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EP-4457423-B1 - INFLATABLE BRIDGE PLUG

EP4457423B1EP 4457423 B1EP4457423 B1EP 4457423B1EP-4457423-B1

Inventors

  • HASHIM, Ahmed
  • AB HAMID, Abdul, Halim

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230224

Claims (15)

  1. A well plug system (122) comprising: a downhole plug system (132) configured to be disposed downhole in a well (106), the downhole plug system comprising: a plug bladder system (140) comprising: an inflatable bladder (230) configured to be inflated with a resin (218); and a check valve (232) configured to facilitate flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder and to inhibit back flow of the resin out of the inflatable bladder; and a plug deployment system (142) comprising: a resin chamber (216) configured to house the resin; and a resin deployment system configured to urge the resin to flow from the resin chamber, through the check valve and into the inflatable bladder while the downhole plug system is disposed downhole in the well to inflate the plug bladder system into sealing contact with a surrounding downhole portion of the well, the resin comprising a hardening resin configured to harden inside of the inflatable bladder to form a hardened plug downhole in the well; characterized in that : the plug deployment system comprises a resin pressure sensor (220) configured to measure a pressure of the resin, and wherein a control system (124) is configured to: determine, based on a measurement of the pressure of the resin obtained by way of the resin pressure sensor, that the pressure of the resin satisfies a resin pressure threshold, and in response to determining that the pressure of the resin satisfies the resin pressure threshold, inhibit flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder.
  2. The system of claim 1, wherein the plug deployment system (142) is configured to detach from the plug bladder system (140) such that the plug deployment system is detachable from the plug bladder system and retrievable from the well (106) with the plug bladder system remaining inflated and disposed downhole in the well.
  3. The system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the resin deployment system comprises a piston (214) configured to be advanced to urge the resin (218) to flow from the resin chamber (216), through the check valve (232) and into the inflatable bladder (230).
  4. The system of claim 3, wherein the resin deployment system comprises a motive device (212) configured to regulate advancement of the piston (214); optionally wherein the plug deployment system comprises an onboard controller (210) configured to control operation of the motive device to regulate advancement of the piston.
  5. The system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the resin (218) comprises a two-part hardening composition comprising a curing agent component and a resin component, wherein the downhole plug system (132) is configured to isolate the curing agent component from the resin component while the resin is housed in resin chamber (216), and the downhole plug system is configured to combine the curing agent component and the resin component such that the resin hardens inside the inflatable bladder (230).
  6. The system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein: (i) the well plug system (122) comprises a well control system (124) coupled to the plug deployment system (142) by way of a tether (150) and configured to control operation of the plug deployment system; and/or (ii) the well (106) comprises a hydrocarbon well comprising downhole tubing (138) disposed in a wellbore (120) of the hydrocarbon well and wherein the downhole plug system (132) is configured to be disposed in the downhole tubing and the plug bladder system (140) is configured to be inflated into sealing contact with an interior surface of the downhole tubing.
  7. A method of plugging a well (106), the method comprising: disposing a downhole plug system (132) downhole in a well, the downhole plug system comprising: a plug bladder system (140) comprising: an inflatable bladder (230) configured to be inflated with a resin (218); and a check valve (232) configured to facilitate flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder and to inhibit back flow of the resin out of the inflatable bladder; and a plug deployment system (142) comprising: a resin chamber (216) configured to house the resin; and a resin deployment system; and controlling the plug deployment system to urge the resin to flow from the resin chamber, through the check valve and into the inflatable bladder while the downhole plug system is disposed downhole in the well to inflate the plug bladder system into sealing contact with a surrounding downhole portion of the well, the resin comprising a hardening resin, wherein the hardening resin hardens inside of the inflatable bladder to form a hardened plug downhole in the well, characterized in that : the plug deployment system comprises a resin pressure sensor (220) configured to measure a pressure of the resin, the method further comprising: determining, based on a measurement of the pressure of the resin obtained by way of the resin pressure sensor, that the pressure of the resin satisfies a resin pressure threshold, and in response to determining that the pressure of the resin satisfies the resin pressure threshold, inhibiting flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder.
  8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: detaching the plug deployment system (142) from the plug bladder system (140); and retrieving the plug deployment system from the well (106), leaving the plug bladder system inflated and disposed downhole in the well.
  9. The method of claims 7 or 8, wherein the resin deployment system comprises a piston (214), and wherein controlling the plug deployment system (142) to urge the resin (218) to flow from the resin chamber (216) comprises advancing the piston to urge the resin to flow from the resin chamber, through the check valve (232) and into the inflatable bladder (230); optionally wherein the resin deployment system comprises a motive device (212), and wherein advancing the piston comprises controlling the motive device to regulate the advancement of the piston.
  10. The method of claims 7, 8 or 9, wherein the resin (218) comprises a two-part hardening composition comprising a curing agent component and a resin component, wherein the downhole plug system (132) isolates the curing agent component from the resin component while the resin is housed in resin chamber, (216) and the downhole plug system combines the curing agent component and the resin component such that the resin hardens inside the inflatable bladder (230).
  11. The method of claims 7, 8, 9 or 10, wherein the well (106) comprises a hydrocarbon well comprising downhole tubing (138) disposed in a wellbore (120) of the hydrocarbon well, wherein disposing the downhole plug system (132) downhole in the well comprises disposing the downhole plug system in the downhole tubing, wherein the plug bladder system (140) inflated into sealing contact with an interior surface of the downhole tubing, and wherein the hardening of the resin forms a hardened plug in the downhole tubing.
  12. The method of claims 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11, further comprising conducting a well operation in the well (106) with the hardened plug downhole in the well.
  13. The method of claims 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12, further comprising conducting a plug removal operation comprising drilling through the hardened plug.
  14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to perform the following operations for plugging a well (106): controlling disposing of a downhole plug system (132) downhole in a well, the downhole plug system comprising: a plug bladder system (140) comprising: an inflatable bladder (230) configured to be inflated with a resin (218); and a check valve (232) configured to facilitate flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder and to inhibit back flow of the resin out of the inflatable bladder; and a plug deployment system (142) comprising: a resin chamber (216) configured to house the resin; and a resin deployment system; and controlling the plug deployment system to urge the resin to flow from the resin chamber, through the check valve and into the inflatable bladder while the downhole plug system is disposed downhole in the well to inflate the plug bladder system into sealing contact with a surrounding downhole portion of the well, the resin comprising a hardening resin configured to harden inside of the inflatable bladder to form a hardened plug downhole in the well, wherein the resin is configured to harden inside of the inflatable bladder to form a hardened plug downhole in the well, characterized in that : the plug deployment system comprises a resin pressure sensor (220) configured to measure a pressure of the resin, the program instructions executable by the processor to perform the following further operations for plugging the well: determining, based on a measurement of the pressure of the resin obtained by way of the resin pressure sensor, that the pressure of the resin satisfies a resin pressure threshold, and in response to determining that the pressure of the resin satisfies the resin pressure threshold, inhibiting flow of the resin into the inflatable bladder.
  15. The medium of claim 14, the operations further comprising: controlling detachment of the plug deployment system (142) from the plug bladder system (140); and controlling retrieving of the plug deployment system from the well (106) to leave the plug bladder system inflated and disposed downhole in the well.

