System and apparatus for protective management of bottom hole assembly during deployment

Abstract

A BHA (bottom hole assembly) hander comprises an arm, a support structure capable of securing to a tower base, a hydraulic cylinder connected pivotally between the arm and the support structure, actuating the hydraulic cylinder can drive the arm rotating relative to the support structure. When used to deploy a BHA, securing the support structure of the BHA hander to a tower base of the tower, loading the BHA onto the arm of the BHA hander and activating the hydraulic cylinder to raise the BHA hander to a vertical position.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Number 63 / 635,203, filed Apr. 17, 2024, entitled System and Apparatus for Protective Management of Bottom Hole Assembly During Deployment, which is entirely incorporated by reference herein.FIELD

[0002] The disclosure relates generally to apparatus for drilling and completing well bores. The disclosure relates specifically to apparatus and methods for deployment of bottom hole assemblies in a well.BACKGROUND

[0003] A bottom hole assembly is an assembly of equipment typically located at the bottom of a work string, wireline, or coiled tubing in a wellbore, it can include a drill bit, a bit sub, a mud motor, stabilizers, drill collar, jarring devices, and crossovers for various thread forms. Some bottom hole assemblies include directional drilling and measuring equipment, measurement-while-drilling tools, logging-while-drilling tools, and other specialized devices.

[0004] In working with deeper and more complex wellbores, it becomes more likely that bottom hole assemblies may include testing tools, measurement tools, navigation tools, communications tools, and other downhole tools, resulting in increasingly longer tool strings. The length of bottom hole assemblies is often dependent on what function they perform, where additional functions typically imply additional length. As more sophisticated functions are performed downhole bottom hole assemblies have grown in length to the point where deploying them into a wellbore has become a significant challenge.

[0005] The bottom hole assembly can have a longitudinal length greater than 100 feet. Deploying long bottom hole assemblies can be challenging due to various limitations, such as rig up height and length of the lubricator. Long bottom hole assemblies are those that are longer (in longitudinal length) than conventional lubricators. Long bottom hole assemblies typically require specialized equipment and methods to provide the necessary pressure envelope the well barrier.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 10,662,719 to Fossheim discloses a lifting mast for hoisting and positioning oilfield apparatus in alignment with a wellbore. The mast can deploy a bottom hole assembly into a wellbore. Referring to FIG. 1, The upper mast 130 is extended to raise upper support member 136 to lift a bottom hole assembly (BHA) 412. Cable 160 has been attached to a first end 411 of a BHA 412. End 411 is raised from the ground by winch 138, and a wheel 414 located at a second end 416 to roll on the ground. Before lifting, the BHA is horizontal on the ground, when the cable 160 lift the first end 411, a bending moment is applied to the BHA, the bending moment is proportional to weight and length of the BHA, and relates to tilt angle of the BHA, the more inclined of the BHA, the more bending moment is to the BHA, the additional length of the BHA will increase the weight of the BHA and will further increase the bending moment which may damage the BHA.

[0007] Thus, there is interest in apparatus and methods for deploying BHA in a safer way.SUMMARY

[0008] The present disclosure provides a BHA (bottom hole assembly) hander comprising an arm, a support structure capable of securing to a tower base, a hydraulic cylinder connected pivotally between the arm and the support structure, actuating the hydraulic cylinder can drive the arm rotating relative to the support structure.

[0009] The arm of the BHA hander is foldable and made of a box truss. The arm can have at least one retaining loop to secure the BHA.

[0010] The procedure of deploying a BHA using BHA hander comprises: folding the arm of the BHA hander and fitting the BHA hander on a trailer; transporting the trailer close to a tower; securing the support structure of the BHA hander to a tower base of the tower; loading the BHA onto the arm of the BHA hander; securing the BHA on the BHA hander; activating the hydraulic cylinder to raise the BHA hander to a vertical position; lifting the BHA with a winch on the top of the tower and positioning and lowering the BHA assembly into a mousehole or a wellbore by the winch; installing a dog collar / clamp; continuing lower the BHA assembly until it seats. Unloading the BHA is the reverse process.

[0011] The foregoing outlines the features of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other enhancements and objects of the disclosure are obtained, a more particular description of the disclosure briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered to limit its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0013] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a prior art mast trailer.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a perspective side view of a BHA (bottom hole assembly) hander in accordance with an embodiment of disclosed herein.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a box truss of the BHA hander.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a perspective side view of the BHA hander on a transport trailer.

[0017] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of attaching a BHA hander to a tower base.

[0018] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of securing a BHA hander to a tower base.

[0019] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of unfolding arm extension of the BHA hander.

[0020] FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of loading a BHA onto the arm of the BHA hander.

[0021] FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of raising the BHA hander which holds a BHA.

[0022] FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of raising the BHA hander to a vertical position.

[0023] FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of positioning and lowering the BHA into mousehole or wellbore.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of various embodiments of the disclosure. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the disclosure in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the disclosure, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the disclosure may be embodied in practice.

[0025] The terms “up” and “down”; “upper” and “lower”; “upwardly” and downwardly”; “above” and “below”; and other like terms as used herein refer to relative positions to one another and are not intended to denote a particular direction or spatial orientation.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BHA hander 10 comprises an arm 20 which is made of a box truss 21, the box truss 21 comprises two top chords 211, 212 and two bottom chords 213 and 214, the chords are connected by a plurality of beams 216, and a plurality of web elements 215 to form triangles to efficiently support loads. It is designed to carry axial loads primarily along its members, minimizing bending and shear stresses. The triangular configuration of the members distributes loads evenly and optimizes structural efficiency. A BHA can be laid flat on arm 20. When lifting the BHA hander, the box truss 21 will support and lift the BHA such that reduced bending moment applied to the BHA.

