Side pocket mandrel

Abstract

A high-strength side pocket mandrel for high pressure service having a full-opening bore throughout its length but having a bore of keyhole shape above its receptacle bore to provide minimal but ample space for operation of a kickover tool for installing devices in the receptacle bore and providing strengthened walls for withstanding greater forces which would tend to burst or collapse the mandrel.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to gas lift apparatus for wells and more particularly to side pocket mandrels for use in gas lift wells.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Side pocket mandrels have long been used in wells for many years with good results, but as gas lift techniques are practiced at greater and greater depths in wells, demands for stronger side pocket mandrels increase.

Side pocket mandrels are necessarily somewhat bulbous in structure and have appreciable lateral area subjected to internal and external pressures which tend to rupture or collapse them, and they are not well suited to resist such forces acting upon them.

Further, many mandrels are used in wells equipped with dual tubing strings and, therefore, are flattened to a generally oval cross section to permit the passage of one mandrel past another in casing of reasonable size so that either such tubing string can be pulled from the well without disturbing the other tubing string. Flattened or oval cross-section mandrels are not as strong as round mandrels and will burst or collapse at lesser pressures.

Many mandrels have been equipped with means called deflectors or discriminators immediately above their receptacle bores to ward off most well tools lowered through the tubing to avoid their lodging in the mandrel, yet permit flow control devices to be installed in or removed from their receptacle bores through use of kickover tools using conventional wireline or pumpdown (TFL) equipment and techniques. These accessories have been secured to the mandrel by welding. They have been expensive, and the welding has been a source of failure, especially where longitudinal structural welds or plug welds have been used. In some cases, wireline or tools have been damaged by or caused to lodge against such accessories and sometimes causing workover operations to be performed on a well.

In general, side pocket mandrels for use in wells where they may be subjected to severe pressure conditions where, for instance, the pressure external of the mandrel exceeds that internal thereof by as much as 10,000 to 15,000 psi or even more have been desired, but conventional structures did not lend themselves well to such rigid requirements since their size would be unduly large and require larger well casing.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 148,928, filed May 12, 1980 by Robert S. Higgins and David T. Merritt for SIDE POCKET MANDREL AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION, axis plane of symmetry to define the width of the groove. The bottom 53 of groove 52 is spaced from the main bore 12 a distance which may be termed the depth of the groove. The bottom of the groove is shown to be curved although it could be flat or concave, or elliptical, or semicircular, if desired. The corners where the sides 49 and 50 of the groove meet the groove bottom 53 are preferably rounded as at 55 and 56 to provide proper fillets to prevent stress risers at these points, that is, to better distribute stresses and avoid stress concentrations. In the design shown, the bottom corners of the groove are rounded with equal arcs, each having a radius equal to about half the radius of arcs 47 and 48. In any case, the width of groove 52 is less than the diameter of main passage 12.

Preferably, arc 42 does not have its center common with arc 46, but its center is located a little farther inward or closer to the center of the mandrel as is indicated by the arrows. This causes the wall of the mandrel to thicken in a direction away from the axis plane of symmetry and strengthens the mandrel considerably. In a similar manner, the centers for arcs 43 and 53 preferably do not coincide. If the center for arc 53 is located farther outwardly than is the center for arc 43, then the mandrel wall, here too, will thicken in a direction away from the axis plane of symmetry, strengthening the mandrel on the opposite sides of the groove 52. Thus, by blending the arcs forming the internal surfaces and the arcs and flats forming the external surfaces of the upper body member 37, there is provided a wall which is thickest on opposite sides of groove 52 and tapers toward opposite locations on a transverse plane where the axis plane of symmetry passes through the wall section. This provides the greatest strength where it is most needed, that is, in the area of the flat sides, and the wall then tapers in both directions as just explained and provides structural shape for efficiently distributing stresses in the mandrel wall, enabling the mandrel to withstand greater pressure forces which would tend to burst or collapse the same.

