Downhole Wire Retrieval Device Cutting and Holding Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Downhole tools often become lodged in wellbores, causing wires or cables to break and become lost, hindering further use of the well for hydrocarbon extraction and other purposes.
Innovation Solution
A wire retrieval device with a cutting tool and holding cavity is deployed into the wellbore to cut and retrieve stuck wires, using a guide to isolate the wire from the wellbore wall and a mechanism to activate the cutting tool by tension, allowing multiple segments to be retrieved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a wire retrieval device is deployed to cut and retrieve stuck wires from a wellbore, then the wire can be successfully recovered and well operations can continue, but the device complexity increases due to the need for cutting tools, holding cavities, and activation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The wire retrieval device divides the wire into multiple manageable segments by cutting it at regular intervals. The holding cavity is designed to hold multiple wire segments, allowing systematic retrieval of the entire wire length in sections rather than attempting to retrieve the entire wire at once.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting tool is designed to extract portions of the wire from the wellbore environment and transfer them into the holding cavity. This extraction process isolates the wire segments from the problematic wellbore conditions and consolidates them in a controlled environment within the device.
2Device complexity
If the cutting tool is activated by tension to cut the wire, then the cutting mechanism becomes simpler and more reliable, but the device must be lowered over the wire which increases the operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of advancing the cutting tool along the wire, the device is lowered over the stationary wire. The wire is fed through the device structure, and the cutting tool activates in reverse by using tension applied to the wire to trigger the cutting action, rather than the tool moving to meet the wire.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire itself serves as the activation mechanism for the cutting tool. When tension is applied to the wire during deployment, the wire's own movement and tension automatically trigger the cutting tool to activate and cut the wire at the appropriate location, eliminating the need for a separate complex activation system.
3Reliability
If the guide is sized to fit tightly against the wellbore wall to isolate the wire, then wire isolation improves, but the device may become stuck in the wellbore
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure provides tight isolation only at the specific location where the wire needs to be contained and directed into the holding cavity. Other portions of the device have more relaxed clearance from the wellbore wall, allowing the device to move freely while maintaining effective wire isolation where needed.
Data Source
AI summary
Wire retrieval device to cut and recover wire or cable from a well. The wire retrieval device is suited for, among other applications, the retrieval of metallic, non-metallic, or composite wires from a wellbore. A method and system for retrieving a wire or cable from a well using a wire retrieval tool operable to cut a downhole wire and retain the cut segments in a holding cavity within the tool.