Expandable casing patch system and method for installing such casing patch
AssigneeUniarmour LLC
InventorAlessandro CACCIALUPI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A casing patch assembly that is deployable within a casing has a pipe with a wide diameter portion and a narrow diameter portion, an expansion cone positioned within the pipe, a plug sealingly engaged against the wide diameter portion of the pipe so as to form a seal, and an anchor having a portion engaged with the inner wall of the wide diameter portion of the pipe. The plug has a first shaft extending through a borehole in the expansion cone and a second shaft adapted to pass a fluid through a channel in the plug so as to urge the expansion cone along the narrow diameter portion of the pipe so as to expand the narrow diameter portion of the pipe.
Claims18
A casing patch assembly that is deployable within a casing, the casing patch assembly comprising:
- a pipe having a pre-expanded portion at a top thereof so as to define a wide diameter portion of said pipe and a narrow diameter portion of said pipe;
- an expansion cone positioned within said pipe and having an outer diameter adjacent the wide diameter portion of said pipe, said expansion cone having a borehole extending longitudinally therethrough;
- a plug sealingly engaged against the wide diameter portion of said pipe so as to form a liquid-tight seal with an inner wall of the wide diameter portion of said pipe, wherein said plug has a first shaft extending through the borehole of said expansion cone and extending through the narrow diameter portion of said pipe and configured to stop said expansion cone and a second shaft adapted to pass a fluid through a channel in said plug so as to urge said expansion cone along the narrow diameter portion of said pipe;
- and
- an anchor having a portion releasably engaged with an inner wall of the wide diameter portion of said pipe, wherein said pipe is expanded and said expansion cone and said plug and said anchor are retrieved through the expanded pipe.
A method for applying a patch to an inner wall of a casing, the method comprising:
- positioning a pipe within a casing in an area to which the patch is to be applied, the pipe having a pre-expanded portion at a top thereof such that the pipe has a wide diameter portion and a narrow diameter portion;
- extending a first shaft through an interior of the casing and through an interior of the pipe, the pipe having an expansion cone slidably received over an outer diameter of the first shaft which is configured to stop the expansion cone, the second shaft having a plug engaged with an inner wall of the wide diameter portion of the pipe;
- affixing an anchor to the inner wall of the wide diameter portion of the pipe and to an outer diameter of a second shaft;
- passing a fluid through a longitudinal passageway of the second shaft and through a channel in the plug so as to pass pressurized fluid into an area behind the expansion cone;
- and
- moving the expansion cone through an interior of the pipe such that the expansion cone enlarges the narrow diameter of the pipe such that the patch is placed against the inner wall of the casing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.