U.S. patent application number 14/858509 was filed with the patent office on 2016-03-24 for packer bridge plug with removable/dissolvable ball seat.
This patent application is currently assigned to TARGET COMPLETIONS, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Michael Sommers. Invention is credited to Michael Sommers.
Application Number | 20160084035 14/858509 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55525289 |
Filed Date | 2016-03-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160084035 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sommers; Michael |
March 24, 2016 |
Packer Bridge Plug with Removable/Dissolvable Ball Seat
Abstract
A packer tool is provided having a moveable, resizeable or
dissolvable ball seat. In the process of fracking, it is expensive
to run tools into and out of the well. It is therefore desirable to
run in tools that can serve multiple purposes during the fracking
process. The present invention in at least one embodiment is
therefore to a packer tool that can be used to seal a well bore and
when the ball is removed presents only a small resistance to the
production flow up through the plug. The removal of the ball is
facilitated by removing the ball seat as an obstacle to the upward
flow of the ball by dissolving, moving or resizing the ball
seat.
Inventors: |
Sommers; Michael; (Broken
Arrow, OK) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sommers; Michael |
Broken Arrow |
OK |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
TARGET COMPLETIONS, LLC
Broken Arrow
OK
|
Family ID: |
55525289 |
Appl. No.: |
14/858509 |
Filed: |
September 18, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62052054 |
Sep 18, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
166/193 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B 34/063 20130101;
E21B 33/1285 20130101; E21B 43/26 20130101 |
International
Class: |
E21B 33/128 20060101
E21B033/128 |
Claims
1. A packer bridge plug for sealing a well bore, comprising: a
central, cylindrical body having a packer mounted thereto, said
cylindrical body having an inner chamber extending axially
therethrough; a packer activator for axially compressing said
packer to radially expand the packer about said cylindrical body; a
ball seat at a top end of said cylindrical body for selectively
sealing said cylindrical body inner chamber from an area outside
said inner chamber; said ball seat selected from the group of
dissolvable ball seats, axially moveable ball seats and expandable
ball seats; wherein when said bridge plug is activated and said
packer is expanded about said cylindrical body, said packer bridge
plug has a first, sealed position having a ball located on said
ball seat and said ball seat has a smaller effective diameter than
said ball to prevent flow in the mandrel from flowing from a first
zone above the packer to a second zone below the packer, and has a
second, production position wherein said ball seat has larger
effective diameter than said ball allowing a ball to be pumped
through said ball seat to allow flow through said cylindrical body
inner chamber.
2. The packer bridge plug of claim 1, wherein said ball seat is
made from a dissolvable plastic.
3. The packer bridge plug of claim 1, wherein said ball seat is an
axially moveable ball seat.
4. The packer bridge plug of claim 1, wherein said ball seat is an
expandable ball seat.
5. The packer bridge plug of claim 1, wherein cylindrical body has
a first section defines a first inner diameter and a second section
defines a second inner diameter than said first inner diameter, and
wherein when said ball seat is pinned within said first, said ball
seat has a first outer diameter, and when said ball seat is
unpinned and moves axially to within said second section, said ball
seat expands to a second, outer diameter.
6. The packer bridge plug of claim 1, said cylindrical body having
a second section intermediate a first and third section, wherein
cylindrical body first section defines a first inner diameter and a
second section defining a second inner diameter than said first
inner diameter, wherein downward force on a ball on said ball seat
moves said ball seat downward into contact with a ledge extending
inwardly on said cylindrical body in said third section; and
wherein upward force on a second ball below said ball seat moves
said ball seat upward into said third section, wherein when said
ball seat is pinned within said first, said ball seat has a first
outer diameter, and when said ball seat is unpinned and moves
axially to within said second section, said ball seat expands to a
second, outer diameter to allow said second ball to pass through
said ball seat.
7. The packer bridge plug of claim 6, wherein said ball seat is
made from a dissolvable plastic.
8. The packer bridge plug of claim 6, wherein said ball seat is an
axially moveable ball seat.
9. The packer bridge plug of claim 6, wherein said ball seat is an
expandable ball seat.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application 62/052,054, filed Sep. 18, 2014, entitled "Improved
Packer Bridge Plug with Removable/Dissolvable Ball Seat," which is
incorporated herein by reference.
IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
[0002] Improved Packer Bridge Plug with Removable/Dissolvable Ball
Seat
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a bridge plug packer having
a ball seat and packer element for sealing one zone of a well from
another, wherein the ball seat is dissolvable, resizeable, moveable
or removable.
