Compact Frac Plug Slip Structure for High-Pressure Wellbore Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing downhole tools face challenges in maintaining seals under high pressure and flow rates due to limited frictional performance of slips, often requiring multiple frustoconical members and slips, which complicates the design and increases the risk of seal failure.
Innovation Solution
A compact downhole tool design featuring a single frustoconical member, a single set of slips, and an elastomeric element, with internal buttons on the slips to enhance friction, allowing for high-pressure and high-flow-rate operation, and using a dissolvable sealing element to facilitate wellbore isolation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple frustoconical members and slips are used to maintain seals under high pressure, then seal reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple frustoconical members and slips into a single integrated frustoconical member with a unified slip set. The single frustoconical member features a tapered surface that engages the slips, which are arranged circumferentially around the tool body. This merging reduces the number of components while maintaining the seal reliability needed for high-pressure applications up to 12 kpsi.
Solution Approach 2:
The slips are equipped with buttons made of hard materials such as ceramic or diamond-coated surfaces. These composite material elements enhance the frictional performance and wear resistance of the slips, allowing a single set of slips to withstand the forces generated at 12 kpsi pressure and 80 MMSCFD flow rates, eliminating the need for multiple slip sets.
2Reliability
If multiple frustoconical members and slips are used to withstand high flow rates, then seal reliability is improved, but the risk of seal failure increases due to design complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple frustoconical members into a single frustoconical member with a continuous tapered surface. This unified design reduces the number of interfaces and potential failure points between multiple components, while the circumferentially arranged slips provide distributed contact with the wellbore wall to handle high flow rates of 80 MMSCFD gas or 4,000 BOPD oil.
Solution Approach 2:
The slips are equipped with localized hard buttons at specific contact points on their outer surfaces. These buttons concentrate frictional forces at key locations, enhancing grip on the wellbore wall without requiring the entire slip structure to be overly complex. The buttons are strategically positioned to maximize engagement with the tapered surface of the frustoconical member during high-flow operations.
3Device complexity
If a compact design with single frustoconical member and slip set is used, then device complexity is reduced, but frictional performance under high pressure is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The slips are equipped with buttons made of hard materials such as ceramic or diamond-coated surfaces. These composite material elements enhance the frictional performance and wear resistance of the slips, allowing a single set of slips to withstand the forces generated at 12 kpsi pressure and 80 MMSCFD flow rates, eliminating the need for multiple slip sets.
Solution Approach 2:
The frustoconical member features a precisely engineered tapered surface with optimized curvature. This curved geometry distributes contact forces evenly across the slip buttons, maximizing frictional engagement with the wellbore wall. The tapered angle and surface profile are designed to generate sufficient radial force on the slips to maintain secure anchoring under high-pressure conditions while keeping the overall tool design compact.
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
The design enables the tool to withstand pressures up to 12 kpsi and flow rates of 80 MMSCFD of gas or 4,000 BOPD, while maintaining a compact form and allowing for easy removal post-use through degradable materials.
Implementation Method 1
a single elastomeric element located between the set of slips and the frustoconical member. In the downhole tool, at least a portion of the elastomeric element substantially may surround a portion of the frustoconical member
Implementation Method 2
Many such downhole tools used for sealing a wellbore employ slips to contact casing in the wellbore with sufficient friction under pressure to hold the downhole tool in place and maintain the seal in the wellbore
Data Source
AI summary
A compact downhole tool, such as a frac plug, may include a single frustoconical member and a single set of slips. The slips may further include an internal button that engages with the frustoconical member. Various elements in the downhole tool may be dissolvable or degradable.