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CA-3064090-C - A DOWNHOLE GRAVEL PACKING APPARATUS AND METHOD

CA3064090CCA 3064090 CCA3064090 CCA 3064090CCA-3064090-C

Abstract

A downhole gravel packing apparatus, comprising a tubular assembly for being arranged within a wellbore to define an annulus between said tubular assembly and a wall of the wellbore, and a control valve provided within the tubular assembly to control flow of a gravel pack carner fluid between external and internal regions of the tubular assembly, the control valve comprising a fluid reactant arrangement which reacts with a first fluid to reconfigure the control valve from a first configuration in which flow through the control valve is permitted during a gravel packing operation, and a second configuration in which flow through the control valve is restricted.

Inventors

  • Annabel Green
  • Oliver Webster

Assignees

  • SWELLFIX UK LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20180613
Priority Date
20170614

Claims (20)

  1. CLAIMS: 1. A downhole gravel packing apparatus, comprising: a tubular assembly for being arranged within a wellbore to define an annulus 5 between said tubular assembly and a wall of the wellbore; and a control valve provided within the tubular assembly to control flow of a gravel pack carrier fluid between external and internal regions of the tubular assembly, the control valve comprising a fluid reactant arrangement which reacts with a first fluid to reconfigure the control valve from a first configuration in which flow through the control 10 valve is permitted during a gravel packing operation, and a second configuration in which flow through the control valve is restricted; wherein the downhole gravel packing apparatus comprises a sand screen and a base pipe; wherein the sand screen circumscribes the base pipe and defines a screen 15 annulus between the sand screen and the base pipe, the screen annulus being arranged such that fluid may enter the screen annulus from the annulus via the sand screen; wherein the control valve is located in the base pipe to permit flow from the screen annulus into the interior of the base pipe.
  2. 2. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an inflow control device arranged parallel to the control valve.
  3. 3. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the 25 fluid reactant arrangement comprises a dissolvable support arranged to hold the control valve in the first arrangement, said dissolvable support comprising a material which dissolves in the first fluid.
  4. 4. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 30 wherein the control valve comprises a flow control member and an orifice; wherein when the control valve is in the first configuration, the flow control member is in a first position and fluid may flow through the orifice; and when the control valve is in the second configuration, the flow control member is in a second position and restricts flow through the orifice. Date re<;ue/date received 2024-05-24
  5. 5. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the fluid reactant arrangement is arranged to hold the flow control member in the first position when the control valve is in the first configuration. 5
  6. 6. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control valve comprises a chamber arranged such that fluid flowing through the control valve flows through the chamber and out of the orifice, wherein the flow control member is trapped in the chamber and the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a dissolvable support.
  7. 7. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the flow control member is a ball and the dissolvable support is a second ball.
  8. 8. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the 15 control valve comprises a chamber arranged such that fluid flowing through the control valve flows through the chamber and out of the orifice; wherein the fluid reactant arrangement comprises the dissolvable support in the form of a castellated ring located around the orifice; and in the first configuration, the flow control member and dissolvable support are 20 arranged such that fluid can flow through gaps formed by the flow control member and the castellations and out of the orifice.
  9. 9. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the flow control member comprises a fluid port and the flow control member 25 and fluid port are arranged such that fluid can flow through the fluid port in the flow control member and out of the orifice when the flow control member is in the second position.
  10. 10. The down hole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the flow 30 control member comprises a tubular sleeve.
  11. 11. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a base pipe arranged concentrically with the tubular sleeve; wherein the orifice is located in the base pipe; 35 the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a snap ring and dissolvable support arranged in an interface between the base pipe and the tubular sleeve to prevent Date re<;ue/date received 2024-05-24 31 relative movement of the tubular sleeve and the base pipe when the control valve is in the first configuration; and the snap ring is arranged such that, when the dissolvable support dissolves in the first fluid, the snap ring moves such that it is no longer preventing relative 5 movement of the base pipe and the tubular sleeve.
  12. 12. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a material which swells in the first fluid.
  13. 13. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a base pipe arranged concentrically with the tubular sleeve; wherein the orifice is located in the base pipe; the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a snap ring and a swellable ring 15 arranged in an interface between the base pipe and the tubular sleeve to prevent relative movement of the tubular sleeve and the base pipe when the control valve is in the first configuration; and the snap ring is arranged such that, when the swellable ring swells in the first fluid, the snap ring is moved to an arrangement such that it is no longer preventing 20 relative movement of the base pipe and the tubular sleeve.
  14. 14. The downhole gravel packing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the first fluid comprises one of: the gravel pack carrier fluid, water, acid and oil.
  15. 15. A method for gravel packing, comprising: providing a downhole gravel packing apparatus comprising a tubular assembly, within a wellbore to define an annulus between said tubular assembly and a wall of the wellbore, wherein the tubular assembly includes a control valve configured in a first configuration wherein the downhole gravel packing apparatus comprises a sand screen 30 and a base pipe, wherein the sand screen circumscribes the base pipe and defines a screen annulus between the sand screen and the base pipe, the screen annulus being arranged such that fluid may enter the screen annulus from the annulus via the sand screen, wherein the control valve is located in the base pipe to permit flow from the screen annulus into the interior of the base pipe; 35 delivering a slurry of gravel and a carrier fluid into the annulus; Date re<;ue/date received 2024-05-24 32 permitting the carrier fluid to enter the tubular assembly via the control valve to retain the gravel within the annulus; exposing a fluid reactant arrangement of the control valve to a first fluid to cause the control valve to be reconfigured to a second configuration in which further 5 flow through the control valve is restricted.
  16. 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising permitting fluid to enter the tubular assembly via an inflow control device.
  17. 17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the control valve comprises a flow control member and an orifice and when the control valve is being reconfigured from the first configuration to the second configuration, the flow control member moves from a first position to a second position and restricts flow through the orifice.
  18. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a dissolvable support which holds the flow control member in the first position when the control valve is in the first configuration; and when the dissolvable support is exposed to a first fluid, the dissolvable support dissolves and the flow control member moves from the first position to the second 20 position.
  19. 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein fluid flow is permitted through a fluid port in the flow control member when the flow control member is in the second position.
  20. 20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the flow control member is a tubular sleeve and the orifice is in a base pipe arranged concentrically with the tubular sleeve; the fluid reactant arrangement comprises a snap ring and a dissolvable support and prevents relative movement of the tubular sleeve and the base pipe when the 30 control valve is in the first configuration; wherein when the fluid reactant arrangement is exposed to a first fluid, the dissolvable support dissolves and the snap ring moves out of a blocking position such that it is no longer preventing relative movement of the base pipe and the tubular sleeve. 35

