Not applicable.
Not applicable.
This section is intended to introduce selected aspects of the art, which may be associated with various embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
The present disclosure relates to the field of hydrocarbon recovery operations. More specifically, the present invention relates to a tool used to pull or “unseat” a tubular device from a wellbore. Still further, the invention relates to the installation and removal of a standing valve for a downhole pump.
In the drilling of oil and gas wells, a wellbore is formed using a drill bit that is urged downwardly at a lower end of a drill string. After drilling to a predetermined depth, the drill string and bit are removed and the wellbore is lined with a string of casing. Particularly in a vertical wellbore, or the vertical section of a horizontal well, a cementing operation is conducted in order to fill or “squeeze” part or all of the annular area with columns of cement. The combination of cement and casing strengthens the wellbore and facilitates the zonal isolation and subsequent completion of potentially hydrocarbon-producing pay zones behind the casing.
In completing a wellbore, it is common for the drilling company to place a series of casing strings having progressively smaller outer diameters into the wellbore. These include a string of surface casing, at least one intermediate string of casing, and a production casing. The process of drilling and then cementing progressively smaller strings of casing is repeated until the well has reached total depth. In some instances, the final string of casing is a liner, that is, a string of casing that is not tied back to the surface. The final string of casing, which is the production casing, is also typically cemented into place.
As part of the completion process, the production casing is perforated at a desired level. Alternatively, a sand screen may be employed at a lowest depth in the event of an open hole completion. Either option provides fluid communication between the wellbore and a selected “pay zone” in a formation. In addition, a string of production tubing may be installed within the wellbore. The lower end of the tubing string is generally open to provide entry for reservoir fluids into the tubing.
Many hydrocarbon wells are unable to produce at commercially viable levels without assistance in lifting the reservoir fluids to the earth's surface. This is particularly true as the well ages and the in situ formation pressure declines. In the case of deeper wells, the long hydrostatic head acts downwardly against the formation, thereby inhibiting the unassisted flow of fluids as production fluids to the surface.
A common approach for urging production fluids to the surface includes the use of a mechanically actuated, positive displacement pump. Mechanically actuated pumps are sometimes referred to as “sucker rod” pumps. The reason is that reciprocal movement of the pump is induced by cycling a string of so-called sucker rods disposed within the production tubing.
A sucker rod pumping installation consists of a positive displacement pump fixed within the lower portion of the production tubing. This pump is typically placed at or just below the level of the perforations. The pump generally consists of a standing valve portion and a traveling valve portion. Each of the standing valve and the traveling valve is typically a ball-and-seat valve, or a valve having multiple balls and seats.
In operation, the standing valve is fixedly installed at the bottom of the production tubing along an inner diameter thereof. Specifically, the standing valve is wedged into an internal constriction, or “seating nipple,” formed internally of the tubing string below the fluid level. This may be done by the operator running the standing valve down to the bottom of the production tubing until the standing valve hits the internal constriction, and then slacking off on the rod string, allowing gravity to drop the standing valve down onto the seating nipple. The operator may repeat this process several times, in effect “hammering” the standing valve into place.
The traveling valve portion of the pump is threadedly connected to the end of the rod string. During pumping, downward motion of the sucker rods and connected traveling valve cause the standing valve to close and the traveling valve to open. Production fluids then flow upwards through the open traveling valve. Then, during the upward motion of the sucker rods and connected traveling valve, the standing valve opens and the traveling valve closes. Production fluids are pulled into the wellbore and through the standing valve. At the same time, production fluids previously captured by the traveling valve are lifted up the production string and to the surface.
In the industry today, the standing valve portion of the pump is typically installed by attaching a running tool into the production tubing at the lower end of the traveling valve. This means that the standing valve portion is run into the wellbore with the traveling valve portion at the end of the rod string. Upon reaching a point of frictional engagement (or “seating”) between the standing valve and the surrounding production tubing, the rod string is rotated in order to un-thread the traveling valve from the standing valve. The weight of the traveling valve and rod string are then released from the surface, down onto the standing valve. A hammer-and-anvil type action “taps” the pump barrel of the standing valve into place and onto the seating nipple. The standing valve is then fixed within the production tubing.
It occasionally becomes necessary to check the traveling valve and the standing valve. Removing the traveling valve from the wellbore is simply a matter of pulling the rod string, removing the traveling valve (or “piston”) by unthreading the valve from the lowest joint, and then providing service, maintenance or replacement. However, removing the standing valve is more challenging since the tool is fixedly wedged in the seating nipple of the production tubing downhole. For this, a dedicated standing-valve puller has been used. An example is the Weatherford® API Tap-Type, Standing-Valve Puller available from Weatherford International Ltd. of Houston, Tex.
