Universal drilling and completion system
Methods and apparatus are described to drill and complete wellbores. Such wellbores include extended reach horizontal wellbores, for example in shales, deep subsea extended reach wellbores, and multilateral wellbores. Specifically, the invention provides simple threaded subassemblies that are added to existing threaded tubular drilling and completion equipment which are used to dramatically increase the lateral reach using that existing on-site equipment. These subassemblies extract power from downward flowing clean mud, or other fluids, in an annulus to provide additional force or torque on tubular elements within the wellbore, while maintaining circulation, to extend the lateral reach of the drilling equipment and completion equipment. These added elements include combinations of The Leaky Seal™, a Cross-Over, The Force Sub™ and The Torque Sub™. The use of such additional simple elements allow lighter drilling equipment to be used to reach a given lateral distance, therefore reducing drilling costs.
1. A method to rotary drill a wellbore, comprising:
providing a wellbore with a casing, the casing having an interior surface;
providing a rotating tubular element at least a portion of which is disposed within the casing of the wellbore, the rotating tubular element having a distal end;
providing a drill bit at the distal end of the rotating tubular element;
providing a first annular hydraulic seal having an inner surface rigidly mounted on the exterior of the rotating tubular element and an outer surface spaced from the interior of the casing and forming an annular passageway between the outer surface of the seal and the interior surface of the casing, and having a having a first proximal side and a second distal side, wherein the second distal side is closer to the drill bit;
supplying clean mud to the hydraulic annular seal, wherein the mud passes from the first proximal side to the second distal side of the hydraulic seal solely through the annular passageway in the hydraulic seal, and wherein the annular passageway causes a pressure drop in the mud at the location of the annular passageway; and
supplying clean mud to the drill bit from the second distal side of the hydraulic annular seal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clean mud passing through the annular passageway is supplied to the drill bit.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein substantially all of the clean mud passing through the annular passageway is supplied to the drill bit.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said rotating tubular is a portion of a rotating drill string attached to a rotating drill bit.
5. The method in claim 1 , wherein the step of supplying clean mud to the drill bit includes controlling a mud pump with a computer using a closed-loop feedback control system.
6. The method in claim 5 , wherein the closed-loop feedback control system is used to control the pressure at the rock face within an acceptable pressure range.
7. The method in claim 6 , wherein a constant pressure is maintained at the rock face during drilling operations.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a second annular hydraulic seal having an inner surface rigidly mounted on the exterior of the rotating tubular element and an outer surface which makes a rotating and sliding hydraulic seal with the interior of the casing, the seal having a passageway located between the inner and outer surfaces, and wherein the second passageway is in series with the first passageway; and
supplying clean mud to the drill bit, wherein the mud passes through the second passageway in the hydraulic seal prior to arriving at the drill bit, wherein the passageway causes a pressure drop in the mud at the location of the second passageway.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a mud flow cross over downstream of the annular passageway wherein clean mud passing through the annular passageway is supplied to a second passageway interior of the rotating tubular element.