A laser remote ignition device and method suitable for well control emergency

Abstract

The present invention provides a laser remote ignition device and method suitable for well control emergency, the device includes a power supply unit, a transmitting unit, a sighting unit and a stabilizing unit; the power supply unit can provide power to the unit requiring power; the transmitting unit can emit a laser beam; the sighting unit can remotely aim at a target object and focus the laser beam emitted by the transmitting unit on the target object; the stabilizing unit can drive the sighting unit to rotate and ensure the stability of the sighting unit when rotating. The method uses the laser remote ignition device as described above for ignition. The beneficial effects of the present invention include: the laser achieves high-efficiency remote focusing through the aspherical lens of the laser energy remote focuser, shortens the ignition time, and the optical system is simple, small in size, light in weight, and easy to debug.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of well control emergency rescue, and in particular to a laser remote ignition device and method suitable for well control emergency. Background Art

[0002] The main components of uncontrolled blowouts in oil and gas wells include liquid hydrocarbon mixtures such as combustible alkanes, cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins, H 2 S, CO and other toxic and harmful gases. When the mixture ratio of these gases and air reaches the explosion limit, they are prone to combustion and explosion, causing personal injury. At the same time, H 2 Toxic gases such as S diffuse in large quantities in the well site, which can easily cause poisoning of workers and seriously pollute the atmospheric environment. In order to eliminate the risks of explosion, hydrogen sulfide poisoning and environmental pollution at the blowout site, well control and rescue operations require fire operations throughout the process. First of all, non-contact remote ignition of the uncontrolled blowout well is required.

[0003] Chinese patent CN216770348U discloses a contactless remote ignition device, which relates to the field of remote obstacle clearance technology, including a fiber laser, a power supply, a support structure and a transmitter. The fiber laser is connected to the transmitter through an optical fiber, and the top of the support structure is connected to a damping hinge mechanism through a turntable rotation. The damping hinge mechanism includes a first U-shaped seat and a second U-shaped seat. A rotating shaft is penetrated through the outer wall of the first U-shaped seat, and two connecting plates are symmetrically sleeved on the outer wall of the rotating shaft. The top of the connecting plate is fixedly connected to the bottom of the second U-shaped seat.

[0004] Chinese patent CN115224575A proposes a method for remote controllable femtosecond laser filament ignition using a telescope focusing system, which belongs to the field of laser ignition technology. The light beam emitted by a femtosecond laser amplifier is used to generate femtosecond filaments in the far field through a telescope focusing system composed of a concave lens and a convex lens and act on the premixed gas. Then, the single pulse energy of the output laser beam is adjusted to a threshold value to achieve filament ignition.

[0005] Both of the above patents are not suitable for long-distance ignition of high-pressure oil and gas well blowouts. They have the disadvantages of short ignition distance (less than 50m) and easy failure. Therefore, it is urgent to design a safe and reliable device suitable for high-pressure oil and gas well blowouts that can achieve long-distance ignition, so as to create conditions for subsequent rescue operations in the event of a blowout out of control. Summary of the invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to solve at least one of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art. One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a laser remote ignition device suitable for uncontrolled blowout wells.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency.

[0008] The device may include a power supply unit, a transmitting unit, a aiming unit and a stabilizing unit; the power supply unit can provide power to units requiring power; the transmitting unit can emit a laser beam; the aiming unit can remotely aim at a target object and focus the laser beam emitted by the transmitting unit on the target object; the stabilizing unit can drive the aiming unit to rotate and ensure the stability of the aiming unit during rotation.

[0009] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the well control emergency may include rescue operations for uncontrolled blowout wells.

[0010] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting unit may include a fiber laser, and the fiber laser is connected to the aiming unit via a fiber optic cable to establish a laser transmitting channel.

[0011] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the rated output power of the fiber laser may be 600 W, and the adjustable power range is 10-100%; and / or the length of the fiber cable is ≤3 m.

[0012] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a heat dissipation fan is provided on the transmitting unit.

