1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to downhole tools for use in wellbores and more particularly to tools which can image a work site or an object in a wellbore, communicate with the surface and perform a desired end work or service at the work site, during a single trip in the wellbore. The present invention also provides novel imaging devices and end work devices and various downhole tool configurations for imaging worksites and performing the desired end works.
2. Background of the Art
To produce hydrocarbons (oil and gas) from the earth's formations, wellbores (also referred to in industry as boreholes) are formed to desired depths. The shallow portion of the wellbore is typically large in diameter, which is lined with a metal casing to prevent caving of the wellbore. The wellbore is then drilled to a desired depth to recover hydrocarbons from the subsurface formations. After the wellbore has been drilled, a metal pipe, generally referred to in the art as the casing or pipe, is set in the wellbore by injecting cement through the annulus between the casing and the wellbore. Branch or lateral wellbores are frequently drilled from a main wellbore to form deviated or horizontal wellbores for improving production of hydrocarbons from the subsurface formations.
A large proportion of the current drilling activity involves directional drilling, i.e., drilling deviated and horizontal wellbores, to improve the hydrocarbon production and/or to withdraw additional hydrocarbons from the earth's formations. The wellbores are then completed and put into production. The drilling and completion processes involve a number of different operations. Such operations may include cutting and milling operations (including cutting relatively precise windows in the wellbore casings), sealing junctures between intersecting wellbores, welding, re-entering lateral wellbores, perforating, setting devices such as plugs, sliding sleeves, packers and sensors, remedial operations, sealing, stimulating, cleaning, testing and inspection including determining the quality and integrity of a juncture, testing production from a perforated zone or a portion thereof, collecting and analyzing fluid samples, and analyzing cores.
Oilfield wellbores usually continue to produce hydrocarbons for many years. Various types of operations are performed during the life of producing wellbores. Such operations include removing, installing and replacing different types of devices, including fluid flow control devices, sensors, packers or seals, remedial work including sealing off zones, cementing, reaming, repairing junctures, milling and cutting, freeing stuck sleeves, diverting fluid flows, controlling production from perforated zones, setting sleeves, and testing wellbore production zones or portions thereof.
Typically, to perform downhole operations at a work site in a preexisting wellbore, whether during the drilling, completion, production, or servicing and maintaining the wellbore, a desired tool is conveyed downhole, positioned into the wellbore at the work site and the desired operation is performed. Most of the prior art tools are substantially mechanical tools or electro-mechanical tools. Such tools lack downhole maneuverability, in that the various elements of the tools do not have sufficient degrees of freedom of movement, lack local or downhole intelligence, do not obtain sufficient data with respect to the work site or of the operation being performed, do not provide an image of the work site during the trip made for performing the end work, and do not provide confirmation of the quality and integrity of the work performed. Such prior art tools usually require multiple trips downhole to image a work site, perform an operation and then to confirm whether the operation has been properly performed. Multiple downhole trips can be very expensive, due to the rig or production down time.
The present invention addresses some of the above-noted problems and provides downhole service tools (also referred to as the downhole tool or service tool) which can be positioned and oriented adjacent a desired work site, images of the work site to the surface, perform the desired work at the work site and confirm or inspects the quality of the work during a single trip into a preexisting wellbore. The present invention provides imaging devices, end work devices and various downhole tool configurations to image work sites and to perform desired operations in preexisting wellbores. The imaging devices include an optical viewing device, an inflatable imaging device, ultrasonic devices and a tactile device. The end work devices include cutting devices, reentry devices, sealing devices, welding devices, testing and servicing devices.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds