Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
PCT/US 2011/047 351 - 17-10-2012
.. = CA 02844479 2014-02-06
Attorney Docket No. 063718.1837
HES-2011-IP-044314 .
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOCKING SWIVEL JOINTS WHEN PERFORMING
SUBTERRANEAN OPERATIONS
BACKGROUND
Different stages of a subterranean drilling and completion operation often
involve
the use of coiled tubing. For example, all or part of a wellbore may be
drilled using coiled
tubing instead of more traditional drillpipe.
An exemplary embodiment of a typical coiled tubing oil well drilling system is
shown in Figure 1. The drilling system comprises a coiled tubing 102 which is
placed on a reel
104. The coiled tubing 102 passes over a gooseneck 106 and is directed
downhole through an
injector head 108 into the formation 110. During a coiled tubing drilling
operation, the coiled
tubing 102 is fed off the reel 104 over an injector head 108 into the
wellbore. Drilling fluid is
delivered to the bottomhole assembly 114 and the drill bit 116 through the
coiled tubing 102.
The drilling fluid is then returned to the surface through the annulus between
the wellbore wall
or casing and the coiled tubing 102. The returned fluid, which may contain
drill cuttings and
other materials, is directed to a returned fluid pipe 118 and delivered to a
mud pit 120. A
recirculation pump 122 may then recirculate the drilling fluid through the
pipe 124 to the coiled
tubing 102.
The coiled tubing is a solid tube without breaks or joints and is thus unable
to rotate.
Accordingly, coiled tubing drilling has limitations related to the inability
to rotate the coiled
tubing in the wellbore. Such limitations include inefficient transfer of power
to the drill bit,
inefficient hole cleaning and an inability to overcome the friction between
the wellbore and the
tubing, limiting the ultimate reach of the system. An ability to rotate the
portion of the coiled
tubing string that is in the wellbore alleviates many of these limitations,
making coiled tubing
drilling a more viable alternative to traditional drilling operations using a
drill rig and drillpipe.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a typical coiled tubing oil well
drilling
system;
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a swivel joint in accordance with an
exemplary
embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a side view of a coiled tubing oil well drilling system in
accordance
with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted and described and are
defined by reference to example embodiments of the disclosure, such references
do not imply a
limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The
subject matter
disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents
in form and
function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the
benefit of this
disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are
examples only, and
not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail
herein. In
the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation may be
described in this
specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any
such actual
embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions may be made to achieve
the specific
implementation goals, which may vary from one implementation to another.
Moreover, it will
be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-
consuming, but would
nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art
having the benefit of
the present disclosure.
To facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, the following
examples
of certain embodiments are given. In no way should the following examples be
read to limit, or
define, the scope of the invention. Embodiments of the present disclosure may
be applicable to
horizontal, vertical, deviated, or otherwise nonlinear wellbores in any type
of subterranean
formation. Embodiments may be applicable to injection wells as well as
production wells,
including hydrocarbon wells.
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The terms "couple" or "couples," as used herein are intended to mean either an
indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second
device, that connection
may be through a direct connection or through an indirect mechanical
connection via other
devices and connections. The term "uphole" as used herein means along the
drillstring or the
hole from the distal end towards the surface, and "downhole" as used herein
means along the
drillstring or the hole from the surface towards the distal end.
It will be understood that the term "oil well drilling equipment" or "oil well
drilling
system" is not intended to limit the use of the equipment and processes
described with those
terms to drilling an oil well. The terms also encompass drilling natural gas
wells or hydrocarbon
wells in general. Further, such wells can be used for production, monitoring,
or injection in
relation to the recovery of hydrocarbons or other materials from the
subsurface.
The present application is directed to methods and systems for performing
subterranean operations and particularly, to using coiled tubing with lockable
swivel joints when
performing drilling operations.
In one embodiment, the swivel joints may be locked and unlocked using a
sliding
sleeve that slides up as the coiled tubing goes through the injector head into
the borehole. By
sliding up, the sleeve locks the swivel joint to substantially prevent the
relative rotation of
adjoining coiled tubing segments. In the reverse, when pulling the coiled
tubing through the
injector head out of the borehole, the sleeve may slide down and allow the
swivel joint to rotate
again, thereby permitting adjoining segments of coiled tubing to rotate
relative to each other.
