Capillary Hanger Deployment for Subsurface Safety Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surface-controlled safety valves for wells are prone to damage and malfunction due to intricate mechanisms and multiple components, making them difficult and costly to deploy and maintain, especially when replacing inoperable safety valves without the need for hot tapping the wellhead.
Innovation Solution
The use of capillary hanger arrangements and coil tubing to deploy and operate surface-controlled subsurface safety valves, which communicate hydraulic fluid through a capillary string, reducing the complexity of components and potential for damage by using a single port and piston arrangement, and allowing for deployment without existing hardware for a surface-controlled valve.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If surface controlled safety valves are deployed with intricate mechanisms and multiple components, then the valve can be operated from the surface, but the valve becomes prone to damage and malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the intricate operating mechanisms from the valve body and relocates them to the surface. The valve itself is simplified to contain only essential components (body, seat, ball, seal), while the complex piston, spring, and linkage mechanisms are removed and placed in a surface-operated hydraulic system, thereby improving reliability by reducing the number of potential failure points in the subsurface valve.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces hydraulic fluid as an intermediary to transmit the operating force from the surface to the valve. Instead of directly operating the valve from the surface through mechanical linkages, the system uses hydraulic pressure transmitted through fluid to actuate the valve components, eliminating the need for complex mechanical connections and improving reliability.
2Reliability
If existing safety valves are replaced by working over the well to install new valves, then reliable safety valves can be installed, but the process becomes time consuming and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical process of working over the well with a hydraulic system that can be operated from the surface. Instead of requiring physical access to the wellbore to install and operate the valve, the system uses hydraulic fluid transmitted through existing well infrastructure to actuate the valve, eliminating the need for time-consuming well interventions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the safety valve system to be compatible with existing well infrastructure and operational procedures. The valve can be installed and operated using the same hydraulic control systems already present in the well, making the system universally applicable without requiring specialized equipment or procedures, thereby reducing intervention time and cost.
3Adaptability or versatility
If safety valves are deployed in wells with existing tubing-mounted safety valves or landing nipples, then the valves can be installed in existing infrastructure, but the deployment requires special adapters and complex positioning procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the safety valve system into distinct functional components: a simple subsurface valve unit and a surface control system. This segmentation allows the valve to be deployed independently without requiring complex integration with existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for special adapters and simplifying the deployment procedure while maintaining adaptability to existing wells.
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
This solution reduces the risk of damage to valve components, simplifies hydraulic fluid communication, and enables efficient deployment and retrieval of safety valves, reducing operational costs and complexity compared to existing technologies.
Implementation Method 1
coil tubing communicates the hydraulic fluid to operate the valve
Implementation Method 2
capillary hanger arrangements and coil tubing to deploy and operate surface-controlled subsurface safety valves, which communicate hydraulic fluid through a capillary string
Data Source
AI summary
To deploy a capillary string through a wellhead to a downhole safety valve, a control port and a retention port are drilled in an adapter between a casing hanger and a gate valve or elsewhere. The capillary string is connected to a first port of a capillary hanger and installed through the wellhead. The capillary hanger is landed on a tubing hanger, and a side port on the capillary hanger communicates with the control port. Because the side port's location may not align with the control port, operators may need to measure how long the capillary hanger should be. A control line connects to the control port in the wellhead's side to communicate with the capillary line, and a retention rod inserts in the retention port to support the capillary hanger.