Groove 52 may be formed with its width and depth approximately equal. Preferably, its depth will exceed its width because this design provides a little added strength by providing a slightly heavier wall on either side of the groove.

The particular configuration shown in FIG. 2 was chosen because it provides good physical strength and can be produced by extrusion without exhorbitantly high cost.

In any case, the groove or channel 52 must be formed with sufficient width and depth for a kickover tool to operate therein and must be of sufficient width to freely receive gas lift valves or other devices to be inserted in the offset receptacle bore 13 therebelow, yet be sufficiently narrow to guard the receptacle bore against entrance of larger tools not intended to be inserted therein.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4 illustrate another preferred embodiment of this invention. In these figures there is illustrated a side pocket mandrel generally indicated by the reference numeral 110. Mandrel 110 is similar to the mandrel 10 of FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, but is for use in wells known as pumpdown wells wherein service operations are carried out through use of conventional through-flowline (TFL) or pumpdown equipment and techniques.

Side pocket mandrel 110 has a body 111 having a fullopening full-opening main bore or passage 112 therethrough, a receptacle bore 113 alongside the main bore 112, space above the receptacle bore 13 for operating a kickover tool, and means such as threads 116 and 117 at its upper and lower ends, respectively, for attachment to a well tubing string to become a part thereof.

Because pumpdown tools, including pumpdown kickover tools, must pass through flow lines containing bends as sharp as 60-inch radius, long tools, such as kickover tools, are articulated to enable them to flex as they negotiate such 60-inch bends in the well flow conduits. Thus, a pumpdown kickover tool generally differs from that of a wireline kickover tool, and this requires the mandrel to be different, also. Mandrel 110, it will be noticed, has an orienting sleeve 123 surrounding the main flow passage 112 below the receptacle bore and welded in place as at 122. It has a guide surface 124 which is engageable by the orienting key of the pumpdown kickover tool (not shown) (such as that illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,740 which issued to John H. Yonker on Aug. 1, 1978, or U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,313 which issued to Harry E. Schwegman on Oct. 13, 1981) to guide the key into the orienting slot 125. The slot 125 does not terminate at its upper end in a trip shoulder like the trip shoulder 26 seen in the first embodiment. Instead, it terminates in a cam surface 126 which will cam the orienting key inwardly and help it to pass through the orienting sleeve. Near the upper end of the mandrel 110, a downwardly facing shoulder 127 is provided for activating the pumpdown kickover tool. The trip mechanism is engageable with shoulder 127 while the orienting key is still in orienting slot 125.

Downwardly facing shoulder 127 near the mandrel's upper end is provided by a ring 128 positioned atop shoulder 129 and secured as by welding at 137 as shown.

Mandrel 110 comprises a main body section 130 having a main bore therethrough and a receptacle bore 113 alongside thereof. Lateral ports 118 communicate the receptacle bore with the exterior of the mandrel. A flow control device (not shown) may be placed in receptacle bore 113 with its lock means engaged in lock recess 120, its seals engaged with the bore wall at 121 and 122 above and below ports 118, and its intake port in communication with ports 118 so that this device controls flow through ports 118 and therefore flow between the exterior and the interior of the well tubing at this location.

The main body section 130 is one piece and has means on its lower end for connecting the mandrel to a well tubing string. This means may be in the form of a lower end piece 131 welded to the lower end of the one-piece main body section 130 by a circumferential weld 132 and having its lower end portion reduced in diameter as at 133 and threaded internally at 117.

Orienting sleeve 123 is welded in position in the lower end piece as shown and has lateral ports 134 in the wall thereof which communicate main bore 112 with lateral ports 118 through the lower end of receptacle bore 113.

The upper body section 135 is welded to the upper end of the main body section by a circumferential weld as at 136. Upper body section 135 may include an upper body member 137 of uniform section having an upper end piece 138 attached to its upper end by a circumferential weld 140. Upper end piece 138 is reduced in diameter as at 139 and is threaded internally as at 116.

