facilitate the severing process. The cutting angle γ is shown, for example, in
The one or more shavers 302 may be configured to shave, and/or shear, away a portion of the tubular 118 on both sides of the piercing point 300 thereby decreasing the strength and integrity of the tubular 118. The one or more shavers 302 may centrally align the tubular 118 relative to the blade 350 as the blade 350 engages the tubular 118. As shown in
The geometry of the blades described herein may be adjusted to provide contact points at various locations along the blade. By manipulating the dimensions and position of the piercing point 300, the shavers 302 and the front face 303, the contact of the blade with the tubular may be adjusted and/or optimized. While
The blades described herein may be constructed of any suitable material for cutting the tubular 118, such as steel. Further, the blade may have portions, such as the points 300, 302, and/or blade cutting surfaces 306 that are hardened and/or coated in order to prevent wear of the blades. The hardening may be achieved by any suitable method such as, hard facing, heat treating, hardening, changing the material, inserting a hardened material 352 (as shown in
Each of the blades herein may have replaceable blade tips 400 as shown in
The replaceable blade tips 400 may be sized to replace part or all of any of the tips and/or points described herein, such as the piercing points 300 and the shavers 302 of blade 350 (as shown in
The replaceable blade tips 400 may be used to replace worn and/or damaged parts of existing blades. The replaceable blade tips 400 may have compatible shapes and edges to conform to, for example, the piercing point 300 and related tip 314 and cutting surfaces 306 of the original blade. In some cases, the replaceable blade tips 400 may provide alternate shapes, sizes and/or materials to provide variable configurations for the blade. For example, the replaceable blade tips 400 may be used to provide an extended piercing point 300 to vary the points of contact of the blade.
The replaceable blade tips 400 may be constructed with the same material as the blade 350 and/or any of the hardening materials and/or methods described herein. The replaceable blade tips 400, as shown, may have the same shape as any of the piercing points 300 and/or shavers 302 described herein, and may have one or more connector holes 402 for receiving a connector 452 for coupling the replaceable tips 400, for example, to the blades 150 and/or 350 (as shown in
The blade 550 may be similar to the blade 350 of
As shown, the piecing point 300 is a replaceable blade tip 400 that has been removed for replacement. The blade 550 may have a blade connector hole 501 configured to align with one or more connector holes 402 on the replaceable blade tip 400. A connector 452, such as a bolt and the like, may be used to couple the replaceable blade tip 400 with the blade 550. While these figures show the piercing point 300 as a replaceable tip 400, it will be appreciated that the shavers 302 may also be replaceable. Also, while
The blade 650 is preferably configured to pierce, rake, shear and/or shave as the blade 650 travels through a tubular, such as the tubular 118 of
The shavers 302 of blade 650 terminate at the projection 351. The shavers 302 may have a pointed configuration that may be used for piercing the tubular when in contact therewith. In this version, the angled piercing tip 600 extends beyond the shavers 302, and the shavers have an exit angle θ facing toward the piercing point 600. The piercing point 300 for the blade 650 shown in
The angled puncture tip 600 may be configured to have two puncture walls 601 extending from a leading edge 602. The leading edge 602, as shown in
The parallel wall 608 may be walls, or a portion of the walls, that extend substantially parallel to the cutting direction of the blade 650. As shown in
The angled puncture tip 600 may be configured to have the leading edge 602 engage the tubular 118 first as the blade 650 engages the tubular (as shown in
As shown in
The blade 750 is preferably configured to pierce, rake, shear and/or shave as the blade travels through a tubular, such as the tubular 118 of
The piercing point 300 for the blade 750 shown in
The square puncture tip 700 may be configured to have the flat puncture face 702 engage the tubular 118 first as the blade 750 engages the tubular (as shown in
The blade 850 is preferably configured to pierce, rake, shear and/or shave the tubular 118 as the blade 850 travels through a tubular, such as the tubular 118 of
The piercing point 300 has been reconfigured as an inverted puncture tip 802. An inverted point 800 is positioned between two piercing points 300 for the blade 850 shown in
The inverted puncture tip 802 may only extend a portion of the depth of the blade 850 between the top 604 and the bottom 606, as shown, or may extend the entire depth in a direction substantially in line with a longitudinal axis of the tubular 118 (as shown in
Two parallel puncture walls 806 may extend from the piercing points 300 toward the troughs 304 in a direction that is substantially parallel to the cutting direction of the blade 850. The parallel top 810 and the parallel bottom 812 may extend from the top 604 and bottom 606 (respectively) of the inverted surfaces 804 toward the stepped blade surface 808.
