The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 15, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 22, 1999
Leo E. Hill, Jr., Huffman, TX (US);
Christian F. Bayne, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Baker Hughes Incorporated, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides apparatus and method for gravel packing open holes wherein hydrostatic pressure is maintained above the formation pressure (“overburdened condition”) throughout the gravel pack process. The apparatus includes a completion string which contains a flow restriction device, a crossover device and a packer each above and below the crossover device. The string is set in the wellbore with the flow restriction device adjacent the producing formation. The upper packer and the crossover device are set, which allows the gravel fluid to pass to the annulus, and return through the string. After gravel packing, the lower packer is set. The crossover device and the upper packer are retrieved from the wellbore leaving the flow restriction device and the lower packer in the wellbore. The system maintains the wellbore under overburdened condition throughout the gravel packing process.