Coiled Tubing Tool Deployment via Drill Bit Passageway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wellbore drilling and surveying techniques are not adaptable for use with coiled tubing, which offers faster tool exchange times compared to conventional threaded pipe systems, due to the lack of methods to effectively deploy and retract survey instruments within coiled tubing operations.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of coiled tubing where connectors are pre-positioned along the tubing string, allowing tools and sensors to be inserted and moved along the tubing without the need for splicing or unwinding the entire string, enabling the deployment of wellbore instruments below the drill bit for logging and surveying purposes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional threaded pipe systems are used for wellbore drilling, then survey instruments can be deployed, but tool exchange time is slow due to the need to uncouple and rejoin threaded connections
Solution Approach 1:
The drill string is divided into modular segments with connectors positioned at predetermined intervals. This segmentation allows survey instruments to be deployed at specific locations without requiring uncoupling of the entire threaded pipe string, enabling faster tool exchange by working with discrete segments rather than the entire string.
Solution Approach 2:
A transfer tool acts as an intermediary device to move survey instruments from the surface through the coiled tubing and drill bit to the wellbore floor. This intermediary mechanism eliminates the need for direct manual handling of heavy drill components, simplifying the operation and reducing exchange time.
2Productivity
If coiled tubing is used for wellbore drilling, then tool exchange time is reduced, but existing surveying methods cannot be effectively deployed without modification
Solution Approach 1:
The coiled tubing system is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both the drilling conduit and the deployment pathway for survey instruments. The same coiled tubing that enables fast tool exchange also serves as the medium for deploying surveying equipment, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Connectors are pre-positioned along the coiled tubing string at predetermined intervals before deployment. This preliminary arrangement allows survey instruments to be easily inserted at specific locations without requiring complex in-situ assembly operations, thereby maintaining the speed advantage of coiled tubing while enabling versatile surveying operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If survey instruments are deployed through the drill bit, then logging and surveying can be performed, but the drill bit must be modified with a passageway and latching mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The survey instrument deployment system is nested within the existing drill bit structure. A central passageway is integrated into the drill bit, and a latching mechanism is incorporated into the same structure. This nesting approach allows survey instruments to be deployed through the drill bit without requiring completely separate external mechanisms, thereby adding surveying capability while minimizing increases in overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for inserting a tool into a wellbore includes uncoiling a coiled tubing into the wellbore to a selected depth therein. When the tubing is at the selected depth, the tubing is uncoupled. A tool is inserted into the interior of the tubing. The tubing is reconnected, and the tool is moved along the interior of the tubing.