High Power Laser Tool for Subsurface Structure Decommissioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing structures from the earth, such as hydrocarbon wells, are inefficient, unsafe, and require extensive excavation and equipment, posing risks to personnel and being time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A high power laser tool system that uses a spar assembly with a housing and optics to deliver a laser beam through a tubular, allowing for precise cutting and removal with reduced excavation and safety risks, featuring a Class I accessible emission limit and optical shielding to contain the laser beam.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional methods are used to remove structures from the earth, then the removal can be accomplished with existing equipment, but extensive excavation is required and personnel safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical excavation and cutting equipment with a high-power laser system. The laser beam delivers energy remotely through a tubular structure to cut and remove subsurface structures without requiring physical access or extensive excavation, thereby improving personnel safety while eliminating the need for complex excavation equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a tubular structure as an intermediary medium to transmit the laser beam from the surface to the subsurface target. This intermediary allows the laser energy to reach the structure to be removed without requiring direct physical access, solving the contradiction between safety and equipment complexity.
2Productivity
If conventional cutting methods are used, then existing equipment can be utilized, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces slow mechanical cutting processes with high-power laser cutting, which rapidly vaporizes and removes material. This substitution dramatically increases productivity by enabling precise cutting of subsurface structures without the time-consuming steps of excavation, equipment assembly, and manual cutting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary positioning of the laser tool through the tubular structure before initiating the cutting process. This preliminary action allows the system to be quickly deployed and positioned at the target location, minimizing setup time and maximizing overall decommissioning efficiency.
3Manufacturing precision
If laser beams are used for cutting, then precision and speed are improved, but laser beam containment and safety control become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the tubular structure as an intermediary containment system that guides and confines the laser beam from the surface to the subsurface target. This intermediary structure provides inherent beam containment while allowing precise delivery of laser energy to the cutting location, resolving the contradiction between precision and containment complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the laser beam transmission function from the cutting operation itself, separating the beam delivery path (through the tubular) from the cutting action (at the subsurface target). This extraction allows independent optimization of beam containment and cutting precision, reducing overall system complexity.
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 faster, safer, and more efficient removal of structures by minimizing excavation and reducing personnel risk, with the ability to perform cutting and welding operations in remote and hazardous locations.
Implementation Method 1
systems, tools and methods for the delivery of high power laser beams to cut and remove structures in the earth
Implementation Method 2
The present inventions also relate to the laser welding of surfaces and materials
Data Source
AI summary
There are provided using high power laser systems for performing decommissioning welding and repair of structures in boreholes, off-shore, and other remote and hazardous locations. In a particular embodiment the laser system is a Class I system.