Pipe storage and handling

Abstract

A system for storing and handling pipes between a pipe rack and a derrick includes pipe-receiving chambers that are positioned around a centre region, and an elevator for lifting and descending the pipes into the chambers. The elevator, located in the centre region in between the receiving chambers, is configured for selecting one of the receiving chambers and for lifting and descending a respective pipe into the selected chamber.

Claims

1. A system for storing and handling pipes between a pipe rack and a derrick, the system comprising: a plurality of receiving chambers for receiving the pipes, wherein each receiving chamber includes a corresponding longitudinal axis, and wherein the receiving chambers are positioned around a centre region; and an elevator for lifting and descending the pipes into the chambers, wherein the elevator comprises: an elongate guide that is located in the centre region in between the plurality of receiving chambers; an arm extending from the guide, wherein the arm is slideable within the guide; wherein the elevator is configured to selectively align with a selected one of the chambers, and wherein the arm is configured to lift a respective pipe out of the selected chamber from a lower end of the respective pipe, in an axial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the selected chamber.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the elevator is configured to align with the selected chamber by a relative rotation between the elevator and the plurality of receiving chambers.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of receiving chambers are placed in a turret, and wherein the turret is rotatable with respect to the derrick.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the relative rotation between the elevator and the plurality of receiving chambers is achieved by rotating the turret.

5. The system according to claim 2, further comprising a safety device configured to detect a rotation of the guide along with the plurality of receiving chambers and to abort the relative rotation between the elevator and the receiving chambers.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the safety device comprises a cantilever coupled to the guide, wherein the cantilever is rotationally biased to maintain a rotational position of the guide, and wherein rotation of the guide with the plurality of receiving chambers is configured to rotate the cantilever.

7. The system according to claim 2, further comprising a safety device configured to abort or prevent lifting or descending of the pipe in case the arm gets stuck.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of receiving chambers comprises a cradle, which is movable up and down the receiving chamber and is configured for receiving the pipes at an upper side thereof, wherein the arm is configured for engaging with a bottom side of the cradles.

9. The system according to claim 2, wherein the system comprises three receiving chambers placed in a triangle, wherein the elongate guide is placed in the middle of the triangle.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein the system comprises two receiving chambers placed in a line, wherein the elongate guide is placed in between the receiving chambers.

11. The system according to claim 2, wherein the receiving chambers are configured to rotate about the elevator so as to align the elevator with the selected chamber.

12. The system according to claim 11 wherein the arm is slidable within the guide.

13. The system according to claim 12 further comprising a cable coupled with the arm and extending through the guide towards the derrick, the cable being configured to be pulled by a winch.

14. The system according to claim 11 wherein the guide is positioned in the middle of the centre region.

15. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an arm actuator comprising a cable that is coupled with the arm and extends therefrom through the guide towards a location near a drilling deck from where the cable can be actuated.

16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising a winch system near the drilling deck for actuating the arm via the cable.

17. A rig comprising: a drilling deck, a derrick, a pipe rack, and a system for storing and handling pipes between a pipe rack and a derrick, the system comprising: a plurality of receiving chambers for receiving said pipes, wherein said receiving chambers are positioned around a centre region, and wherein each receiving chamber includes a longitudinal axis; and an elevator configured to lift and descend the pipes out of and into, respectively, the chambers in an axial direction with respect to the corresponding longitudinal axis; wherein the elevator comprises an elongate guide that is located in the centre region in between said plurality of receiving chambers, and wherein the elevator is configured to selectively align with a selected one of the plurality of receiving chambers; and wherein the system is placed at the drilling deck in proximity of the derrick.

18. The rig of claim 17 further comprising: an arm extending from the guide, wherein the receiving chambers are configured to rotate about the elevator so as to align the elevator with the selected chamber; and a cable coupled with the arm and extending through the guide towards the derrick, the cable being configured to be pulled by a winch.

19. The rig of claim 17, further comprising a safety device configured to detect a rotation of the guide along with the plurality of receiving chambers and to abort the relative rotation between the elevator and the receiving chambers.

