CA-3195840-C - SWELLABLE PACKER ASSEMBLIES, DOWNHOLE PACKER SYSTEMS, AND METHODS TO SEAL A WELLBORE

CA3195840CCA 3195840 CCA3195840 CCA 3195840CCA-3195840-C

Abstract

Swellable packer assemblies, downhole packer systems, and methods to seal a wellbore are presented. A swellable packer assembly includes a mandrel and a sealing material disposed about a portion of the mandrel, where the sealing material is formed from a material that radially expands from the mandrel in response to fluid exposure. The swellable packer assembly also includes a cover that is initially disposed about a portion of an outer surface of the sealing material, where the cover prevents the sealing material from being exposed to fluid while the cover is positioned about the portion of the outer surface of the sealing material, and a pressure-actuated piston configured to shift from a first position about the mandrel to a second position about the mandrel, where the sealing material is exposed to fluid after the pressure-actuated piston shifts from the first position towards the second position.

Inventors

Brandon LEAST
Michael L. Fripp
Stephen M. GRECI

Assignees

HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20201217
Priority Date: 20201214

Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. A swellable packer assembly, comprising: a mandrel; a sealing material disposed about a portion of the mandrel, the 5 sealing material formed from a material that radially expands from the mandrel in response to exposure to a fluid; wherein a hydration reaction of the sealing material with the fluid induces the radial expansion; a cover that is initially disposed about a portion of an outer surface of the sealing 10 material, wherein the cover prevents the sealing material from being exposed to the fluid while the cover is positioned about the portion of the outer surface of the sealing material; and a pressure-actuated piston configured to shift from a first position about the mandrel to a second position about the mandrel, wherein the sealing material is exposed to the 15 fluid after the pressure-actuated piston shifts from the first position towards the second position, wherein the cover at least partially dissolves, degrades, or melts in response to the radial expansion of the sealing material from the reaction with the fluid. 20 2. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, further comprising a port disposed about a wall of the mandrel that fluidly connects an interior flow passage of the mandrel to the pressureactuated piston, wherein the pressure-actuated piston is configured to shift from the first position about the mandrel to the second position about the mandrel in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied through the port. 3. The swellable packer assembly of claim 2, wherein the port is initially sealed by a degradable material. 4. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, further comprising a 5 shear pin that initially prevents movement of the pressure-actuated piston. 5. The swellable packer assembly of claim 4, wherein the shear pin shears in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied through an interior flow passage of the mandrel to 10 the pressure-actuated piston. 6. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, wherein the pressure-actuated piston is coupled to the cover, and wherein the pressure-actuated piston shifts the cover to expose the sealing material to the fluid. 7. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, wherein the cover is at least partially formed from a dissolvable material. 8. The swellable packer assembly of claim 7, wherein the dissolvable material is at least one 20 of a magnesium alloy, an aluminum alloy, an aliphatic polyester, and a urethane. 9. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, wherein the cover is at least partially formed from a meltable material. 10. The swellable packer assembly of claim 9, wherein the meltable material is at least one of bismuth, indium, gallium, tin, lead, and antimony. 11. The swellable packer assembly of claim 1, wherein the cover at least partially dissolves, degrades, melts, or softens in response 5 to expansion of the sealing material. 12. A downhole packer system, comprising: a conveyance; a mandrel coupled to the conveyance; 10 a sealing material disposed about a portion of the mandrel, the sealing material formed from a material that radially expands from the mandrel in response to exposure to a fluid; wherein a hydration reaction of the sealing material with the fluid induces the radial expansion; and a cover that is initially disposed about a portion of an outer surface of the sealing 15 material, wherein the cover prevents the sealing material from being exposed to the fluid while the cover is positioned about the portion of the outer surface of the sealing material, wherein the cover at least partially dissolves, degrades, or melts in response to the radial expansion of the sealing material from the reaction with the fluid. 13. The downhole packer system of claim 12, further comprising a port disposed about a wall of the mandrel that fluidly connects an interior flow passage of the mandrel to the pressureactuated piston, wherein the pressure-actuated piston is configured to shift from the first position about the mandrel to the second position about the mandrel in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied through the port. 14. The downhole packer system of claim 13, wherein the port is initially sealed by a 5 degradable material. 15. The downhole packer system of claim 12, further comprising a shear pin that initially prevents movement of the pressure-actuated piston, wherein the shear pin shears in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied through an interior flow passage of the 10 mandrel to the pressure-actuated piston. 16. A method to seal a wellbore, the method comprising: running a swellable packer assembly to a downhole location of a wellbore; applying a threshold amount of pressure through a mandrel of the swellable packer 15 assembly to actuate a pressure-actuated piston of the swellable packer assembly; shifting the pressure-actuated piston from a first position about the mandrel to a second position about the mandrel to expose a sealing material of the swellable packer assembly to a fluid, wherein the sealing material radially expands from the mandrel towards the wellbore in response to exposure to the fluid, 20 wherein a hydration reaction of the sealing material with the fluid induces the radial expansion; and at least partially dissolving, degrading, or melting a cover that initially prevents the sealing material from being exposed to the fluid; wherein the cover at least partially dissolves, degrades, or melts in response to the radial expansion of the sealing material from the reaction with the fluid. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: running a second swellable packer assembly to 5 a second downhole location of the wellbore; applying a second threshold amount of pressure through a second mandrel of the second swellable packer assembly to actuate a second pressure-actuated piston of the second swellable packer assembly; and 10 shifting the second pressure-actuated piston from a first position about the second mandrel to a second position about the second mandrel to expose a second sealing material of the second swellable packer assembly to the fluid, wherein the second sealing material radially expands from the mandrel towards the wellbore in response to exposure to the fluid. 18. The method of claim 16, wherein applying the threshold amount of pressure comprises applying the threshold amount of pressure through an interior passageway of the mandrel and a port disposed about a wall of the mandrel to actuate pressure-actuated piston. 20 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising shifting a cover of the swellable packer assembly from a first position to a second position, wherein the cover prevents the sealing material from being exposed to the fluid while the cover is disposed in the first position, and wherein the sealing material is exposed to the fluid while the cover is disposed in the second position. 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising partially dissolving or partially melting at least a portion of a cover of the swellable packer assembly that initially 5 prevents the sealing material from being exposed to the fluid.