To remove the standing valve, the standing valve puller is threadedly connected to the lowermost joint of a rod string. The puller and connected rod string are then run into the wellbore, joint-by-joint, to the depth of the standing valve. A lower tip of the standing valve puller is landed into a box connector, which is a threaded opening at the top of the standing valve. The lower tip is then rotated into the box connector. Once engaged, tension is applied to the rod string, causing the standing valve to be unseated. The standing valve is then pulled to the surface for inspection.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the process of removing the standing valve can be difficult and time consuming. In many cases, the standing valve cannot be removed because the threaded opening forming the box connector is clogged with debris, or the threads have become damaged, or the connection is just rusted out. In this instance, the operator must pull the production tubing from the well to change the standing valve assembly. This results in a substantial loss of time and money.
Therefore, a need exists for a procedure by which a running tool and connected standing valve can be quickly removed from the seating nipple of the production tubing without rotation of the rod string and without threading down into the standing valve. Further, a need exists for an unseating tool that can be threadedly connected to the standing valve at the surface, and which stays in the production tubing during well operation. Finally, a need exists for a method of quickly disconnecting from and reconnecting to a standing valve using a standing valve puller, thereby allowing the standing valve to be quickly set in and unseated from the production tubing using the traveling valve itself.
A standing valve puller is first provided herein. The standing valve puller is designed to threadedly connect to a standing valve using the existing threaded opening at the top of the standard standing valve. The connection is made by hand at the surface before the standing valve is run into a wellbore.
In the present context, the wellbore comprises a string of production tubing. The production tubing has a known seating nipple that is configured to receive a known standing valve.
The standing valve puller is configured to allow retrieval of the known standing valve from the wellbore using the traveling valve itself. In this way, a service company can pull the standing valve at any time while the sucker rods and traveling valve are still in the wellbore. In one embodiment, a pumper at the wellsite can lower the rod string from the surface, connect to the standing valve puller, unseat the standing valve from the seating nipple, and circulate a hot oil treatment or a chemical treatment at the bottom of the wellbore, all without pulling the rod string out of the hole.
The standing valve puller first comprises a tubular housing. The tubular housing has a proximal end and a distal end, and a bore there along. In one aspect, the tubular housing is divided into a top housing component and a bottom housing component. The top and bottom housing components are threadedly connected to form a singular housing.
The standing valve puller additionally includes a threaded connector. The threaded connector has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is configured to threadedly connect to the distal end of the tubular housing, while the distal end comprises male threads that are configured to threadedly connect to a threaded opening (or box connector) at an upper (or proximal) end of the standing valve. The connection between the standing valve puller and the standing valve remains in place during production operations.
The standing valve puller also includes a spring. The spring resides within the bore of the tubular housing and abuts the threaded connector.
The standing valve puller further comprises a sliding component. The sliding component is configured to move along the bore of the tubular housing in response to a downward force applied by an engagement pin. The sliding component includes a series of splines residing radially around an outer diameter of the sliding component.
The standing valve puller additionally has a holding arm component, or “latch.”. The latch is made up of at least two opposing arms. Each of the at least two arms is configured to pivot at the proximal end of the tubular housing such that when the engagement pin moves the sliding component downward into the bore a first time, the arms pivot inwardly and latch onto an elongated stem of the engagement pin.
The engagement pin preferably resides at the lower end of a traveling valve. When the engagement pin moves the sliding component downward into the bore a second time, the arms pivot outwardly and release the stem of the engagement pin. In this way, the traveling valve and connected engagement pin and can be raised a selected distance up the production tubing, leaving the standing valve in place.
The arms of the holding arm component, or “latch,” reside at the proximal end of the tubular housing. Each arm includes a flange at an upper (or proximal) end. When the arms pivot inwardly, a somewhat cylindrical shape is formed. A through-opening is preserved in the holding arm component through the flanges. The through-opening is dimensioned to closely but slidingly receive the elongated stem of the engagement pin. Of course, when the arms pivot outwardly, the flanges of the arms open up and the engagement pin is released from the through-opening.
In one arrangement, the standing valve puller also includes a twisting component. The twisting component resides within the bore of the tubular housing and forms a generally tubular body. The twisting component comprises a shoulder configured to land on the spring. This enables the spring to apply an upward biasing force to the twisting component. In one aspect, the shoulder of the twisting component resides along an inner diameter of the tubular body forming the twisting component.
The twisting component further includes a series of slots residing radially about the tubular body. The slots alternate between short slots and long slots. A downward action by the sliding component on the twisting component causes the splines to move downwardly along the slots and to radially and sequentially advance the splines from the long slots to the short slots, and then to the long slots again, whenever the engagement pin “clicks” down against the sliding component.
In operation, when the splines move into the long slots, the arms of the holding arm component are pivot inwardly and are held, or fixed, in a latched position. When the splines move into the short slots, the arms of the holding arm component and freed, and can pivot outwardly to a released position.
A fluid pumping system for producing hydrocarbon fluids from a wellbore is also provided herein. Once again, the wellbore has a string of production tubing placed therein.
The fluid pumping system first includes a traveling valve. The traveling valve resides at a lower end of a rod string within the string of production tubing. The fluid pumping system also includes an engagement pin. The engagement pin is connected to the lower end of the traveling valve. Thus, the traveling valve and connected engagement pin move up and down within the production tubing together in response to reciprocal pumping motion of the rod string.
The fluid pumping system next includes a standing valve. The standing valve is landed on a seating nipple or is otherwise releasably fixed within the production tubing.
Additionally, the fluid pumping system comprises a standing valve puller. The standing valve puller is threadedly connected to an upper (or proximal) end of the standing valve. The standing valve puller is designed in accordance with the standing valve puller described above, in its various embodiments. The standing valve puller defines a latching mechanism that allows the engagement pin to sequentially catch and release the standing valve puller in response to a downward (or longitudinal) force applied to the sliding component.
Finally, a method of unseating a standing valve from a seating nipple within a wellbore is offered. In the method, the wellbore has:
The method first includes the step of lowering the rod string and connected traveling valve and engagement pin within the production tubing. The method then includes further lowering the rod string and connected traveling valve until the engagement pin enters the standing valve puller. A downward force is then applied to a sliding component within the standing valve puller. This causes arms of a holding arm component, or “latch,” to pivot inwardly, and to latch onto the engagement pin above a shoulder.
The method also includes:
Preferably, the wellbore is completed in a substantially vertical orientation. Maintenance services may then be performed on the standing valve, or the standing valve may be replaced.
So that the manner in which the present inventions can be better understood, certain illustrations, charts and/or flow charts are appended hereto. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only selected embodiments of the inventions and are therefore not to be considered limiting of scope, for the inventions may admit to other equally effective embodiments and applications.
For purposes of the present application, it will be understood that the term “hydrocarbon” refers to an organic compound that includes primarily, if not exclusively, the elements hydrogen and carbon. Examples of hydrocarbon-containing materials include any form of oil, natural gas, coal, and bitumen that can be used as a fuel or upgraded into a fuel.
As used herein, the term “hydrocarbon fluids” refers to a hydrocarbon or mixtures of hydrocarbons that are gases or liquids. For example, hydrocarbon fluids may include a hydrocarbon or mixtures of hydrocarbons that are gases or liquids at formation conditions, at processing conditions, or at ambient conditions. Hydrocarbon fluids may include, for example, oil, natural gas, condensate, coal bed methane, shale oil, shale gas, and other hydrocarbons that are in a gaseous or liquid state. The term hydrocarbon fluids may include other elements, such as, but not limited to, halogens, metallic elements, nitrogen, oxygen, and/or sulfur.
As used herein, the term “fluid” refers to gases, liquids, and combinations of gases and liquids, as well as to combinations of gases and fine solids, and combinations of liquids and fine solids.
As used herein, the terms “produced fluids,” “reservoir fluids” and “production fluids” refer to liquids and/or gases removed from a subsurface formation, including, for example, a hydrocarbon reservoir, a shale formation or an organic-rich rock formation. Produced fluids may include both hydrocarbon fluids and non-hydrocarbon fluids. Production fluids may include, but are not limited to, oil, natural gas, pyrolyzed shale oil, synthesis gas, a pyrolysis product of coal, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and water (including steam).
As used herein, the term “wellbore fluids” means water, hydrocarbon fluids, formation fluids, or any other fluids that may be within a string of production tubing during a production operation.
As used herein, the term “subsurface” refers to geologic strata occurring below the earth's surface.