[0027] When lifting the BHA, the BHA hander has a support structure 23 to secure to a tower. Any configuration of the tower may be utilized that fits the well site. For example, the tower can be a coil tubing tower disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 12,031,391, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. Support structure 23 has connectors 231, 232, 233 which have bolt joints (not shown) to connect the support structure 23 to the tower base.

[0028] The BHA hander has a hydraulic cylinder 25 to rotate and maintain the BHA hander in position, which is fixed on the support structure 23, the hydraulic cylinder 25 may comprise multiple telescoping connected sections. One end of the hydraulic cylinder 25 is pivotally mounted with respect to a support arm 26 on the support structure 23 through a pivot connector 252, the other end of the hydraulic cylinder 25 connects to the box truss 21 through a pivot connector 253. The box truss 21 has a pivot connector 235 to pivotally connect to the support structure 23 such that the arm 20 can rotate relative to the support structure 23 when actuated by the hydraulic cylinder 25.

[0029] In one embodiment, the arm 20 is foldable, for example, the arm 20 is separated into two sections 218, 219 which may fold upon each other for transportation and then when unfolded extends the BHA hander space laterally enough to support the BHA.

[0030] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, before lifting a BHA, the BHA hander 10 is folded and fitted on a typical oilfield transport trailer 40 and then transported close to a tower 30, lifting the BHA hander 10 off the trailer 40 using crane or forklift with slings and then positioning the BHA hander near the tower base 32 in order to attach the BHA hander to the tower base 32. Referring to FIG. 6, the support structure 23 has connectors which have bolt joints (not shown) to secure the support structure 23 to the tower base 32.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 7, after securing the BHA hander to the tower base 32, the arm 20 of the BHA hander 10 is unfolded to extend and the two sections 218,219 are pinned in place, and then, the hydraulic cylinder 25 is connected to a hydraulic line of a hydraulic actuator (not shown).

[0032] After the BHA hander is set, referring to FIG. 8, a BHA 50 is loaded onto arm 20 of the BHA hander using a loader, wherein the bottom of the BHA 50 is close to the tower and at least one retaining loop 12 is pinned over the BHA to secure the BHA 50 on the BHA hander 10. In one embodiment, there are multiple retaining loops 12 located at different places of the BHA hander 10 to fit different tool lengths. FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of raising the BHA hander which holds a BHA. FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of raising the BHA hander to a vertical position. FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of positioning and lowering a BHA into a mousehole or wellbore.

[0033] After the BHA 50 is fixed on the BHA hander 10, the hydraulic actuator is operated to activate the hydraulic cylinder 25 to raise the BHA hander 10. When the BHA hander 10 is raised to V-door position, a jib winch line 52 is secured onto the top of the BHA assembly. After raising the arm 20 of the BHA hander 10 to a vertical position as shown in FIG. 9, lifting the BHA 50 with a winch on the top of the tower, and guiding the BHA 50 as it is lifted as shown in FIG. 10, then positioning and lowering the BHA assembly into a mousehole or a wellbore by the winch, and then installing a dog collar / clamp, after the dog collar / clamp is installed, continuing lower the BHA assembly until it seats.

[0034] After the BHA (bottom hole assembly) seats, the jib winch line 50 is disconnected from the top of the BHA 50 and is retracted by the winch.

[0035] Unloading the BHA 50 is the reverse process. Firstly, the BHA hander 10 is secured to the tower base 32 and raised to a vertical position. Secondly, the BHA 50 is lift from the wellbore through a jib winch line 52 by the winch, guiding the BHA 50 close to the BHA hander 10, such that the bottom of the BHA 50 rest on the support structure 23 of the BHA hander 10, at least one retaining loop 12 is pinned over the BHA 50 to secure the BHA 50 on the BHA hander and the jib winch line 52 is disconnected from the top of the BHA assembly. Next, the hydraulic actuator is operated to activate the hydraulic cylinder 25 to lower the BHA hander 10 to a horizontal position. Then, unwinding the at least one retaining loop 12 from the BHA assembly, and the BHA 50 is unloaded from the arm 20 of the BHA hander using a loader. After that, the arm 20 is folded and the BHA hander 10 is disconnected from the tower base 32.

[0036] All of the elements and methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the elements and methods of this disclosure have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the elements and methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the disclosure. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the scope and concept of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A bottom hole assembly hander comprising:an arm;a support structure capable of securing to a tower base; anda hydraulic cylinder connected pivotally between the arm and the support structure;wherein actuating the hydraulic cylinder can drive the arm rotating relative to the support structure.

2. The bottom hole assembly hander of claim 1, wherein the arm is foldable.

3. The bottom hole assembly hander of claim 1, wherein the arm is made of a box truss.

4. The bottom hole assembly hander of claim 1, further comprising at least one retaining loop to secure a bottom hole assembly.

5. A method for deploying a bottom hole assembly, comprising:providing a bottom hole assembly hander of claim 2;folding the arm of the bottom hole assembly hander and fitting the bottom hole assembly hander on a trailer;transporting the trailer close to a tower;securing the support structure of the bottom hole assembly hander to a tower base of the tower;loading the bottom hole assembly onto the arm of the bottom hole assembly hander;securing the bottom hole assembly on the bottom hole assembly hander;activating the hydraulic cylinder to raise the bottom hole assembly hander to a vertical position; andlifting the bottom hole assembly with a winch on the top of the tower.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:positioning and lowering the bottom hole assembly into a mousehole or a wellbore by the winch;installing a dog collar / clamp; andcontinuing to lower the BHA assembly until it seats.

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