Top Anchor Expansion Assembly for Rotating Tubular Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional expandable liner tools face limitations in rotating within the wellbore, leading to reduced insertion length, potential sticking of the liner, and hindered drilling fluid return due to friction, making them unsuitable for unstable wellbores and uncased formations.
Innovation Solution
A top anchor expansion assembly with a workstring, pusher ring, ramp body, anchor segments, release ring, and key merlons, allowing hydraulic activation and rotation during deployment, which includes shear bolts for controlled engagement and disengagement to prevent friction-induced issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional expandable liner tools are used, then the liner can be expanded in the wellbore, but rotation is prevented causing reduced insertion length and potential sticking
Solution Approach 1:
The tool comprises separate functional segments: a drill string for rotation and drilling, and an expandable liner assembly for liner deployment. This segmentation allows the drill string to rotate freely during drilling operations while the liner assembly remains stationary or is deployed separately, eliminating the rotation constraint that limited insertion length in conventional tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static, non-rotating expandable liner tool to a dynamic system where the drill string can rotate during drilling, and the liner is subsequently expanded in place. The expandable liner assembly allows the wellbore to be enlarged after drilling without requiring rotation of the liner itself, enabling greater insertion lengths.
2Reliability
If conventional expandable liner tools are used, then the liner can be expanded, but friction hinders drilling fluid return and causes sticking in unstable formations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the drilling function from the liner deployment function. The drill string with drill bit handles drilling and fluid circulation, while the expandable liner assembly is deployed separately and expanded in place. This separation eliminates the friction and sticking problems that occurred when conventional tools attempted to both drill and deploy liner simultaneously, as the liner is now deployed into a pre-drilled hole where fluid can return freely.
3Length of stationary object
If conventional expandable liner tools are used, then the liner can be deployed, but the maximum target depth is limited due to rotation restrictions
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into a rotating drill string component and a stationary expandable liner component. The drill string can rotate freely to reach greater depths, and once the target depth is reached, the liner is deployed and expanded in place. This segmentation removes the rotation restriction that previously limited the maximum insertion length, allowing the drill string to access deeper targets before liner deployment.
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 the expansion of tubulars in wellbores while allowing rotation, increasing the maximum target depth and stability during drilling, and facilitating the expansion of liners in unstable formations without sticking or hindering fluid flow.
Implementation Method 1
which includes shear bolts for controlled engagement and disengagement to prevent friction-induced issues
Implementation Method 2
allowing hydraulic activation and rotation during deployment
Data Source
AI summary
An expansion assembly for expanding a tubular in a wellbore, the expansion assembly including a top anchor comprising: a workstring; a pusher ring being coupled to the workstring by a first releasable coupling; a ramp body having one or more ramp surfaces, said ramp body being releasably coupled to the workstring by a second releasable coupling; one or more anchor segments each having one or more wedge surfaces corresponding to and engaging the ramp surfaces of the ramp body, one end of the segments engaging the pusher ring; a release ring enclosing the workstring and arranged at an opposite end of the segments; one or more key merlons connecting the release ring to the pusher ring; and activating means for releasing the first releasable coupling.