The term “subsurface interval” refers to a formation or a portion of a formation wherein formation fluids may reside. The fluids may be, for example, hydrocarbon liquids, hydrocarbon gases, aqueous fluids, or combinations thereof.
The terms “zone” or “zone of interest” refer to a portion of a formation containing hydrocarbons. Sometimes, the terms “target zone,” “pay zone,” or “interval” may be used.
As used herein, the term “formation” refers to any definable subsurface region regardless of size. The formation may contain one or more hydrocarbon-containing layers, one or more non-hydrocarbon containing layers, an overburden, and/or an underburden of any geologic formation. A formation can refer to a single set of related geologic strata of a specific rock type, or to a set of geologic strata of different rock types that contribute to or are encountered in, for example, without limitation, (i) the creation, generation and/or entrapment of hydrocarbons or minerals, and (ii) the execution of processes used to extract hydrocarbons or minerals from the subsurface.
As used herein, the term “wellbore” refers to a hole in the subsurface made by drilling or insertion of a conduit into the subsurface. A wellbore may have a substantially circular cross section, or other cross-sectional shape. As used herein, the term “well,” when referring to an opening in the formation, may be used interchangeably with the term “wellbore.”
The terms “tubular” or “tubular member” refer to any pipe, such as a joint of casing, a portion of a liner, a joint of tubing, a pup joint, or coiled tubing. The terms “production tubing” or “tubing joints” refer to any string of pipe through which reservoir fluids are produced.
The step of latching onto the standing valve puller 100 is done through use of an engagement pin 110. The engagement pin 110 defines an elongated body comprising a proximal (or upper) end 112 and a distal (or lower end) 114. The distal end 114 is seen more fully in
In the view of
As shown in
Beneficially, an operator may conduct a hot oil treatment or a chemical treatment downhole without pulling the rod string 945 and connected traveling valve 940 completely out of the hole (known as a “trip,” or “TOOH.” In one aspect, the standing valve 960 may be raised 5 to 10 feet before a hot oil treatment is conducted. Using the standing valve puller 100 and engagement pin 110, the operator can simply tap down into the standing valve puller 100, causing the arms 125 of the holding arm component 120 to move into their latched position, and them pull up to unseat the standing valve 960. (A nipple seat is shown schematically at 918 of
Of course, the operator may sometimes choose to remove the standing valve 960 completely from the wellbore 900. This may be done latching into the standing valve puller 100 and then bringing the sucker rods 940 up to the surface, joint-by-joint, with the traveling valve 940, the standing valve puller 100 and the standing valve 960 all connected together by means of threaded connections and the engagement pin 110. Thus, the present invention allows the traveling valve 940 and standing valve 960 to be pulled together in the same trip.
As noted, the standing valve puller 100 also includes a holding arm component 120. The holding arm component 120 comprises a pair of opposing arms (seen at 125 in
In order to run the standing valve puller 100 and connected standing valve 960 into the wellbore 900, the arms 125 of the holding arm component 120 are manually opened at the surface 901. The engagement pin 110 is then manually pushed into the central bore 105 of the standing valve puller 100 to place the arms 125 in their latched position (
As shown in
Finally,
The threaded distal end 184 of the threaded connector 180 is dimensioned to screw into a threaded opening at the upper end of the standing valve 960. This threaded connection is made by the operator at the surface before the standing valve 960 is run into the production tubing 920 and seated in the seating nipple 918. The threaded end connector 180 will remain stationary after it is connected to the standing valve 960.
Moving now to
Along with the standing valve puller 100 and its components,
Referring to the holding arm component 120, it is observed that the holding arm component 120 comprises two or more separate arms 125. Each arm 125 has a proximal end 122 and a distal end 124. As noted, the distal end 122 represents a flange used to catch the shoulder 114 of the engagement pin 110 when the holding arm component 120 is in its latched position.
In addition, each arm 125 has a pivot hole 127. As noted above, each pivot hole 127 is dimensioned to receive a respective horizontal pin (not shown). The respective pins reside proximate a top 142 of the top housing 140. The horizontal pins allow the arms 125 to pivot inwardly and outwardly relative to the top housing 140.
The standing valve puller 100 next includes the sliding component 130. The sliding component 130 comprises a generally tubular body wherein splines 135 are placed radially around an outer diameter. As the name implies, the sliding component 130 is configured to move (or slide) longitudinally along the standing valve puller 100. Specifically, the splines 135 slide along channels 146 disposed along an inner diameter of the top housing 140. Two of the channels 146 are seen in
Next shown in
The proximal end 142 of the top housing 140 defines a pair of slanted surfaces. The slanted surfaces 142 are dimensioned to receive the respective arms 125 when they are pivoted outwardly. Preferably, the arms 125 are biased to pivot outwardly through the use of respective springs (not shown).