Upper body member 137 has a bore configured like that of mandrel 10 previously described. It has a main bore 112 therethrough and a longitudinal groove 152 formed in the inner wall of the main bore. Groove 152 is longitudinally aligned with receptacle bore 113 and provides space thereabove for operation of a kickover tool for installing or removing flow control devices in the receptacle bore.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section taken through upper body member at line 4--4 and is identical to the cross section shown in FIG. 2. This is because the upper body member 137 of mandrel 110 is identical to the upper body member 37 of mandrel 10.

The upper body member of a mandrel of the type illustrated may be produced by any method desired and may have any external shape desired as well as any desired internal configuration which resembles a keyhole. For instance, in FIG. 5 there is illustrated an alternate internal shape. This shape is very similar to the shape illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4 but shows the bottom wall of the longitudinal groove, that is the groove wall most remote from open bore 12, to be semicircular. Thus, in FIG. 5, the modified mandrel 210 has an upper body member 237 having a main passage 212 therethrough and a longitudinal groove 52^a having flat substantially parallel sides 49^a and 50^a and a bottom 53^a which is substantially semicircular. If desired, the width of groove 52^a may be less than twice the radius of the semicircular bottom of the groove, in which case the inner wall contour will take on the appearance of the figure "8", but with a portion of each lateral side wall of the slot remaining flat.

Thus, it has been shown that an improved side pocket mandrel has been provided which has superior strength for use at deep depths in deep wells where it would be subjected to high internal or external pressure forces which would tend to burst or collapse it; that it fulfills all of the objects of the invention set forth hereinabove; that this new and improved side pocket mandrel has a portion thereof above its receptacle which is of uniform section throughout its length; that this portion of uniform section provides a main passage therethrough and a longitudinal groove in the internal wall of the passage, this groove being in longitudinal alignment with and extending above the receptacle and providing space thereabove for operation of a kickover tool; that such groove is narrower than the main passage; that the narrowness of this groove provides for thickening of the mandrel wall adjacent thereto to strengthen the wall and enable it to withstand greater forces acting thereagainst, either from interior or exterior thereof; that the groove due to its narrowness shields the offset receptacle bore against larger, unwanted tools lodging atop thereof, yet is sufficiently wide to provide ample space for kickover tools to operate therein to install devices in the receptacle bore or to remove such devices therefrom; that the area of uniform cross section can be round, oval, ovoid or other suitable shape on the outside and with a bore of generally keyhole section; that such bore can be machined if desired, or the portion of uniform section can be produced as by extruding or other suitable process or means, that the side pocket mandrel can be structured for use with either conventional wireline or pumpdown equipment or techniques; and that such mandrels can be constructed without the use of longitudinal structural welds or structural plug welds, both of which have been a source of frequent mandrel failures in the past.

The foregoing description and drawings of the invention are explanatory and illustrative thereof, and various changes in sizes, shapes, materials and arrangements of parts, as well as certain details of construction, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A side pocket mandrel, comprising:

a. a one-piece main body section having

i. a main bore therethrough,

ii. a receptacle bore alongside said main bore,

iii. port means communicating said receptacle bore with the exterior of said main body section, and

iv. means on its lower end for attachment to a well tubing string; and

b. an upper body section welded to the upper end of said main body section by a circumferential weld, said upper body section having

i. connecting means at its upper end providing a reduced diameter portion adapted for connecting the upper body section to a well tubing string,

ii. a main passage through said upper body section including said connecting means in alignment with the main bore of said main body section, and

iii. a longitudinal groove in the inner wall of said main passage extending upwardly from said receptacle bore substantially to said upper reduced diameter portion and providing space above said receptable bore for operation of a kickover tool for inserting a flow control device therein, the upper body wall, surrounding said main bore and said groove, being thicker on either side of said groove and tapering in thickness toward opposed locations on a transverse plane where the axis plane of symmetry passes through the wall section.

