US1338460A - Well-drilling device - Google Patents

Description

J. D. MORRISON.

WELL DRILLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.22, 1919.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.,

In van for, J E. Morrison JAMES D. MORRISON, OF REINBEGK, IOWA.

wELL-DEILLING DEVICE.

Specication of. Letters Patent.

Patented' Apr. 27, 1920.`

Application led August .22, 1919. Serial No. 319,170.

To all whom t may concern: Be it known that I, JAMES D. MoRnIsoN, a citizen of the United Statesr of America,

and a resident of Reinbeck, Grundy county, A

Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Well-,Drillin Devices, of.

which the following is a spec` cation.

lMy invention relates to improvements in e rotary well drilling'devices, and particularly to the` meansl used in excavating oil and.

gas wells. a

The object sought to be attained in the employment of m improved device is to l secure reliable in ications of the presence of oil or gas bearing strata while' being traversed by the boring-tools, in advance of the administration by the device of sealing material to the porous wall of the wellbore.

I have accomplished the above object .by the means which are hereinafter descrlbed and claimed, and which are illustrated 1n the accompanying drawings, in which tion.

Figure -1 is a central vertical longitudinal section of a well-borer containing my im- X proved drilling-device also in like section,

with parts of both broken away; Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section of the outer tubular conduit and the contained tubular filter of the device, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the main or follower boring-tool.

In said drawings, similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts' throughout the several views.

The main boring-tool 4 ot my device 4and its jointed sectional supporting and operatopen upper end of the rotatable tube 1,

ltraverses thepassages 5. and is discharged infront of each cutter, where it sweeps the 'detritus of material as fast as excavated and carries it upwardly past the cutters, which are diametrically wider than said tube, and

`through ther annular .nterspace of the tube and the wall of the bore 7 to the open upper end of the latter for inal discharge, While -therel subject to inspection and examination.

As the wall of the borev 7, in different geological strata, and especially in certain geographical regions, is often porous and very friable so as to quickly become -permeated by and fall apart under the action of a passing stream of water, it has, in such cases, become usual and necessary to fill the water pores with a finely comminuted calcareous material by pumping it under considerable head' into the tube 1 while the latter is being rotated by means of suitable mechanism and a releasable rotary clamping-device not shown. Such a solution, in which the water is impregnated to its full capacity,has little or no scouring or abrasive efect while passing' upwardly under head along the wall of the bore, but on the other hand, gives up some of its calcareous contents to the porous wall, silting up or sealing the ores in the wall for a distance and thuse ectively preventing disintegration of the wall and collapse ofhe same, filling the bore and ruiningthe we This sealing bore'wall, While advantageous, is subject to the following disadvantage in the prospecting for oil, water or gas. As the boring-tool up of the porosities of the l traverses such a stratum, the fine particles of calcareous substance in solution in filling the superficial pores of the bore wall, also so close them as to often render them impermeable to the oil, gas or water which would otherwise issue in suilicient amount to be easily distinguishable, with the exhaust water ejected at the mouth of the bore, permitting timely steps to be taken relative thereto.

My im roved device is o erable and effective for t e preservation o both said useful but opposed advantages.

In my combined device, the cutter-body susy or tool 4, hereinafter termed the follower, is

preceded by ya channeled -cutter 12 of less diameter adapted to form an exploratory borein' advance of the excavatory action of the follower. The tool 12 has its body 10 exteriorly threaded to be received in the interiorly-threaded lower end of an imperiorate tube 9 which is of less diameter than Y said bore. The channel 11 in the body 10 permits passage of water through the tool and thence upwardly to the main bore 7 to be dischar ed with the exhaust water leaving the fo lower 4. The upper end of the tubular section is threaded, traversing and secured in the threaded central opening of the body to project thereabove, and is connected by a'coupling-sleeve' to other like sections above, within and concentricallyspaced from the inner wall of the tube 1. he upper section or sections 14 of the tube 9 1s closed at its upper end by a threaded stop 20, while it has numerous small perforations 15. Surrounding this perforated or foraminated part 14 is a tubular filter closely fitted therearound and comprising next the tube a netted wire cover 16, this being covered with a layer of cloth 17, and this by a covering sleeve 18 of metal provided with numerous small orifices 19. l