The inverted puncture tip 802 may be configured to have the piercing points 803 engage the tubular 118 first as the blade 850 engages the tubular (as shown in
As shown, the tip engagement portions 1202 extend substantially parallel to one another along a length of the flat puncture tip 1200, however, they may form an angle (not shown). The tip engagement portion 1202 may be at a side cutting angle Δ to the flat front 1206 and may have the blade cutting surfaces 306 thereon. The side cutting angle Δ may have any suitable angle for cutting the tubular 118 (as shown in
The shavers 302 are depicted as being flat surfaces having an exit angle θ of zero degrees parallel to the loading surface 308. The shavers 302 have the cutting surfaces 306 thereon extending at a blade cutting angle γ. The blade cutting angle γ of the cutting surfaces 306 may be constant along the shaver 302 and/or the blade 1250. The flat front 1206 may also have the same cutting angle γ.
The piercing tip 300 has the blade cutting surfaces 306 on either side that extends a distance from a tip 314 of the piercing tip 300 to the broach trough 1300 at a tip angle Φ. At the broach trough 1300 the tip angle Φ of the blade cutting surface 306 changes to tip angle Φ′ to form an angled blade step 1308. The angled blade step 1308 ends at the broach portion 1304 wherein the angle of the blade cutting surface 306 changes again to tip angle Φ″ to form the blade cutting surface 306 at the broach portion 1304. The blade cutting surface 306 may extend from the broach shoulder 1302 along the broach portion 1304 to the exit trough 1306. The exit trough 1306 may be a continuous curve from of the blade cutting surface 306 from the broach portion 1304 to the flat front 1316.
The blade 1350 of
The blade 1450 further has the blade cutting surface 306 that may be located at the troughs 304. The trough 304 may extend back toward the cutting direction to form the shavers 302 at either end of the blade 1450. The shavers 302 have projections 351 at a point thereof. Each of the cutting surfaces 306 extends from the projection 351 along an inner surface of the shaver 302 at an exit angle θ. The cutting surface 306 along the troughs 304 may be at a blade angle γ to define a rake along a portion of the blade 1450. In this rake configuration, the sloped cutting surfaces 306 at the trough may be used to rake through the tubular 118.
The trough 304 may extend back toward the cutting direction to form the shavers 302 at either end of the blade 1550. The shavers 302 have projections 351 at a point thereof. Each of the cutting surfaces 306 extends from the projection 351 along an inner surface of the shaver 302 at an exit angle θ. The perpendicular surfaces 1502 along the troughs 304 may be perpendicular to a top surface 1504 of the blade 1550. Unlike the sloped cutting surfaces 306 of the blade 1450 of
The shavers 302 of the blades may be configured with various shapes.
The projections 300 and shavers 302 may be also configured to provide recesses 304 with various shapes.
The piercing point 300 may also be configured with various shapes, such as serrations or steps.
While specific blades are depicted in specific positions about the tubular 118 of
The upper and lower blades 150a,b may employ the same blades. Alternatively, the blades 150a,b may be different. For example, the upper blade 150a may have a shape as shown in
The contact surfaces of the blades 150a,b can be defined by the geometry. The blades 150a,b may be configured to selectively pass through the tubular 118 to reduce shear forces during the severing process. As shown in
As shown by
The piercing point 300 of blade 150a may be used to pierce the central engagement section 1900. As shown, a chunk of material in section 1900 may be dislodged from the tubing. The blade 150 advances through the tubular 118 and engages the mid engagement sections 1902 along the recesses 304. As the recesses 304 contact the tubular 118, they rake through the tubular 118 and remove material therefrom. The blade 150a may continue to advance into the tubular 118 and wedge along the mid and outer engagement sections 1902, 1904 to sever the tubular 118, or until the tubular 118 breaks apart.
Similar or different blades 150a and 150b may be used to engage the tubular 118 on opposite sides. The opposing blades 150a,b may completely sever through the tubular 118 during the operation. The opposing blades 150a,b may optionally pierce, rake and/or cut through a portion of the tubular 118 and the remainder may fail and break apart on its own. The tubular 118 may optionally be placed under tension and/or torque during the process to facilitate severing.
Although only certain sections are shown, it should be appreciated that each of the sections may be broken up into smaller sections. Further, any portion of the blades 150a and/or 150b may be configured to engage the sections 1900, 1902 and/or 1904 as desired. In some cases, as the blades 150a and/or 150b may engage the tubular 118, the piercing point may pierce and/or remove a portion of the tubular 118 and the shavers 304 may rake through the tubular 118 until the tubular shears either by passing the blades 150a,b completely through the tubular 118 or until the tubular fails and separates.
