Deployment and retrieval system for electric submersible pumps
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorJoseph Varkey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Representative implementations of devices and techniques provide a system arranged to deploy and retrieve a device such as an electric submersible pump with respect to a well or other like formation. An injection device for coiled tubing is modified to grip and inject a cable in order to lower a pump or like device into a wellbore. Modification to the tube injection device may include addition of cable-gripping blocks to the injection components. Multiple injection devices can be utilized to open and close in coordination in order to let a large connector or termination on the cable pass through an open injector while a closed injector maintains a grip on the cable.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a cable suitable for raising and lowering an electric submersible pump (ESP) in a well;
- at least a first coiled tubing injector having a coiled tubing gripping diameter configured for lowering and raising coiled tubing in the well;
- a first gripper attached to the first coiled tubing injector and having a cable gripping diameter configured for lowering and raising the cable in the well;
- a load sensor configured to continuously determine a tension of the cable or to determine a weight acting on the cable;
- and
- one or more spacers arranged to remove slack from the cable while the ESP is seated within a wellbore, the one or more spacers deployed based on the tension of the cable determined by the load sensor.
A method, comprising:
- providing a tube injection device having a coiled tubing gripping diameter configured to lower and raise coiled tubing into a well;
- attaching cable grippers to the tube injection device, wherein the cable grippers each have a cable gripping diameter configured to lower and raise a cable into the well;
- attaching an ESP to the cable;
- injecting the ESP on the cable into the well using the cable grippers attached to the tube injection device;
- determining a tension or a compression of the cable via a load sensor;
- and
- arranging one or more spacers to remove slack from the cable while the ESP is seated within the well based on the tension or compression determined by the load sensor.
A system, comprising:
- a cable suitable for raising and lowering a load in a well;
- first and second coiled tubing injectors, the first and second coiled tubing injectors disposed in tandem above a well and each having a coiled tubing gripping diameter configured to lower and raise coiled tubing in the well;
- gripper blocks attached to a feeding mechanism of each coiled tubing injector, the gripper blocks each having a cable gripping diameter configured for modifying each coiled tubing injector to grip the cable instead of the coiled tubing;
- a gripping mechanism on each coiled tubing injector to open the gripper blocks from the cable or to close the gripper blocks on the cable;
- one or more spacers disposed in a cable hanger at the surface and configured to be arranged to remove slack from the cable once the load is seated in the well;
- a power source for each coiled tubing injector for animating the coiled tubing injectors to raise or lower the cable;
- a computer in communication with the power sources and the gripping mechanisms;
- and
- instructions residing on a tangible data storage medium of the computer, which when executed by the computer cause the coiled tubing injectors to raise or lower the cable and to open and close the gripping mechanisms of the tandem coiled tubing injectors in a sequence that allows an obstacle on the cable to pass through both of the coiled tubing injectors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.