Tubing retrievable safety valve assembly with secondary flapper and seat
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsMerced Gonzalez, Charles David McFate
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tubing retrievable safety valve assembly and related methods are disclosed herein. The assembly includes a primary flapper, a secondary flapper, a flow tube, and a protective sleeve. The flow tube is shiftable between a downhole position that holds the primary flapper in an open position and an uphole position that allows the primary flapper to move to a closed position. The protective sleeve, when positioned in an uphole position, holds the secondary flapper valve in an open position. The protective sleeve is shiftable to a downhole position to allow the secondary flapper to move to a closed position, for example, upon failure of the primary flapper.
Claims17
A tubing retrievable safety valve assembly, comprising:
- a primary flapper movable between a first open position and a first closed position, wherein the primary flapper prevents flow through the assembly in an uphole direction when in the first closed position;
- a secondary flapper movable between a second open position and a second closed position, wherein the secondary flapper prevents flow through the assembly in an uphole direction when in the second closed position;
- a flow tube shiftable between:
- a first downhole position to retain the primary flapper in the first open position;
- and
- a first uphole position to allow the primary flapper to move to the first closed position;
- a protective sleeve positionable in a second uphole position to retain the secondary flapper in the second open position, wherein the protective sleeve is shiftable to a second downhole position upon failure of the primary flapper to allow the secondary flapper to move to the second closed position;
- and
- a secondary opening prong is attachable to the flow tube to retain the secondary flapper in the second open position after the protective sleeve is shifted to the second downhole position.
A method of using a tubing retrievable safety valve assembly, the method comprising:
- retaining a primary flapper in a first open position by positioning a flow tube in a first downhole position;
- moving the primary flapper from the first open position to a first closed position by shifting the flow tube to a first uphole position;
- retaining a secondary flapper in a second open position by positioning a protective sleeve in a second uphole position;
- upon failure of the primary flapper, shifting the protective sleeve from the second uphole position to a second downhole position to allow the secondary flapper to move from the second open position to a second closed position;
- attaching a secondary opening prong to the flow tube;
- and
- retaining the secondary flapper in the second open position with the secondary opening prong after the protective sleeve is shifted from the second uphole position to the second downhole position.
A well production system, comprising:
- a production tubing string;
- and
- a tubing retrievable safety valve assembly included in the production tubing string, the tubing retrievable safety valve assembly comprising:
- a primary flapper movable between a first open position and a first closed position, wherein the primary flapper prevents flow through the assembly in an uphole direction when in the first closed position;
- a secondary flapper movable between a second open position and a second closed position, wherein the secondary flapper prevents flow through the assembly in an uphole direction when in the second closed position;
- a flow tube shiftable between:
- a first downhole position to retain the primary flapper in the first open position;
- and
- a first uphole position to allow the primary flapper to move to the first closed position;
- a protective sleeve positionable in a second uphole position to retain the secondary flapper in the second open position, wherein the protective sleeve is shiftable to a second downhole position upon failure of the primary flapper to allow the secondary flapper to move to the second closed position;
- and
- a secondary opening prong is attachable to the flow tube to retain the secondary flapper in the second open position after the protective sleeve is shifted to the second downhole position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.