US-12624614-B2 - Remotely activated multi-cycle wellbore cleaning tool

US12624614B2US 12624614 B2US12624614 B2US 12624614B2US-12624614-B2

Abstract

A downhole tool for cleaning a wellbore, the tool including a tool body having a flowpath therethrough. A liquid is configured to flow through the flowpath and may have an intermittent flow pattern. An inner sleeve positioned within the tool body includes a recess having a recess pattern. In response to the intermittent flow pattern, a shift pin positioned in the recess of the inner sleeve traverses through the recess pattern. The downhole tool includes at least one scraper blade. The scraper blade is movable between a retracted position and a radially expanded position. In response to the shift pin traversing the recess pattern of the recess, the scraper blade can be expanded radially outward toward a wall of the wellbore from the retracted position to the expanded position and/or retracted inward away from the wall of the wellbore from the expanded position to the retracted position.

Inventors

Jon-Howard Elliott Hanson
Kyle Wayne DAVIS
Peter Reid Maher
Timothy Simmonds
Alan Pace
Gavin Munro

Assignees

HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20250226

Claims (15)

1 . A system comprising: a workstring to be deployed in a wellbore, the workstring having a cleaning tool that comprises, a tool body having an upper inner mandrel, a scraper body, a bypass opening and a flow path for a flow of liquid through the tool body; at least one scraper blade positioned on the scraper body; a first magnet disposed on a first surface of the cleaning tool; and a second magnet disposed on a second surface of the cleaning tool, wherein the at least one scraper blade is configured to move from a retracted position to a radially expanded position outward to a wall of the wellbore based on movement of the first magnet relative to the second magnet, wherein the upper inner mandrel includes an internal bypass positioned uphole of the scraper body, wherein the bypass opening and the internal bypass align when the at least one scraper blade is in the radially expanded position, enabling fluid flow between the wellbore annulus and the flow path uphole of the at least one scraper blade.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first magnet is disposed on a surface of the at least one scraper blade and the second magnet is disposed on a surface of the upper inner mandrel.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the cleaning tool further comprises an inner sleeve movable between a first position and a second position, wherein, in the first position, the first magnet and the second magnet are offset, and wherein, in the second position, the first magnet and the second magnet are substantially aligned.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one scraper blade is configured to retract in response to the first magnet and the second magnet being offset.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one scraper blade is configured to deploy outward to the radially expanded position, in response to the first magnet and the second magnet being substantially aligned.
6 . The system of claim 5 , further comprising: a shift pin, the shift pin extending at least partially into a recess pattern disposed on a surface of the inner sleeve, wherein the inner sleeve movements between the first position and the second position are limited by movement of the shift pin within the recess.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the shift pin is movable through the recess pattern based on a flow of a liquid through the flow path.
8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the shift pin is movable through the recess pattern based on an intermittent flow of a liquid through the flow path, the intermittent flow based on the recess pattern.
9 . A method comprising: deploying a workstring into a wellbore, the workstring including a cleaning tool disposed thereon, the cleaning tool comprising: a tool body having an upper inner mandrel, a scraper body, a bypass opening and a flow path for a flow of liquid through the tool body; at least one scraper blade positioned on the scraper body; a first magnet disposed on a first surface of the cleaning tool; and a second magnet disposed on a second surface of the cleaning tool, wherein the at least one scraper blade is deployed in a retracted position and configured to move from the retracted position to a radially expanded position outward to a wall of the wellbore based on movement of the first magnet relative to the second magnet, wherein the upper inner mandrel includes an internal bypass positioned uphole of the scraper body, wherein the bypass opening and the internal bypass align when the at least one scraper blade is in the radially expanded position, enabling fluid flow between the wellbore annulus and the flow path uphole of the at least one scraper blade; positioning the cleaning tool at a cleaning depth; and in response to the workstring being positioned at a cleaning depth, controlling a flow of liquid through the flow path; and moving the at least one scraper blade from the retracted position to a radially expanded position in response to controlling the flow of liquid through the flow path of the cleaning tool.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the flow of liquid through the flow path has an intermittent flow pattern.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the cleaning tool further includes a shift pin and an inner sleeve positioned in the tool body of the cleaning tool, the inner sleeve having a recess that includes a recess pattern into which the shift pin is positioned, and wherein moving the at least one scraper blade from the retracted position to the radially expanded position outward toward the wall of the wellbore comprises moving the at least one scraper blade from the retracted position to the radially expanded position outward toward the wall of the wellbore in response to the shift pin moving through the recess pattern based an intermittent flow pattern of liquid through the flow path.