[0013] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the aiming unit may include a laser head; the laser head may include an electronic remote aimer and a laser energy remote focuser arranged side by side; the electronic remote aimer and the laser energy remote focuser are both arranged at the front end position of the laser head.

[0014] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electronic remote aiming device may include a remote aiming component and a high-definition image acquisition component; the remote aiming component may include a focusing window, a focusing lens group, a calibration reference object and an adjustment knob arranged in sequence from back to front; the high-definition image acquisition component may include a digital camera.

[0015] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electronic long-range sight may further include an infrared night vision structure.

[0016] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser energy remote focuser may include a laser window, an aspheric focusing mirror, a metal contact and a QBH optical fiber output head which are arranged in sequence from back to front.

[0017] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the laser window and the aspherical focusing mirror may be 8 to 15 mm.

[0018] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the fiber laser may be connected to the laser energy remote focuser via a fiber optic cable; and the laser beam emitted by the fiber laser may be incident via the laser energy remote focuser.

[0019] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the stabilization unit may include a pan head and a telescopic tripod; the laser head is placed on the pan head, and the pan head is placed on the telescopic tripod.

[0020] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device further comprises a control unit, the control unit comprises a laser control panel, and the laser control panel controls the emission switch and laser parameters through a wireless control system.

[0021] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser is focused at 0-300 m.

[0022] On the other hand, the present invention provides a laser remote ignition method, which uses the laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency as described above to perform ignition.

[0023] Furthermore, the method can be used for emergency rescue operations of uncontrolled blowout wells.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention include at least one of the following:

[0025] (1) The laser achieves high-efficiency remote focusing through the aspherical lens of the laser energy remote focuser, shortening the ignition time.

[0026] (2) The optical system is simple, small in size, light in weight, and easy to debug.

[0027] (3) The laser head is designed with an embedded infrared night vision structure, which can realize ignition in dark areas and at night, meeting the ignition needs of all weather conditions.

[0028] (4) Achieve safe and stable focusing of the laser beam at a long distance of 0 to 300 m.

[0029] (5) The combustible ejecta during a blowout can be ignited by the laser heating principle, eliminating the risks of explosion, hydrogen sulfide poisoning, and environmental pollution at the blowout site. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent through the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0031] Figure 1 The overall structure schematic diagram of a laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0032] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a laser head according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0033] Figure 3A schematic structural diagram of an electronic remote aimer and a laser energy remote focuser according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0034] Description of reference numerals:

[0035] 1-power supply unit; 2-transmitting unit;

[0036] 3-aiming unit, 31-electronic remote aimer, 311-remote aiming assembly, 3111-focusing window; 3112-focusing lens group; 3113-calibration reference; 3114-adjustment knob; 312-high-definition image acquisition assembly; 32-laser energy remote focuser, 321-laser window; 322-aspherical focusing mirror; 323-copper contact; 324-QBH fiber output head;

[0037] 4- Stabilization unit; 5- Control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments so that those skilled in the art can better understand the present invention.

[0039] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0040] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more.

[0041] In the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0042] Exemplary Embodiment 1

[0043] This exemplary embodiment provides a laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency, which can be used for rescue operations of uncontrolled blowout wells.

[0044] like Figure 1 As shown, the device may include a power supply unit 1, a transmitting unit 2, a sighting unit 3 and a stabilizing unit 4. The power supply unit 1 can provide power to units that require power; the transmitting unit 2 can emit a laser beam; the sighting unit 3 can remotely aim at a target object and focus the laser beam emitted by the transmitting unit 2 on the target object; the stabilizing unit 4 can drive the sighting unit 3 to rotate and ensure the stability of the sighting unit 3 when rotating.

[0045] In this embodiment, the transmitting unit may include a fiber laser, and the fiber laser is connected to the aiming unit via a fiber optic cable to establish a laser transmitting channel.

