U.S. patent application number 12/482181 was filed with the patent office on 2010-12-16 for seat apparatus and method.
This patent application is currently assigned to BAKER HUGHES INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to JUSTIN KELLNER.
Application Number | 20100314126 12/482181 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43305422 |
Filed Date | 2010-12-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100314126 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KELLNER; JUSTIN |
December 16, 2010 |
SEAT APPARATUS AND METHOD
Abstract
A seat apparatus comprises a housing defining at least a first
flow path and at least a second flow path, a first seat disposed in
the housing for receipt of a first object operative to obstruct the
first flow path, and a second seat disposed in the housing for
receipt of a second object operative to obstruct the second flow
path and method.
Inventors: |
KELLNER; JUSTIN; (PEARLAND,
TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CANTOR COLBURN LLP
20 Church Street, 22nd Floor
Hartford
CT
06103
US
|
Assignee: |
BAKER HUGHES INCORPORATED
HOUSTON
TX
|
Family ID: |
43305422 |
Appl. No.: |
12/482181 |
Filed: |
June 10, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
166/373 ;
251/359 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16K 15/04 20130101;
E21B 34/06 20130101; F16K 1/14 20130101; F16K 1/42 20130101; E21B
34/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
166/373 ;
251/359 |
International
Class: |
E21B 34/06 20060101
E21B034/06; F16K 1/42 20060101 F16K001/42 |
Claims
1. A seat apparatus comprising: a housing defining at least a first
flow path and at least a second flow path; a first seat disposed in
the housing for receipt of a first object operative to obstruct the
first flow path; and a second seat disposed in the housing for
receipt of a second object operative to obstruct the second flow
path.
2. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the housing
includes a first concave portion operative to guide the first
object towards the first seat.
3. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the housing
includes a second concave portion operative to guide the second
object towards the second seat.
4. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first seat
and the second seat are coplanar.
5. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first seat
is disposed on a first plane and the second seat is disposed on a
second plane.
6. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first
object is spherically shaped.
7. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first flow
path defined by the housing is tubular.
8. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the concave
portion is parabolicly shaped.
9. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the concave
portion is conically shaped.
10. A seat apparatus comprising: a housing defining at least a
first flow path, the axis of the first flow path coincident with a
longitudinal axis of the housing; at least a second flow path
partially defined by the housing; a first seat disposed in the
housing for receipt of a first object operative to obstruct the
first flow path; and a second seat disposed in the housing for
receipt of a second object operative to obstruct the second flow
path.
11. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the housing
includes a first concave portion operative to guide the first
object towards the first seat.
12. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the housing
includes a second concave portion operative to guide the second
object towards the second seat.
13. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first
seat and the second seat are coplanar.
14. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first
seat is disposed on a first plane and the second seat is disposed
on a second plane.
15. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first
object is spherically shaped.
16. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first
flow path defined by the housing is tubular.
17. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the concave
portion is parabolicly shaped.
18. The seat apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the concave
portion is conically shaped.
19. A method for facilitating a pressure based operation in a
downhole environment comprising: disposing a first object in a
first seat in a housing, the first object operative to engage the
first seat and to obstruct a first flow path partially defined by
the housing; and disposing a second object in a second seat in the
housing, the second object operative to engage the second seat and
obstruct a second flow path partially defined by the housing.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises
applying a hydraulic pressure to the housing, the hydraulic
pressure operative to actuate the downhole device.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Seats such as, for example ball seats are well known in
downhole industries and especially so in the drilling and
completion industry. Commonly, ball seats are used to regulate the
flow of fluids and actuate downhole devices. Although ball seat
configurations are many and are ubiquitous in their use within the
art, the number of stacked ball seats that can be employed with
traditional systems is limited. Improving the number of ball seats
that may be stacked in a borehole will be welcomed by the art.
SUMMARY
[0002] A seat apparatus includes a housing defining at least a
first flow path and at least a second flow path, a first seat
disposed in the housing for receipt of a first object operative to
obstruct the first flow path, and a second seat disposed in the
housing for receipt of a second object operative to obstruct the
second flow path.
