Permeable lost circulation drilling liner
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsJohn Timothy Allen, Brett Bouldin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A layer of permeable material is positioned on an area of lost circulation lithology in a wellbore. An example of the permeable material includes a planar member with perforations that is rolled into and retained in an annular configuration. The permeable material is lowered into the wellbore adjacent the area of lost circulation and allowed to unroll and expand radially outward against walls of the wellbore. The wellbore wall along the area of lost circulation lithology can be reamed out so the layer of permeable material is out of the way of a drill bit. Applying a bridging agent on the interface where the permeable material contacts the wellbore wall forms a flow barrier.
Claims13
A method of operations in a wellbore having a lost circulation zone comprising:
- providing a layer of material that is retained in an annular configuration and that has perforations;
- disposing the layer of material in the wellbore and adjacent the lost circulation zone;
- expanding the layer of material radially outward and into contact with the lost circulation zone to define a tubular member having an inner radius and an outer radius, and to provide communication between the wellbore and the lost circulation zone through the perforations in the layer of material;
- and
- injecting fluid into the wellbore that flows to within the inner radius, through the perforations, and into the lost circulation zone, the fluid having particles of a bridging agent entrained within that deposit and that accumulate in the perforations as the fluid flows through the perforations to block flow through the perforations and form a flow barrier across the layer of material.
A method of wellbore operations comprising:
- providing a wellbore liner having a tubular shape with an inner radius and an outer radius and perforations extending through a sidewall of the liner;
- disposing the liner in the wellbore and adjacent a lost circulation zone and so that communication between the wellbore and the lost circulation zone is provided through the perforations;
- providing a fluid with entrained particles of a bridging agent, the particles having diameters less than diameters of the perforations;
- and
- creating a flow barrier across the liner by flowing the fluid through the perforations and along an inner surface of the wellbore liner so that the entrained particles become deposited in the perforations and accumulate in the perforations to block fluid flowing through the perforations from within the liner.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.