Flexible Borehole Liner Eversion with Water Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for installing and removing flexible borehole liners are time-consuming and contaminate surrounding aquifers by forcing borehole water into the geologic formation, prolonging drilling processes and requiring extensive storage of contaminated water.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a heavy cylindrical eversion aid to rapidly evert and invert a flexible liner into a borehole without internal pressure, using borehole water to dilate the liner and minimize fluid displacement into the formation, and a perforated tube for efficient removal, allowing for quick installation and removal within a half hour.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If water is added to the interior of the everting liner to dilate it and cause the liner to displace borehole fluids into the formation, then the liner can be propagated into the borehole, but the installation rate decreases over time and contaminated water is forced into the surrounding formation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the contaminated borehole water from the annulus and stores it inside the liner as it is being emplaced. This prevents the water from being forced into the surrounding formation while maintaining the dilating pressure needed for liner installation. The water is essentially removed from the harmful pathway and relocated to a contained space.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a tube as an intermediary element to remove water from beneath the liner during installation. This tube acts as a mediator that allows water to be extracted from the annulus and transferred to storage, enabling the liner to be installed without forcing contaminated water into the formation. The tube facilitates the water removal process while the liner is being emplaced.
2Reliability
If the liner is propagated by eversion using water pressure, then the liner seals flow paths, but the installation process takes one to two hours and requires similar time for removal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables continuous water removal from the annulus during liner installation by maintaining the tube in place and continuously pumping water out as the liner descends. This continuous action prevents water accumulation that would slow installation and allows the liner to be emplaced rapidly without interruption. The same continuous water removal process facilitates rapid removal by preventing water from forcing the liner against the formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary water removal from beneath the liner before the liner fully seals the formation. By removing water in advance during the installation process, the liner can be rapidly emplaced without the resistance that would otherwise slow propagation. The water is preemptively extracted to prevent it from becoming a barrier to rapid installation and removal.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a tube is used to remove water from beneath the liner during installation, then water can be prevented from entering the formation, but the tube violates the liner seal and requires several days for subsequent liner removal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the water removal system dynamic by maintaining the tube in place only during installation and then removing it before liner removal. The system transitions from having the tube present (during installation) to having it removed (before liner removal). This dynamic approach allows water removal during installation without the tube interfering with subsequent liner removal, as the tube is temporarily present only when needed and removed before it would cause problems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables rapid sealing and unsealing of boreholes, minimizing water contamination and reducing installation and removal times, allowing for continuous drilling operations with minimal environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
the use of a heavy cylindrical device which causes the liner to evert as it is lowered into the hole, without the need for the liner to be dilated by an internal pressure greater than the fluid pressure in the borehole
Implementation Method 2
Borehole water is pumped from the top end of the borehole and through the tube to the bottom of the liner, causing it to dilate at the bottom end of the hole forcing the water in the annulus, between the liner and the borehole wall, to be displaced upward to the pump
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for rapidly installing or withdrawing a sealing liner into or out of a subsurface well bore or borehole. An eversion aid, such as an open-ended cylinder, is engaged with the liner, the eversion aid serving to push the liner down the borehole during installation, and to assist in proper liner extraction during its withdrawal from the borehole. Water is transferred between the liner interior and the borehole outside the liner to regulate the disposition of borehole water, and to aid in proper sealing functions of the liner and to promote proper liner extraction during withdrawal.