Baker Hughes Corporation

Baker Hughes, a Ge Compnay, LLC

Jeffery L Knippa

Edward T Wood

Troy A Miller

Mark J Knebel

Larry D Johnson

A method of providing cement isolators in an annular space about a tubular string in open hole uses a straddle tool that sequentially engages profiles in the tubular string so that prepositioned communication valves to the surrounding annulus can be straddled to force cement out through the straddle tool and into the annular space. The cement is formulated to stay in position and set up. Each valved opening in the string comes with an associated locating profile and another profile for a locking dog to secure the straddle tool in position for forced delivery from the tool and into the valve assembly for delivery into the open hole annulus where a sealing ring of cement will set up for isolation. The operation sequentially put in place as many barriers as there are valve assemblies to straddle and in a single trip generally working in an uphole direction.

Method of placing cement sealing rings at predetermined annular locations around a tubular string

A swelling packer system uses modules that can be joined together and mounted over a tubular using a vertical split that can be drawn closed with a tapered pin in overlapping loops. The pins are circumferentially spaced apart as between adjacent modules. End rings can protect the modules for run in and act as extrusion barriers during and after the swelling is complete. The module ends can be overlapped in an interlocking fashion which allows multiple elements to be joined together to make a packer assembly as long as desired with any combination of swelling elements in a single packer assembly. Optionally, interior grooves in the swelling material can hold split ring seals or o-ring type seals that are slipped over a tubular end before a module is clamped on. The sealing elements can be triggered with water or hydrocarbons or with other materials already in the wellbore or introduced to it or other surface or locally actuated triggers.

Growing community of inventors

Point Venture, TX, United States of America

Jeffery L Knippa