Turning now to Figure 2, a swivel joint in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention is shown. A locking mechanism may be used
to lock
and/or unlock the swivel joints 10. Specifically, the locking mechanism may
engage the swivel
joints 10 such that the adjoining segments of the coiled tubing are
rotationally coupled, and/or it
may disengage the swivel joints such that the adjoining segments of coiled
tubing 16 can be
independently rotatable. Two segments are deemed "rotationally coupled" when
rotating one of
the two segments will rotate the other one of the two segments. In contrast,
two segments are
deemed "rotationally decoupled" when rotating one of the two segments will not
rotate the other
segment.
In this exemplary embodiment, the swivel joint 10 is comprised of a latch
mechanism. Specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, the swivel joint 10
includes a first
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portion 11 having one or more latch receptacles 12 and a sleeve portion 14
which may include
one or more latch portions 13 formed as projections that may be locked into
the one or more
latch receptacles 12 on the first portion 11 of the swivel joint 10. As shown
in Figure 2, the first
portion 11 may be provided on a first segment of the coiled tubing and the
sleeve portion 14 may
be on a second, adjoining segment of coiled tubing.
In one embodiment, the swivel joint 10 may be engaged and disengaged by a
locking
device located at or near an injector head. Accordingly, the locking device is
operable to couple
the first portion 11 to the sleeve portion 14. In one exemplary embodiment,
the locking device
may be a mechanical system, an electrical system, a magnetic system and/or a
combination of
one or more of these systems. In one embodiment, the locking device may
mechanically flip the
latch 13 into the latch receptacle 12 as the coiled tubing 16 moves downhole
through the injector
head and it may disengage the latch 13 from the latch receptacle 12 when the
coiled tubing 16 is
pulled out of the wellbore through the injector head.
Although a mechanical latching mechanism is described in conjunction with
Figure
2, as would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this disclosure,
other mechanisms may be used to engage or disengage the swivel joints. For
instance, in one
exemplary embodiment, the swivel joints may be remotely controlled by an
operator. In this
embodiment, the operator may selectively engage or disengage particular swivel
joints, thereby
controlling which coiled tubing segments can rotate independently and which
ones cannot. In
such embodiment, wired or wireless communications systems may be used to
engage or
disengage the first portion 11 and the sleeve portion 14 of the swivel joint
10. Such
communications systems are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art
and will, therefore,
not be discussed in detail herein.
Moreover, although a particular latch and receptacle configuration is depicted
in
Figure 2, other latch mechanism configurations may be used without departing
from the scope of
the present disclosure. Further, although a latch mechanism is depicted in
Figure 2, other
mechanisms may be used to engage and/or disengage the swivel joint. For
instance, in one
exemplary embodiment, a magnetic connection between the first portion 11 and
the sleeve 14
may be used to engage and/or disengage the swivel joints 10. Specifically, the
operator may
activate the magnetic force between the first portion 11 and the sleeve
portion 14 for swivel
joints that are desired to be engaged, and deactivate the magnetic force for
swivel joints 10 that
are desired to be disengaged.
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Turning now to Figure 3, a side view of a coiled tubing oil well drilling
system in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown
where the swivel
joints 10 separate different segments of the coiled tubing 16. Specifically, a
swivel joint 10 may
be provided at the interface between a pair of segments of coiled tubing 16 as
shown in Figure 3.
As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this disclosure,
the present invention is not limited by the number or positioning of the
swivel joints 10 or the
coiled tubing segments and Figure 3 is used for illustrative purposes.
As shown in Figure 3, swivel joints 10 may be selectively engaged.
Specifically,
one or more swivel joints 10 may be disengaged initially. In one embodiment,
the swivel joints
10 downhole may be locked in position as discussed above with reference to
Figure 2, and
discussed in more detail below.