[0003] A seat apparatus includes a housing defining at least a
first flow path, the axis of the first flow path coincident with a
longitudinal axis of the housing, at least a second flow path
partially defined by the housing, a first seat disposed in the
housing for receipt of a first object operative to obstruct the
first flow path, and a second seat disposed in the housing for
receipt of a second object operative to obstruct the second flow
path.
[0004] A method for facilitating a pressure based operation in a
downhole environment comprises disposing a first object in a first
seat in a housing, the first object operative to obstruct a first
flow path partially defined by the housing, and disposing a second
object in a second seat in the housing, the second object operative
to obstruct a second flow path partially defined by the
housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are
numbered alike in the several figures:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a ball
seat;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a cut-away side view of the ball seat of FIG.
1;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a side cut-away view of a portion of an alternate
embodiment of a ball seat;
[0009] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another alternate embodiment
of a ball seat;
[0010] FIG. 5 is a side cut-away view of the ball seat of FIG.
4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a ball seat
10 is illustrated. The ball seat 10 includes a housing 12 that
includes tubular orifices 14. The tubular orifices 14 define flow
paths indicated by the arrows 11. Seats 16 are disposed at the
apertures of the orifices 14. The illustrated embodiment includes
concave portions 18 defined by the housing 12. The concave portions
may be, for example, conical, parabolic, or cylindrical in
shape.
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a cut-away view of the ball seat 10. In
operation, the ball seat 10 may be placed downhole in a borehole. A
first object 20 such as, for example, a spherical object may be
introduced into the borehole and driven towards the ball seat 10
by, for example, hydraulic pressure or gravity. One of the concave
portions 18 directs the first object 20 into engagement with a seat
16; blocking an orifice 14 and obstructing a flow path 11. A second
object 22 may similarly be driven towards the ball seat 10 and
directed by the concave portions 18 into the empty seat 16;
blocking the second orifice 14 and obstructing the second flow path
11. The obstruction of the flow paths allows an operator to
pressure up against the obstructed ball seat 10 to facilitate a
downhole pressure based operation. This may be a fracturing job or
actuation of a desired downhole device, or to otherwise effect
desired downhole operations.
[0013] Previous ball seat devices using a single orifice and seat
arrangement may be less effective when the cross sectional areas of
the orifice (and the associated diameter of the object) are less
than a defined threshold cross sectional area. The threshold
diameter may be a different diameter for different borehole systems
and is associated with the likelihood of a pressure increase
upstream of the orifice due to its restricted flow area. Orifice
cross sectional areas less than the threshold cross sectional area
may undesirably restrict the flow of fluid and cause the undesired
and premature actuation of tools or other premature operations
uphole relative to the ball seat device. The illustrated
embodiments having more than one orifice allow the cross sectional
areas of individual orifices (and the associated diameter of the
objects) to be reduced while avoiding the restriction of the flow
of fluid since the use of multiple orifices allows the net cross
sectional area of the orifices to remain greater than the threshold
cross sectional area.
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a side cut-away view of a portion of an
alternate exemplary embodiment of a ball seat 30. The ball seat 30
is similar in operation to the ball seat 10 (of FIGS. 1 and 2)
however; the seats 16 in the illustrated embodiment are disposed in
different planes (A and B). In the illustrated example, the plane B
is located downstream in the flow path direction (as indicated by
the arrows 11) relative to the plane A. The disposition of the
seats 16 in different planes may improve the performance of the
ball seat 30.
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates another alternate embodiment of a ball
seat 40. The ball seat 40 operates in a similar manner to the
embodiments described above, and includes a plurality of seats 16
and concave portions 18. In the illustrated embodiment, a seat 17
and associated flow path 15 have an axis coincident to the
longitudinal axis 19 of the ball seat 40. The seats 16 and
associated flow paths 14 are disposed radialy about the axis 19 in
the housing 12. FIG. 5 illustrates a side partially cut-away view
of a portion of the ball seat 40 (of FIG. 4).
[0016] The Figures described above illustrate exemplary embodiments
of ball seats. Other embodiments may include any number of ball
seats having multiple seat portions, flow paths, alignment planes,
and shapes that are operative to direct objects to engage the
seats.
[0017] While one or more embodiments have been shown and described,
modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly,
it is to be understood that the present invention has been
described by way of illustrations and not limitation.
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