Misalignment Joints for Well Screen Shunt Tube Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In well completion processes, premature loss of carrier liquid during gravel packing can lead to incomplete packing and sand bridge formation, which complicates fluid flow through the well screen system due to misalignment issues between shunt and jumper tubes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of misalignment joints, such as knuckle joints with semi-spherical male and female portions, and axially telescoping joints, to accommodate azimuthal and rotational misalignments between shunt and jumper tubes, ensuring proper connection and fluid flow despite non-circular cross-sections and imperfect clocking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid direct connections are used between shunt tubes and jumper tubes, then manufacturing and assembly are simpler, but misalignment causes poor fluid communication and sand bridge formation
Solution Approach 1:
The joint structure incorporates movable elements including a telescoping section with sliding surfaces that allow axial movement, and a knuckle section with spherical surfaces that allow angular movement. This dynamic capability enables the rigid tubes to connect despite azimuthal and rotational misalignments, maintaining fluid communication reliability while accommodating manufacturing tolerances and installation variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The misalignment joint acts as an intermediary element between the shunt tube and jumper tube. It includes a first tube portion connected to the shunt tube, a second tube portion connected to the jumper tube, and intermediate sections (telescoping and knuckle joints) that absorb misalignment. This intermediary structure protects the fluid communication path from the effects of misalignment while maintaining simple tube connections.
2Manufacturing precision
If precise clocking and alignment are achieved during assembly, then shunt and jumper tubes align perfectly, but assembly time and precision requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The joint structure changes the geometric parameters of the connection by introducing axial telescoping movement and angular knuckle movement. This allows the connection to accommodate a range of misalignment parameters (azimuthal angles, rotational offsets) without requiring precise initial alignment, significantly reducing assembly time and precision requirements while maintaining fluid communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic misalignment joint allows the connection to self-adjust during assembly. The telescoping section accommodates axial position variations, and the knuckle section accommodates angular misalignments, enabling workers to connect tubes without precise clocking while the joint automatically compensates for misalignment through its movable surfaces.
3Strength
If non-circular cross-sections are used for shunt and jumper tubes, then structural integrity and gravel pack interaction are improved, but rotational misalignment occurs at connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the asymmetric non-circular cross-sections of the tubes to advantage. The misalignment joint includes asymmetric mating surfaces with keyways and protrusions that maintain the non-circular geometry while providing alignment features. The knuckle joint's spherical surfaces and the telescoping section's sliding surfaces accommodate rotational misalignment while preserving the structural integrity provided by the non-circular cross-sections for gravel pack interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The misalignment joint serves as an intermediary that connects non-circular tubes without requiring perfect rotational alignment. The joint's design includes asymmetric features that mate with the non-circular tube cross-sections while incorporating movable elements that absorb rotational misalignment, thereby maintaining both structural integrity and connection reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for coupling a shunt tube of a first screen assembly to a shunt tube of a second screen assembly includes an elongate jumper tube and a misalignment joint. The misalignment joint has a first end coupled to the jumper tube. The first end is moveable relative to a second end of the misalignment joint.