20. The rig of claim 19, wherein the safety device comprises a cantilever coupled to the guide, wherein the cantilever is rotationally biased to maintain a rotational position of the guide, and wherein rotation of the guide with the plurality of receiving chambers is configured to rotate the cantilever.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments are described in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the system in accordance with the disclosure;

(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the system of part of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a further perspective view of the system of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of part of FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of part of FIG. 4, and

(7) FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a winch system in accordance with another embodiment of the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

(8) It should be noted that the above-mentioned and below-described embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb comprise and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. The article a or an preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

(9) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the system 1 for storing and handling pipes in accordance with the disclosure. For the sake of simplicity only the system 1 has been drawn and all other parts of the rig have completely left out. The figure shows a system 1 (also referred to as mousehole) comprising of a chamber unit 20 (or rack unit) which comprises three receiving chambers 22a, 22b of which only two are visible in this perspective view. The receiving chambers 22a, 22b are configured for receiving said pipes (not shown). In an embodiment said receiving chambers 22a, 22b have an internal diameter of 18 inch (45 cm) and are oriented around a circle around a centre line (in case of three receiving chambers it could be stated that they are oriented on the corners of an isosceles triangle). It must be stressed that receiving chambers having different diameters may be employed, and that the system may have a different number of receiving chambers. This all depends on the application. At an upper side of said chamber unit 20 there is an interface box 10, which is typically welded to a drill floor (not shown). The interface box 10 comprises a frame in which a rotatable turret 25 is mounted. Said receiving chambers 22a, 22b are mounted within said turret 25 and thereby rotatable also. Said turret 25 may be rotated by actuating turret actuators 25a. The exemplary system 1 further comprises an elevator 30, which, in this embodiment, is provided in a centre region 30c of the chamber unit 20. The elevator 30 does not necessarily have to be exactly in the middle of the chamber unit 20. However, such symmetric configuration is considered much easier to implement in particular because of the rotatability of the turret 25. In any case, the feature centre region 30c is to be interpreted as the whole region in between said receiving chambers 22a, 22b. At an upper side 22u of the receiving chambers 22a, 22b there is visible a hole 25h which gives access to one of said chambers 22a, 22b by rotating said turret 25 to the corresponding position. At a bottom side 22d of the receiving chambers 22a, 22b there is visible one of a plurality of cradles 99. Each of said cradles 99 is moveable up and down each respective receiving chambers 22a, 22b and is configured to receive a bottom part of a respective pipe (not shown).

(10) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view ZV1 of the system 1 of part of FIG. 1. The figure shows more clearly that the elevator 30 comprises a guide 30-1 having a slit 30-3. The slit 30-3 serves to guide an arm 30-2 in a sliding manner (not shown in FIG. 2, but shown in FIGS. 4 and 5).

(11) FIG. 3 shows a further perspective view of the system 1 of FIG. 1 when viewed from the bottom side 22d. In order to show parts which would otherwise be hidden, the chamber unit 20 has been broken open at the bottom side 22d. In practise said receiving chambers 22a, 22b are closed at the bottom side 22d. FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view ZV2 of part of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 shows a further enlarged view ZV3 of part of FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 two of said cradles 99 are shown. Also shown is the guide 30-1, which extends to a location beyond the bottom side 22d of said receiving chambers 20a, 20b. The figures further show the arm 30-2, which is slideable within the guide 30-1. In this embodiment, the arm 30-2 can select one of said receiving chambers 22a, 22b (for handling) by relative rotation between the assembly comprising the guide 30-1 and arm 30-2 and the chamber unit 20. The arm 30-2 engages with the bottom side 22d of a respective cradle 99.

(12) As can be derived from FIGS. 3 to 5, the arm 30-2 will keep its orientation because of the guide 30-1 when the chamber unit 20 is rotating. In order to keep the position of the arm 30-2 while rotating a plurality of guiding plates 30-4, 30-4 is implemented (see FIG. 5). Three of said guiding plates 30-4 are hook-up anchors to the bottom of said cradles 99, while the other three of said guiding plates 30-4 are fixed to the bottom flange 90 of chamber section 20.

