Downhole mixing valve
AssigneeHalliburton Company
InventorThomas J. Luers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A mixing valve for use in cementing, fracturing or other treatment of a well. The valve, which may be mounted in a pipe string, comprises a center mandrel surrounded by a coaxial housing having circumferentially spaced apertures therethrough. A packer cup surrounds the center mandrel below the apertures in the housing, and seals the annulus between the mandrel and housing when the pressure of fluid through the bore of the mandrel exceeds that on the outside of the chamber. When mixing fluids, it is only necessary to pressure the fluid outside the housing to collapse the packer cup against the mandrel, the fluid from the outside then entering the stream flowing from the mandrel bore. A method of mixing fluids utilizing the valve of the present invention is also disclosed.
Claims16
A downhole valve, comprising:
- tubular housing means;
- imperforate tubular mandrel means having a free end opening into said housing;
- imperforate crossover body means having a cylindrical bore therethrough coaxial with and opening into the bore of said mandrel means, said housing means and said mandrel means defining an annulus therebetween and being coaxially affixed at one end to said crossover body means;
- port means through the wall of said housing means adjacent the crossover means;
- pressure responsive seal means in said annulus and being substantially axially spaced from said port means, said pressure responsive seal means attached to one of said housing and mandrel means and being located between said port means and the ree end of said mandrel means, said seal means allowing flow through said annulus past said seal means and preventing flow in the opposite direction.
A downhole mixing valve adapted to be disposed in a well bore in a pipe string, comprising:
- an imperforate crossover body having a substantially cylindrical bore therethrough;
- a substantially tubular imperforate mandrel affixed at one end thereof to and extending axially from said crossover body, the bore of said mandrel being substantially coaxial with and in communication with said crossover body bore;
- a substantially cylindrical housing coaxially surrounding said mandrel, affixed to and extending axially from said crossover body beyond the free end of said mandrel, said mandrel and said housing defining a valve annulus therebetween and said housing defining a mixing chamber at the end of said valve annulus, said mandrel bore opening axially into said mixing chamber;
- pressure responsive annulus closure means attached to one of said mandrel and housing and disposed between said mandrel and said housing substantially axially spaced from said crossover body;
- and
- at least one aperture through said housing between said crossover body and said annulus closure means at a location substantially axially spaced from said annulus closure means, said annulus closure means allowing fluid flow therepast in one direction and preventing flow in the opposite direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.