Apparatus for tripping oil pipe and system for automatic well workover
09732570 · 2017-08-15
Assignee
- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Beijing, CN)
- RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING, SHENGLI OIL FIELD, SINOPEC (Dongying, Shandong, CN)
Inventors
- Minxuan Wang (Shandong, CN)
- Guangqi Gao (Shandong, CN)
- Lei ZHANG (Shandong, CN)
- Huihui Song (Shandong, CN)
- Zeng Fu (Shandong, CN)
- Hui Zhang (Shandong, CN)
- Zhengquan Cheng (Shandong, CN)
- Bin Wei (Shandong, CN)
- Xiliang Li (Shandong, CN)
- Huawen Shu (Shandong, CN)
- Qiuhan Su (Shandong, CN)
- Qianwen Tang (Shandong, CN)
Cpc classification
E21B19/20
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
International classification
E21B19/20
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
Abstract
An apparatus for tripping oil pipe and a system for automatic well workover comprises an elevator transfer device for transferring an elevator connected with an oil pipe, the elevator transfer device being structured for enabling continuous, automatic tripping operations of the oil pipe. The elevator transfer device comprises a lifting assembly used for lifting and releasing an oil pipe engaged with the elevator, and an elevator transport assembly used for transferring an elevator at a wellhead and/or an elevator on the lifting assembly. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe can lower the labor intensity and improve operation safety.
Claims
1. An apparatus for tripping oil pipe, comprising an elevator transfer device for transferring an elevator connectable to an oil pipe, the elevator transfer device being configured for enabling continuous, automatic tripping operations of the oil pipe, wherein the elevator transfer device comprises a lifting assembly for lifting and releasing the oil pipe engaged with the elevator, and an elevator transport assembly for transferring the elevator at a wellhead, or on the lifting assembly, or both, wherein an upper connection point and a lower connection point are respectively located at two intersection points between a trajectory of the elevator transport assembly and a trajectory of the lifting assembly, and the elevator transport assembly and the lifting assembly are configured to operate simultaneously, wherein the lifting assembly and the elevator transport assembly are configured to perform a direct handover of the elevator at the upper connection point, and one of the lifting assembly and the elevator transport assembly is configured to pick up the elevator while the other is configured to release the elevator at a preset location below the lower connection point, and the elevator transport assembly is configured to transfer the elevator as the elevator is empty.
2. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 1, wherein the elevator transport assembly comprises a rotation mechanism for carrying the elevator for rotation along a circular path, and a detent mechanism for loading and unloading as well as moving the elevator adjacent to the wellhead, and in a process of tripping the oil pipe, an angle of rotation of the rotation mechanism is larger than 180° and smaller than 360°.
3. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 2, wherein when tripping out the oil pipe, the lifting assembly carries the elevator as the elevator is empty and descends to the upper connection point, and the rotation mechanism takes down the elevator from the lifting assembly as the elevator is empty and rotates with the elevator, the lifting assembly continues to descend to the preset location below the lower connection point, where the elevator carrying the oil pipe is mounted to the lifting assembly using the detent mechanism, and then the lifting assembly ascends with the oil pipe, and the rotation mechanism carries the elevator as the elevator is empty and rotates to a preset location thereof adjacent to the wellhead and releases the elevator using the detent mechanism, the elevator being continued to move to the wellhead and connect to an oil pipe to be tripped out using the detent mechanism as the elevator is empty.
4. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 2, wherein, when tripping in the oil pipe, the elevator is released at the wellhead moved using the detent mechanism as the elevator is empty, engages the rotation mechanism, and rotates towards the upper connection point using the rotation mechanism, when the rotation mechanism carries the elevator to rotate towards the upper connection point, the lifting assembly carries the elevator connected with the oil pipe to descend to the wellhead and releases the elevator under the assistance of the detent mechanism, and then ascends to the upper connection point, and the rotation mechanism hands the elevator over to the lifting assembly at the upper connection point as the elevator is empty, and the lifting assembly carries the elevator as the elevator is empty and continues to ascend to a target location.
5. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 2, wherein the elevator comprises an n-shaped ring for connecting with a lifting hook of the lifting assembly, and an oil pipe connecting base disposed at an opening end of the n-shaped ring, wherein the n-shaped ring is in a detachable connection with the oil pipe connecting base, and each of two side walls of the n-shaped ring are provided with a projection that is configured to engage the elevator transport assembly.
6. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 5, wherein the detent mechanism comprises: a fixed plate disposed at the wellhead for supporting the elevator, a moving block flexibly arranged on the fixed plate, which enables the elevator to move back and forth adjacent to the wellhead, a movable connecting plate hinged with one end of the fixed plate and is configured to move downwards, an arm for supporting a vertical movement of the elevator, which is connected with the movable connecting plate, and a driver member for driving the movable connecting plate and the arm for supporting the vertical movement of the elevator.
7. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 6, wherein the moving block is driven by a hydraulic cylinder and is disposed at one side of an axis of the wellhead opposite to the rotation mechanism, and the arm and the rotation mechanism are located at the other side of the axis of the wellhead.
8. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 5, wherein the rotation mechanism comprises: a rotation supporting structure, a rotation shaft rotatably connected to the rotation supporting structure, and a rotating arm connected to the elevator, which is fixedly connected to the rotation shaft and rotates with the rotation shaft.
9. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 8, further comprising two rotating arms symmetrically arranged relative to the axis of the wellhead, an inner side of each of the rotating arms being provided with a connecting block engaged with the projection on the n-shaped ring of the elevator, wherein the two connecting blocks engage and interlock with each other during the transfer of the elevator, and unlock from each other when the elevator is delivered to the target location.
10. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 8, wherein an angle of rotation of the rotation shaft is in a range of 270° to 345°.
11. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 1, wherein the lifting assembly comprises a lifting hook connected to the elevator and a locking mechanism on the lifting hook for locking the elevator, wherein the locking mechanism locks up during the transfer of the elevator, and unlocks when the elevator is delivered to a target location.
12. The apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 11, wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a locking block engaged and interlocked with a groove arranged on a different side relative to an inlet of the lifting hook, which is disposed at a tip of the lifting hook adjacent to the inlet the lifting hook, a rack disposed on a sliding rail on the lifting hook and fixedly connected with the locking block, a worm gear connected to the lifting hook and engaged with the rack, and a motor connected to the lifting hook for driving the worm gear.
13. A system for automatic well workover, comprising: the apparatus for tripping oil pipe according to claim 1; a make-up/break-out device for connecting an oil pipe joint to the oil pipe and for demounting the oil pipe joint on the oil pipe, an oil pipe centralizer device for centralizing the oil pipe, an oil pipe transport and hoist device for transporting and hoisting the oil pipe, and a controller electrically connected to the make-up/break-out device, the oil pipe centralizer device, the apparatus for tripping oil pipe, and the oil pipe transport and hoist device.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
(10) The present disclosure will be further explained in view of the accompanying drawings and the examples.
(11)
(12)
(13) In an example, the lifting assembly 21 generally carries the oil pipe 9 through the elevator 8, and moves upwards or downwards relative to the wellhead 7 along an axis thereof.
(14) In an example, the elevator transport assembly 22 mainly comprises a rotation mechanism 221 and a detent mechanism 222. The rotation mechanism 221 carries the elevator 8 to rotate along a circular path, and the detent mechanism 222 enables an empty elevator 8 to move adjacent to the wellhead 7. Furthermore, the detent mechanism 222 is also used for picking up or putting down the elevator 8 adjacent to the wellhead 7. For example, the rotation mechanism 221 carries an empty elevator 8 and moves to the vicinity of the wellhead 7, and then releases the empty elevator 8 therefrom through the detent mechanism 222. When a lifting hook 210 of the lifting assembly 21 descends to vicinity of the wellhead 7, it is also the detent mechanism 222 that connects the elevator 8, to which an oil pipe 9 is connected, to the lifting hook 210.