(13) FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a winch system in accordance with another exemplary embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates a possible implementation of an arm actuator 40. In this embodiment, the arm 30-2 is coupled to a cable 41 that runs through the guide 30-1 towards a winch system that is provided at the upper side 22u of the chamber unit 20. When moved up the arm 30-2 engages with a bottom side 22d of the cradle 99 onto which a pipe 5 is resting. The cable 41 is fed to a winch system comprising a first wire sheave 42 at the upper side 22u of the chamber unit 20, a second wire sheave 43 and a third wire sheave 44 towards a freestanding powered winch 45. The wire sheaves 42, 43, 44 are there to change the direction of the cable 41. The total number of required sheaves and their position may vary depending on the situation. Lifting and descending the pipe 5 within said receiving chamber is simply done by pulling or releasing said cable 41 using the winch system 42-45. This is also illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 6.

(14) Embodiments disclosed herein may also relate a safety system, which will be discussed with reference to FIG. 2, which shows the enlarged view of the system of part of FIG. 1. In case a guide 30-1 and arm 30-2 are used as elevator 30, it could theoretically happen that the turret 30 is rotated while the arm 30-2 is still within the slit 30-3 and not in its freely-rotating position at the bottom side 22d of the chamber unit 20. Such a situation may occur because of dried mud within the guide 30-1 for example. The arm 30-2 may simply get stuck and not drop towards its lowest position in which it can freely rotate. When the chamber unit 20 forces rotation on the guide 30-1 via the arm 30-2 the guide 30-1 may be twisted and eventually destroyed leading to the system being out of operation. In order to prevent this from happening a safety device 50 may be provided as illustrated in FIG. 2. This safety device 50 comprises a cantilever that is provided at the upper side 22u of the guide 30-1. In the example of FIG. 2, the cantilever comprises factually two spring-loaded cantilevers 50-1, 50-2. The spring-loading of said cantilevers 50-1, 50-2 ensures that the guide 30-1 has a preferred orientation. At respective ends of said cantilevers 50-1, 50-2 there is provided sensors (not shown) for sensing a relative movement between the cantilever 50-1, 50-2 and its spring-load fixing point. Such sensor may be an inductive sensor for example. The output of the sensors is fed to a control system, which in the event of a changing sensor output will shut down the system. The same safety device 50 can be used for preventing another hazardous situation, namely when the arm 30-2 is lifted while it is stuck in the guide 30-1. If that happens the cable will pull the arm 30-2 together with the guide 30-1 up, which will cause the cantilevers 50-1, 50-2 to be lifted from the surface. Consequently, said inductive sensors will detect this and give a signal to the control system shutting the system down. In this embodiment both safety measures are combined into one safety device, but it could also be separate systems.

(15) One or more embodiment disclosed herein may provide for an improved mousehole (system for storing and handling pipes), which is able to store three tubulars (pipes) at the same time, or even more. Such mousehole may be implemented below the drill floor (drill deck) and effectively feed the tubulars in a stand building operation. When a multi-chamber system such as the one in the invention is used for building stands, the operator is able to save a lot of time when handling the tubulars because the system can be loaded by both the stand-building machine as well as the so-called V-door machine, while a column racker (for instance a Hydra Racker from the applicant) is used for removing or storing the finished stand. When the Hydra Racker is back and ready to build a new stand the mousehole is fully loaded with single tubulars.

(16) For implementation aspects of the disclosed embodiments onto a rig, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 8,052,370B2, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated into this disclosure by this reference. U.S. Pat. No. 8,052,370B2 illustrates the mousehole and its implementation on a rig. It must be noted that the system of this disclosure may also be applied in other application areas than the petroleum industry. Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,590 and 4,061,233 which disclose further details on other turret or carrousel type mouseholes, which use more than three holes. The embodiments disclosed herein are also applicable to the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,590 and 4,061,233, the entire disclosures of said patents being hereby incorporated into this disclosure by this reference.