When performing subterranean operations, the coiled tubing 16 may be directed
downhole through an injector head 20. In accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the
present invention, the swivel joints 10A which are located above the ground
and/or above the
injector head 20 may be disengaged while the swivel joints 10B located below
the ground and/or
below the injector head may be engaged. As would be appreciated by those of
ordinary skill in
the art, with the benefit of this disclosure, the operator may decide at which
point the swivel
joints 10 are locked and/or unlocked. Specifically, in one embodiment, the
swivel joints 10 may
be locked and/or unlocked at a point further downhole from the injector head
20. Accordingly,
the segments of coiled tubing 16 located above the ground and/or above the
injector head 20 may
rotate relative to their adjoining segments as well as relative to the coiled
tubing segment located
below the injector head 20. As a result, the rotation of the coiled tubing 16
portion located
below the injector head will not impact the portion of the coiled tubing
located above the ground,
on the gooseneck 28 or the reel 26.
In contrast, once the coiled tubing 16 passes through the injector head 20,
the swivel
joints 10B may be engaged, rotationally coupling the adjoining segments of the
coiled tubing 16
located downhole. With the swivel joints 10 located below the injector head 20
engaged, the
rotation from a rotation device 24, located at or near the surface, mounted
in, on or below the
injector head 20, may be used to rotate the drill bit 22. Specifically, with
the swivel joints 10
engaged, rotation may be transferred downhole to the drill bit 22.
Accordingly, the torque
generated by the rotation device at or near the injector head 20 may be
transferred downhole by
the coiled tubing to the Bottom Hole Assembly 18 and the drill bit 22.
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As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this
disclosure, any suitable device may be used to rotate the portion of the
coiled tubing 16
downhole. In one exemplary embodiment, the rotation device 24 may be a rotary
table where
one directional slips can be used to clamp the coiled tubing 16 and couple the
rotation of the
rotary table to the coiled tubing 16. In another exemplary embodiment, a high
torque spinner
may be mounted below the injector head 20 or inside the injector head 20. In
yet another
exemplary embodiment, the rotation device may clamp around the coiled tubing
16 when
rotation is required and may be powered using hydraulics, an air motor, or an
electric motor.
In one embodiment, the swivel joint 10 may be equipped with a cleaning device.
The cleaning device may be used to clean the different swivel joint 10
components such as the
bearings and the grooves thereon. The cleaning device may be in the form of a
hig-power water
or air flow, or it may be in the form of a simple wiper seal, or in the form
of rotating brushes, or
any combination of two or more of such devices.
As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this
disclosure, the swivel joints 10 having a locking mechanism in accordance with
an embodiment
of the present invention may render the coiled tubing segmented string
spoolable. Accordingly,
the spoolable segmented coiled tubing may provide continuous circulation and
axial movement
and control the axial speed of the drilling process. Moreover, the improved
segmented coiled
tubing is better suited for use in conjunction with Managed Pressure Drilling
("MPD") and
underbalanced drilling ("UBD").
As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this
disclosure, the present invention allows both clockwise and anti-clockwise
rotation of the coiled
tubing, which may facilitate hole cleaning, motor toolface orientation for
directional drilling, or
working through tight spots in the wellbore, as well as be used to activate
and de-activate
downhole devices, such as underreamers, circulating subs and the like.
Moreover, the present
invention may also be used in this fashion to seat and unseat packers and like
devices in
completions, workover, or well intervention-type operations.
As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the
benefit of this
disclosure, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be used in
conjunction with an
embodiment with a hybrid string of tubing located below the coiled tubing.
Further, as would be
appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the benefit of this
disclosure, the locking
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_
mechanism must be strong enough to withstand the torque imparted onto the
coiled tubing
during rotation and must lock in so as not to allow the system to become
unlocked downhole.
The present invention is therefore well-adapted to carry out the objects and
attain the
ends mentioned, as well as those that are inherent therein. While the
invention has been
depicted, described and is defined by references to examples of the invention,
such a reference
does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be
inferred. The
invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration and equivalents
in form and
function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art having the
benefit of this disclosure.
The depicted and described examples are not exhaustive of the invention.
Consequently, the
invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the
appended claims, giving
full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.
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