Description

FIELD Embodiments relate generally to developing wells, and more particularly to an inflatable well plug system. BACKGROUND A well typically includes a wellbore (or a "borehole") that is drilled into the earth to provide access to a geologic formation that resides below the earth's surface (or a "subsurface formation"). A well often facilitates the extraction of natural resources, such as hydrocarbons and water, from a subsurface formation, facilitates the injection of substances into the subsurface formation, or facilitates the evaluation and monitoring of the subsurface formation. In the petroleum industry, hydrocarbon wells are often drilled to extract (or "produce") hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, from subsurface formations. Developing a hydrocarbon well for production typically involves a drilling stage, a completion stage and a production stage. The drilling stage involves drilling a wellbore into a portion of the formation that is expected to contain hydrocarbons (often referred to as a "hydrocarbon reservoir" or a "reservoir"). The drilling process is often facilitated by a drilling rig that provides for a variety of drilling operations, such as operating a drill bit to cut (or "drill") the wellbore. The completion stage involves operations for making the well ready to produce hydrocarbons, such as installing casing, installing production tubing, installing valves for regulating production flow, or pumping substances into the well to fracture, clean or otherwise prepare the well and reservoir to produce hydrocarbons. The production stage involves producing hydrocarbons from the reservoir by way of the well. During the production stage, the drilling rig is typically replaced with a production tree that includes valves that are operated to, for example, regulate production flow rate and pressure. The production tree normally includes an outlet that is connected to a distribution network of midstream facilities, such as tanks, pipelines or transport vehicles, that transport production from the well to downstream facilities, such as refineries or export terminals. US 2016/251938 A1 is directed to a downhole support device for deploying a barrier in a wellbore. The barrier includes an inflatable element that inflates by a flowing substance and applies a biasing force to the wall of the wellbore. The inflatable element is formed form a polymeric material. GB 2403744 A is directed to a means of sealing a part of well using a tool and a packer. The packer includes two inflatable elements that are expanding by mixing two part resins stores in respective chambers and discharged by pistons. Successfully developing a hydrocarbon well can include a variety of challenges that need to be addressed. During well completion and production operations, for example, a well operator may need to isolate downhole portions of a well from one another. This if often accomplished by installing a plug (often referred to as a "bridge plug") in a well to isolate regions (or "zones") located above and below the plug. For example, a bridge plug may be installed at a given depth downhole in a well to isolate an upper zone of the well (located above the plug) from a lower zone of the well (located below the plug). In some instances, a plug is used to isolate a zone from conditions or operations taking place in the other zone. For example, a plug may be used to seal-off a lower zone of the well while completion operations are conducted in an upper zone of the well. SUMMARY Bridge plugs can be an important tool in developing a well. For example, in a workover operation a bridge plug may be installed (or "set") in production tubing in a wellbore of the well to isolate an upper region (or "zone") of the tubing (located above the plug) from a lower region of the tubing (located below the plug). This may, for example, block production fluids from moving up the production tubing, which can, in turn, allow workover operations in the upper zone without a threat of production fluids migrating into the upper zone or workover fluids migrating into the lower zone. In some instances, a "kill fluid" (e.g., mud) is deposited on top of the bridge plug to help offset and contain pressure in the lower zone. For example, a column of mud may be deposited into the upper zone, on top of the bridge plug, so that the weight of the mud acts against a top side of the bridge plug to offset production pressure, or other fluid pressures, acting on the bottom side of the bridge plug. Although bridge plugs can be an effective tool for operating a well, they can be difficult to install and remove. For example, if it is desirable to install a bridge plug at a given depth inside production tubing and there is a restriction, such as a relatively small diameter section located at or above the given depth, the width of the bridge plug and associated components may have difficulty fitting through the restriction. This can prevent the bridge plug from being advanced to