Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
COMPACT ROTATING JACKING APPARATUS
FIELD OF INVENTION
Workover or completion operations on wells for the oil and gas production
industry
is assisted by new compact rotating jack invention and cementing and other
processes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
There exist in the prior art examples of jack systems in the field of oil and
gas
production wells to assist in injection and removal of tubulars in a wellbore
for
example to assist in workover or completion tasks on an existing, already
drilled well.
For example, US 9,945,191 discloses a horse-shoe-shaped jack for mounting on a
well at or near the wellhead, installable laterally while tubulars extend from
the well,
to provide linear 'in-out' forces to the tubulars to inject or remove them
from the well's
bore. That horse-shoe jack system permitted installation and removal from a
well in
a simplified fashion from a lateral position without needing to strip the jack
system
over the tubular for installation.
This jack system provides linear forces to the well's tubulars. Those linear
forces are
not typically useful in the cementing process for cementing casing into a
wellbore,
except for injecting the casing tubulars into the bore prior to commencement
of
injection of cement through the casing and back up the annulus between the
casing
and the wellbore's inner surface.
In another process for cementing casing in a well's bore, it has been found
that
rotating the casing during the flowing of cement into the annulus assists in
both
centralizing the casing tubing in the well, and providing an improved bond
between
the casing and the cement, and the bore surface and the cement, with fewer
voids
and better distribution of cement. An example of this is discussed in an
article "New
Cementing Method Uses Pipe Movement to Maximize Displacement" by Calvin Holt,
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Nilesh Lahoti and Vince Fortier of Tesco Corp, published in 2013, Innovating
While
Drilling magazine, March/April issues. The article discusses use of a top-
drive system
to rotate casing while running the casing into a drilled wellbore to where the
casing
tubing is landed at the well's bottom, and then rotating the casing tubing
with the top-
drive of the drilling rig, while pumping cement through the top-drive and
thereby
cementing the casing in the wellbore. Rotation in this case during cementing
starts at
about 60 rpm, and is backed down to about 45 rpm when torque forces on the
casing
tubing exceed a threshold. Rotation is continued by the top-drive until the
cementing
is completed, and then a displacement or wiper plug is injected into the
casing's bore
by salt water under pressure, pushing cement in the casing's inner bore past
its lower
end and into the annulus of the wellbore. At that stage, cementing is
completed and
the cement is allowed to set. The required elements for this process comprise
a top-
drive through which cement may be pumped while the casing tubing is rotated by
the
top-drive system and under its control. Additionally, a CRT or casing running
tool,
.. which is a component of the top-drive rig, is required to push the casing
into the
wellbore, particularly to force the casing against friction forces between the
well's
inner wall and the casing's outer surface where the well is non-vertical (e.g.
horizonal,
or aligned where the casing will be forced by gravity against the lower wall
of the
wellbore). This casing drive system (CDS) automates linear (in-out) forces
applied to
the casing tubing by the top-drive system. Also required is a wireless torque
turn sub
(WTTS) to monitor and control torque or turning forces and rotational speeds
applied
to the casing tubing by the CDS. A cement head or swivel is required to be
fitted to
the top-drive above the top of the casing tubing string. Torque rings or
centralizers
may be fitted to the casing tubing's exterior. Some knowledge of the torque
capacity,
.. tension capacity, and compression characteristics of the casing tubing are
also
beneficial to assist in decisions about how much rotational force to apply
during
cementing. Problems arise if rotation stops during cementing as friction
forces from
the cement and wellbore on the casing tubing's external wall will act against
attempts
to resume rotation.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an embodiment, where an existing well is to be worked over, for instance to
re-line
an old casing tubing in a wellbore with new casing to be injected into the old
casing's
conduit or bore and then cemented in place with cement in the annulus between
the
new casing's external surface and the old casing's internal surface, it is
advantageous
to utilize conventional workover rigs to insert the casing tubing and land it
into the old
casing, and then to temporarily install the compact rotating jack system of
this
invention on the wellhead to rotate the new casing as cement is being
injected. There
is no need for large vertical lift distances by the jack, as the casing is
already landed
and is not being removed but rather is being installed permanently. Cementing
takes
place via a cement head or swivel and the rotating jack provides rotational
movement
to the casing during cementing, preferably at slow rotational speeds such as
around
4-6 rpm. Sometimes, it is necessary that the rotational movement stops during
the
cementing process, in which cases friction forces of the cement acting on the
outer
.. surface of the casing make resumption of rotation very difficult without
using
excessive torque forces to break the frictional bond. In those instances, a
short
reciprocating in-out linear lift movement can be applied by the compact jack
to the
casing string to break the frictional bonds and permit rotation to resume
without
imposing large torque loads on the tubing. When cementing operations are
completed, the compact jack can be removed from the well and completion rig
and
taken away by a small trailer.
