This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
As will be appreciated, oil and natural gas have a profound effect on modern economies and societies. Indeed, devices and systems that depend on oil and natural gas are ubiquitous. For instance, oil and natural gas are used for fuel in a wide variety of vehicles, such as cars, airplanes, boats, and the like. Further, oil and natural gas are frequently used to heat homes during winter, to generate electricity, and to manufacture an astonishing array of everyday products.
In order to meet the demand for such natural resources, companies often invest significant amounts of time and money in searching for and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterranean resources from the earth. Particularly, once a desired resource is discovered below the surface of the earth, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. Further, such systems generally include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies may include a wide variety of components, such as various casings, valves, fluid conduits, and the like, that control drilling and/or extraction operations. Additionally, such wellhead assemblies may also include components, such as an isolating mandrel (“frac mandrel”) and/or fracturing tree, to facilitate a fracturing process.
Connectors are employed to attach certain types of equipment to wellhead housings. For example, one or more connectors are often employed to attach a blowout preventer (BOP) or a production tree to a wellhead. Unfortunately, existing connectors often require manual operation, multiple tools, multiple trips between a surface vessel and the subsea well equipment, and so forth. These operations to attach or remove a connector are generally expensive, time-consuming, and may introduce additional safety concerns.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds