Patent Application
20110036592
Tubular valves that control occlusion of ports that fluidically connect an inner bore of a tubular with an outside of the tubular are commonly used in several industries including the downhole completion industry. Such valves are deployed in boreholes to control fluid flow in both directions, inside to outside of the tubular as well as outside to inside of the tubular, through ports. New systems and methods that improve control over the opening of such ports along a tubular are always of interest to operators of such systems.
A tubular valving system comprising a tubular having a plurality of ports; a plurality of sleeves disposed at the tubular covering the plurality of ports; a plug runnable within the tubular and seatingly engagable with the plurality of sleeves such that attainment of a first pressure applied against the plug and one of the plurality of sleeves causes movement of the one of the plurality of sleeves to thereby uncover at least one of the plurality of ports covered by the one of the plurality of sleeves; at least one of the plurality of sleeves being yieldable to allow passage of the plug upon attainment of a second pressure applied thereagainst; and a plurality of occlusive members occluding the plurality of uncovered ports until a later time.
A method of valving a plurality of ports in a tubular comprising running a plug within the tubular; sequentially seatingly engaging the plug with a plurality of sleeves covering a plurality of ports in the tubular; pressuring up against the plug to a first pressure; moving the plurality of sleeves; uncovering the plurality of ports; pressuring up against the plug to a second pressure; yieldably defeating at least one of a plurality of seats disposed at the plurality of sleeves; and removing a plurality of occlusive members from the plurality of ports that are uncovered.
The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:
A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.
Referring to
The occlusive members 34 disclosed in this embodiment include collars 36 that are slidably sealingly engaged with the tubular 14 such that the ports 18 are occluded when the collars 36 are in a first position as illustrated by the collars 36 in
The collars 36 of the occlusive members 34 in this embodiment are moved from the first position to the second position in response to a drop in pressure within the tubular 14 that allows biasing members 42, illustrated herein as compression springs, to move the collars 36 to the second position. Release members 46, shown in this embodiment as shear screws that longitudinally fix the collars 36 to the tubular 14 until after the release members 46 have been released, prevent movement of the collars 36 to the second position. Release of the release members 46 is accomplished by increasing pressure within the tubular 14 that acts on differential areas on the collars 36 to urge the collars 36 in a longitudinal direction opposite to the direction that aligns the openings 38 with the ports 18. By setting this releasing pressure of the release members 46 to a greater value than the pressure needed to yield the yieldable seats 30, the yieldable seats 30 are sure to yield prior to release of the release members 46. Once the release members 46 have been released the biasing members 42 are configured to move the collars 36 from the first position to the second position upon a drop in pressure below a selected threshold pressure. The collars 36 disclosed herein are similar to a device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,390 to Gomez, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Increasing pressure within the tubular 14 to a pressure able to cause release of the release members 46 may be achieved against the plug 22 seated on a non-yieldable seat 50 that may be located on a slidable sleeve 54, as illustrated, or on a seat (not shown) longitudinally fixed to the tubular 14 depending upon the needs of each specific application.
Referring to
Since increases in pressure are used to move the sleeves 26, it may be desirable to limit any leak paths from the tubular 14 until all of the sleeves 26 have been moved. Delays in dissolving the dissolvable materials 138, and subsequent removal of occlusion of the ports 18 thereby may be desirable. Such delays could be controlled by a rate of dissolving as estimated by selected physical and chemical properties of the dissolvable material 138 once exposed to the conditions within the tubular 14. Alternately, the conditions within the tubular 14 may be controlled by an operator such that dissolving of the dissolvable material 138 is not initiated until an operator alters the conditions within the tubular 14 thereby exposing the dissolvable material 138 thereto such as by pumping specific chemicals within the tubular 14.
Alternate embodiments can have a plurality of the tubular valving systems 10, 110 distributed along the tubular with the systems 10, 110 located further from surface having seats 30 receptive to larger plugs 22 than systems 10 nearer to the surface. In such embodiments the occlusive members 34, 134 are isolated from the conditions within the tubular 14 that results in removal of the occlusion of the ports 18 until after the sleeves 26 that cover the ports 18 have been moved to the second position.
While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.
