Composite spoolable tube with sensor
AssigneeFiberspar Spoolable Products, Inc.
InventorsPeter A. Quigley, Stephen C. Nolet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spoolable composite member having a sensor and an energy conductor embedded in the composite member. The spoolable composite member is capable of being spooled onto a reel for storage and for use in oil field applications. The spoolable tube exhibits unique anistropic characteristics that provide improved burst and collapse pressures, increased tensile strength, compression strength, and load carrying capacity, while still remaining sufficiently bendable to be spooled onto a reel in an open bore configuration. The spoolable composite tube can include an inner protective layer, an inner pressure barrier layer, an interface layer, fiber composite layers, an outer pressure barrier layer, and an outer protective layer.
Claims42
A composite tubular member for spooling in an open bore configuration onto a reel and for unspooling for deployment, said composite tubular member comprising
- (a) a substantially fluid impervious pressure barrier layer,
- (b) a composite layer formed of fibers and a matrix, said composite layer and said pressure barrier layer together constituting a wall of said tubular member,
- (c) an optical fiber extending lengthwise along said tubular member and embedded in the wall of said tubular member, and
- (d) an optical sensor integrally formed with said optical fiber and connected for signal communication by way of said optical fiber, so that said optical sensor responds to an ambient condition of said tubular member and communicates on said optical fiber a signal responsive thereto.
A composite tubular member for spooling in an open bore configuration onto a reel and for unspooling for deployment, said composite tubular member comprising
- (a) a substantially fluid impervious pressure barrier layer,
- (b) a composite layer formed of fibers in a polymer matrix, said composite layer and said pressure barrier layer together constituting a wall of said tubular member and maintaining a generally cylindrical shape when deployed and spooled on a reel,
- (c) an optical fiber extending lengthwise along said tubular member and embedded in the wall of said tubular member, and
- (d) an extrinsic optical sensor mounted with the wall of said tubular member and connected for signal communication by way of said optical fiber, so that said optical sensor responds to an ambient condition of said tubular member and communicates on said optical fiber a signal responsive thereto.
A composite tubular member for spooling in an open bore configuration onto a reel and for unspooling for deployment, said composite tubular member comprising
- (a) a substantially fluid impervious pressure barrier layer,
- (b) a composite layer formed of fibers and a matrix, said composite layer and said pressure barrier layer together constituting a wall of said tubular member,
- (c) a first energy conductor and a second energy conductor extending lengthwise along said tubular member and embedded in the wall of said tubular member, and
- (d) a set of at least two sensors mounted with the wall of said tubular member and distributed along the length of composite tubular member, said at least two sensors connected in parallel between said first energy conductor and said second energy conductor, said set of sensors responding to an ambient condition of said tubular member and communicating on said energy conductors a signal responsive thereto.
A composite tubular member for spooling in an open bore configuration onto a reel and for unspooling for deployment, said composite tubular member comprising
- (a) a substantially fluid impervious pressure barrier layer,
- (b) a composite layer formed of fibers and a matrix, said composite layer and said pressure barrier layer together constituting a wall of said tubular member,
- (c) a first energy conductor and a second energy conductor extending lengthwise along said tubular member and embedded in the wall of said tubular member,
- (d) a first set of at least two sensors mounted with the wall of said tubular member and connected for signal communication by way of said first energy conductor and extending along the length of said composite tubular member, and
- (e) a second set of at least two sensors mounted with the wall of said tubular member and connected for signal communication by way of said second energy conductor and extending along the length of said composite tubular member,
- said sensors responding to an ambient condition of said tubular member and communicating on said energy conductors a signal responsive thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.