Having a local ability to rotate tubulars and move them linearly a short
distance is
also useful to perform other tasks on a well, for example: it is possible to
set and un-
set bottom hole tools that require rotational and/or stroke (linear) forces,
with or
without pressure control in the well ¨ examples include packers, anchors,
bridge
plugs and etc.; similarly it permits swaging out casing impairments where
similar
forces and motions are required to be applied in the well.
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A compact rotary surface jack with a driven rotary hanger flange on an upper
travelling plate of the jack is provided by the invention, the jack
comprising: a) a first
subassembly for providing vertical reciprocal motion to a casing tubular,
first
comprising: i.) a lower jack assembly for mounting to a well-head attached to
a
blowout preventer or annular of a well bore, ii) at least one jack powered to
both
extend and retract thus lengthening and shortening a distance between the
lower jack
assembly and an upper end of the jack, iii) a middle jack plate attached to
the jack
between the lower jack assembly and the upper end of the jack, iv) an upper
travelling
jack plate attached to the upper end of the jack; with a second subassembly
for
providing rotational motion to the a casing or other tubular, operatively
attached to
the upper travelling plate, the second subassembly comprising: a) a rotary
drive fixed
to the travelling plate with an internal passageway through which the casing
tubular
can fit, with a concentric circular driven portion of the rotary drive which
is rotatable
in relation to the jack on a plane normal (perpendicular) to the direction of
the jack's
extension-retraction motion, but affixed to the rotary drive and jack to be
driven to
move vertically as the travelling plate is driven vertically by the jack; b)
the circular
driven portion having a central passageway through which the casing tubular
can fit;
c) a rotary adapter plate attached to the driven portion of the rotary drive,
the rotary
adapter plate having a central passageway through which the casing tubular can
fit,
the rotary adapter plate being removably affixed to the driven portion of the
rotary
drive; d) at least one hanger flange attached to the rotary adapter plate
having a
central passageway through which the casing tubular can fit, with means for
the
hanger flange to be removably attached to and hold the casing tubular and
transmit
rotating movement of the rotary drive and linear movement of the jack to the
casing
tubular.
In another embodiment, the same rotating and hanger means but where the jack
is a
compact horseshoe jack for manipulating tubing or casing or associated
fittings into
or out of a well, comprising: a) a first mount for connecting the jack either
directly or
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indirectly to a wellhead associated with the well, the mount having a U-shaped
passage through which the tubing or casing and any associated fittings fit; b)
at least
one linear jack with two ends, a first end of which is fixed to an upper side
of the first
mount; c) a travelling second mount with a U-shaped passage into and through
which
tubing or casing and any associated fittings fit, fixed to a second end of the
at least
one linear jack to which the rotary adapter plate and rotary drive are
affixed; d) means
for powering linear extension and retraction of the jack to alter the distance
between
the first and second mounts while the tubing or casing and any associated
fittings are
within the U-shaped passages of the mounts, said passages being in substantial
vertical alignment and in working alignment with the wellhead and associated
well
bore.
In a preferred embodiment, bracing means are attached to the compact rotating
jack's
middle jack plate, and the bracing means including: chains or tension-bearing
cables
between the middle jack plate and an element of well-head equipment to assist
in
resisting rotational movement of the jack during operation; and/or one or more
solid
extension arm elements between the middle jack plate and an element of
wellhead
equipment, to assist in resisting rotational movement of the jack and
stabilize the
rotating head in spatial relation to the well.
In another embodiment of the rotating jacking apparatus, the at least one
hanger
flange attached to the rotary adapter plate comprises: a hanger flange for
attachment
to the casing or tubing to hold the casing or tubing from rotation relative to
the flange
when the apparatus operates to provide rotational motion to the tubing; and
another
hanger flange for attachment to the casing or tubing to hold the casing or
tubing from
linear movement relative to the flange when the jack of the apparatus operates
to
provide linear jacked movement to the tubing via movement of the flange.
In operation, while cementing a casing tubular into a wellbore, after the
casing tubing
has been injected into the wellbore, either during or after cement injection
through
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the casing and into the annulus between the casing tubular's outer surface and
the
inner surface of the wellbore, performing the following steps: with a compact
rotary
surface jack of this invention, moving the casing tubing a short distance in a
linear
direction into and out of the wellbore to break frictional forces between the
cement
and the outer wall of the casing tubing, and then, with the compact rotary
surface
jack, rotating the casing tubular in the wellbore in contact with the cement
until a
satisfactory cement/tubular bond is achieved and a suitable centralized
location of
the tubular in the wellbore is achieved, and then, disengaging and removing
the
compact rotary surface jack, optionally leaving the casing tubing suspended by
a
hanger at the wellhead, or without suspending the casing tubing by a hanger,
but
suspended independently by the cement's bond.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a side elevation drawing of a PRIOR ART compact horseshoe jack
from
US 9,945,191
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the active rotary drive and pipe hanger flange
system
of this invention, unattached to the vertical jacking system
Figures 3a and 3b are a perspective drawing and a cross-sectional view of the
travelling plate with rotary drive and hanger flanges of the system,
unattached to the
balance of the jack system
Figure 4 is a drawing showing chain restraints attached to a plate of the
jacking
system for attachment to a workover rig to restrict rotation of the compact
jack
elements during rotating operations on the casing tubing during cementing.