[0046] In this embodiment, the rated output power of the fiber laser can be 600W, and the power adjustable range is 10-100%, that is, the output power range is 10-100% of 600W, that is, the power adjustable range is 60-600W, for example, 100W, 150W, 200W, 250W, 300W, 400W, 500W. For metals with different wall thicknesses, the laser control panel of the control unit is used to adjust the laser output power, so that the metal is quickly heated up to ignite the ejected material, which is highly efficient and energy-saving.

[0047] In this embodiment, the length of the optical fiber cable is ≤3 m, such as 0.5 m, 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m, 2.5 m. Controlling the length of the optical fiber cable to ≤3 m can reduce the loss of laser energy in the internal channel.

[0048] In this embodiment, a heat dissipation fan is provided on the transmitting unit.

[0049] In this embodiment, the power supply unit includes a battery and a power cord; the battery is connected to the fiber laser and the cooling fan through the power cord to provide laser emission energy and air cooling energy.

[0050] In this embodiment, the aiming unit may include a laser head. Figure 2 As shown, the laser head includes an electronic remote aimer 31 and a laser energy remote focuser 32 arranged side by side; the electronic remote aimer 31 and the laser energy remote focuser 32 are both arranged at the front end of the laser head. The aiming image is acquired through the electronic remote aimer 31 inside the laser head. The electronic remote aimer 31 and the laser energy remote focuser 32 are structures connected up and down, and are all arranged at the front end of the laser head. After the position structure is determined, the optical parameters are debugged, and the electronic remote aimer 31 accurately acquires the laser image. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and the electronic remote aimer 31 and the laser energy remote focuser 32 can also be set at other positions where accurate acquisition of the laser image can be achieved.

[0051] In this embodiment, the fiber laser is connected to the laser energy remote focuser in the laser head via an optical fiber cable to achieve long-distance focusing of the laser on the target object.

[0052] In this embodiment, if Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the electronic remote aiming device 31 includes a remote aiming component 311 and a high-definition image acquisition component 312; the remote aiming component 311 includes a focusing window 3111, a focusing lens group 3112, a calibration reference object 3113 and an adjustment knob 3114 arranged in sequence from back to front; the high-definition image acquisition component 312 includes a digital camera, wherein the calibration reference object 3113 includes a calibration scale line.

[0053] The micro high-definition image acquisition component adopts the principle of capturing images with a digital camera, and integrates the laser light path point with the remote aiming component, so that the laser light path is parallel to the inner wall of the remote aiming component cavity and close to the center point of the aspheric optical lens; the laser light path light exit point is placed at the center of the camera screen of the remote aiming component, and the screen is cross-processed and positioned at the intersection, which serves as the bull's eye point of the laser energy, thereby playing a aiming role.

[0054] In this embodiment, the electronic long-range aiming device also includes an infrared night vision structure, which realizes the capture and processing of daytime and nighttime images by combining the camera capture principle of the micro high-definition image acquisition component with the starlight-level night vision function of the camera itself.

[0055] In this embodiment, if Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the laser energy remote focuser 32 includes a laser window 321, an aspheric focusing mirror 322, a copper contact 323 and a QBH optical fiber output head 324, which are arranged in sequence from the back to the front. The laser beam is output through the QBH optical fiber output head 324 by focusing through the aspheric focusing mirror 322, and the focus point is adjusted by adjusting the knob 3114. The copper contact 323 absorbs the deviated laser energy during the normal conduction of the laser beam, and uses the good energy conductivity of copper itself to play a heat dissipation role, so as to prevent the laser energy remote aiming focuser from being damaged by the deviated laser, and finally realize the focusing of the laser beam at 0 to 300m.

[0056] In this embodiment, the fiber laser is connected to the laser energy remote focuser via an optical fiber cable; the laser beam emitted by the fiber laser is incident through the laser window of the laser energy remote focuser.

