Apparatus and methods for closing flow paths in wellbores
AssigneeBaker Hughes, A Ge Company, LLC
InventorsEdward O'Malley, Beau R. Wright, Juan C. Flores
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of closing a fluid flow path in a wellbore is disclosed that in one non-limiting embodiment includes: supplying a flexible structure having a selected shape sufficient to seat on an opening of the fluid flow path, the flexible structure including pores of selected dimensions; determining seating of the flexible structure on the opening of the fluid flow path from a sensor measurement; and supplying a slurry containing a sealant to the flexible structure seated on the opening of the fluid flow path to plug the pores with the sealant to close the fluid flow path.
Claims8
A method of closing a fluid flow path of a casing in a wellbore in a formation, the method comprising:
- providing a structure having a first size smaller than the fluid flow path within the casing, wherein the structure expands to a second size that is greater than the fluid flow path when the structure is subjected to a selected condition;
- passing the structure through the fluid flow path of the casing to a location outside the casing;
- subjecting the structure to the selected condition to expand the structure to the second size;
- and
- allowing a formation fluid to flow from the formation toward the casing to seat the expanded structure in the fluid flow path of the casing to close the fluid flow path.
A wellbore system, comprising:
- a casing in the wellbore that includes a flow through passage that has been plugged by passing a structure through the flow through passage to a location outside the casing, expanding the structure after it has passed through the flow through passage to a size greater than the size of the flow through passage and allowing a formation fluid to flow from a formation toward the casing to seat the expanded structure in the flow through passage to plug the flow through passage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.