Laminate pressure containing body for a well tool
View Patent ↗Apparatus if provided for use in wells, particularly wells that have high-pressure and high-temperature conditions in the well. The shells of completion equipment that is required to withstand the rigorous conditions in such wells are increased in strength by laminate layers that are formed of materials having higher yield strength than the yield strength of materials that can be used in well fluids.
1. A pressure-containing apparatus for a well, comprising:
a shell adapted to be connected to a well tubing and adapted to enclose well completion equipment and having a bore there through, the shell being formed of a material having a yield strength; and
a first laminate layer contacting an outside surface of the shell, the first laminate layer being formed of a material having higher yield strength than the yield strength of the material forming the shell, so as to increase the pressure-containing ability of the shell, the first laminate layer formed so as to exert compressive forces to the shell prior to any pressure being applied within the shell, whereby when internal pressure is applied within the shell, the radial forces acting within the shell are counteracted by the compressive forces exerted on the exterior of the shell by the first laminate layer.
2. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a second laminate layer contacting an outside surface of the first laminate layer to further increase the pressure-containing ability of the shell.
3. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 2 wherein the second laminate layer comprises a cylinder.
4. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 2 wherein the second laminate layer comprises a row of wire wound outside the first laminate layer.
5. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first or the second laminate layer comprises a metal matrix composite.
6. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first laminate layer comprises a cylinder or a row of wire wound over the shell.
7. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the material of the first laminate layer comprises a metal matrix composite.
8. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shell includes a section having a transition in flow area therein and the section includes an area of increased wall thickness in the shell.
9. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the laminate layer further comprises a nut to provide an axial force from the laminate layer when the shell is subjected to an axial tension force.
10. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shell is adapted to enclose well completion equipment selected from equipment consisting of a subsurface safety valve, a mandrel of a packer, a device for controlling flow in the wellbore, a sliding sleeve, a tubing hanger, an on-off attachment, a gas lift mandrel or an instrument mandrel.
11. The pressure-containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the outside diameter of the shell is greater than the inside diameter of the first laminate layer prior to assembly and the first laminate layer is placed under axial compression to fit over the shell.
12. The pressure containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first laminate layer is heated to cause expansion and then placed over the shell while hot, whereby upon cooling the first laminate layer exerts compressive forces on the shell.
13. The pressure containing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first laminate layer is wound under tension about the shell.