Self-sealing perforating apparatus
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsJeffery Richard Acker, Christopher C. Hoelscher
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A perforating apparatus incorporating a selective self-sealing material is disclosed for sealing exit holes in a wall of the apparatus resulting from perforation operations. The perforating apparatus traps debris produced during downhole perforation operations and prevents the debris from entering the wellbore which avoids the need for remedial operations to remove debris from the wellbore. The self-sealing material may be disposed within the perforating apparatus adjacent to an interior surface of the wall or the self-sealing material may be disposed outside the perforating apparatus adjacent to an exterior surface of the wall. The self-sealing material may include an expandable polymer material, a swelling elastomer, a rubber and combinations thereof.
Claims18
A perforating apparatus comprising:
- a wall forming an inner cavity;
- a self-sealing material disposed adjacent to the wall;
- an explosive device positioned to form a hole through the wall and the self-sealing material,
- wherein the self-sealing material is capable of sealing the hole formed in the wall and the self-sealing material by the explosive device;
- and
- a liner layer disposed inside the perforating apparatus between the self-sealing material and the inner cavity, wherein the liner layer is secured to an inner surface of the wall and is spaced from the inner surface to form an annular gap, and the self-sealing material is disposed within the annular gap.
A method of manufacturing a perforating apparatus, the perforating apparatus comprising:
- a wall;
- a liner layer adjacent to an inner cavity of the perforating apparatus, wherein the liner layer is secured to an inner surface of the wall and is spaced from the inner surface to form an annular gap;
- and
- a self-sealing material disposed within the annular gap,
- wherein the self-sealing material is capable of sealing one or more holes in the wall;
- and
- the method comprising:
- disposing the liner layer within the perforating apparatus to form an annular gap between the liner layer and the wall;
- and
- injecting the self-sealing material into the annular gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.