Description :: Our patents

The guessed invention falls into field of wells drilling and can be used at mining of oil production, gas, etc., at running of oil and gas pipelines, and also at drilling ground in the exploratory purposes.

The conventional drilling methods assume series boring deep into rocks by the drill, which one is disposed on boring pipes end. The drilled rock will be taken out on a surface by a continuous jet of clay liquor (see, for example, [1]). As the bore together with first boring pipe lowers in ground a new boring pipe is joined with first. For boring pipes connection among themselves will be used [2] sleeve with two inside threads on both tube ends, or inside thread on one end and outside on another (intermediate tubes), or drilling locks. Easy fusible tubes with steel facilitated drilling locks also have on their ends standardized threads.

Each time, when a bore with system of boring tubes will be lowered on depth, equal length of one boring tube, the joining (screwing together or sleeve joint) of new tube is yielded.

After ending of well drilling on selected depth, the bore with connecting among themselves boring pipes sequentially is taken out on a surface. As soon as joint among themselves boring pipes (drilling column) are taken out on length of one tube, the upper tube is unscrewed. Further drilling column mounts and following tube and so on up to an exit of a bore on a surface is unscrewed.

Disadvantages of conventional boring method are:

Low efficiency of all process of well drilling, resulting from that the depth of boring is customary major enough as contrasted to used boring pipe length. Therefore for well drilling will be used enough great quantity of tubes and each of them has two threads, which are necessary to screw between them or with connection sleeve at well drilling and to unscrew at bore exiting from a well, that demands major expenditures of time.
For screwing of tubes together among themselves or for screwing together through a sleeve is necessary to rotate one of them, that demands relevant mechanisms.
The strength of a thread connection is lower than strength of boring pipe base metal. The outage of thread connection carries on to well drilling process stopping and loss of expensive bore.
With the purpose of increase of thread connection resistance to an alternating-sign bend there are discharging threaded flutes with a burnishing of profile valleys and surface with a roller. For pinch of fatigue life of a thread connection there are discharging flutes, notched on external diameter of a tube at both sides of connection.
All these measures is sharply increase the cost of operations and, besides, the strength of a thread connection after them is incremented, but does not reach strength of boring pipe base metal.
In that case, if pipe connection is yielded with outside and interior threads, length of drilling column is diminished in 2 lengths of threaded parts of joined tubes. Therefore, is required an added quantity of tubes.
In field requirements it is necessary carefully to preserve tubes threads against shocks about foreign objects and about one another, and also to take care that thread connections are damaged with mud, weather and etc.
On each of used boring pipes it is necessary to cut two threads, that makes technological equipment more expensive.
In that case, if a connection of boring pipes among themselves is yielded without a thread connection, with the help of a sleeve, strength of such connection will be lower than strength of tubes base metal and in this place is maximum probably origination of breaking.

The mentioned above disadvantages of techniques - analogs are eliminated fractionally or completely using lock joint of boring pipes (rods) [3]. It contains a nipple and a sleeve with an annular space, filled with solder, which interior walls are parallel to a vertical axis of connection. And with the purpose of irreversible and random joining and undocking of tubes the annular space of a sleeve is fulfilled with lateral flutes, uniformly arranged on a circle, and on an exterior surface of a nipple are fulfilled grooves with longitudinal slots up to an end.

The technique of pipe connection (rods), which is implemented at using of lock joints [3], we have taken as a prototype, as an engineering solution, most closed to the stated invention.

According to this technique a permanent joint of boring pipes (rods) is implemented at melting of a solder, which is taking place in an annular space of a sleeve, flowing in of this solder in vertical slots of a nipple, congealing of this solder. That ensures a permanent joint with an opportunity of torque transmission from one rod to another.

Disadvantages of a technique - prototype are:

Low efficiency of connection process of one tube (rod) to other. For security of a permanent joint it is necessary to provide heating of sleeve and solder, taking place in it, up to a solder melting temperature. Then it is necessary the added time for solder flowing in nipple grooves and solder cooling up to temperature, guaranteeing necessary strength of connection.
Rather low strength of connection, as solder strength usually substantially is lower than strength of nipple and sleeve metal. Furthermore section of the solder, which has hardened in nipple grooves, substantially is less than section of a tube.
High price of connection, bound with construction complexity of rods (tubes), including a nipple and sleeves of composite shape, requiring composite equipment for their manufacture.

