EP0187599B1 - Apparatus driven by hydraulic pressure for conducting logging and work-over operations in a deviated well during injection or production - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device propelled by hydraulic pressure allowing measurements and interventions during injection or production in a deviated well.

By the expression "deflected well" is meant here both the well deflected wells and those strongly deflected and which require pumping of the equipment to reach the producing area.

The invention is particularly applicable when it is a question of carrying out measurements, for example of pressure and flow, at the level of geological formations, or any other intervention in a well and when it is a question of highlighting , for example, the flow profile of the producing part of a deviated eruptive well. These measurement techniques are well known to specialists and will therefore not be described in more detail.

The measuring or intervention instrument can be, for example, a logging probe. It is either electrically connected to the surface by a logging cable, or not connected to the surface, benefiting in this case from an autonomous power supply and an information storage memory.

It is already known from patent US-4 349 072. to descend at the end of a cable in the vertical and deviated part of a well, a probe fixed to the lower end of an extension which can reach a length at more equal to the length of the drain (for example approximately 500 to 1,300 m). In its upper part, the extension is connected to a propulsion system generally called a "locomotive", made up of cups whose rubber lining ensures an almost total seal with the interior walls of the casing. This locomotive is itself attached to the cable.

When the weight of the assembly is not sufficient to ensure the descent of the equipment into the pressurized well, the volume located above the locomotive is pressurized by pumping, so as to push the equipment (probe and extension ) in the deviated area of interest to the producer. The measurements are made during the pushing phase when the probe is in the production zone, or during the ascent phase. They can advantageously be repeated.

Due to the tightness of the seals, it is not possible for the fluid to circulate freely and rise to the surface. Under these conditions, flow measurements, for example, in a well in production become impossible, unless using a second casing reserved for the ascent of the fluid, but this solution is expensive and must be provided when equipping the well, because the operation of lowering the two casings must be simultaneous.

In addition, the assembly of all the equipment (probe, extension and locomotive) is carried out by pulling on the cable. If the production tubing has a substantially constant internal diameter and since the linings ensure good sealing, it sometimes happens that a phenomenon of pistoning and therefore of suction of the fluid is observed, capable of creating pressure imbalances and displacements of fluid, leading to uncontrolled production.

It is known in particular from patents FR-A-2 473 652 and 2 500 419 to move a probe in a well by means of a liquid fluid pumped from the bottom of the well, passing through the pumping means and circulating through at least an opening located above an automatically controlled inflatable sleeve. The fluid will exert pressure on the sleeve which, therefore, will progress in the well.

It is also known, as described in US Pat. No. 3,070,167, devices comprising members provided with springs which expand or compress so that these members seal with the casing and can make it possible to pump the extension in the well.

The patent US-2 122 697 also mentions a sensor lowered by circulation thanks to a pumping and which is then anchored to the bottom of the well by means of a deformable membrane and springs, while the patent US-3 104 714 relates a pumped tool fitted with an electric cable and which includes pads which will brake and prevent the tool from rising.

Many problems arise in production logging when looking at eruptive wells, that is to say pressurized wells. The first step is to introduce all of the tools into a pressurized well.

It is also known to use an airlock (generally having a length of about ten meters), on the surface, to descend and ascend in a deviated well under pressure a logging probe and an extension, element by element. Each operation notably requires a series of manipulations of valves, pressurization and purging which are long and tedious, insofar as it is necessary to assemble an extension to reach, for example, 300 to 500 meters.

It is also known to lower a probe and an extension into a pressurized well by "snubbing" where each of the elements of the casing, after being screwed, is moved in force from the surface by a hydraulic cylinder. They can also be introduced by a "coil tubing" where the continuous tubing is wound on a large reel and is driven into the well under pressure by rollers arranged on the surface. This equipment is heavy and expensive, even quite fragile, in particular "coil tubing".

Finally, it is entirely possible to encounter variations in diameter in the production casing when advancing the logging equipment.

These disadvantages are considerably reduced and these problems advantageously solved by the use of a device according to the present invention, usable for carrying out, during injection or fluid production operations, measurements or interventions in a deviated well crossing a geological formation, this well being equipped with casing. This device comprises at least one measuring or intervention instrument fixed to a first end of an extension, the other end of which constitutes the upper end, is provided with sealing members enabling the device to be propelled into said casing. under the effect of hydraulic pressure, the device also being connected to the surface by a flexible line such as an electric cable supplying the probe.

