US3867985A

US3867985A - Apparatus for and method of preventing blow-out while removing a fish within wash pipe from a borehole

Info

Publication number: US3867985A
Application number: US432787A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thelton E Wilkinson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-01-11
Filing date: 1974-01-11
Publication date: 1975-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-25

Abstract

A tubular sleeve, having concentric walls at one end adapted to be connected with concentric pipe joints in a well bore, is provided with ports communicating with a ball valve containing chamber, intermediate its ends, so that the ball valve, when seated at the depending end of the chamber, directs fluid pumped through the sleeve into the annulus around the innermost wall and pipe joint to kill the well in the event it starts to flow and prevent a blow-out.

Description

United States Patent t191 nu 3,867,985

, Wilkinson 145] Feb. 25, 1975 [54] APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF4 2,550,228 4/1951 Costin 175/237 w ILE 2,671,642 3/1954 Stokes |75/237 lllslwwglTHN SVASH PIPE 2,947,363 8/1960 Sackett et al. 166/224 2,962,099 ll/l960 Clark, Jr. 166/224 FROM A BOREHOLE 1 3,096,825 7/1963 c|ark,1r. 16e/224 [76] Inventor; Thelton E. Wilkinson P'O. B0X 320 3,120,872 2/1964 Anderson 1661/224 Houma, La. 70091 P l E J A L k rzmary xammerames e'ppm [22] F'led Jan' l1 1974 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert K. Rhea |21] Appl. No: 432,787

i571 ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl 166/224 A, 137/5195, 137/533 l1, A tubular sleeve, having concentric walls at one end 175/237 adapted to be connected with concentric pipe joints in [51] Int. Cl. E21b 31/00, F16k 17/24 a well bore, iS provided with ports Communicating [58] Field of Searchv 166/315, 224 A; 285/133, with a ball valve containing chamber, intermediate its 285/137, 138; 175/215, 237; 173/62; ends, so that the ball valve, when seated at the de- 137/533,11, 519,5, 109, 111 pending end of the chamber, directs fluid pumped through the sleeve into the annulus around the inner- [56] References Cited most wall and pipe joint to kill the well in the event it 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Starts t0 flow and prevent a blow-OUI.

1,547,461 7/1925 Steele 175/215 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF PREVENTING BLOW-OUT WHILE REMOVING A FISH WITHIN WASH PIPE FROM A BOREHOLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the invention.

The present invention relates to oil field tools and more particularly to a sleeve or bushing for preventing a well blow-out while pulling a fish and wash pipe from the well. v

In oil wells some of the equipment being used is sometimes lost in the borehole, such as by the drill string parting, leaving the depending portion thereof with the drill bit in the depending end portion of the borehole. It is'sometimes difficult to retrieve the fish lost in the well, particularly in an uncased hole where the wall formation caves in over and/or around the fish. In this case a tubular string, commonly referred to as wash pipe or washover pipe, is run in the hole and rotated around the periphery of the fish until a slip equipped mechanism, supported by the wash pipe, can engage with and grip the fish. Thereafter, the wash pipe and fish is progressively removed from the hole by successively unscrewing the respective joints thereof j above the surface of the earth which is commonly called a stripping-job."

In drilling wells a blow-out preventer is normally connected with surface casing below the rotary table but cannot be closed in the event of a well blow-out with wash pipe projecting therethrough.

2. Description of the prior art.

Most of the prior art patents disclose ball valve fluid flow controls used for the purpose of preventing or limiting the flow rate to a predetermined quantity, such as disclosed by U.SV. Pat. No. 3,450,206 or for filling up drill pipe while the latter is being run in the hole, as disclosedV by U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,363 and for preventing fluid flow out of the drill pipe, as in U.S..Pat. Nos. 2,962,099 and 3,096,825. Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,872, disclose a fishing tool which utilizes a ball valve dropped in the annulus to direct fluid pump pressure laterally outward to wash junk, to be retrieved, to the depending end of the fishing string.

This invention is distinctive over these patents by providing a tool to be used at the top of a well string, primarily above the surface of the earth, wherein a well blow-out is prevented by connecting the tool to the uppermost ends of concentric strings being simultaneously removed from the well bore. A ball valve within the tool closes the bore of the innermost string and directs fluid pump pressure into the annulus formed between the strings to kill the well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An elongated bushing-like sleeve has its bore enlarged intermediate its ends, for loosely receiving a ball valve and having a seat at one end of the chamber. The respective ends of the sleeve are adapted to be threadedly interposed between adjacent joints of a drill pipe string. The depending end of the sleeve is provided with an annular outer wall threadedly engaging a pipe surrounding the drill string. Ports, formed in the wall of the sleeve at its depending end, provide communication between the annulus formed bythe pipe string and the ball .valve chamber.

