Subsurface Safety Valve Locking Tool Prevents Uncommanded Closure

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current subsurface safety valves often experience failures and malfunctions, leading to uncommanded closure during well intervention, which can result in wireline severance and toolstring loss within the wellbore.

Innovation Solution

A subsurface safety valve tool with a body extending into and through the interior bore and hinged valve of the safety valve, featuring a protrusion that abuts the fishneck, preventing the valve from transitioning from the open to the closed position.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a subsurface safety valve is deployed to shut-in a wellbore, then wellbore integrity is protected, but the valve may inadvertently close during well intervention causing wireline severance and toolstring loss

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewellbore integrityVSAvoiduncommanded closure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

A locking tool is deployed through the safety valve before well intervention operations begin. The locking tool includes a body with a protrusion that engages with a fishneck on the valve, pre-locking the valve in the open position to prevent uncommanded closure during subsequent wireline operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The locking tool serves as an intermediary device between the wireline system and the safety valve. It includes a body extending into the valve interior bore, with a protrusion that abuts the fishneck, mechanically preventing valve closure while allowing wireline passage through the locked open state.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If the subsurface safety valve is locked in open position using a locking tool, then uncommanded closure is prevented, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevalve position stabilityVSAvoidlocking mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The locking tool is designed as a segmented system with distinct functional components: a body portion extending into the valve interior bore, a protrusion element for engagement, and a fishneck interface. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while simplifying the overall locking mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of using a complex active locking mechanism that requires actuation, the design uses a passive locking approach where the tool's body and protrusion naturally engage the fishneck upon insertion, inverting the conventional approach of requiring active engagement mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS20250043658A1Wireline subsurface safety valve systems, subsurface safety valve tools, and methods of locking subsurface safety valves

Publication Date: 2025.02.06 SAUDI ARABIAN OIL CO

AI summary

A subsurface safety valve tool includes a body having an upper portion positioned upstream of a subsurface safety valve and a lower portion that extends into and through the an interior bore and a hinged valve of the subsurface safety valve, and at least one protrusion extending from an exterior surface of the upper portion of the body, such that the at least one protrusion abuts a fishneck of the subsurface safety valve when the body is positioned within the interior bore of the subsurface safety valve. The subsurface safety valve tool prevents the subsurface safety valve from translating from an open position to a closed position when the subsurface safety valve tool is positioned within the interior bore of the subsurface safety valve.