[0004] In the process of fracking, it is expensive to run tools
into and out of the well. It is therefore desirable to run in tools
that can serve multiple purposes during the fracking process. The
present invention in at least one embodiment is to a packer tool
that can be used to seal a well bore and when the ball is removed
presents only a small resistance to the production flow up through
the plug.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Accordingly, it is a principal object of a preferred
embodiment of the invention to provide a packer plug that can be
tripped into a particular location in a well bore and set using
slips or slip rings and packer elements. The plug presents little
flow resistance because of its wide inner diameter throat through
the mandrel. A ball seat at an upper end allows for the sealing of
the interior passage. The ball can be flowed upward or dissolved,
but preferably the ball seat can be dissolved or relocated to
remove the seal with the ball and to allow flow through the
plug.
[0006] It is another object of the invention to provide a
selectively sealable down hole tool that can be sealed and unsealed
during the fracking process without having to trip the entire tool
back up the well bore.
[0007] It is a further object of the invention to a bridge plug for
use with a removable ball or with a dissolvable, changeable or
moveable ball seat to allow production flow through the tool
without requiring removal of the tool.
[0008] Still another object of the invention is to provide a down
hole tool that can be set with a setting tool to set one or more
bridge plugs in series to isolate a number of zones in a well bore
which can be selectively unsealed to allow production flow through
the tool.
[0009] It is an object of the invention to provide improved
elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes
described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in
accomplishing its intended purposes.
[0010] These and other objects of the present invention will be
readily apparent upon review of the following detailed description
of the invention and the accompanying drawings. These objects of
the present invention are not exhaustive and are not to be
construed as limiting the scope of the claimed invention. Further,
it must be understood that no one embodiment of the present
invention need include all of the aforementioned objects of the
present invention. Rather, a given embodiment may include one or
none of the aforementioned objects. Accordingly, these objects are
not to be used to limit the scope of the claims of the present
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a bridge plug packer and
run in or setting tool according to at least one embodiment of the
invention with a run in tool.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the bridge plug
according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 having a first, dissolvable
seat.
[0013] FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views of the bridge plug
according to a further embodiment having an expandable seat.
[0014] FIG. 3B is a top plan view of a ball seat according to at
least one embodiment of the invention.
[0015] Similar reference characters denote corresponding features
consistently throughout the attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0016] The present invention is to a novel method of allowing a
ball to pass through a bridge plug when using a non-dissolvable
ball.
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a packer tool 112 connected to a setting gun
148 by an adapter 162. The adapter is attached to setting mandrel
150. The setting mandrel is attached to the packer tool 112 by
shear ring 154 during run in. A cap 159 may be connected to the end
of the tool to prevent flow therethrough during run in.
[0018] The setting gun or other activator ("packer activator")
allows the packer tool to be compressed when the packer tool is
lowered in a well bore to the proper depth. Compression of the tool
allows the slips 116 to engage the inner wall of the casing (not
shown) surrounding the tool and to grip hold the tool in place with
the frictional teeth of the slips. Further compression drives the
upper cone further behind into the slips, levering the slips into
further engagement with the tubing. The slips could be replaced by
expansion rings ("slip rings") such as that shown in copending
application Ser. No. 14/857,243, filed Sep. 17, 2015 to George E.
Allis, entitled "Improved Packer Bridge Plug with Slips," which is
incorporated herein by reference.
[0019] As the packer tool is further compressed, the packer element
118 is driven outwardly by rigid retaining rings 124 and by rings
120 compressing the packer element. The packer element is
preferably rubber or similar material to form a fluid barrier
separating the zone above the packer from the zone below the packer
around the outside of the tool. This allows for separate zones
within the well bore to be selectively separated from each other.
Sealing of the inner chamber that runs the length of the interior
of the tool is selectively sealed by ball 170 as described below.
Further compression of the tool breaks the shear pins or other
device attaching the shear ring to the setting tool 148. With the
shear ring and friction cap 159, the setting tool may be released.
Appropriate collets 152 or other devices allow the setting tool to
be removed through the body of the packer tool.
[0020] With the setting tool removed, the through passage of the
packer tool may be selectively resealed by dropping a ball 170
(FIG. 2) on top of the tool to seal the upper edge of the packer
tool. With the ball in place, downward flow is prevented from
passing the zone above the packer tool to the zone below the packer
tool but around the tool by the packer element and through the tool
by the ball. After fracking or other operations are performed, the
ball preferably dissolves or is otherwise removed from the packer
tool. Production may then occur by pumping fluid upwardly through
the packer tool. As described above the collet arms of the packer
tool also serve an additional function in that if a ball were
pumped upwardly, it would rest on the fingers of the collet 14 and
would still allow ample fluid between the arms of the collet.
