Adjustable Packing Element Assembly for Varying Casing Diameters
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing technologies in the resource exploration and recovery industry face challenges in achieving consistent seal quality due to varying casing and tubular diameters, making it difficult to deploy packers effectively across different spans, which results in poor seal quality and requires time-consuming packer changes.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable packing element assembly featuring a tubular with a packing element, backup rings, and an expandable ring, constrained by an adjustable sleeve, allowing on-site adjustment to match varying casing diameters, ensuring optimal seal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a packer is deployed across a large span to accommodate varying casing diameters, then the adaptability is improved, but the seal quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The packer incorporates an expandable ring with a selectively expandable portion that can be adjusted to different expansion states. The adjustable sleeve constrains the expansion to specific positions, allowing the packer to dynamically adapt its span to match the actual casing diameter while maintaining optimal seal contact pressure, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and seal quality
Solution Approach 2:
The packer design allows changing the expansion parameter of the expandable ring by adjusting the adjustable sleeve to different positions. This enables the same packer to be deployed across different casing diameters by modifying its expansion state rather than replacing the entire packer, maintaining seal quality across varying spans
2Reliability
If packers are changed to accommodate different casing diameters, then the seal quality is improved, but the installation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The packer is designed as a universal device that can function across multiple casing diameters through the adjustable sleeve mechanism. Instead of requiring different packer sizes for different casings, a single packer design with adjustable expansion constraints can accommodate various spans, eliminating the need for time-consuming packer changes while maintaining seal quality
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable sleeve is pre-configured with multiple constraint positions that correspond to different casing diameters. Before deployment, the appropriate sleeve position can be selected and set, allowing the packer to be quickly adjusted to the correct span without requiring complex field modifications or packer replacements during installation
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable packing element assembly includes a tubular, and a packing element supported by the tubular. The packing element includes a first end portion and a second end portion. A backup ring is arranged at the first end portion. The backup ring includes a first section mounted to the tubular and a second section extending over the packing element. An expandable ring is mounted to the backup ring. The expandable ring includes a selectively expandable portion. An adjustable sleeve is mounted to the expandable ring. The adjustable sleeve is selectively arranged to constrain an amount of expansion of the selectively expandable portion.