Retrievable swellable packer
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorAlf K. Sevre
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A well tool can include a swellable material, and a degradable material which supports the swellable material, but which degrades in response to contact with a selected fluid in a well. A packer for use in a subterranean well can include a swellable material, and a degradable material which supports the swellable material. A method of unsetting a packer in a subterranean well can include the steps of, after the packer has been set in the well, exposing a degradable material of the packer to a selected fluid, thereby degrading the degradable material, and a seal element of the packer being unsupported by the degradable material in response to the exposing step.
Claims20
A well tool, comprising:
- a swellable material;
- and
- a degradable material which radially outwardly supports the swellable material, but which degrades in response to contact with a selected fluid in a well via a non-degradable passage through a wall of the well tool.
A packer for use in a subterranean well, the packer comprising:
- a swellable material;
- a degradable material which radially outwardly supports the swellable material;
- and
- a non-degradable passage for fluid to contact the degradable material disposed in a wall of the packer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.