Vent Tube Water Management for Flexible Liner Eversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible liners installed in boreholes with low-conductivity formations face challenges during eversion and inversion due to trapped water, which prevents complete installation and removal, often resulting in liner damage and prolonged removal times.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that extend a vent tube to the surface, allowing water to be added or removed beneath the liner without check valves, maintaining tension to prevent excessive pressure and enabling successful inversion and eversion without a pump tube, using a tether and a permeable flexible conduit for water management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pump tube is used to remove water from beneath the liner during eversion, then complete installation is achieved, but device complexity and operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the pump tube from the system entirely by inverting the liner to extract water from beneath it during the inversion process itself, eliminating the need for separate water removal equipment
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a pump tube to actively remove water during downward eversion, the patent inverts the liner upward, allowing water to be passively extracted from beneath the liner through the inverted portion, reversing the traditional approach
2Ease of operation
If a pump tube is re-installed to add water beneath the liner for inversion, then liner removal is enabled, but operation difficulty and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vent tube serves multiple functions: it vents air during eversion, provides a pathway for water addition during inversion, and eliminates the need for separate pump tube installation/removal operations
Solution Approach 2:
The vent tube is pre-installed with the liner system, positioned to automatically serve as the water addition pathway during inversion, eliminating the need for subsequent pump tube installation
3Device complexity
If liner inversion is attempted in low-conductivity formations without water addition, then the process is simpler, but the liner cannot be inverted due to vacuum tension
Solution Approach 1:
Water acts as an intermediary substance added through the vent tube to prevent vacuum formation beneath the inverting liner, enabling successful inversion in low-conductivity formations without requiring complex pump tube systems
4Productivity
If the liner is deflated and dragged out of the borehole, then removal is achieved, but the liner is damaged with leaks
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of dragging the deflated liner out, the patent inverts the liner upward while it remains inflated, allowing it to be pulled out through the borehole in its intact state, preserving liner integrity while achieving removal
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
Facilitates the installation and removal of flexible liners from low-conductivity boreholes without damaging the liner, reducing the need for pump tubes and minimizing the time required for these processes, allowing for efficient and reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
a vent tube, which provides fluid communication between a closed end of the liner and a surface above the borehole
Implementation Method 2
maintaining tension to prevent excessive pressure
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for performing a flexible liner eversion into, or an inversion out from, a low-permeability borehole. A flexible liner may be installed by eversion down a subterranean borehole in order to selectively seal the borehole. Such a liner may be removed from the borehole by inverting it up the borehole. Water is removed by pumping from the borehole beneath the lowest end of the borehole, to facilitate eversion of the liner. Water is added, by pumping water into the borehole beneath the lowest end of the liner, to permit or facilitate inversion of the liner.