Measurement port coupler and probe interface

A casing incorporating a measurement port for use in a multilevel borehole monitoring system, the measurement port allowing fluid from the exterior of the casing to enter the interior of the casing when the measurement port is opened by a sampling probe within the casing, and preventing fluid from entering the interior of the casing when the measurement port is closed, the casing comprising:

• (a) a tubular wall having opposite open ends that are couplable to adjacent casings, an external surface, an interior surface, and being formed with an aperture extending through the wall;
• (b) a valve seated in the aperture;
• (c) sealing means fitted around the valve to provide a seal between the valve and the aperture;
• (d) means to bias the valve in a normally closed position so that fluid cannot enter the casing until the valve is moved to an open position by the sampling probe;
• and
• (e) a cover plate removably attached to the exterior surface of the casing in a position over the aperture, the cover plate formed with a plurality of holes to filter fluids flowing through the aperture when the valve is moved to the open position.

A casing incorporating a measurement port for use in a multilevel borehole monitoring system, the measurement port allowing fluid from the exterior of the casing to enter the interior of the casing when the measurement port is opened by a sampling probe within the casing, and preventing fluid from entering the interior of the casing when the measurement port is closed, the casing comprising:

• (a) a tubular body having opposite open ends that are couplable to adjacent casings, an external surface, an interior surface, and being formed with an aperture extending from the exterior of the body to the interior of the body, the interior surface forming a passageway extending between the opposite open ends of the body;
• (b) a valve seated in the aperture;
• (c) sealing means fitted around the valve to provide a seal between the valve and the aperture;
• (d) means to bias the valve in a normally closed position so that fluid cannot enter the casing until the valve is moved to an open position by the sampling probe;
• and
• (e) a helical insert removably fitted within the passageway of the tubular body, the helical insert having a helical shoulder curving around the longitudinal axis of the tubular body and extending from an outer end located proximate to the open end of the tubular body to an inner end remote from the open end, the helical shoulder being engageable by a stop arm radiating from the sampling probe as the sampling probe moves along the passageway in the tubular body to guide the stop arm and rotate the sampling probe so that the sampling probe is turned to a desired orientation adjacent the valve.

A casing incorporating a measurement port for use in a multilevel borehole monitoring system, the measurement port allowing fluid from the exterior of the casing to enter the interior of the casing when the measurement port is opened by a sampling probe within the casing, and preventing fluid from entering the interior of the casing when the measurement port is closed, the casing comprising:

• (a) a tubular body having opposite open ends that are couplable to adjacent casings, an external surface, an interior surface, and being formed with an aperture extending from the exterior of the body to the interior of the body, the interior surface forming a passageway extending between the opposite open ends of the body;
• (b) a valve seated in the aperture;
• (c) sealing means fitted around the valve to provide a seal between the valve and the aperture;
• (d) means to bias the valve in a normally dosed position so that fluid cannot enter the casing until the valve is moved to an open position by the sampling probe;
• and
• (e) a helical insert removably fitted within the passageway of the tubular body, the helical insert having a pair of helical shoulders curving away from each other around the longitudinal axis of the tubular body and extending from adjacent outer ends located proximate to the open end of the tube to adjacent inner ends remote from the open end, the helical insert being engageable by a stop arm radiating from the sampling probe as the sampling probe moves along the passageway in the tubular body to guide the stop arm and rotate the sampling probe so that the sampling probe is turned to a desired orientation adjacent the valve.

A multilevel borehole monitoring system to allow the sampling of fluid from a borehole at various levels within the borehole, the borehole monitoring system comprising:

• (a) a plurality of casings coupled together to form a casing assembly within the borehole, the plurality of casings forming a passageway extending the length of the casing assembly, at least one of the plurality of casings being a measurement port coupler comprising:
• (i) a tubular wall having an external surface, an interior surface, and being formed with an aperture extending through the wall, the aperture having a bore portion and a mating portion;
• (ii) a valve seated in the bore portion of the aperture, the valve having a stem facing the interior of the casing and being recessed in the aperture so that the stem does not extend beyond the interior surface into the passageway of the casing;
• (iii) sealing means fitted around the valve to provide a seal between the valve and the aperture;
• and
• (iv) means to bias the valve in a normally closed position so that fluid cannot enter the measurement port coupler until the valve is moved to an open position;
• and
• (b) a sampling probe that may be raised and lowered in the borehole within the passageway formed by the plurality of casings, the sampling probe comprising:
• (i) a body having a sampling aperture that extends from the exterior of the body to the interior of the body;
• (ii) a gasket attached to the body of the sampling probe and surrounding the sampling aperture;
• (iii) means to locate the sampling probe adjacent a desired measurement port coupler in the plurality of casings;
• (iv) means to bias the sampling probe against the interior surface of the measurement port coupler, the gasket contacting the mating portion of the aperture and forming a seal between the measurement port coupler and the sampling probe before the valve on the measurement port coupler is moved to the open position;
• and
• (v) means to move the valve to the open position and allow the sampling probe to sample fluid in the borehole outside of the measurement port coupler, the fluid flowing through the aperture of the measurement port coupler and the sampling aperture of the sampling probe.