(15) In an example as shown in
(16) In a preferred example, in the tripping operations of the oil pipe, the angle of rotation of the rotation mechanism 221 is larger than 180° and smaller than 360°. Because the rotation of the rotation mechanism 221 is not around an entire circumference, the rotation mechanism 221 can stay away from an area between the upper connection point A and the lower connection point B in which it can easily crash into the oil pipe 9 or the lifting assembly 21, thereby avoiding such crash. In the meantime, the lifting assembly 21 and the rotation mechanism 221 can operate simultaneously, and thus it is unnecessary for them to wait for each other for a long time. As a result, the operation time can be reduced, and the operation efficiency can be significantly improved.
(17) In an example as shown in
(18) Furthermore, the two arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator can operate in cooperation with the movable connecting plate 22h. When tripping in an oil pipe, the movable connecting plate 22h rotates downwards after the rotation mechanism 221 is connected with an elevator 8. At the same time, the arms 22i supporting the elevator 8 also rotates downwards and then releases the elevator. In this case, the elevator 8 can rotate smoothly with the rotation mechanism 221 towards the upper connection point A, where the empty elevator 8 is transferred from the rotation mechanism 221 to the lifting assembly 21, so as to be ready for tripping operations of a next oil pipe. When tripping out an oil pipe, the rotation mechanism 221 delivers an empty elevator 8 to a trigger point of the movable connecting plate 22h, and the movable connecting plate 22h rotates upwards until being flush with the fixed plate 22f. In the meantime, the arms 22i also rotate upwards to the position where they support the elevator 8. The elevator 8 moves towards the wellhead 7 under the pulling force of the moving block 22g and connects with an oil pipe 9 adjacent to the wellhead 7, so as to be ready for tripping operations of a next oil pipe.
(19) Still further, in the tripping in operation of the oil pipe, when the lifting hook 210 moves with the oil pipe 9 and the elevator 8 to the preset location and releases the elevator 8, the two arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator support the elevator 8 released from the lifting hook 210. In the tripping out operation of the oil pipe, when the lifting hook 210 descends to the preset location, the two arms 22i push the elevator 8 and enable it to be connected to the lifting hook 210.
(20) In an example as shown in
(21) In an example as shown in
(22) In a preferred example as shown in
(23) In an example, the connecting blocks 22e of the two rotating arms 22c are connected with the two pick-up/put-down projections 83, thereafter forming an anti-rotational lock against the pick-up/put-down projections 83. Such structure can guarantee a high safety coefficient of the rotation mechanism during the transportation of the elevator 8. After the elevator 8 is delivered to the target location, the anti-rotational lock of the connecting blocks 22e against the pick-up/put-down projections 83 is released, so that the rotating arms 22c can be separated from the elevator 8 easily. Preferably, the locking and unlocking actions of the connecting blocks 22e of the rotating arms 22c are controlled by a relay or controller 6 connected therewith, which can be realized by means of conventional control technology, or any known technology capable of controlling such locking and unlocking actions. Thus the control means will not be explained in details herein.
(24) In an example, the lifting assembly 21 is connected with a travelling block of the workover rig through a pin which passes through a pin hole 211 at an upper part of the hook body of the lifting hook 210, thereby achieving the tripping operations of the oil pipe. Since the lifting hook 210 is directly connected with the elevator 8, in order to prevent the elevator 8 from falling off from the lifting hook 210 due to vibration during transportation, a locking mechanism is disposed on a position near the tip of the lifting hook 210 for locking the elevator 8. The locking mechanism can lock up during the transfer of the elevator 8, so as to guarantee a safe transportation thereof. When the elevator 8 is delivered to the target location, such as the upper connection point A or an unloading location adjacent to the wellhead 7, the locking mechanism unlocks, so that the elevator 8 can be demounted from the lifting hook 210.
(25) In a preferred example, the locking mechanism mainly comprises a locking block 213, a rack 215, a worm gear 214, and a motor 216. The motor 216 is fixedly connected to the lifting hook 210, and an output shaft thereof is connected with the worm gear 214. The worm gear 214 is engaged with the rack 215, so as to drive the rack 215 to extend or retract along a sliding rail on the lifting hook 210. The locking block 213 is fixedly connected with an end of the rack 215 near an inlet of the lifting hook. A groove 212 is disposed on the other side of the lifting hook 210 relative to said inlet, which can be engaged with the locking block 213. When the motor 216 rotates in a forward direction, the worm gear 214 rotates therewith, thereby driving the rack 215 to extend toward the groove 212. When the locking block 213 enters the groove 212, the inlet of the lifting hook 210 is locked up. When it is necessary to unlock, the motor 6 counterrotates, so that the rack 215 drives the locking block 213 to retract back to the side of the lifting hook 210 adjacent to the tip thereof, thereby opening the inlet of the lifting hook 210. Such a locking mechanism can be flexibly controlled. In the meantime, because the rack 215 extends or retract in a relatively small range, the locking mechanism can be locked or unlocked rapidly.
(26) In an example, the tripping out operation of an oil pipe is as follows.
(27) First of all, the lifting hook 210 carries the elevator 8a and descends. In the meantime, the driving motor or hydraulic motor 22a of the rotation mechanism 221 drives the rotating arms 22c to rotate counterclockwisely through the rotation shaft 22b. When the elevator 8a on the lifting hook 210 descends to the upper connection point A, the positions of the connecting blocks 22e of the rotating arms 22c overlap with the positions of the pick-up/put-down projections 83 of the elevator 8a. At this time, the locking mechanism of the lifting hook 210 drives the worm gear 214 through the motor 216, thereby driving the rack 215 to retract, so that the locking mechanism can be remotely unlocked and the elevator 8a can be picked up by the rotating arms 22c. Then, the rotating arms 22c carry the elevator and rotate clockwisely, and the lifting hook 210 continues to descend along the axis of the wellhead 7. The movable connecting plate 22h and the arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator rotate counterclockwisely under the action of the drive cam 22j. In this case, the lifting hook 210, the rotating arms 22c, and the arms 22i move simultaneously in different spatial regions. The lifting hook 210 continues to descend to a preset location H which is a little lower than the lower connection point B. The arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator rotate and lift the n-shaped ring 81 of the elevator 8b to the preset location H. The rotating arms 22c carry the elevator 8a and rotate clockwisely to any position that does not exceed position E. Further, the lifting hook 210 lifts and the n-shaped ring 81 of the elevator 8b is connected to the lifting hook 210. The lifting hook 210 remotely controls the locking mechanism to lock up the n-shaped ring 81, and carries the elevator 8b to which an oil pipe 9 is connected and continues to ascend. At this time, the elevator 8b is locked to the lifting hook 210 and ascends with the oil pipe 9. While the lifting hook 210 is lifting the oil pipe 9, a driving mechanism, such as a motor or electrical machine, drives the drive cam 22j to rotate back to the lower dead-center position. In this case, the rotating arms 22c carry the elevator 8a to move to a preset location F without being blocked by the arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator. Next, the motor or electrical machine drives the arms 22i to rotate counterclockwisely to a position G, where elevator 8a rests on the movable connecting plate 22h and the arms 22i take over the n-shaped ring 81 of elevator 8a. The rotating arms 22c move back to the initial positions thereof to stand by. When a coupling of a next oil pipe 9 lifted by the lifting hook 210 from the wellhead 7 exceeds the height of elevator 8a, the lifting hook 210 stops moving. Elevator 8a moves to the wellhead 7 under the actions of the arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator and the moving blocks 22g. When the valve of the elevator 8a is remotely closed, the next oil pipe 9 is connected to the elevator 8a. The elevator 8a suspends the next oil pipe 9 and breaks out the oil pipe joint from the oil pipe. When the oil pipe 9 is separated from a next oil pipe to be tripped out, the lifting hook 210 carries the oil pipe 9 and moves upwards to the ground, and then releases the oil pipe 9. Then, the lifting hook 210 brings the empty elevator back to an initial stage of the tripping operation. While the lifting hook 210 is hoisting the broken-out oil pipe, the arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator also return to their initial positions. The repetition of the above operations enables continuous, automatic tripping out operations of the oil pipe.
