Torque-Balanced Wireline Cable Structure for Horizontal Wells
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Solution Overview
Problem
Torque imbalances in wireline cables result in cable stretch, core deformation, and reduced strength, making it difficult to advance tool strings and cables along horizontal well sections during oilfield operations.
Innovation Solution
A torque-balanced wireline cable design featuring an electrically conductive core surrounded by inner and outer layers of armor wires with a reduced circumference coverage, filled with polymers to minimize friction and maintain torque balance, and a polymeric jacket to reduce friction and prevent gas infiltration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional wireline cable design with uniform armor wire coverage is used, then cable structure is simple, but torque imbalance causes cable stretch and core deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The cable is divided into multiple segments with different armor wire configurations. The cable includes a first section with initial armor wires and a second section with different armor wires, allowing each section to be optimized for specific torque balance requirements rather than using a uniform structure throughout the entire cable length
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the cable have different armor wire properties tailored to local requirements. The first section has armor wires with specific tensile strengths and configurations optimized for that section's torque conditions, while the second section has different armor wires optimized for its torque conditions, creating local quality variations along the cable
2Strength
If armor wire coverage is increased to protect the cable core, then cable strength increases, but friction with the wellbore increases making it difficult to advance
Solution Approach 1:
The cable design changes parameters of the armor wires including diameter, tensile strength, and coverage percentage along different sections of the cable. By varying these parameters, the cable achieves adequate strength protection while reducing overall friction with the wellbore compared to uniform high-coverage designs
Solution Approach 2:
The cable transitions from static uniform armor coverage to a dynamic configuration where armor wire properties change along the cable length. This allows the cable to adapt its friction and strength characteristics to different operational sections, reducing advancement difficulty while maintaining necessary protection
3Ease of operation
If cable diameter is reduced to facilitate advancement, then ease of operation improves, but cable strength and torque resistance decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The cable uses composite construction with different materials and configurations in different sections. The armor wires have varying tensile strengths and the cable combines different structural elements to achieve high strength in a reduced-diameter configuration, allowing easier advancement while maintaining necessary torque resistance
Data Source
AI summary
A wireline cable includes an electrically conductive cable core for transmitting electrical power. The wireline cable further includes an inner layer of a plurality of first armor wires surrounding the cable core and an outer layer of a plurality of second armor wires surrounding the inner layer, wherein a diameter of the outer layer of the plurality of second armor wires is smaller than a diameter of the inner layer of the plurality of first armor wires.