Composite coiled tubing apparatus and methods

A method of conducting coiled tubing operations, comprising:

• providing a composite coiled tubing having a hollow wall on a reel, the composite coiled tubing having a reel end proximate the reel and a distal end for insertion into a wellbore, the coiled tubing having a section modulus sufficiently low to facilitate its spooling on the reel;
• positioning metal wires within said wall extending continuously without interruption for a predetermined continuous length of said composite coiled tubing for transmitting signals representing data along said continuous length of said composite coiled tubing;
• positioning a microprocessor in said wall in communication with said metal wires for receiving and transmitting data;
• unspooling the composite coiled tubing from the reel;
• and
• inserting into the wellbore the distal end of the composite coiled tubing, the section modulus of the coiled tubing being sufficiently high to resist buckling of the coiled tubing within the wellbore.

A method of conducting coiled tubing operations, comprising:

• providing a composite coiled tubing having a hollow cylindrical wall formed of a plurality of concentric layers on a reel, the composite coiled tubing having a reel end proximate the reel and a distal end for insertion into a wellbore;
• varying the section modulus of said composite coiled tubing along its length to provide a relatively low section modulus along one predetermined length portion thereof and a relatively high section modulus along another predetermined length portion thereof;
• providing conductive fibers in said wall of said composite coiled tubing extending continuously without interruption for a predetermined continuous length of said composite coiled tubing for conducting signals along the continuous length of said coiled tubing;
• unspooling the composite coiled tubing from the reel;
• and
• inserting into the wellbore said distal end of the composite coiled tubing, the section modulus of the composite coiled tubing being sufficient to resist buckling of the coiled tubing within the wellbore.

A method of conducting coiled tubing operations comprising:

• providing a composite coiled tubing having a hollow cylindrical wall formed of a plurality of concentric layers on a reel;
• the composite coiled tubing having a reel end proximate the reel and a distal end for insertion into a wellbore;
• varying the section modulus of said composite coiled tubing along the length of said coiled tubing to provide a relatively low section modulus along one predetermined length portion thereof and a relatively high section modulus along another predetermined length portion thereof;
• varying the section properties of said composite coiled tubing along said length so that predetermined characteristics of said coiled tubing including stiffness and/or strength thereof may be selectively varied along said length;
• positioning continuous metal wires within said wall extending continuously without interruption for a predetermined continuous length of said composite coiled tubing for conducting signals along said continuous length of said composite coiled tubing;
• positioning a microprocessor in said wall in communication with said metal wires for receiving and transmitting data;
• unspooling the composite coiled tubing from the reel;
• and
• inserting into the wellbore said distal end of the composite coiled tubing, the section modulus of the coiled tubing being sufficient to resist buckling of the coiled tubing within the wellbore.

A method of conducting coiled tubing operations, comprising:

• providing a composite coiled tubing formed of a plurality of concentric layers including a combination of fibers and resins of varying strength and orientations mixed into a fiber blend;
• mounting the composite coiled tubing on a reel, the composite coiled tubing having a reel end proximate the reel and a distal end for insertion into a wellbore, the composite coiled tubing having a section modulus sufficient to facilitate spooling of the coiled tubing on the reel;
• unspooling the composite coiled tubing from the reel;
• inserting into the wellbore said distal end of the composite coiled tubing, the section modulus of the composite coiled tubing being sufficient to resist buckling of the coiled tubing within the wellbore;
• varying the section modulus along the length of the composite coiled tubing, the composite coiled tubing being of a relatively low section modulus along one predetermined length portion thereof and of a relatively high section modulus along another predetermined length portion thereof;
• and
• providing a composite tubing disconnect at a predetermined location of the composite coiled tubing where the load range at which the composite tubing disconnect fails corresponds to the failure characteristics of said fiber blend, the fiber blend having a predetermined failure limit.

A method of conducting coiled tubing operations, comprising:

• providing a composite coiled tubing on a reel, the composite coiled tubing having a reel end proximate the reel and a distal end for insertion into a wellbore;
• varying the section modulus along the length of said composite coiled tubing to provide a relatively low section modulus along one predetermined length portion thereof and a relatively high section modulus along another predetermined length portion thereof;
• varying the section properties along the length of said composite coiled tubing so that predetermined characteristics of said coiled tubing including stiffness and/or strength thereof may be selectively varied along said length;
• unspooling the composite coiled tubing from the reel;
• and
• inserting into the wellbore said distal end of the composite coiled tubing.