Wellbore packer
AssigneesGroupement Europeen d'Interet Economique “Exploitation” Miniere de la Chaleur (G.E.I.E. EMC), MeSy Geo Messsysteme GmbH “MeSy”
InventorsFritz Rummel, Paul Hegemann, Jörg Baumgärtner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a packer for a wellbore, comprising a central tubular element (7) covered by a deformable peripheral sleeve (5). Fluid is injected inside the tubular element under pressure in order to form said sleeve (5) and to apply it to the walls of the wellbore (3). The inventive device is characterized in that the deformable sleeve (5) is made out of metal and the inner wall of the sleeve (5) comprises at least one annular chamber (17) that extends over at least one part of the surface of the sleeve (5) and communicates with the inside of the packer via an orifice (19), whereby said chamber (17) is filled with a material that is non-miscible with respect to the wellbore fluid prior to the injection of said fluid under pressure.
Claims20
A packer for obturating a wellbore, comprising a central tubular element (7) covered by a deformable peripheral sleeve (5), inside which sleeve is injected a fluid under pressure so as to deform said sleeve (5) and to expand the sleeve to contact walls of the wellbore (3), characterized in that the deformable sleeve (5) is constituted by a metal and an inner wall of the sleeve (5) forms at least one annular chamber (17) extending over at least a part of the surface of the sleeve (5) and in communication, by an orifice (19), with the interior of the packer, the chamber (17) being filled, before injection of the fluid under pressure, with a material non-miscible in the wellbore fluid.
A packer for obturating a wellbore by sealing contact with a wellbore wall, comprising:
- a deformable outer metallic cylindrical sleeve (5);
- a metallic tubular element (7) fitted inside the sleeve and having an upper end opening and a lower end opening;
- O-rings (11) inserted in circular grooves hollowed out on an inner surface of end portions of the sleeve, the O-rings sealing the sleeve against the tubular element and forming upper and lower O-ring sets;
- metallic rings (13) fitted in circular bores hollowed out on an exterior surface of end portions of the sleeve and forming upper and lower rings;
- a screw (15) locking together upper end portions of the tubular element and the sleeve;
- an annular chamber (17) formed between an exterior surface of the tubular element and the interior surface of the sleeve, the annular chamber being intermediate the upper and lower O-ring sets;
- and
- openings (19) within the tubular element providing communication paths between the annular chamber and an interior of the tubular element, the openings providing a path for injection of a material into the annular chamber and to outwardly deform the sleeve causing the deformed sleeve to expand into sealing contact with the borehole wall.
A packer for obturating a wellbore by sealing contact with a wellbore wall, comprising:
- a deformable outer metallic cylindrical sleeve (5) having a non-uniform thickness along a vertical length, sections of the sleeve having a reduced thickness defining deformable expansion sections expandable under pressure into contact with the borehole wall, the sleeve having an upper end and a lower end;
- a metallic tubular element (7) fitted inside the sleeve and having an upper end and a lower end sealed against the upper end and the lower end respectively of the sleeve;
- an annular chamber (17) formed between an exterior surface of the tubular element and the interior surface of the sleeve, the annular chamber being intermediate the upper and lower ends of the sleeve;
- and
- openings (19) within the tubular element providing communication paths between the annular chamber and an interior of the tubular element, the openings providing a path for injection of a material into the annular chamber to pressurize the annular chamber to outwardly deform the deformable expansion sections of the sleeve causing the deformed expansion sections to expand into sealing contact with the borehole wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.