Steerable Sub Angular Orientation Control for Wellbore Perforation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing well perforation methods lack reliability in aligning the firing direction of shaped charges with specific zones in the casing, requiring manual adjustments and weight-based orientation, which is inefficient and unable to change orientation after deployment.
Innovation Solution
A steerable sub with a housing, steering element, and actuation mechanism is integrated into the gun string, allowing the shaped charges to rotate relative to the casing's longitudinal axis to align the firing direction with a desired orientation, using wheels or fins and a controller with sensors to autonomously adjust the orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If weight-based orientation is used to align shaped charges with desired zones, then the gun string can be deployed without complex steering mechanisms, but the orientation reliability is poor and cannot be adjusted after deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the gun string rotatable relative to the casing's longitudinal axis. The shaped charges are mounted on a rotatable carrier that can be actively steered to different angular positions, transforming the static weight-based orientation into a dynamic, adjustable system. This allows the firing direction to be changed after deployment by rotating the carrier assembly, thereby improving orientation reliability while maintaining manageable device complexity through controlled rotational movement.
2Productivity
If manual adjustments are made to align firing direction with desired zones, then the system structure remains simple, but the efficiency and accuracy of perforation are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment with an automated actuation system. Sensors detect the angular position of the shaped charges relative to the casing, and an actuation mechanism automatically rotates the carrier to align the firing direction with the desired zone. This substitution of manual operation with sensor-actuator systems significantly improves perforation efficiency and accuracy by eliminating human intervention and achieving precise angular alignment, while the added complexity is justified by the substantial productivity gain.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the gun string is positioned at multiple locations for sequential firing, then all zones can be perforated, but the time required for multiple runnings increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables a single gun string to serve multiple zones by implementing dynamic angular adjustment capability. The rotatable carrier allows the shaped charges to be oriented toward different zones without requiring physical relocation of the entire gun string. This dynamic repositioning through rotation eliminates the need for multiple runnings, as the same gun can be steered to perforate multiple zones sequentially, thereby maintaining full zone coverage capability while dramatically reducing the time loss associated with repeated deployment and retrieval operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A steerable sub for controlling an angular orientation of a well tool in a well, the steerable sub including a housing; a steering element attached to the housing and configured (i) to partially extend out of the housing and (ii) to change an orientation relative to the housing; and an actuation mechanism connected to the steering element and configured to change the orientation of the steering element relative to the housing.