12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first magnet is disposed on a surface of the at least one scraper blade, wherein the second magnet is disposed on a surface of the upper inner mandrel, and wherein moving the at least one scraper blade from the retracted position to the radially expanded position outward toward the wall of the wellbore comprises moving the upper inner mandrel axially relative to the at least one scraper blade.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein moving the at least one scraper blade from the retracted position to the radially expanded position outward toward the wall of the wellbore comprises substantially aligning the first magnet with the second magnet.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: moving the at least one scraper blade from the radially expanded position back to the retracted position, after cleaning at least a portion of the wellbore and while the workstring is positioned in the wellbore.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein moving the at least one scraper blade from the radially expanded position back to the retracted position comprises moving the first magnet and the second magnet substantially offset to each other.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/443,089, filed on Jul. 20, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure generally relates to wellbore completions and, more particularly, to downhole tools for performing wellbore cleanout operations. BACKGROUND In completed wellbores, debris from drilling, completion, and/or production operations can be removed using downhole tools having deployable scrapers. Generally, cleaning tools are included as part of a wellbore cleaning system and are run into the wellbore with scraper blades retracted. Once positioned in the wellbore, the scraper blades of the cleaning tool can be deployed to be in contact with an interior of a casing of the wellbore and, as the cleaning tool is pulled out of hole, the scraper cleaning blades mechanically clean the interior of the casing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the disclosure may be better understood by referencing the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 depicts a partial cross-sectional view of an example wellbore system, according to some embodiments. FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view of an example cleaning tool in an inactive configuration, according to some embodiments. FIGS. 3A-3B depict cross-sectional views of the upper portion of the example cleaning tool of FIG. 2 when the tool is in the inactive configuration and active configuration, respectively, according to some embodiments. FIGS. 4A-4B depict cross-sectional views of the central portion of the example cleaning tool of FIG. 2 when the tool is in the inactive configuration and active configuration, respectively, according to some embodiments. FIG. 5 depicts an isometric view of an example cleaning tool having two sets of scraper blades in the active configuration, according to some embodiments. FIGS. 6A-6B depict cross-sectional views of the lower portion of the example cleaning tool of FIG. 2 when the tool is in the inactive configuration and active configuration, respectively, according to some embodiments. FIG. 7 depicts an example J-slot pattern, according to some embodiments. FIG. 8 depicts an additional view of an arrangement of a J-slot sleeve and a scraper mandrel when the cleaning tool is in the active configuration, according to some embodiments. FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of example operations for activating and deactivating a cleaning tool, according to some embodiments. FIG. 10 depicts an example computer, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The description that follows includes example systems, methods, techniques, and program flows that embody embodiments of the disclosure. However, it is understood that this disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. For instance, this disclosure refers to cleaning an interior of a casing of a wellbore in illustrative examples. Embodiments of this disclosure can also be applied to cleaning of production tubing disposed within a cased wellbore. In other instances, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obfuscate the description. When performing wellbore cleanout operations, it is common to run in cleaning tools downhole in a trip separate from other steps of the cleanout operation because, with conventional cleaning tools, deployment of scraper blades and/or cleaning brushes or blades of the tool can include shearing devices, causing the tool to be a single-use tool. In addition to extending the time required to perform wellbore cleaning operations, conventional downhole cleaning tools can be limited to a single activation cycle and may require multiple downhole trips and multiple cleaning tools if more than one scraping operation is required. Further, conventional downhole cleaning tools can require dropping of a ball, dart, etc. from a surface of the wellbore through an interior passage of the cleaning tool in order to deploy the scraper blades/brushes of the tool, preventing the passage of additional downhole tools and/or a flow of fluid to or from the surface through the interior of the cleaning tool. In contrast to conventional cleaning tools, example embodiments do not require shearing of inner components to deploy the scraper blades, allowing for multiple deployment cycles in a single run. Once a cleaning operation is completed, the scraper blades can be retracted to reduce the likelihood of wear to the scraper blades and/or the casing as the cleaning tool is pulled out of hole. Example embodiments of a downhole cleaning tool can include remotely deployable and retractable scraper blades, allowing the cleaning tool to be multi-use. Further, deployment and retraction of the scraper blades can be performed without restricting and/or blocking an interior passage of the cleaning tool. For example, example embodiments can include a slidable inner mandrel movable between a first and se