[0057] In this embodiment, the laser energy remote focuser has a length of 160-165mm, a diameter divided into front and rear ends, a rear end diameter of 40-43mm, and a front end diameter of 25-28mm, and an overall shape of a cylindrical cavity. For example, the length is 161mm, 162mm, 163mm, and 164mm, the rear end diameter is 41mm, 42mm, and the front end diameter is 26mm and 27mm. The rear end of the laser energy remote focuser is equipped with a standard QBH card connector to connect the laser energy emitted by the laser from the optical fiber, and convert the laser conduction medium from optical fiber conduction to air conduction. Because scattering occurs during the laser conversion process, the laser energy remote focuser plays a role in further integrating the scattered laser energy through optical focusing lenses. As a further integration component for the conversion of laser energy conduction media, the laser energy remote focuser needs to integrate the laser energy beam through optical lenses. Therefore, multiple specially treated optical lenses are used inside the focuser cavity to perform galvanometer processing on the laser. The cylindrical design is applicable to the principle of optical propagation, saving space while maximizing the integration of lasers.

[0058] In this embodiment, the laser window is a window composed of a cavity combined with a specially treated optical lens, which utilizes the wavelength and pulse properties of the optical laser to further integrate the scattered laser energy through the optical focusing lens and then transmit the laser energy to the natural environment again.

[0059] In this embodiment, the aspherical focusing mirror is made of glass and coated with a boron trioxide film. The aspherical focusing mirror corresponds to the spherical focusing mirror. Both are commonly used lens types for correcting refractive errors. The difference is that the spherical lens has a more obvious bulge in appearance and the lens thickness is relatively large. The quality of the light-transmitting imaging properties in the peripheral optical zone is significantly worse than that of the aspherical lens, and deformation, halo and other phenomena that affect the visual quality will occur. The aspherical lens has a relatively flat appearance and a relatively thin thickness. The degree of optical distortion in the peripheral optical zone of the lens is significantly lower than that of the spherical lens, and it is generally not easy to be distorted. Therefore, the use of an aspherical focusing mirror can integrate the scattered laser energy.

[0060] In this embodiment, the distance between the laser window and the aspheric focusing mirror is 8 to 15 mm. The laser window is located on the upper optical path of the aspheric focusing mirror, and mainly plays the role of once (primary) integration of the laser transmitted from the optical fiber, and then re-integrates through the aspheric focusing mirror. The distance between the two is determined according to the actual situation, and the distance range is 8 to 15 mm, such as 9 mm, 10 mm, 11 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm, and 14 mm.

[0061] In this embodiment, the copper contact is located at the front end of the laser energy remote focuser, about 135-140mm away from the rear laser window, such as 137mm, 139mm; about 30-35mm away from the output end, such as 31mm, 33mm; mainly composed of a circular cavity beryllium copper alloy material with an overall diameter of 10-12mm, a middle opening diameter of 5-6mm, and a thickness of 2-3mm. Of course, the present invention can also use other metals as metal contacts, such as silver contacts. Silver has better metal stability and thermal conductivity than copper, but copper has the highest cost performance.

[0062] In this embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, the device further comprises a control unit 5, and the control unit 5 comprises a laser control panel, and the laser control panel controls the emission switch and laser parameters through a wireless control system.

[0063] Focusing is performed through an aspherical focusing mirror, and the focus point is adjusted by adjusting the knob to achieve imaging adaptation adjustment of the pan / tilt controller and the laser control panel. The adjusted laser beam is output through the QBH optical fiber output head, and the energy is conducted through the copper contacts, so that the laser beam is finally focused at 0 to 300m, for example, at 5m, 30m, 50m, 100m, 120m, 150m, 220m, and 290m.

[0064] In this embodiment, the stabilization unit includes a pan head and a telescopic tripod; the laser head is placed on the pan head, and the pan head is placed on the telescopic tripod. The control unit is connected to the pan head, controls the pan head to rotate, realizes rapid aiming of the target, and improves the aiming stability of the laser head placed on the pan head. The pan head is placed on the supporting structure telescopic tripod, which increases the space usage range of the device and ensures the stability of the laser head when rotating.