The distal end 144 of the top housing 140 comprises a male threaded member. The male threads at the distal end 144 connect to a proximal end 172 of the bottom housing 170, described further below.
Next shown in
It is noted that one or more holes 176 may be drilled into the bottom housing 170. This allows the standing valve puller 100 to be flushed out, either after the puller 100 has been retrieved to the surface, or in response to a hot oil treatment or chemical treatment wherein fluid is injected downhole.
Finally,
In the view of
In a preferred embodiment, the standing valve puller 100 is no more than 15 to 24 inches in length, measured from the top 122 of the holding arm component 120 to the bottom 184 of the threaded end connector 180. In addition, the standing valve puller 100 will have an outer diameter no greater than the outer diameter of the standing valve 960 itself. For example, the standing valve puller 100 may have an outer diameter (measured across the housing 140/170) of about 2.0 inches. Therefore, the standing valve puller 100 will not create a restriction to either run-in or to normal wellbore operations.
Also visible in
Of interest,
As the sliding component 130 is forced downward by the engagement pin 110, it will rotate the twisting component 150 into a next position. In the latched position, the sliding component 130 will be forced upwards from the twisting component 150 into the holding arm component 120, under the force of the spring 160 as shown in
It is observed that the downward force of the shoulder 114 of the engagement pin 110 against the sliding component 130 will cause the distal end 134 of the sliding component 130 to engage the proximal end 152 of the twisting component 150. Where the splines 135 of the sliding component engage the long slots 157, the spring 160 will force the twisting component 150 upwards along the top housing 140. At the same time, the sliding component is prevented from twisting because the splines 135 reside in the channels 146 along the inner diameter of the top housing 140.
One or more holes 146 may be drilled into the top housing 140. These are drain holes. The drain holes 146 may allow fluids to drain from the puller 100 when the standing valve 960 is being pulled from a wellbore (See, for example,
It is understood that this is not the normal operating condition of the standing valve puller 100 during production operations. During production operations, the standing valve 960 remains at the bottom of the production tubing 920, seated on the seating nipple 918. Springs (not shown) are connected to the pivoting arms 125 to bias the arms 125 in an outwardly pivoted relationship. This means that the flanges 122 pivot outwardly and land along a slanted surface (see at 142 of
It is observed that in
It is noted that the lower end 124 of each arm includes a beveled inward surface 129. The beveled inward surface 129 of each of the legs 125 accommodates the pivoting action of the legs 125, permitting the legs 125 to more fully pivot outwardly into the beveled upper surface 142. At the same time, the beveled surfaces 129 receive the shoulder 114 when the engagement pin 110 is moved downwardly into the standing valve puller 100.
An upper rear surface 121 of each arm 125 offers a curvilinear profile. This profile is intended to match the slope of the slanted surface 142, allowing the arms 125 to rest against the slanted surface 142 when the arms 125 pivot outwardly.
It is again understood that springs (not shown) may be placed behind the individual arms 125 in order to bias the arms 125 away from each other. This accommodates lowering of the engagement pin 110 through the central bore 105 and into the upper housing 130.
As can be seen, an improved standing valve puller 100 is offered. The standing valve puller 100 operates with an engagement pin 110 to provide a “latch and release” arrangement. In addition, a novel method of unseating a standing valve 960 from a seating nipple 918 within a wellbore 900 is offered herein.
The wellbore 900A defines a cylindrical bore 905 that has been drilled into an earth subsurface 950. The cylindrical bore 905 is lined with a series of steel casings, with each string of casing having a progressively smaller outer diameter. In
The production casing 910 has been cemented into place. A column of cement 915 is shown having been squeezed into an annular area formed between the production casing 910 and the surrounding earth formation 950. In addition, the casing 910 and cement column 915 have been perforated. Illustrative perforations are shown at 925. The perforations 925 allow reservoir fluids to flow into the wellbore 900A.
