Apparatus and method for sealing perforated well casing

US5613557A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Atlantic Richfield Company · US

Inventors

• Curtis G. Blount · Wasilla, US
• Robert A. Benham · Albuquerque, US
• Jerry Brock · Los Lunas, US
• John A. Emerson · Flemington, US
• Keith R. Ferguson · Anchorage, US
• Donald F. Scheve · Anchorage, US
• Joseph H. Schmidt · Dallas, US
• Karl W. Schuler · Albuquerque, US
• Philip L. Stanton · Albuquerque, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 23, 1995
• Grant date: Mar 25, 1997
• Expiry date: May 23, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC E): Fixed Constructions
• CPC primary: E21B33/134
• WIPO field: Civil engineering
• WIPO sector: Other fields

Abstract

Perforations and other openings in well casings, liners and other conduits may be substantially blocked or sealed to prevent fluid flow between the casing or liner interior and an earth formation by placing a radially expansible sleeve adjacent the perforations or openings and urging the sleeve into forcible engagement with the casing or inner wall using an explosive charge. An apparatus including a radially contracted sleeve formed by a coiled plate member or a tubular member having flutes defined by external and internal folds, may be deployed into a well casing or liner through a production or injection tubing string and on the end of a flexible cable or coilable tubing. An explosive charge disposed on the apparatus and within the sleeve may be detonated to urge the sleeve into forcible engagement with the casing inner wall.