Thus, the device according to the invention can be used to carry out, during injection or fluid production operations, measurements or interventions in a deviated well passing through a geological formation, this well being fitted with casing. This device comprises at least one measuring or inventive instrument fixed to a first end of an extension, the other end of which constitutes the upper end is provided with sealing members allowing the device to be propelled into said casing under the effect of hydraulic pressure. This device which is connected to the surface by a flexible line such as a cable is characterized in that it has a propulsion position in the casing and a measurement or intervention position and in that it comprises two elements elongated, one of which is fixed to the upper end of said extension and comprises at least one opening situated above the sealing members, and the other of which which is movable, comprises at least one opening situated above the sealing members and can be moved by sliding relative to said upper end from a propulsion position where the openings are closed, to a measurement or intervention position uncovering the openings and allowing the fluid to flow and to pass through said elements of the device during injection or production of the fluid.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, said means comprise at the upper part of said extension a membrane delimiting an annular chamber of variable volume, this chamber being able to be connected to a source of auxiliary fluid under pressure to give said volume a value ensuring substantially the sealing and allowing propulsion by injection of fluid from the surface, said chamber can also be placed under vacuum to allow the flow of injection or production fluid in said casing, around said membrane and means for adjusting the pressure in said chamber.

The invention is more particularly applicable when the wells crossing the geological formation are deviated by an angle such that the probe cannot descend by gravity and, for example, by an angle of more than 40 ° relative to the vertical.

When the device is used in non-eruptive wells, injection measurements can be made. Under these conditions, traction on the cable makes it possible to free the openings of the device according to the invention and the injected fluid can circulate. The measurements are carried out during the injection phase, preferably by reassembling the whole of the equipment (the opening therefore being maintained). On the other hand, in the case of eruptive wells at low or high pressures, the flow measurements, for example, are made while the fluid is produced which will then be recovered on the surface.

It is also possible to move the mobile upper part of the extension comprising the opening, by means of remote-controlled means from the surface, such as an electric control actuating a motor.

The uncovered opening has a cross section substantially equal to the cross section between the casing and the extension so as to minimize the pressure drops.

The means supporting the sealing members include an anchoring on the flexible line at a point such that the length of said flexible line in the extension allows the opening to be discovered. It is, for example, at least equal to the length of the extension to which is added the length of the opening along the axis of the well.

The upper element sliding relative to the lower element may include locking systems, for example electromechanical, remote controlled from the surface, in order to maintain the opening in the closed position during pumping, during the descent. of the equipment, or maintaining the opening in the open position, when raising the equipment and during the production and measurement phase.

The invention also relates to equipment which can be used for carrying out, during injection or fluid production operations, measurements or interventions in a deviated well passing through a geological formation, this equipment comprising in combination a device as defined above. and a remote-controlled subsurface valve, through which said device can slide in the open position of this valve.

Said valve may define with the surface an airlock of a length equal to the length of the device.

• - la figure 1 représente l'environnement du dispositif selon l'invention,
• - les figures 2 et 3 illustrent une vue détaillée du dispositif durant la phase de pompage et celle de mesure,
• - les figures 3A et 3B montrent une variante de l'appareillage selon l'invention,
• - les figures 4A et 4B illustrent une vue d'ensemble de l'extension et du dispositif selon l'invention dans le cas ce tubages de production de diamètres différents.

The invention will be better understood from the following description, illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:

• FIG. 1 represents the environment of the device according to the invention,
• FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a detailed view of the device during the pumping and measurement phases,
• - Figures 3A and 3B show a variant of the apparatus according to the invention,
• - Figures 4A and 4B illustrate an overview of the extension and the device according to the invention in the case of production tubing of different diameters.

FIG. 1 represents a well 1 fitted with a first casing 1a with an internal diameter for example equal to 40 cm, vertical from the surface 3 and which is deflected in its terminal part.

Another casing 1b, for example 24 cm, contained in the first casing, is lowered into the deviated part of the well, the space between the two casings being cemented. This casing 1b is extended by a third casing 5 of about 18 cm in diameter which has holes 5a to recover the production of a horizontal drain 4. A casing support 1 provides the link with the casing 1b and the casing 5, while that a seal 1d is made between the casing 5 and the production casing 2 of approximately 8 cm, at the end of which there is a restriction or "nogo" 40.

The extension 15 and the probe 8, for example, were pumped, that is to say pushed by a fluid (diesel for example) in the casing 2, thanks to a locomotive 16 from the surface.

On the surface, a control cabin controls the handling, lifting and pumping of fluids. A traction cable 6 (diameter for example 8 mm), driven by a winch 7, is connected to a probe support and to a standard type logging probe 8 (diameter 4.3 cm for example) which can be autonomous or connected by an electric cable to the surface, the latter can also be a towing cable. The traction cable also supports the extension elements.