Description

Swellable Packer Assemblies, Downhole Packer Systems, and Methods to Seal a Wellbore Background [0001] The present disclosure relates generally to swellable packer assemblies, downhole packer 5 systems, and methods to seal a wellhore. [0002] Wellbores are sometimes drilled from the surface of a wellsite several hundred to several thousand feet downhole to reach hydrocarbon resources. Packers are sometimes run downhole and set at different downhole locations to form one or more isolation zones in a wellbore. Some packers contain materials that radially expand outwards to form an isolation zone in the wellbore. CA 03195840 2023-4-14 Brief Description of the Drawings [0001] Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein: [0002] FIG. 1 is a schematic, side view of a well environment in which a downhole packer system having four swellable packer assemblies i 5 s deployed in the wellbore; [0003] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a swellable packer assembly similar to the swellable packer assemblies of FIG. 1; [0004] FIG. 3A is a zoomed-in view of the swellable packer assembly of FIG. 2 before the pressure-actuated piston of the swellable packer assembly is actuated; 10 [0005] FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the swellable packer assembly of FIG. 2 after the pressure-actuated piston of the swellable packer assembly is actuated; and [0006] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process to seal a wellbore. [0007] The illustrated figures are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environment, architecture, design, or process in which different 15 embodiments may be implemented. WO 2022/132150 PCT /US2020/065539 Detailed Description [0010] In the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other 5 embodiments may be utilized and that logical structural, mechanical, electrical, and chemical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. To avoid detail not necessary to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments described herein, the description may omit certain information known to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the illustrative 10 emhodiments is defined only hy the appended claims. [0011] The present disclosure relates to swellable packer assemblies, downhole packer systems, and methods to seal a wellbore. Swellable packer assemblies described herein are deployable in open-hole and cased-hole wellbores. A swellable packer assembly includes a mandrel having an interior flow passage. In some embodiments, the mandrel is directly or indirectly coupled to a 15 conveyance that is run downholc. As referred to herein, a conveyance may be a work string, drill string, drill pipe, wirclinc, slicklinc, coiled tubing, production tubing, downholc tractor or another type of conveyance operable to be deployed in a wellbore. The swellable packer assembly also includes a sealing material that is formed from a material that radially expands from the mandrel in response to exposure to a fluid, such as wellbore fluid. As referred to herein, radial expansion 20 refers to expansion from a point or location inside a wellbore (such as from the exterior surface of the mandrel) in a direction towards the wellbore. The material has properties that increase in mass and volume upon contact with a fluid or "swells." Additional descriptions of the sealing material are provided herein. [0012] The swellable packer assembly also includes a cover that initially prevents the sealing 25 material from being exposed to a fluid. As referred to herein. a cover is any device or component configured to prevent the sealing material from being exposed to a fluid while the cover is in an initial position. In son1e en1bodin1ents, the cover is a sleeve that is configured to prevent sealing material from being exposed to the fluid while in one position, and is configured to allow the sealing material to be exposed to the fluid while in a second position. In some embodiments, the 30 cover is formed from a dissolvable material, a degradable material, a meltable material, or a combination of the foregoing types of materials that partially or completely dissolves, degrades, CA 03195840 2023-4-14 WO 2022/132150 PCT /US2020/065539 melts, and/or softens in response to an expansion of the sealing material. In some embodiments, the expansion of the scaling material is an exothermic reaction that degrades, melts, dissolves, corrodes, and/or softens the cover. [0013] The swellable packer assembly also includes a pressure-actuated piston. As referred to 5 herei