Single Packer Inlet with Rounded Ends for Stress Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Expansion of single packer devices in downhole oil and gas operations can lead to environmental stresses, and existing inlet designs for these devices do not consistently provide reliable results, making it challenging to test formation fluids effectively.
Innovation Solution
The design of a single packer inlet system featuring a sample inlet with parallel sides and rounded ends, surrounded by guard inlets with similar configurations, which expand through a mandrel actuation mechanism, allowing for efficient fluid sampling and reduced stress on the packer system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the single packer is expanded to contact the wellbore, then the packer can separate wellbore segments for testing, but environmental stresses are imposed on the packer system
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet design features rounded ends instead of sharp corners, creating a more spherical/curved geometry that reduces stress concentration points. This curvature distributes environmental stresses more evenly across the inlet structure, preventing stress accumulation that could compromise the packer system during expansion and sealing operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional inlet designs are used, then the packer can be constructed, but fluid sampling reliability is inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The rounded-end inlet geometry eliminates sharp corners that create turbulence and dead zones in fluid flow. The curved surfaces promote laminar flow patterns, ensuring consistent and reliable fluid sampling from the wellbore segments being tested, while still being manufacturable using standard processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The inlet design applies different geometric qualities to different regions: the rounded ends provide smooth flow transitions for reliable sampling, while the parallel sides maintain structural integrity and ease of manufacture. This localized optimization of geometric properties achieves both manufacturing ease and sampling reliability.
3Ease of manufacture
If the inlet has sharp corners, then manufacturing may be simpler, but stress concentration occurs during packer expansion
Solution Approach 1:
By replacing sharp corners with rounded ends, the design eliminates stress concentration points that would weaken the inlet during packer expansion. The curved geometry distributes mechanical stresses evenly, significantly improving strength and stress resistance while remaining compatible with standard manufacturing processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A configuration for testing fluid with a single packer includes at least one sample inlet and at least one guard inlet surrounding a periphery of the at least one sample inlet, wherein the at least one sample inlet has at least one side that is parallel to another side of the at least one sample inlet and the at least one sample inlet has at least two rounded ends connecting each of the parallel sides, and the at least one guard inlet has at least one side that is parallel to another side of the at least one guard inlet and the at least one guard inlet has at least two rounded ends connecting each of the parallel side of the guard inlet.