Abstract
A stabbing guide for tubulars, including a body; a plurality of guide members moveably supported by the body to receive a tubular and to move relative to the body between an open position and a closed position; and an actuation mechanism configured to be operated to move the plurality of guide members between the open and closed positions, wherein the body is configured to be held by a tubular connection tool.
Claims
1-16. (canceled)
17. A method for making a threaded connection between an upper tubular having a male threaded lower end and a lower tubular having a female threaded upper end, wherein a tubular connection tool is provided having an active tong that is configured to clamp the upper tubular and to supply torque to the upper tubular, and having a passive tong that is configured to clamp the lower tubular and to supply a reaction torque to the lower tubular, and wherein a stabbing guide is provided, the stabbing guide comprising: a body that is configured to be clamped by at least one of the active tong and the passive tong of the tubular connection tool; a plurality of guide members moveably supported by the body of the stabbing guide and movable between an open position and a closed position; and an actuation mechanism configured to be operated to move the plurality of guide members between the open position and the closed position, wherein the method comprises: clamping the body of the stabbing guide by at least one of the active tong and the passive tong of the tubular connection tool so that the stabbing guide is held by the tubular connection tool; operating the actuation mechanism of the stabbing guide to move the guide members into the open position; using the tubular connection tool to move the stabbing guide held by the tubular connection tool to a position such that the guide members, while being in the open position thereof, surround the female threaded end of the lower tubular; operating the actuation mechanism to move moving the guide members to the closed position; and stabbing the lower end of the upper tubular into the upper end of the lower tubular, said lower end being guided by the guide members of the stabbing guide in the closed position thereof.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises, after the stabbing of the lower end of the upper tubular into the upper end of the lower tubular: operating the actuation mechanism of the stabbing guide to move the guide members into the open position; using the tubular connection tool to move the stabbing guide held by the tubular connection tool, while the guide members are in the open position thereof, away from the female threaded end of the lower tubular; releasing the clamping of the body of the stabbing guide by the at least one of the active tong and the passive tong of the tubular connection tool so that the stabbing guide is no longer held by the tubular connection tool; and operating the tubular connection tool so that the active tong clamps the upper tubular and the passive tong clamps the lower tubular and operating the active tong to supply torque to the upper tubular and operating the passive tong to supply a reaction torque to the lower tubular.
19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the actuation mechanism of the stabbing guide includes a portion that is engaged by the tubular connection tool such that actuation of the active tong of the tubular connection tool causes the plurality of guide members to move between the open position and closed position via the actuation mechanism of the stabbing guide.
20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the body of the stabbing guide is a tubular body that is clamped by the passive tong of the tubular connection tool, and wherein a circular shaped element of the stabbing guide is rotatably arranged around the tubular body, the circular shaped element being clamped by the active tong of the tubular connection tool, and wherein the actuation mechanism of the stabbing guide is configured to transfer a rotational movement of the circular shaped element caused by operating the active tong into movement of the plurality of guide members between the open position and the closed position.
21. The method of claim 17, wherein the stabbing guide comprises a support that is configured to position the stabbing guide on a flat surface when the stabbing guide is not held by the tubular connection tool.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the body of the stabbing guide that is clamped by the at least one of the active tong and the passive tong of the tubular connection tool has a tubular shape.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the stabbing guide is provided with two guide members, each guide member being pivotable about a respective pivot axis between the open position and the closed position.
24. The method of claim 17 wherein the stabbing guide is provided with two guide members, each guide member being pivotable about a respective pivot axis between the open position and the closed position, wherein the pivot axes of the two guide members coincide.
25. The method of claim 17, wherein the stabbing guide is provided with two guide members, each guide member being pivotable about a respective pivot axis between the open position and the closed position, wherein the two guide members have a shape corresponding to a circle sector with a cutaway for receiving a portion of a tubular.
26. The method of claim 17, wherein the guide members are releasably connected to the actuation mechanism to allow the guide members to be replaced by another set of guide members corresponding to a different tubular diameter.