Problems, solved by guessed invention, are a raising of productivity and reliability of wells drilling process, and also its price reduction.

The above-stated problems are implemented by that a permanent joint of boring pipes at well drilling is carried on with laser welding. And separation of boring pipes at bore recess on a surface is carried on with laser cutting.

Connection by laser welding and separation by laser cutting carry on for one pass.

Connection by laser welding and separation by laser cutting carry on by boring pipes rotating with irrotational laser.

Connection of boring pipes among themselves is single-piece.

Connection and separation of boring pipes is possible to make both in one place, and in various places of a tube. Cutting parts of a tube can be longer than welded. More lengthy parts are more comfortable for re-usable, than short.

The summary of the invention is illustrated on fig.1 and fig.2.

On fig.1 the general scheme of embodying of wells boring method is figured.

On fig.2 the section on A - A of fig.1 is figured.

The technique is implemented as follows (fig.1).

During well drilling the boring pipe 1 with anchored on its end bore 2 from a surface of the Earth 3, being rotating around of self axis, sequentially lowers downwards. As soon as main body of a boring pipe will leave downwards under ground, on its upper end a new boring pipe 4 is erected. Radiation, given from the laser, (on fig. 2 is not shown) falls on the junction 5 of welded boring pipes. The rotating of tubes around the axis ensures welding of circular weld. In that case, when laser welding carry on simultaneously with boring, the laser beam lowers together with drilling column.

Manipulators of laser optic-focusing systems can be fulfilled by a different fashion and within the framework of given application are not considered.

After laser beam will yield tubes welding, the process of well drilling will proceed.

The welded tube will move permanently down up to that moment, when its upper end will fall in welding spot. On a tube the following tube is erected and the following laser welding is carried out and so on.

After the selected depth of boring will be reached, the process of bore and drilling column recess from a well is carried out. With the help of lifting mechanisms the welded among themselves boring pipes with the bore, anchored on last of them, are extracted from a well.

Cutting of drilling column on separate tubes is carried out with laser beam in welding spot for one pass with usage of the same manipulators of laser beam transposition, as at welding.

For security of maximum productivity of well drilling process, the process of boring is carried out without a stopping for pipe connection. For this purpose the rotating of boring pipes will be used as working movement at laser welding. Thus with the help of added mechanical units a laser beam after a point of tubes junction, on which it is guided, lowers downwards on distance, equal distance, on which drills a bore at one rotation of drilling column.

Thus, usage of the guessed invention will allow:

increasing essentially productivity of wells drilling at the expense of refusal from the operation of screwing together and unscrewing of tubes, or in matching with the prototype at the expense of refusal from their connection with a sleeve and expenditures of time on a solder melting, it flowing in nipple slots and solder cooling.
improving reliability of operating equipment because welded among themselves tubes represent a unit, and screwed together no, and in thread places or other places of pipe connection breaks are possible. Besides the mechanical characteristics of weld metal, welded by a laser beam are peer or above than performances of metal of an original material of a tube.
essentially simplifying process of boring and making cheaper its fitting-out at the expense of application of tubes without a thread on their ends or without structurally composite connections of sleeve - nipple type. Preliminary preparing of tubes ends before laser welding is not required. As the laser cutting ensures enough high quality of cut edges, for secondary usage of tubes it is not required added treating of ends.
laser welding and laser cutting ensure during boring usage all length of a tube, whereas in a conventional technique a part of a tube is used (overall length minus 2 lengths of a thread on its both ends either overall length minus a nipple or a sleeve, as in the prototype).
mechanisms of tube turning on and turning out are absent.

What is claimed is:

A method of wells drilling, at which are realized series one-piece joining of boring pipes to a drilling column as leaving of a bore on depth and series detachment of boring pipes from a drilling column at bore outlet on a surface after drilling, characterized in that connection of boring pipes is executed by laser welding, and detachment is carried on by laser cutting for one pass, and laser welding of boring pipes is carried on simultaneously with boring, thus realize screw rotating of boring pipes around of self axis, and the laser beam during welding is lowered as a drilling column is lowered.
The method of wells drilling according to claim 1, wherein doing of a drilling column by laser cutting is carried on parts of greater length, than primary boring pipes.