In the operation of my device, when water fully impregnated with clay or the like, 1s forced into the rotating tube 1 under head, part of it passes by the filter without permeating it, traveling. to the follower 4, vand thence, returning upwardly through the bore 7, depositing some of its contents in silting up the bore wall as above described. Another part, however, traverses' the filter, passes down the tube 14-9, and the cutter 10--12, issuing and moving upwardlyalong the walls of the smaller bore to thence pass into the larger bore above.

As the filtered water when delivered to the tool 12, 4contains nothing in solution which could seal up the pores in the wall of saidsmall bore, any oil issuing is taken up and accordingly appears .at the top'of the well, for instant recognition. The operation of the boring device may then be stopped, but if the operation is preferably continued, the whole bore above the followerl willv nevertheless have its wall sealed by the action of the impregnated exhaust water.

Various changes may be effected inthe elements and relations thereof to each other in accomplishing the aforesaid desired results, without departing from the scope of this invention.`

Having .described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In apparatus of the character described, longitudinall spaced rotary boring devices, each device aving a passage for a liquid positioned to carry the liquid to the excavating part and thence to a discharging channel, the entrances of the passages in said devices being isolated from each other.

2. In apparatus of the character described,

longitudinally'spaced rotar boring devices of different diameters, eacfi device having a passage for a liquid positioned to carry the lilguidsto the excavating part and thence to' t at by sald excavating part, and means for isoart of the bore particularly formed lating .the entrances of said passageslinA said devices from. each other.

3.- In apparatus of the character described,

longitudinally spaced coaxial rotary boring devices of which the preceding one is of less diameter than the following device, and means for carrying fluidsof different character independently to said devices.

4. In apparatus of the character described, coaxial channeled rotary boring and flushing devices positioned for differential boring operations, and detachably connected for simultaneous coaction.

5. 'In apparatus of the character described,

coaxial channeled rotary boring devices detachably connected for simultaneous coaction, and separated means for carryin fiuids coaxial channeled rotary boring devices, de-l tachably connected, and arranged to operate simultaneously in producing communicating' bores of different diameters, a filter, a conduit conveying an unfiltered liquid to said filter and to the following device only, and

a conduit leading from said filter to deliver to the preceding device only. y

8. yInapparatus of the character described, a rotatable tube, a channeled follower bore ing-tool removably mounted in and closing one end of said tube and also having a central opening, a channeled precedin boring-tool of less diametercoaxial with t e follower boring-tool, a tubular conduit in one end of which the preceding boring-tool is removably mounted and which is secured in and traverses the opening in the follower boring-tool, a tubular filter in the said rotatable tube above both boring-tools and in communication with said tubular conduit, said filter adapted to strain part of an unfiltered liquid traversing said tubev toward the follower boring-tool, and to deliver the filtered liquid to said preceding boring-tool only.

9. In combination, a rotary main excavating device containing a fiuid circulatory y circulatory system, said systems being adapted to carry fiuids of different character separately to the excavating elements of sald devices and thence to the walls of the cavities formed by the respective devices.

1Q. The method of treating the wall of a borlng 1nto the crust of the earth, which lconsists in subjecting that part `of the wall which extends a relatively short distance above the lower end of the boring while being progressively excavated to a fluid application operating to keep the porosities ofthat part only of the wall open, and following this operation, by progressively subjecting this treated part in the wall to a fluid application operating to close said porosties.

11. The method of treating the Wall of a boring into the crust of the earth, which consists in subjecting that part of the Wall which extends a relatively short distance above the lower end of the boring while being progressively excavated to a non-pore filling liquid, and simultaneously subjecting that part of the wall which is above said first-mentioned part to the action of a poreilling liquid.

Signed at lVaterloo, Iowa, this 19th day of August, 1919.

JAMES D. MORRISON.

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