Description
[0045] FIG. 1 schematically depicts a side view of a stabbing guide according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0046] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a side view of the stabbing guide of FIG. 1 held by a tubular connection tool;
[0047] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide of FIG. 1 in the tubular connection tool of FIG. 2 with the guide members in the open position;
[0048] FIG. 4 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide of FIG. 1 in the tubular connection tool of FIG. 2 with the guide members in the closed position;
[0049] FIG. 5 schematically depicts a side view of a stabbing guide according to another embodiment of the invention in a tubular connection tool;
[0050] FIG. 6 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide and the tubular connection tool of FIG. 5 with the guide members in the open position; and
[0051] FIG. 7 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide and the tubular connection tool of FIG. 5 with the guide members in the closed position.
[0052] FIG. 1 schematically depicts a side view of a stabbing guide SG according to an embodiment of the invention. The stabbing guide SG of FIG. 1 is a stabbing guide according to the first aspect of the invention as well as a stabbing guide according to the second aspect of the invention. Although described together, it will be clear to the skilled person that the first and second aspect of the invention do not necessarily need to be combined.
[0053] The stabbing guide SG includes a support SU, a body BO, and an actuation mechanism AM that is partially shown in FIG. 1. The other part of the actuation mechanism AM is omitted from FIG. 1 and will be explained below by reference to the FIGS. 3 and 4. The stabbing guide SG also comprises guide members GM that are supported by the body BO via the actuation mechanism AM and which are explained in more detail below by reference to the FIGS. 2-4.
[0054] The actuation mechanism AM includes two arms AR that are moveably supported by the body BO. In this embodiment, the moveability is provided by pivotally arranging the arms AR to pivot about a pivot axis PA1.
[0055] The body BO in turn is arranged on and connected to the support SU using two bolts B1, B2. In FIG. 1, a longitudinal axis LAB of the body BO extends perpendicular to a longitudinal axis LAS of the support SU. This orientation is referred to as an active orientation. When bolt B2 is removed, bolt B1 provides a pivot axis PA2 for the body BO to pivot counter clockwise in FIG. 1 towards the support SU until the body BO reaches support element SE, which support element SE may include a locking mechanism to temporarily lock the orientation of the body BO, which orientation is characterized by the longitudinal axis LAB being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis LAS. This orientation is referred to as a transport orientation.
[0056] In the transport orientation, the footprint of the stabbing guide SG is relatively small and the stabbing guide fits in a smaller rectangular box than in the active position, thereby being able to be easily transported.
[0057] In the active orientation, the body BO is substantially vertical and can be held by a tubular connection tool as will be elucidated below by reference to the FIGS. 2-4. FIG. 1 depicts the stabbing guide SG in the active position with the arms AR of the actuation mechanism extending in a direction opposite to the direction in which the support SU extends from the body BO having the advantage that the weight of the guide members GM when supported by the arms AR may be balanced by the support SU such that when the stabbing guide SG is lifted using a lifting eye LE at an upper end of the body BO, the body BO remains substantially vertical.
[0058] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a side view of the stabbing guide SG of FIG. 1 when held by a tubular connection tool TCT. For clarity reasons, the lifting eye LE and the support element SE are omitted in FIG. 2 as is a part of the actuation mechanism AM.
[0059] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide SG of FIG. 1 in the tubular connection tool TCT of FIG. 2 with guide members GM supported by the arms AR in the closed position.
[0060] FIG. 4 schematically depicts a top view of the stabbing guide SG of FIG. 1 in the tubular connection tool TCT of FIG. 2 with the guide members GM in the open position.
[0061] The tubular connection tool TCT shown in FIG. 2 is in this embodiment hung from a derrick and includes a passive tong PT and an active tong AT. The tubular connection tool TCT can be moved over the drill floor to catch or grab the stabbing guide SG using the passive tong PT and/or the active tong AT. The stabbing guide SG is then lifted by the tubular connection tool TCT, or the stabbing guide SG was lifted prior to catching or grabbing, so that the tubular connection tool TCT is able to move the stabbing guide SG relative to the drill floor with the support SU extending below the tubular connection tool TCT. In FIG. 2, the contours of a spinner SP are visible, however, in this embodiment, the spinner SP has no relationship with the function and operation of the stabbing guide SG.
