Weatherford/lamb, Inc.

Other

Christopher W Mayeu

Richard M Wilde

John Laureto Maida, Jr

John M Birckhead

A one-shot thermally activated release mechanism, the release mechanism including a spiral or helically wound spring wrapped around a set of jaws in a manner that prevents the jaws from expanding; held in this tightened position by two wires, with one wire fixed to the body of a member of the jaws and the second wire attached to the spring, the wires bonded together by a solder or other fusible material. The jaws restrict the movement of a plunger. Heating the solder causes release of the spring and enables expansion of the jaws, allowing movement of the plunger. A bias force on the plunger assists in movement of the plunger past the expanding jaws.

Friction spring release mechanism

Apparatuses and methods for accurately determining the position of a sliding or rotational sleeve valve in real time are disclosed. The apparatus comprises fiber optic cable based sensors which are either linearly or circumferentially arrayed in the housing that surrounds the sleeve and which can comprise bare cable or cable having fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). As the sleeve slides or rotates within the housing, the sensors in the arrays are deformed, and this deformation can be correlated to sleeve position by assessing the sensor's reflectivity profiles. Deformation of the sensors is achieved by various mechanical and/or magnetic schemes incorporated into the sleeve.

Method and system for determining and controlling position of valve

Methods and systems for optical endpoint detection of a sliding sleeve valve are disclosed. The system comprises fiber optic cable based sensors (e.g., fiber Bragg gratings or fiber optic coils) positioned in a recess within the valve's housing and affixed proximate to the ends of the cavity in which the sleeve travels. When the sleeve reaches the ends of the cavity, it imparts a stress onto an area of the housing, which preferably constitutes a protrusion within the cavity, which in turn stresses the sensor and changes its reflection profile. This change in reflection profile indicates that the sleeve has traveled to an end point inside the valve, and accordingly that the valve is fully open or fully closed.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Christopher W Mayeu