2. The side pocket mandrel of claim 1 wherein said upper body section comprises:

a. a one-piece tubular member of uniform cross section; and

b. an upper end piece welded to the upper end of said tubular member by a circumferential weld and having a reduced upper end portion having a bore aligned with said main passage and having means at its upper end for attachment to a well tubing string.

3. The side pocket mandrel of claim 2 wherein said groove is at least as wide as said receptacle bore but narrower than said main passage.

4. The side pocket mandrel of claim 3 wherein the opposite walls of said groove are flat and are parallel to each other.

5. The side pocket mandrel of claim 4 wherein the width of said groove approximates its depth.

6. The side pocket mandrel of claim 4 wherein said groove is formed with its depth exceeding its width.

7. The side pocket mandrel of claim 3 wherein said groove is formed with its bottom surface concave.

7. The side pocket mandrel of claim 12, 14, 15, 16, or 13, including: orienting means in said mandrel body above said groove and engageable by a kickover tool for orienting said kickover tool relative to said receptacle bore for inserting a flow control device therein. 18. The side pocket mandrel of claim 17 wherein that portion of the said mandrel body having the longitudinally extending groove therein is an extruded tube. 19. The side pocket mandrel of claim 12, 14, 15, 16, or 13, including:

a. orienting means in said mandrel body below the upper end of said receptacle bore and engageable by a kickover tool to orient said kickover tool relative to said receptacle bore for inserting a flow control device therein; and

b. shoulder means in said mandrel body above said groove and engageable by a kickover tool for activating said kickover tool. 20. The side pocket mandrel of claim 19 wherein that portion of the said mandrel body having the longitudinally extending groove therein is an extruded tube.

8. The side pocket mandrel of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, including: orienting means in said mandrel above said groove and engageable by a kickover tool for orienting said kickover tool relative to said receptacle bore for inserting a flow control device therein.

9. The side pocket mandrel of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, including:

a. orienting means in said mandrel below the upper end of said receptacle bore and engageable by a kickover tool to orient said kickover tool relative to said receptacle bore for inserting a flow control device therein; and

b. shoulder means in said mandrel above said groove and engageable by a kickover tool for activating said kickover tool. 10. The side pocket mandrel of claim 8 wherein that portion of said mandrel body having the longitudinally extending groove therein is an extruded tube. 11. The side pocket mandrel of claim 9 wherein that portion of said mandrel body having the longitudinally extending groove therein is an

extruded tube. 12. A side pocket mandrel, comprising:

a. an elongate body connectable in a well tubing string and having a main bore therethrough, said elongate body comprising

i. a main body portion having a main bore therethrough, a receptacle bore extending alongside said main bore, means communicating said receptacle bore with the exterior of said elongate body, and means at its lower end for attachment to a well tubing; and

ii. an upper body portion having means at its upper end for attachment to a well tubing, a main bore therethrough continuous with the main bore through the main body portion, and a longitudinal groove in the inner wall of said main bore extending upwardly from said receptacle bore of said main body portion substantially to said attachment means for providing space above said receptacle bore for operation of a kickover tool for inserting a flow control device therein, said groove being at least as wide as said receptacle bore but narrower than said main bore, the body wall at said longitudinal groove being thicker on either side of said groove and tapering in thickness toward opposed locations on a transverse plane where the plane of symmetry passes through the wall section.

13. The side pocket mandrel of claim 12 wherein said groove is formed with its bottom surface concave. 14. The side pocket mandrel of claim 12 wherein the opposite walls of said groove are flat and are parallel to each other. 15. The side pocket mandrel of claim 14 wherein the width of said groove approximates its depth. 16. The side pocket mandrel of claim 14 wherein said groove is formed with its depth exceeding its width. PAR