In operation, the piercing point 300 of the blades 150a and/or 150b may engage the initial engagement section 1900. The troughs 204 of blades 150a and/or 150b then remove and/or displace remaining portions of the initial engagement section 1900. The troughs 304 of the blades 150a and/or 150b may then engage the secondary engagement sections 1902. The troughs 304 may then remove and/or displace the mid engagement sections 1902, or portions thereof. As the blades 150a and/or 150b continue in the cutting direction, the blades 150a and/or 150b may sever the outer engagement section 1904 of the tubular 118 thereby severing the tubular 118. The blades 150a and/or 150b may be configured to engage any of the sections herein at different times. For example, the blades 150a and/or 150b may engage the secondary engagement section 1902 first followed by the initial engagement section 1900 and/or the final engagement section 1904.
In cases where a tubular 118 is particularly thick, for example, having a thickness of 8.5″ (21.59 cm) or more or more with a thick wall of greater than about 1″ (2.54 cm), such as a tool joint, the shear forces used by the blades may be extremely high. By distributing the forces along the blades using the configurations provided herein, the piercing point 300 may be used to pierce the tubular 118 and remove a slug, such as initial engagement section 1900 as depicted in
In
The graph 2100 shows that the force F in the blades 150a and/or 150b increases as time t progresses until the initial piercing (or removal and/or deformation) of the initial engagement section 1900 by blade 150a as shown by initial puncture point 2106. After the initial puncture point 2106 is breached (e.g., when initial engagement section 1900 is dislodged as shown in
The conventional shear blade as depicted severs the whole shear area of the tubular at once. As can be seen the force F required to sever the thin wall tubular using the conventional shear blades, the force applied to the blades may continually increase with time as the conventional shear blade shears the thin walled tubulars. The force in the conventional shear blades may rise until a peak conventional blade force 2112a-c, respectively, is reached and the thin walled tubulars are cut.
The blades 150a and/or 150b may pierce, rake, cut, shear, displace, and/or remove sections of the tubular independent of one another. As can be seen the force required to sever the thin walled tubulars by the blades 150a and/or 150b, the force of the blades 150a and/or 150b may rise and fall until a peak blade force 2114d-f is reached and the thin walled tubular is severed. Therefore, the force required to sever the tubular 118 with the conventional shear blade may be much greater than the force F required to sever the tubular 118 with the blades 150a and/or 150b. Further, the conventional shear blades may be unable to shear large thick walled tubular and/or tool joints 2000.
The method 2200b involves positioning (2281) a BOP about the tubular of the wellbore, the BOP having a plurality of rams slidably positionable therein (the blowout preventer having a plurality of opposing rams slidably positionable therein and a plurality of blades carried by the plurality of opposing rams for engaging the tubular), piercing (2283) the tubular with a piercing point of at least one of the blades such that a portion of the tubular is dislodged therefrom, and raking (2285) through the tubular with a cutting surface of at least one of the blades to displace material of the tubular.
The raking of either method may be performed using the cutting surfaces and/or shavers. The cutting surfaces may also be used to pierce a hole in the tubular. Steps of either method may be used together, repeated and/or performed in any order.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the techniques disclosed herein can be implemented for automated/autonomous applications via software configured with algorithms to perform the desired functions. These aspects can be implemented by programming one or more suitable general-purpose computers having appropriate hardware. The programming may be accomplished through the use of one or more program storage devices readable by the processor(s) and encoding one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer for performing the operations described herein. The program storage device may take the form of, e.g., one or more floppy disks; a CD ROM or other optical disk; a read-only memory chip (ROM); and other forms of the kind well known in the art or subsequently developed. The program of instructions may be “object code,” i.e., in binary form that is executable more-or-less directly by the computer; in “source code” that requires compilation or interpretation before execution; or in some intermediate form such as partially compiled code. The precise forms of the program storage device and of the encoding of instructions are immaterial here. Aspects of the invention may also be configured to perform the described functions (via appropriate hardware/software) solely on site and/or remotely controlled via an extended communication (e.g., wireless, internet, satellite, etc.) network.
While the embodiments are described with reference to various implementations and exploitations, it will be understood that these embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventive subject matter is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements are possible. For example, any of the blades shown herein, may be used in combination with other shaped blades herein, and/or conventional blades. Further, any of the blades may have the replaceable tips 400. The piercing point 300 may extend beyond the blade cutting surfaces, or be recessed therebehind. The piercing points 300 may be rounded or pointed. The recesses may be rounded, squared or other geometries.
Plural instances may be provided for components, operations or structures described herein as a single instance. In general, structures and functionality presented as separate components in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/883,469 filed on Sep. 16, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/151,279 filed on May 5, 2008, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 7,814,979, which is a divisional of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/411,203 filed on Apr. 25, 2006, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 7,367,396, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/349,660 on May 28, 2010, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/349,604 filed on May 28, 2010, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/359,746 filed on Jun. 29, 2010, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/373,734 filed on Aug. 13, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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