Debris preventing downhole air lock device and method
AssigneeGeodynamics, Inc.
InventorsDennis ROESSLER, Raymond SHAFFER, Kevin GEORGE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air lock device for sealing a casing located inside a well, the air lock device including a body having a bore and configured to be attached with each end to the casing; a moving element located inside the bore; and a blocking element connected to the moving element, the blocking element preventing a fluid to pass through the bore of the body. The moving element forms an inner chamber with the body in which the blocking element is trapped after the blocking element is punctured by the moving element.
Claims23
An air lock device for sealing a casing located inside a well, the air lock device comprising:
- a body having a bore and configured to be attached with each end to the casing;
- a moving element located inside the bore, the moving element having a shoulder that extends radially toward the body and contacts the body, the shoulder divides the moving element into an upper part and a lower part, and the shoulder and the lower part of the moving element define an inner chamber with a wall of the body;
- a burst disk located between the upper part of the moving element and the wall of the body;
- and
- a blocking element connected to the moving element, the blocking element preventing a fluid to pass through the bore of the body,
- wherein the shoulder of the moving element is fluidly separated from the bore by the burst disk, and
- wherein the inner chamber is sized to trap the blocking element after the blocking element is punctured by the moving element.
A method for opening an air lock device in a casing located in a well, the method comprising:
- lowering the air lock device and the casing into the well, wherein the air lock device is inserted between an upper part and a lower part of the casing;
- pumping a fluid into the upper part of the casing to further lower the casing into the well, wherein a blocking element located inside the air lock device prevents the fluid to pass through a bore of a body of the air lock device;
- increasing a pressure in the upper part of the casing to break a burst disk located in the body of the air lock device, the burst disk covering a passage between the bore and a shoulder of a moving element located inside the air lock device, so that the fluid acts on the shoulder and moves the moving element;
- puncturing the blocking element of the air lock device with the moving element;
- and
- trapping the sheared blocking element inside a chamber formed between the moving element and the body.
An assembly to be placed inside an air lock device for preventing a fluid from passing through the air lock device, the assembly comprising:
- a piston having a top end, a bottom end, and a side wall that extends between the top end and the bottom end;
- and
- a dome attached to the bottom end of the piston,
- wherein the piston has a cutting element that rests against the dome and is configured to shear the dome open,
- wherein the piston forms an inner chamber with the air lock device in which the dome is trapped after the dome is punctured by the piston,
- wherein the piston has a hole in the side wall for receiving a pressured fluid from a bore of the air lock device, and
- wherein the piston has a shoulder extending on an external surface of the side wall, for moving the piston when receiving the pressured fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.