Otis Engineering Corporation

Michael W Meaders

Rennie L Dickson

Ronald K Churchman

Michael B Vinzant

Nam Van Le

Steven C Speegle

Robert L Hilts

A tubing retrievable safety valve, lockout tool and method of use are disclosed that are adapted to lock the valve open permanently and provide access to control line pressure by perforating the piston in the valve. The lockout tool comprises a track mandrel having a ramp slidably disposed beneath a punch that is adapted to penetrate the piston wall of the valve at a point adjacent to the control fluid annulus, thereby creating a protrusion adapted to lock the valve open and establishing fluid communication between the control fluid annulus and the valve bore.

Perforating type lockout tool

A subsurface safety valve has a resilient valve seat and an upwardly closing flapper plate whose sealing surfaces each have a match spherical radius of curvature. The sealing surface of the valve seat is a concave spherical segment of elastomer material and the sealing surface of the flapper plate is a convex spherical segment. The matching spherical surfaces are lapped together to provide a metal-to-metal seal along the interface between the nested convex and concave sealing surfaces. This permits angular displacement of the flapper plate relative to the valve seat without interrupting positive sealing engagement. The concave spherical seating surface of the resilient valve seat will tolerate a limited amount of misalignment of the flapper plate which may be caused by operation in low differential pressure, sandy well conditions.

Resilient seal for curved flapper valve

A lift gas safety valve has a compound valve closure assembly which will close automatically upon loss of hydraulic control pressure, and which can be reopened and maintained in the open position by the application of hydraulic control pressure at a relatively low pressure level. A primary valve closure member is slideably mounted onto a valve stem for movement to a seated position on the valve body in which a lift gas flow passage is closed, to an unseated position in which the lift gas flow passage is opened. A bypass flow passage is formed between the stem and the primary valve closure member for establishing fluid flow communication between the lift gas flow passage and the outlet port when the primary valve closure member is in its seated position. The auxiliary valve closure member is mounted onto the valve stem for movement from a seated position on the primary valve closure member to an unseated position for selectively closing and opening the bypass flow passage. According to this arrangement, when the auxiliary valve closure member is moved to its open position, the pressure differential across the safety valve is equalized, thereby permitting the main valve closure member to be unseated by the application of hydraulic control fluid at a relatively low pressure level.

Annular safety system for gas lift production

A retrievable well safety valve in a cased well system including a tubing string, a dual packer downhole around the tubing sealing with the casing and submersible pump in the tubing string below the packer. The safety valve controls flow of pumped fluids through the tubing to surface and directs gas flow into the casing annulus above the packer. When the safety valve is landed in cooperating tubing nipples above the packer, separated central annular flow passages are formed for pumped fluids and gas respectively. A ball valve in the central flow passage controls pumped fluid flow therethrough and an annular valve coupled to the ball valve controls gas flow from below the packer through the annular flow passage around and by the ball valve. When the ball valve is in the down and open position, the valve ball member engages a lower seat, which maintains the central and annular flow passages separate and prevents comingling flow of fluids and gas. The coupled valves are held open by pressured fluid from surface and are closed automatically on loss of pressure in their control fluid circuits. When the valves close, a circuit of flow passages for recirculating pumped fluids and gas are opened below the ball valve and the pump may continue operation without overload.

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Lewisville, TX, United States of America

Michael W Meaders