Description

A DOWNHOLE GRAVEL PACKING APPARATUS AND METHOD FIELD The present disclosure relates to downhole gravel packing apparatuses and methods. BACKGROUND In the oil and gas industry wellbores are drilled to intercept subterranean hydrocarbon bearing formations or reservoirs, with appropriate completion infrastructure installed within the wellbores to support production, or injection as may be required. The 1 O geology of a particular reservoir is carefully considered and can determine the type of completion infrastructure which may be required. For example, some reservoirs may comprise weak sandstone regions which require sand control solutions, to minimise the production of sand with the hydrocarbons. 15 Many sand control solutions exist and the selection of the most appropriate solution is dependent on a number of factors, a key one being the properties of the sand particles, particularly their size and range of size within a particular sand body, as defined by its sorting or uniformity coefficient. It is accepted as best practice in sands with high fines content and/or poor sorting (large range of sand particle sizes) to control the sand 20 using gravel packing techniques Gravel packing involves pumping a slurry of a carrier fluid (such as water) and gravel (which normally comprises a specifically chosen size of sand or other aggregate or particulate material) into an annulus between the wellbore and a sand screen 25 completion. The carrier fluid exits the annulus via the screens and returns to surface, with the gravel remaining packed in place within the annulus. In some circumstances, such as in deviated or horizontal wells, gravel packing may be performed using a technique referred to as alpha beta packing. In alpha beta packing 30 the gravel pack slurry is initially pumped into the annulus at a velocity which allows gravel to drop out and form a sand dune which builds up from the heel of the well and travels towards the toe. This is referred to as the alpha wave. Once the toe of the annulus is reached the gravel continues to pack the annular area in a returning dune that fills the annulus from toe to heel, referred to as the beta wave. 2 As the beta wave fills the annulus, the length of exposed screen for fluid to return to the tubing reduces, thus the length of the return path increases causing pressure to increase. 5 The above pressure increase may be exacerbated by the use of inflow control devices (ICDs) which are frequently used in horizontal wells to manage production. The ICDs are deployed on each inflow path between the annulus and the tubing and apply a pressure drop, thus increasing the pressure in the annulus. 10 The combination of the above factors means that pumping fluids used to form the gravel pack are at risk of exceeding the fracture strength of the formation and thus damaging the formation. Further, in some instances of alpha beta packing, it might be preferred to fill as much of 15 the annulus during the alpha phase, which requires controlling the velocity of the gravel slurry to allow a larger proportion of the gravel to drop out. However, it is often desirable for the wellbore to be compartmentalised using zonal isolation packers, such as swellable packers. The preferred method to prevent gravel from accumulating around the packers, which would otherwise compromise effective zonal isolation, is to 20 maintain annulus velocities past the larger outer diameters defined by the packers sufficiently to prevent gravel from dropping out of the slurry in these areas. There is therefore a conflict between reducing velocities in order to maximise the alpha dune height, and maintaining velocities to ensure successful zonal isolation. 25 Another method of gravel packing involves the use of a viscous carrier fluid which holds the gravel in suspension before flowing through the sand screen and to the surface. This viscous carrier fluid and gravel mix is pumped into the annulus and slowly fills the annulus from toe to heel. Analogously to alpha beta packing, this method of gravel packing would benefit from a high in-flow rate being provided during 30 the gravel packing phase, to allow the viscous fluid to return to the surface. Presently, the use of ICDs to restrict in-flow prevents the viscous carrier fluid from efficiently leaving the annulus and returning to the surface. 3 SUMMARY An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a downhole gravel packing apparatus, comprising: a tubular assembly for being arranged within a wellbore to define an annulus 5 between said tubular assembly and a wall of the wellbore; and a control valve provided within the tubular assembly to control flow of a gravel pack carrier fluid between external and internal regions of the tubular assembly, the control valve comprising a fluid reactant arrangement which reacts with a first fluid to reconfigure the control valve from a first configuration in which flow through the control 10 valve is permitted during a gravel packin