After perforating, the formation 950 is typically acidized and/or fractured through the perforations 925. Hydraulic fracturing consists of injecting water with friction reducers or viscous fluids (usually shear thinning, non-Newtonian gels or emulsions) into a formation at such high pressures and rates that the reservoir rock parts and forms a network of fractures. The fracturing fluid is typically mixed with a proppant material such as sand, ceramic beads or other granular materials. The proppant serves to hold the fractures open after the hydraulic pressures are released. In the case of so-called “tight” or unconventional formations, the combination of fractures and injected proppant substantially increases the flow capacity, or permeability, of the treated reservoir.
In
At the bottom of the production tubing 920 is the standing valve 960. The standing valve 960 is held in place within the production tubing 920 by means of an internal constriction, or “seating nipple,” (shown in
The standing valve 960 is usually installed after the production string 920 is in place within the wellbore 900. More specifically, the standing valve 960 is typically installed by running the standing valve 960 into the production tubing 920 at the lower end of the sucker rod string 945. In practice, the traveling valve 940 is threadedly connected to a lowest joint of the rod string 945. The standing valve 960, in turn, is threadedly connected to the standing valve 960 so that the rod string 945, the traveling valve 940 and the standing valve 960 are all run into the wellbore 900 together. However, one object of the present inventions is to eliminate the threaded connection between the traveling valve 940 and the standing valve 960, and use the standing valve puller 100 in its place.
In
Also seen in
Based on
When engaged, the arms 125 of the holding arm component 120 will be forced to hold the stem 116 of the engagement pin 110. From there, the entire standing valve puller 100 and threadedly connected standing valve 960 can be lifted to the surface per
Interestingly, present methods of cleaning out a standing valve 960 downhole require pumping down the back side of the production tubing 920. With the current method, treatment fluids directly treat the production tubing 920, rod string 945 and pump 940/960.
The method also includes:
Preferably, the wellbore 900 is completed in a substantially vertical orientation.
A fluid pumping system for producing hydrocarbon fluids from a wellbore 900 is also provided herein. Once again, the wellbore has a string of production tubing 920 placed therein.
The fluid pumping system first includes a traveling valve. The traveling valve resides at a lower end of a rod string within the string of production tubing. The fluid pumping system also includes an engagement pin. The engagement pin is connected to the lower end of the traveling valve. Thus, the traveling valve and connected engagement pin move up and down within the production tubing together in response to reciprocal pumping motion of the rod string.
The fluid pumping system next includes a standing valve. The standing valve is landed on a seating nipple or similar restriction within the production tubing.
Additionally, the fluid pumping system comprises a standing valve puller. The standing valve puller is threadedly connected to the standing valve at a top end. The standing valve puller is designed in accordance with the standing valve puller 100 described above, in its various embodiments.
Using the fluid pumping system, a method of unseating a wellbore tool may also be provided. Generally, the method includes:
In a preferred embodiment, the engagement pin resides at a lower end of a traveling valve within a wellbore. The traveling valve, in turn, is connected to a lower end of a sucker rod string. The sucker rod string, in turn, is operatively connected proximate a surface to a polished rod. Those of ordinary skill in the art of upstream artificial lift will understand that the polished rod reciprocates up and down over the wellbore, through rod packing, in order to reciprocate the sucker rod string.
In this preferred embodiment, the wellbore tool is a standing valve seated along a string of production tubing within the wellbore. In this case, lowering the engagement pin may comprise raising clamps along the polished rod, and then causing a surface pumping unit to rotate (or “roll over”) so as to lower the polished rod and connected rod string within the wellbore. This allows the field supervisor or “pumper” to “tag” the well. Tagging the well is typically used to break up a gas lock. In the present method, tagging may also be used to tag the engagement pin to the downhole tool puller. The upward force can then be applied in order to unseat the standing valve.
In one embodiment, once the standing valve is unseated, a chemical treatment may be applied downhole. Such a chemical treatment may be, for example, a hot oil treatment. Beneficially, this may be done without pulling the traveling valve out of the hole or even removing any joints of the sucker rod string.
Further, variations of the fluid pumping system and of the method for unseating a standing valve may fall within the spirit of the claims, below. For example, the standing valve puller may be used as a generic running tool for seating and unseating other tubular devices within a wellbore. It will be appreciated that the inventions are susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the spirit thereof.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 62/523,424 entitled “Unseating Tool For Downhole Traveling Valve.” That application was filed on Jun. 22, 2017, and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 29/883,847 entitled “Two-Pronged Latch For Downhole Tool.” That application was filed on Jul. 25, 2017, and is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180371857 A1 | Dec 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62523424 | Jun 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29883847 | Jul 2017 | US |
Child | 15901429 | US |