[0065] Exemplary Embodiment 2

[0066] This exemplary embodiment provides a laser remote ignition method, which uses the laser remote ignition device described in exemplary embodiment 1 to perform ignition.

[0067] In this embodiment, the laser is remotely focused through the aspherical lens of the laser energy remote focuser and irradiated onto the metal surface near the nozzle. After the metal absorbs the instantaneous high energy of the laser, the temperature rises sharply to reach the ignition point of the combustible ejecta, thereby realizing contactless remote ignition.

[0068] In this embodiment, the laser is remotely focused through the aspherical lens of the laser energy remote focuser, irradiating the flammable material set near the nozzle, igniting the flammable material, and then igniting the combustible ejected material, thereby realizing contactless remote ignition.

[0069] In summary, the present invention realizes high-efficiency remote focusing through the aspheric focusing mirror of the laser energy remote focuser, and the ignition distance is greater than 150m. Compared with the beam expansion focusing method, the optical system is simple, small in size, light in weight, and easy to debug. The laser head design is embedded with an infrared night vision structure, which can realize rapid aiming of targets in dark areas and at night, meeting the ignition needs of all weather.

[0070] Although the present invention has been described above by combining with exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency, characterized in that: The device comprises a power supply unit, a launch unit, a sighting unit and a stabilization unit; The power supply unit can provide electric energy to units requiring electric energy; The transmitting unit is capable of transmitting a laser beam; The aiming unit can remotely aim at the target object and focus the laser beam emitted by the launch unit on the target object, using the laser heating principle to ignite the combustible ejected material during the blowout. The target object includes metal or flammable materials near the nozzle. The stabilizing unit can drive the aiming unit to rotate and ensure the stability of the aiming unit during rotation; The transmitting unit includes a fiber laser, which is connected to the aiming unit via a fiber optic cable to establish a laser transmitting channel; The aiming unit comprises a laser head; the laser head comprises an electronic remote aimer and a laser energy remote focuser arranged side by side; The fiber laser is connected to the laser energy remote focuser through an optical fiber cable; the laser beam emitted by the fiber laser is incident through the laser energy remote focuser; The laser energy remote focuser comprises a laser window, an aspheric focusing mirror, a metal contact and a QBH optical fiber output head which are arranged in sequence from the back to the front.

2. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The rated output power of the fiber laser is 600W, and the power adjustable range is 10-100%; and / or, The length of the optical fiber cable is ≤3m.

3. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The transmitting unit is provided with a heat dissipation fan.

4. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The electronic remote aimer and the laser energy remote focuser are both arranged at the front end of the laser head; When the target object is a metal near the nozzle, after the metal absorbs the instantaneous high energy of the laser, the temperature rises sharply and reaches the ignition point of the combustible ejected material, thus realizing remote contactless ignition; When the target object is a flammable material near the nozzle, the laser ignites the flammable material, which in turn ignites the combustible ejected material, thereby achieving remote contactless ignition.

5. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The electronic long-range aiming device comprises a long-range aiming component and a high-definition image acquisition component; The remote aiming assembly includes a focusing window, a focusing lens group, a calibration reference object and an adjustment knob arranged in sequence from the back to the front; The high-definition image acquisition component includes a digital camera.

6. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 5 is characterized in that: The electronic long-range sight also includes an infrared night vision structure.

7. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The distance between the laser window and the aspherical focusing mirror is 8-15 mm.

8. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The stabilizing unit comprises a pan head and a telescopic tripod; the laser head is placed on the pan head, and the pan head is placed on the telescopic tripod.

9. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device also includes a control unit, which includes a laser control panel. The laser control panel controls the emission switch and laser parameters through a wireless control system.

10. The laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency according to claim 1, characterized in that: The laser is focused at 5m to 300m.

11. A laser remote ignition method, characterized in that: The method uses the laser remote ignition device suitable for well control emergency as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 to perform ignition.

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