Figure 5 is a perspective elevation of a slew-drive/planetary gearbox and
hydraulic
motor rotary drive system which is a component of the system shown in Figure
3.
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Figure 6 shows a schematic (not to scale) representation of the elements of
the
invention installed at a wellhead of a well.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Apparatus ¨ A description of the apparatus components and how they operate.
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus of this invention includes a
horseshoe jack
1 similar to the horseshoe jack of US 9,945,191attached to the annulus or
similar top-
hole equipment of a wellhead and mounted on a workover or similar drilling rig
(not
shown). At the top of the jack 1 on its travelling plate 60 is mounted a
series of
subassemblies, namely a travelling plate to rotary drive adapter 30 to the
travelling
plate 60, then to the other side of that adapter 30 is mounted the rotary
drive assembly
50, to which another adapter plate, the rotary drive to hanger flange adapter
40 is
attached. To that hanger flange adapter 40 a hanger flange 10 and a rotary
hanger
flange 20 are attached. A middle plate of the jack 1 may be attached to the
drilling rig
by chains 80 and rigid arms 85 to assist in resisting rotation of the jack and
rotating
assemblies when torque forces are generated by the rotary drive 50 and
transmitted
to tubulars captured in the rotary hanger flange during operation. The
rotation of the
rotary drive 50 may be by hydraulic motor or other means under operator
control. In
a preferred embodiment, the rotational torque should not exceed the torque-
strength
of the tubular being rotated. In operation, the inventors have found that
rotational
speed of 1-6 rpm, preferably around 4 rpm, is most suitable for use in
cementing
casing tubing into the bore of a larger casing being rehabilitated. Since the
casing
tubing being operated on is sitting or hanging from the wellhead's stationary
flange
100, and does not need to be lifted out or injected into the wellbore any
significant
distance, the jack's stroke length can be very compact, in an embodiment
around 4-
6 feet. When rotational force is desired to manipulate the tubing captured in
the
hanger flange(s) of the device, the rotary drive is activated to turn the
tubing in the
wellbore. When a vertical or up-down linear movement is desired, the jack's
linear
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piston drive mechanisms can be activated to provide in or out linear force to
the tubing
with respect to the wellbore.
When approaching a rig on a wellhead to work on tubing in the wellbore, the
compact
jack in a horseshoe configuration may be slid horizontally to envelop the
tubular at
the wellhead, and then attached to the wellhead. The flanges may then be
affixed to
the tubular where it extends out of the well, and rig operations may commence.
Where
cementing the tubular casing is to be accomplished, a cement head or swivel
would
be attached above the jack's flanges to the tubular's top end, and the tubular
can then
be rotated while cement is injected into the conduit of the tubing and back up
the
annulus between the casing tubing's external surface and the well's internal
surface.
At some point, a wiper plug can be injected pushed by salt water into the
casing's
internal bore, pushing concrete out and into the annulus while clearing and
cleaning
the bore to enable production therethrough after setting and completion. When
cementing is completed, the jack's hanger flanges can be detached from the
tubular,
.. the chains and arms from the rig, and the jack from the wellhead, and the
device can
be moved horizontally from around the tubular and off the rig for transport to
another
job.
Glossary of Terms and Definitions
1 Horseshoe Jack Apparatus
10 Hanger Flange
Rotary Hanger Flange
Travelling Plate to Rotary Drive Adapter
Rotary Drive to Hanger Flange Adapter
Rotary Drive and Motor Assembly
Travelling Plate
Drive Motor for Rotary Assembly
Chain Restraints
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85 Rigid Anti-rotation Arms
90 Wellhead Annular
100 Stationary Hanger Flange at Wellhead
110 Wellhead equipment (Pipe Rams, Blind Rams, Work Spool, Wellhead)
120 First subassembly
130 Lower jack assembly
140 Middle jack assembly
150 Second subassembly
160 Concentric circular driven portion
170 Rotary adapter plate
180 Means for hanger flange to be removeably attached
190 First mount
200 Linear jack
210 Travelling second mount
220 Means for powering linear extension and retraction
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