Non-orienting tree cap
View Patent ↗A wellhead assembly includes a tree cap having a production mandrel extending down into a production passage of a Christmas tree to form a seal. The tree has an annulus bore and an annular cavity at the upper end of the tree surrounding the upper ends of the production and annulus bore. A communication gallery leads between the annulus bore and the cavity. The tree cap also includes an annular sealing member that enters the cavity for sealing a communication gallery.
1. A subsea well production tree comprising:
a tree block having a production bore and an annulus bore, each of which has an upper end at an upper end of the tree block, the upper ends of the production bore and the annulus bore being isolated from each other by part of the tree block;
an annular cavity at the upper end of the tree block surrounding the upper ends of the production and annulus bores, the annular cavity having an inner wall spaced radially outward from and isolated from the production bore by part of the tree block;
a communication port extending through part of the tree block between the upper end of the annulus bore and the annular cavity and isolated from the production bore;
a tree cap for fitting on top of the tree assembly, the tree cap comprising:
a production bore mandrel extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the production bore such that a seal is formed inside the production bore;
an annular sealing member extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the annular cavity such that the annular sealing member forms a seal between the communication port and the annular cavity; wherein
the communication port comprises a communication gallery that extends through the inner wall of the annular cavity;
the tree block further comprises a ring that is located above the upper end of the annulus bore and encircles the upper end of the production bore; and
the inner wall of the annular cavity terminates below the ring, with the space between the ring and the inner wall of the annular cavity defining the communication gallery.
2. The production tree of claim 1 further comprising:
an upper seal located between an outer wall of the ring and the inner surface of the annular sealing member; and
a lower seal located below the communication gallery between the inner wall of the annular cavity and the inner surface of the annular sealing member.
3. A subsea well production tree comprising:
tree block having a production bore and an annul us bore, each of which has an upper end at an upper end of the tree block, the upper ends of the production bore and the annulus bore being isolated from each other by part of the tree block;
an annular cavity at the upper end of the tree block surrounding the upper ends of the production and annulus bores, the annular cavity having an inner wall spaced radially outward from and isolated from the production bore by part of the tree block;
a communication port extending through part of the tree block between the upper end of the annulus bore and the annular cavity and isolated from the production bore;
a tree cap for fitting on top of the tree assembly, the tree cap comprising:
a production bore mandrel extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the production bore such that a seal is formed inside the production bore;
an annular sealing member extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the annular cavity such that the annular sealing member forms a seal between the communication port and the annular cavity; wherein
the production bore mandrel comprises:
a drive head member located within the production bore mandrel;
a cam member which engages the drive head member; and
a locking element which engages the cam member such that as the drive head member moves downward, the cam member is pushed in an outward direction, thereby forcing the locking element outward into a locking position with an inner diameter of the production bore.
4. A method of sealing a well production tree having a production bore and annulus bore, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an annular cavity at the upper end of the well production tree surrounding upper ends of the production and annulus bores and isolated from the production bore by part of the tree;
(b) providing a communication port extending through part of the tree between the annulus bore and the annular cavity and isolated from the production bore by part of the tree;
(c) providing a tree cap with a production bore mandrel and an annular sealing member;
(d) landing the tree cap on the tree and inserting the mandrel into the production bore such that a seal is formed inside the production bore; and
(e) inserting the annular scaling member into the annular cavity such that the annular sealing member forms a seal between the communication port and the annular cavity; wherein in step (c) the production bore mandrel comprises:
a drive head member located within the production bore mandrel;
a cam member which engages the drive head member; and
a locking element which engages the cam member such that as the drive head member moves downward, the earn member is pushed in an outward direction, thereby forcing the locking element outward into a locking position with an inner diameter of the production bore.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:
surrounding an upper end of the production bore with a ring such that a portion of the ring is located above the upper end of the annulus bore;
providing an upper seal located between an outer wall of the ring and the inner surface of the annular sealing member; and
providing a lower seal located between the inner wall of the annular cavity and the inner surface of the annular sealing member.
6. A subsea well production tree comprising:
a tree block having a production bore and an annulus bore, each of which has an upper end at an upper end of the tree block;
an annular cavity at the upper end of the tree block surrounding the upper end of the production and annulus bores;
a communication gallery extending between the upper end of the annulus bore and the annular cavity;
a tree cap for fitting on top of the tree assembly, the tree cap comprising:
a production bore mandrel extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the production bore such that a seal is formed inside the production bore;
a cylindrical flange member extending from an upper portion of the tree cap down into the gap such that the annular sealing member forms a seal between the communication gallery and the annular cavity; and
a plurality of annular seals located on an inner surface of the cylindrical flange in order to form a seal for the communication gallery.
7. The production tree of claim 6 further comprising an annular ring located above the communication gallery.
8. The production tree of claim 7 wherein the plurality of annular seals comprise:
an upper seal located between an outer wall of the annular ring and the inner surface of the cylindrical flange; and
a lower seal located between an inner surface of the annular cavity and the inner surface of the cylindrical flange.
9. The production tree of claim 6 , wherein the communication gallery extends through an inner wall of the annular cavity.
10. The production tree of claim 6 , wherein the production bore mandrel comprises:
a drive head member located within the production bore mandrel;
a cam member which engages the drive head member; and
a locking element which engages the cam member such that as the drive head member moves downward, the cam member is pushed in an outward direction, thereby forcing the locking element outward into a locking position with an inner diameter of the production bore.