(28) In a preferred example, the tripping in operation of an oil pipe is as follows.
(29) First, the elevator 8a which is suspended on the lifting hook 210 descends and is connected with an oil pipe on a well site. After a valve of the elevator 8a is remotely closed, the lifting hook 210 ascends and lifts the elevator 8a to which the oil pipe 9 is connected. After the body of the oil pipe 9 is above the height of an oil pipe coupling at the wellhead, the elevator 8a descends and connects the oil pipe 9 with the oil pipe at the wellhead. The lifting hook 210 further lifts the oil pipe connected to the elevator 8a for a certain distance. And then, the valve of the elevator 8b is remotely opened. Subsequently, the lifting hook 210, the hydraulic cylinder 22k, the motor or electrical machine, an elevator transfer hydraulic motor 41 operate simultaneously respectively in different spatial regions. The hydraulic cylinder 22k drives the moving block 22g to a position L, push the elevator 8b away from the axis of the wellhead 7, and return to position K for stand-by. After the hydraulic cylinder 22k pushes the elevator 8b away from the wellhead 7, the lifting hook 210 carries the elevator 8a to which the oil pipe 9 is connected to descend. The rotating arms 22c rotate counterclockwisely to a position G, and connect with the pick-up/put-down projections 83 located at a position F. The movable connecting plate 22h and the arms 22i for supporting the pick-up/put-down of the elevator rotate clockwisely to a lower dead-center position. Rotating arms 22c rotate counterclockwisely, thereby taking the elevator 8b therewith. The lifting hook 210 carries the elevator 8a to which an oil pipe is connected and descends to the wellhead 7. The movable connecting plate 22h and the arms 22i rotate counterclockwisely. When the lifting hook 210 descends with the elevator 8a to the preset location H below the lower connection point B, the arms 22i also move to the position H. At this time, the elevator 8a is located on a platform at the wellhead 7, and suspends the oil pipe in the well. The locking mechanism of the lifting hook 210 is remotely unlocked. After further descending for a small distance, the lifting hook 210 is separated from the elevator 8a. An n-shaped ring 81 of the elevator 8a is driven by the arms 22i to rotate clockwisely to the lower dead-center position for stand-by. In the meantime, the lifting hook 210 ascends to the upper connection point A, where it takes over the elevator 8b which is carried by the rotating arms 22c. After the elevator 8b is connected to the lifting hook 210, the locking mechanism of the lifting hook 210 is remotely locked. The lifting hook 210 hoists the elevator 8b and returns to the initial position for a tripping in operation of the oil pipe, so as to be ready for connecting to a next oil pipe. While the lifting hook 210 is hoisting the elevator 8b, the rotating arms 22c and the arms 22i also rotate clockwisely back to their initial positions for stand-by. In this case, the system restores its initial state for a tripping in operation of the oil pipe. The repetition of the above operations enables continuous, automatic tripping in operations of the oil pipe.
(30) While the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, various modifications can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure and components in the present disclosure could be substituted with equivalents. In particular, as long as there is no structural conflict, all the technical features mentioned in all the embodiments may be combined together in any manner. The present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed in the description, but rather includes all the technical solutions falling into the scope of the claims.