• - un obturateur anti-éruption 9 (ou BOP en anglais), constitué d'obturateurs équipés de mâchoires faisant étanchéité sur le corps des tubes d'obturateurs équipés de coins de retenue et un obturateur équipé de mâchoires faisant étanchéité sur le câble 6,
• - un équipement de pression de type "snubbing", non représenté sur la figure; on entend par "snubbing" des moyens de descente de matériel tubulaire sous pression,
• - un sas 11 limité par l'équipement de l'obturateur anti-éruption 9 en surface et une vanne de subsurface 33 disposée dans le tubage 2, à une profondeur telle que la longueur du sas est sensiblement supérieure à celle de l'extension que l'on veut introduire dans les portions déviées 5 du puits,
• - un système de pompes assurant par des connexions en tête de puits 14 le pompage d'un fluide pour la descente de la sonde et le pompage du fluide produit.

The surface equipment includes:

• - a blowout preventer 9 (or BOP in English), consisting of shutters equipped with jaws sealing on the body of the shutter tubes equipped with retaining corners and a shutter equipped with jaws sealing on the cable 6,
• - snubbing type pressure equipment, not shown in the figure; "snubbing" means means for lowering tubular material under pressure,
• - an airlock 11 limited by the equipment of the blowout preventer 9 on the surface and a subsurface valve 33 disposed in the casing 2, to a depth such that the length of the airlock is substantially greater than that of the extension that we want to introduce into the deviated portions 5 of the well,
• - A pump system ensuring by wellhead connections 14 the pumping of a fluid for the descent of the probe and the pumping of the fluid produced.

The logging probe 8 and its support are fixed either to the screwed elements of the "snubbing" or to the "coil tubing" (flexible tube wound on a coil) which constitute the extension 15, with a diameter close to that of the probe and of length, for example, between 100 and 500 meters and possibly connected to the surface by an electrical probe-surface connection provided either by a single connector at the probe, or by a multiplicity of connectors, each being arranged substantially in the vicinity of each element.

The propulsion means, all of the screwed elements, the probe support and the logging probe preferably have a diameter less than the opening diameter of the valve.

At the upper end of the extension is the device according to the invention illustrated in FIG. 2, with the propulsion system 16 or locomotive comprising one or more sealing elements 17 (or cups) ensuring the sealing with the production tubing 2, this device being integral with cable 6.

Figures 2 and 3 show an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention.

The upper element of the extension 15 has an extension 19 which can be screwed and of internal diameter substantially equal to that of the extension. The lower part of this extension is pierced with at least a first lateral opening 20 possibly allowing the passage of the fluid through the extension; its upper part is also pierced with at least a second lateral opening 21 through which the fluid is discharged towards the surface. Each of these openings is located on either side of the position of the locomotive 16. The role of these openings 20 and 21 can be reversed, if one works in injection.

The movable element or sliding jacket 22 comes to cover the extension 19. This jacket has two openings 20a and 21a located on either side of the locomotive. It is integral with the cable 6 in its upper part and a pin 23 housed in a rotation wedge groove 24 allows only an axial displacement of the sliding jacket 22 when the cable 6 undergoes a traction from bottom to top. The cable 6 has been secured on the surface to the sliding jacket 22 at a lashing point 27, after taking the precaution of leaving a little slack to allow the displacement of the sliding jacket.

The latter effectively comprises the sealing cups 17 of the locomotive 16. In the pumping position, it rests at 26 on the bottom stop 25 of the extension 19 of the extension and thereby obstructs the openings 20, 20a, 21 and 21a thus preventing any circulation of fluid. During the production of the fluid (Fig. 3) a pull of the cable causes the jacket to rise up to a stop provided by the pin 23 and the openings are released. The fluid can then flow.

FIG. 3A illustrates another particularly advantageous embodiment in which the opening 20 through the element 19 remains permanently open, the sliding jacket 22 covering only the openings 21.

The section of the fluid inlet or outlet openings is preferably substantially equal to the section of the annular space between the casing 2 and the extension 15, so as to minimize the pressure drop.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment (Fig. 4A), when the production tube comprises elements of decreasing diameter, for example three elements A, B, C (30, 31,32) of respective diameters ∅ _A , ∅ _B and ∅ _C such that ∅ _A ,> ∅ _B > ∅ _C the pumping operation can be carried out on several stages of cups 17A, 17B, 17C of different diameters, each stage stopping at the level of the restriction considered. Only the stage 17c with the smallest diameter 0c comprises a sliding jacket 22 which allows the production of the fluid and the corresponding production measures (FIG. 4B).

FIG. 1 illustrates the artificial airlock 11 and more particularly the subsurface valve 33 arranged on the production line 2. This valve ensures safety and equilibrium airlock during the assembly and disassembly phase of the probe and of the extension and of the device according to the invention, and the putting in of the airlock, during the descent and ascent phase of all the equipment.