The principle object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method for connecting the uppermost ends of concentric tubular strings within a well bore and directing fluid pressure into the annulus formed between the tubular strings to kill the well in the event of animpending blow-out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a rotary table supporting the upper end portion of a wash pipe and a fish contained thereby;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, to a larger scale, of the tool and illustrating, by dotted lines, its connection with the fish and wash pipe shown in FIG. l; and,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2 t

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates a fragment of a rotary table having slips 12 which grip the periphery of wash pipe 14 containing a drill pipe fish 16 which is supported within the wash pipe by other slips 18. The tool 20 is sleeve or bushing-like and is generally cylindrical including a top sub 22 threadedly connected with a bottom sub 24. The top sub is provided with a box 26 at its upper end for connection with drill pipe. The depending end portion-of the top subis diametrically enlarged and its bore and the upper end portion of the bottom sub bore is diametricallyenlarged in cooperative tapered wall fashion to form a. chamber 28 loosely containing a ball valve 30 diametrically greater than the inside diameter of the remaining portions of the top and bottom sub bores at their respective end portions opposite their threaded connection forming

tapered seats

32 and 34 so thatthe ball 30 may seat and close the sub boresat the `respective ends of the chamber`28. The depending outer limit of the bottom Asub forms an outer wall provided withv a pin end 36 for threadedly engaging the upwardly disposed end of the wash pipe 14. The bottom sub 24 is further provided with a smaller diameter coaxial mandrel portion 38 projecting at its depending externally threaded end beyond the depending limit of the pin 36 and forming an annulus 40 between the mandrel and pin 36. The threads 42, on the mandrel, engage the upper end of the drill pipe fish 16.

The wall area of the depending end portion of the bottom sub is provided with a plurality of ports 44 providing communication between the depending end portion of the chamber28 above the valve seat 32 and the upper limit of the annulus 40 for the purposes presently apparent.

Operation In the event a well begins to blow-out while stripping out the wash pipe 14 and fish 16 the wash pipe and fish are temporarily supported by the slips l2 and 18. The tool 20 is picked-up, as by elevators, not shown, and its threads 42 are engaged with the box at the upper end of the fish 16. A joint of the drill pipe in the rig or derrick, neither being shown, is connected with the tool box 26 and the fish picked up or lifted with respect to the wash pipe in order to remove the slips 18 and lower the tool 20 so that its pin threads 36 may be engaged with the box at the upper end of the wash pipe 14. Both the fish and wash pipe are then lifted, by the tool 20, to release the rotary slips 12 so that the tool connected wash pipe, fish and the tool may be lowered through the rotary table beyond the position of a blow-out preventer, not shown, so that the blow-out preventer may be closed around the drill pipe. Continued fluid flow or blow-out action of the well, forcing fluid upwardly through the bore of the vfish 16, is trapped or stopped by lifting and seating the ball valve 30 on the seat 34 at the upper end of the chamber 28 so that blow-out action of the well drilling mud or other fluids is directed downward into the wash pipe through the ports 44. The rotary mud pump is then connected with the drill pipe which pumps drilling mud through the bore of the top sub 22, seating the ball valve 30 on the seat 32, at the lower end of the chamber 28, and throughV the ports 44 of the bottom sub and into the wash pipe to kill the well. After killing the well, the tool, wash pipe and fish are lifted above and supported by the rotary table slips l2 for removal of the tool and continuation of the stripping job. Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations without defeating its practicability, therefore, I do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.

l claim:

l. In combination with a supporting structure for passing a well string vertically therethrough, a well string extending vertically through said structure, and a tubular string concentrically contained by said well string, the upper end portions of said well string and said tubular string being disposed above said structure, the improvement comprising:

, a sleeve bushing having one end portion adapted to be connected in supporting relation with said well string and said tubular string, said sleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub, the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently tapered from a point intermediate their respective ends towards their juncture to define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valve containing chamber, said bottom sub havingat least one port in its wall forming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valve chamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, a ball valve contained by said sleeve bushing normally closing the'bore of said bottom sub. 2. A blow-out control tool for a well containing a pair of concentric well strings, comprising:

an elongated sleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub and adapted to be connected, at its depending end, with said well strings, the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently tapered from a point intermediate their respective ends toward'their juncture to define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valve containing chamber, said bottom sub having at least one port in its wall forming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valve chamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, fluid flow direction control including a valve within said sleeve bushing.

Claims

1. In combination with a supporting structure for passing a well string vertically therethrough, a well string extending vertically through said structure, and a tubular string concentrically contained by said well string, the upper end portions of said well string and said tubular string being disposed above said structure, the improvement comprising: a sleeve bushing having one end portion adapted to be connected in supporting relation with said well string and said tubular string, said sleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub, the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently tapered from a point intermediate their respective ends towards their juncture to define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valve containing chamber, said bottom sub having at least one port in its wall forming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valve chamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, a ball valve contained by said sleeve bushing normally closing the bore of said bottom sub.

2. A blow-out control tool for a well containing a pair of concentric well strings, comprising: an elongated sleeve bushing including a top sub coaxially joined with a bottom sub and adapted to be connected, at its depending end, with said well strings, the bores of said top sub and said bottom sub being divergently tapered from a point intermediate their respective ends toward their juncture to define a valve containing chamber intermediate the ends of said sleeve bushing and a valve seat at the respective end limit of the valve containing chamber, said bottom sub having at least one port in its wall forming a fluid passageway between its depending end and the valve chamber above the lowermost valve seat; and, fluid flow direction control including a valve within said sleeve bushing.