Improved Ball Removal Embodiment
[0021] According to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the handling of the ball during production is shown by
using a dissolvable, moveable, removable or expandable ball seat.
Although the collet arms allow production flow past the ball
through the "gaps" between the collet arms, it would be preferable
not to have a ball at all to interrupt the flow during production.
Currently dissolvable balls are used to remove the ball after its
use is completed. However, dissolvable balls have their own
problems and can be very expensive costing sometime $1500-1800
each.
[0022] As shown in FIGS. 2-4, it would be preferable to pump the
ball up instead of dissolving the ball or leaving it in place,
especially when multiple packers are involved.
[0023] In operation, an operator would run in a packer bridge plug
into place, or example using a wireline setting gun. The plug would
be set and a zone would be perforated. The setting equipment would
be removed from the well bore as described above and then a ball
would be pumped into place to seal the zone so that fracturing
could occur addressing only that interval. The process would then
be repeated for as many intervals as you want to fracture in the
toe of the well bore. At this point you will switch to a packer
bridge plug having composite bridge plugs or coil tubing frac
sleeves or any other fracking system by running in the improved
bridge plugs for any added stages in the upper well bore section.
If composite plugs are run you will then drill them out and start
flowing the well. At this point the improved packer bridge plug
frac balls will flow upward knocking the removable rings out of the
top cap or the ring has already dissolved and is no longer a
restriction. With the ring knocked out, it will flow upward
dissolving in the well bore as described below.
[0024] FIG. 2 shows an improved packer bridge plug with a ball seat
214. During production ball 216 would already be removed, but a
smaller ball would be flowed from the lower end upwardly until it
abutted the lower part of the ball seat 214. At this point, the
seat needs to be removed, dissolved, or otherwise adjusted so that
the ball can continue its journey upward. The seat may be made of a
dissolvable mater such as PLA or PGA dissolvable plastic. The seat
may simply be shear pinned (FIG. 3) in place and flowed upward with
the ball, preferably dissolving as it continues upward. However, a
simple shear pinning such as this may be breached when the setting
equipment is removed.
[0025] Preferably, the shear pin 211 is breached after the setting
tool is removed as shown in FIGS. 3-4. One way to accomplish this
is by increasing the shear pin strength to ensure that the setting
tool cannot breach the pin. The ball pumped into place for
fracturing can withstand much more pressure than the setting tool
is likely to put on the seat. However, these two will act in
different directions on the seat. Therefore, it is preferably that
the ball breach the shear pin while pressing the seat down and then
pressing the seat into a first position where the seat maintains
its shape. One way to do this is by having a variable wall in the
seat as shown in FIG. 2. The ball will press the seat into a
smaller diameter area 218 so that the seat cannot expand. The seat
will thus continue to act to prevent the ball 216 from moving
downward, even though the shear pin has been breached. However, now
when a ball is pumped upward, the seat can either removed entirely
from the plug, or is more preferably moved into a larger diameter
holding area 220. A cut in the seat ring will allow the seat to
expand when the ring passes into the larger diameter bore in the
tool. A smaller diameter ridge or wall at the top will prevent the
ring from exiting the tool and allow it time to expand into the
larger bore 220. In this way, a large diameter throat is maintained
in the packer tool for production while not requiting dissolvable
balls, which can cost $1500 a piece. With the ball seat removed,
multiple balls can be pumped sequentially downwardly or upwardly
through the now open packer tool.
[0026] Pressure from the ball being pumped upward through the seat
may also encourage the seat to expand into the available area in
bore 220. The seat may be made of cast iron, plastic or other
metal. The seat may also be biased by springs or other materials
into the preferred area.
[0027] The seat ring is preferably a composite material--It may be
made from PGA material, but can also be made from magnesium or
magnesium hybrid material or magnesium proprietary material
supplied by, for example, PARKER INDUSTRIES. The material can also
be made from PLA or any other material that dissolves in a
reasonable amount of time for standard ball drop fracturing
jobs.
[0028] While this invention has been described as having a
preferred design, it is understood that it is capable of further
modifications, uses and/or adaptations of the invention following
in general the principle of the invention and including such
departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or
customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and
as may be applied to the central features hereinbefore set forth,
and fall within the scope of the invention and the limits of the
appended claims. It is therefore to be understood that the present
invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above,
but encompasses any and all embodiments within the
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