A manual remote control transmits energy from the surface to the valve 33, via either a hydraulic 34 or gas power station and a pipe 35, so as to open or close it at will during different phases of operation and especially so as to prevent any uncontrolled closure following an overpressure, which would cause the cable to break if the probe and the extension were already engaged under the valve. Of course, the valve is also self-closing, so as to comply with the safety standards in force.

When the pressure of the well is low, but sufficient to produce, it is possible to "kill" the well with an appropriate brine and avoid the use of a subsurface valve, the logging equipment being able to descend by gravity and possibly by pumping in the deviated part of the drain.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention is described below.

A subsurface valve 33 is placed in advance on a production casing 2 at a distance at least equal to the length between the well head and the end of the probe, ie approximately 300 meters. This valve is permanently open, with control for closing, or it can be permanently closed, with control for opening. We close the valve. The airlock thus created is at atmospheric pressure. The measurement probe 8 attached to the cable 6 is successively introduced, then the extension 15, element by element, and the propulsion system 16, 17 and 19 mounted on the device according to the invention. An electrical connection is possibly established by means of a bottom connector. The cable gland 36 is closed on the surface around the cable and the pressure is balanced on either side of the valve 33 and then it is opened by remote control from the surface. By gravity, then by pumping, the probe and the extension are moved into the production column 2. The cable 6 connecting the extension to the surface allows, at any time, to control the depth, therefore the displacement of the extension , the speed of descent, the ascent of the extension by pulling the cable. A significant increase in detectable pressure at the surface signifies the arrival of the locomotive in contact with the restriction or "nogo" 40 disposed at the lower end of the production casing 2.

The extension and the probe are then in the production drain 4. By pulling on the cable, the sliding jacket 22 is moved without touching the rest of the equipment, since the cable has a little slack inside the device . This operation allows the fluid to flow through the holes 5a of the production area and from there to the surface and to pass through the openings 2 and 21 thus released, the device according to the invention. Under these conditions, it is possible to carry out measurements, for example of flow rate, using the production tubing which was used to move the probe and the extension.

The probe and extension can be moved by pushing or pulling on the cable. The measurements can then be stationary, or made continuously during the movement, so as to determine a drain flow profile.

It is particularly advantageous to repeat several times the movement of the probe in the production area and therefore to repeat the measurements by pumping first to move the assembly and then pulling on the cable.

Once the recordings have been made, the probe, extension and propulsion system assembly is reassembled without pistoning, since the sliding jacket is open and since the fluid can be transferred from the upper part to the lower part of the propulsion system. The assembly being reassembled above the subsurface valve 33, the latter is closed and the airlock defined above is purged.

Claims (8)

1. Device which can be used in the course of fluid injection or production operations to carry out measurements or interventions in a deflected well passing through a geological formation, this well being equipped with tubing (2), this device comprising at least one instrument for measuring or intervention (8) fixed to a first end of an extension (15) the other end of which constituting the upper end is fitted with sealing elements (17) allowing propulsion of the device in said tubing (2) under the effect of a hydraulic pressure, the device being linked to the surface by a flexible line (6) such as a cable and being characterised in that it exhibits a position for propulsion in the tubing and a position for measuring or intervention and in that it comprises two elongated elements (19, 22) of which one (19) is fixed to the upper end of said extension and comprises at least one opening (21) located above the sealing elements, and the other (22) is mobile, comprises at least one opening (21 a) located above the sealing elements and can be displaced by sliding in relation to said upper end from a position for propulsion in which the openings (21, 21a) are closed, to a position for measuring or intervention uncovering the openings (21, 21a) and allowing the fluid to flow and to pass through said elements of the device during the injection or production of the fluid.

2. Device as in Claim 1, characterised in that said elongated elements (19, 22) comprise at least two openings (20, 21) located on either side of said sealing elements (16, 17) and in that the elongated element (22) is mobile, comprises at least one opening (21 a) located above the sealing elements (16,17) and can be displaced by sliding in relation to said upper part from a first position corresponding to closure of said opening to a second position uncovering said opening.

3. Device as in one of Claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the mobile element (22) can be displaced by sliding under the effect of a pull exerted on said flexible line (6).

4. Device as in one of Claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the mobile element (22) can be displaced by sliding by an element under remote control from the surface.

5. Device as in any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the uncovered opening exhibits a section at least equal to the section between said tubing and said extension.

6. Device as in any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the flexible line is an electric cable (6) feeding the sensor.

7. Equipment which can be used in the course of fluid injection or production operations to carry out measurements or interventions in a deflected well passing through a geological formation, characterised in that it comprises a combination of a device as in one of claims 1 to 6 and a remote control sub-surface valve (33) through which said device may slide in the open position of this valve.

8. Equipment as in Claim 7, characterised in that with the surface said valve (33) bounds a lock with a length at least equal to the length of the device.

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