[0062] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 depict a part of the actuation mechanism AM that is not visible in FIGS. 1 and 2, namely the provision of two hydraulic actuators HA1, HA2 between the respective arms AR and a bracket BR attached to the body BO. Actuation of the hydraulic actuators HA1, HA2 will allow rotation of the arms AR and thus the guide members GM about the pivot axis PA1 between an open position as shown in FIG. 3 allowing to pass and receive a tubular TU in a firing line FL that will fit into the cutaways CA of the guide members GM that have the shape in plan view of a circle sector, and a closed position as shown in FIG. 4 in which the guide members engage with the tubular TU to guide the male connection of another tubular into alignment with the female connection of the tubular TU while protecting the end surface and threads from damage.
[0063] The cutaway CA in the guide members GM can also be seen in FIG. 2, see dashed lines. The cutaway CA has an upper portion UCA and a lower portion LCA. The lower portion LCA has a cylindrical shape matching a tubular TU of a specific diameter. In the closed position the lower portion LCA surrounds and rests on the tubular TU, while the upper portion UCA extends above the tubular TU and diverges to a larger diameter at the top to receive and guide the male connection of the tubular to be connected to the tubular TU in alignment with the tubular TU while protecting the end surface of the tubular TU and the threads of both tubulars.
[0064] Due to the fact that the guide members GM are supported on the arms AR of the actuation mechanism AM, they can easily be replaced by other guide members when working with tubulars of a different diameter. To this end, the guide members GM are preferably releasably connected to the arms AR. Also preferably, a locking mechanism is provided to lock the guide members GM to the actuation mechanism AM during use, so that the guide members GM do not inadvertently release from the actuation mechanism AM during operation thereof.
[0065] FIGS. 5-7 schematically depict another embodiment of a stabbing guide SG according to the invention which stabbing guide SG in this embodiment is used with the same or a similar tubular connection tool TCT. FIG. 5 schematically depicts a side view, FIG. 6 depicts a top view with the guide members GM in the open position, and FIG. 7 depicts a top view with the guide members GM in the closed position.
[0066] The main difference between the two embodiments is that the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 depicts a stabbing guide with integrated actuators, wherein the active and/or passive tongs of the tubular connection tool are only used to hold the body, where the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7 depicts a stabbing guide in which no actuators are provided on the stabbing guide, but the actuation mechanism is actuated using the active tong of the tubular connection tool as will be explained below in more detail.
[0067] As shown in FIG. 5, the stabbing guide SG comprises a support SU supporting a body BO, which body BO has a mainly tubular shaped main body MB. A lower part of the main body MB is configured to be held by the passive tong PT. Extending from the lower part of the main body MB is an auxiliary body AB, which auxiliary body AB is configured to support a part of the actuation mechanism AM, including the arms AR that are pivotable about a pivot axis PA1.
[0068] The actuation mechanism AM further includes a circular shaped element CSE (the circular shape is clearly visible in plan view, see FIGS. 6 and 7) arranged around an upper part of the tubular shaped main body MB and configured to engage with the active tong AT. The actuation mechanism AM further includes a link mechanism LM between the element CSE and the arms AR to transfer rotational movement of the element CSE to movement of the arms AR and thus of the guide members supported by the arms AR between an open position as shown in FIG. 6 and a closed position as shown in FIG. 7.
[0069] In FIG. 7, the arrow near the circular shaped element CSE indicates an angle α that the active tong AT has to rotate the circular shaped element CSE between the open and closed positions. The link mechanism LM can be used to magnify this angle, so that the arms AR and thus the guide members GM are rotated over a larger angle about pivot axis PA1 then the circular shaped element CSE is rotated about the longitudinal axis LAB of the main body MB.
[0070] Also shown by reference to FIG. 7, but also present in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, is that the guide members GM span an angular range of 180 degrees minus angle β, wherein angle β may be 1, 2, 5 or 10 degrees. In other words, the angle β may be in the range of 0-90 degrees, preferably in the range of 2-60 degrees, more preferably in the range of 5-45 degrees.
