System, method and apparatus for securing control lines to a well pipe
Inactive Publication Date: 2006-06-29
TORRES CARLOS A
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- Abstract
- Description
- Claims
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AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
[0021] Another advantage of the present invention is that one or more control lines can be secured to a pipe string with a clamp that is larger than can be passed through the central opening of the pipe holding device.
[0022] Yet another feature of the present invention is that the control lines may be clamped to a pipe string while the rig floor is free of control line handling equipment in the area adjacent the rig floor opening.
[0023] An important feature of the present invention is that the control lines may be safely installed without the need for elaborate and expensive control line running equipment that must be positioned over the floor opening or above the rig floor.
[0024] The present invention permits the installation of control lines against a pipe string without any danger of slip-caused damage and without need to extensively modify the pipe handling equipment used to run and support the pipe string.
[0025] The system, method and apparatus of the present invention permit the safe and efficient clamping of control lines to a pipe string without requiring that personnel be elevated above the rig floor.
Problems solved by technology
The control lines can be damaged during installation of the tubing if the control lines are caught between the string and the pipe holding or pipe support equipment used to suspend the tubing string from the rig floor.
Each time the sequence is repeated, the control lines are exposed to crimping or other mechanical damage caused by opening or setting the slips.
While damage may occur in many ways, it is estimated that the most common cause of control line damage is caused by accidentally setting the slips while the control line is inadvertently positioned between the pipe and the slip dies.
This type accident can also occur when there is a miscommunication between the person responsible for manipulating the control line away from the contact area between the pipe and the unset slips and the person controlling setting of the slips.
Another opportunity for damage results from the fact the control lines, which may be extremely stiff and difficult to maneuver, can be very difficult to manually hold in position.
If the control lines spring away from a protected position into a pinch area of the setting slips, they will be cut or otherwise damaged as the slips close.
Even where communication and activity are coordinated, the control lever that regulates closing of the slips may be inadvertently moved due to equipment malfunction or other error before the control line has been properly positioned within the slip assembly.
The possibility for damaging the control lines exists any time the control lines and the movable parts of the slip assemblies are physically able to engage each other.
Access to the slip assemblies imposed by the gap orientation and size can be problematic when a large number of lines or large diameter lines must be accommodated in the slips segment gaps.
Damage to the control lines can require a time-consuming, costly field repair or, even more undesirable, can require that the pipe string be withdrawn from the well and rerun with replacement control lines.
These repair procedures can be extremely expensive, particularly in the environment of deep-water offshore well completions where rig costs can exceed $250,000 per day.
When the installation procedure is such that the control lines and the pipe support slips may simultaneously occupy the same physical space, the control lines are at risk of being crimped or otherwise damaged each time the slips are set against the pipe.
Method used
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Embodiment Construction
[0039]FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates a drill ship 10 completing an offshore well 11 by installing a production tubing string 12 into the well. A control line 13, clamped to the production tubing string 12, extends with the production string down to the well 11 through a drilling rig floor 14 of the ship 10. A drilling rig mast 15 extending above the rig floor is used to raise and lower the string 12 with a vertically movable elevator 16 supported from a traveling block or top drive.
[0040] The procedure for installing the production string 12 and control line 13 into the well 11 requires that the string 12 initially be supported from the rig floor 14 while the string is lengthened by the addition of pipe sections. Once the pipe sections have been added into the string, the pipe string support is transferred from the floor 14 to the elevator 16 and then is lowered into the well. The manipulation of the pipe support mechanism or structure used to support the string 12 from the rig...
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Control lines extend vertically through lateral spaces formed between a rig floor and a pipe holding assembly supported on the rig floor. A pipe string held by an elevator extends vertically through the pipe holding assembly into the well. The pipe holding assembly is raised vertically off of the floor, about the pipe string, to allow the control lines to be clamped to the pipe string below the pipe holding assembly. The invention permits the control lines to be clamped to the pipe string without passing through the pipe handling assembly to prevent damage to the control lines when the pipe handling assembly is closed to secure the pipe string.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to the construction of wells used to convey minerals to the surface of the earth from a subsurface location. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for securing power, control and / or injection lines to the pipe that is installed in wells to convey oil and gas and other minerals between the subsurface location and the well surface. PRIOR ART SETTING OF THE INVENTION [0002] Oil and gas and other minerals produced by wells drilled into the earth are conveyed through the well to the well surface by a pipe string frequently referred to as a “production string”. Some wells, particularly those in offshore water locations, employ lines secured along the external length of the production string to monitor, regulate and stimulate the flow of the petroleum fluids through the string. The control lines may be conduits that contain a pressurized fluid that is used to regulate the opening or cl...
Claims
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Patent Timeline
Login to View More IPC IPC(8): E21B19/16E21BE21B17/02E21B19/10E21B19/18E21B19/22
CPCE21B17/026E21B19/10E21B19/22E21B19/07
InventorTORRES, CARLOS A.
OwnerTORRES CARLOS A