IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,837,254
Granted Patent B2
US 10,837,254 · App. 16/103,447 · Granted Nov 17, 2020

Tandem cement retainer and bridge plug

Inventors: Ahmed Al-Mousa (Dhahran, SA); Marius Neacsu (Dhahran, SA); Ahmed A. Al-Ramadhan (Dhahran, SA)
Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
E21B33/124E21B23/06E21B33/1204E21B33/1293E21B33/134E21B33/138E21B47/117E21B34/10E21B2200/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,837,254
App. No.
16/103,447
Granted
Nov 17, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A downhole tool assembly including a bridge plug and a cement retainer in tandem to be deployed into a wellbore on the same run or trip for remedial cementing of the wellbore.

Claims (66)

1. A downhole tool assembly comprising:

a bridge plug; and

a cement retainer to be deployed into a wellbore on a same run as the bridge plug for remedial cementing of the wellbore, wherein the cement retainer comprises an internal bypass having a first operating position that opens squeeze cementing flow and a second operating position that closes squeeze cementing flow, wherein the cement retainer is configured to couple to a drill string, wherein the cement retainer is configured to be set by a rotation of the drill string in a first direction, unset by the rotation of the drill string in a second direction opposite the first, and re-set by the rotation of the drill string in the first direction, and wherein the cement retainer and the bridge plug each comprise composite material and are drillable.

2. The downhole tool assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cement retainer is on an upper portion of the downhole tool assembly, and wherein the bridge plug is below the cement retainer on a lower portion of the downhole tool assembly.

3. The downhole tool assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cement retainer and the bridge plug are coupled via a stinger to facilitate lowering of the cement retainer and the bridge plug on the same run into the wellbore.

4. The downhole tool assembly of claim 3 , wherein the cement retainer is coupled to the stinger via a shear pin and the bridge plug is coupled to the stinger via another shear pin.

5. The downhole tool assembly of claim 1 , wherein the downhole tool assembly is configured to couple via a stinger to the drill string, and wherein the cement retainer is set via rotation of the drill string.

6. The downhole tool assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bridge plug comprises a ball seat to receive an activation ball to set the bridge plug against an inner wall of the wellbore.

7. The downhole tool assembly of claim 1 , wherein the downhole tool assembly is configured to couple via a first stinger to a drill string, and wherein the cement retainer and the bridge plug are coupled via a second stinger to facilitate lowering of the cement retainer and the bridge plug on the same run via the drill string into the wellbore.

8. An assembly for secondary cementing, comprising:

a downhole tool assembly to be lowered into a wellbore on a single trip, the downhole tool assembly comprising:

a re-settable cement retainer on an upper portion of the downhole tool assembly, the re-settable cement retainer configured to couple to a drill string, the re-settable cement retainer configured to be set by a rotation of the drill string in a first direction, unset by the rotation of the drill string in a second direction opposite the first, and re-set by a rotation of the drill string in the first direction;

a bridge plug on a lower portion of the downhole tool assembly, wherein the re-settable cement retainer comprises an internal bypass having a first operating position that opens the re-settable cement retainer to squeeze cementing flow and a second operating position that closes the re-settable cement retainer to squeeze cementing flow; and

a lower stinger coupling the re-settable cement retainer to the bridge plug, the bridge plug coupled to the lower stinger via a shear pin, and wherein the cement retainer and the bridge plug each comprise composite material and are drillable.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the downhole tool assembly to couple via an upper stinger to the drill string, wherein the re-settable cement retainer is settable via rotation of the drill string and the upper stinger, and wherein the re-settable cement retainer and the bridge plug each comprise composite material and are drillable.

10. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the bridge plug comprises a ball seat to receive a ball dropped through the drill string to set the bridge plug.

11. A method of operating a downhole tool assembly for squeeze cementing of a wellbore having a casing, comprising:

lowering, via a drill string, a lower bridge plug and an upper cement retainer coupled via a lower stinger into the wellbore on a single trip to below a wellbore zone to be squeeze cemented;

setting the lower bridge plug and setting the upper cement retainer;

pressure testing to confirm isolation of a lower portion of the wellbore below the lower bridge plug;

unsetting the upper cement retainer and repositioning the upper cement retainer to above the wellbore zone to be squeeze cemented;

re-setting the upper cement retainer;

introducing cement through the upper cement retainer into the wellbore zone and allowing the cement introduced into the wellbore zone to harden; and

drilling the upper cement retainer, the cement hardened in the wellbore zone, and the lower bridge plug.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein setting the lower bridge plug comprises dropping an activation ball through the drill string and the upper cement retainer to a ball seat of the lower bridge plug and pressuring the drill string.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein setting the upper cement retainer comprises:

raising the drill string to pull up the lower stinger to shear a shear pin to release the lower bridge plug; and

rotating the drill string in a first direction.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein unsetting the upper cement retainer comprises rotating the drill string in a second direction opposite the first direction, wherein repositioning the upper cement retainer comprises further raising the drill string, and wherein re-setting the upper cement retainer comprises rotating the drill string in the first direction.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the pressure testing comprises pressure testing the upper cement retainer from below, the lower bridge plug from above, and the casing between the upper cement retainer and the lower bridge plug.

16. A method of operating a downhole tool assembly for remedial cementing, comprising:

coupling the downhole tool assembly to a lower end of a drill string via an upper stinger;

lowering the downhole tool assembly in a collapsed mode into a wellbore on a single run via the drill string, the downhole tool assembly comprising a lower bridge plug and an upper cement retainer coupled via a lower stinger, wherein the upper cement retainer is re-settable;

setting the lower bridge plug, wherein the lower bridge plug is coupled to the lower stinger via a shear pin;

raising the drill string to pull up the lower stinger to shear the shear pin to release the lower bridge plug from the lower stinger and the downhole tool assembly;

rotating the drill string in a first direction to set the upper cement retainer against a casing of the wellbore;

performing pressure testing to confirm seal integrity and bottom-hole isolation, the seal integrity comprising seal integrity of the upper cement retainer and the lower bridge plug;

rotating the drill string in a second direction different than the first direction to unset the upper cement retainer;

raising the drill string to reposition the upper cement retainer above a zone of the wellbore to be squeeze cemented;

rotating the drill string in the first direction to re-set the upper cement retainer to seal against the casing;

raising the drill pipe to pull the upper stinger to shear pins coupling the upper stinger to the upper cement retainer to release the upper cement retainer from the upper stinger and the drill string to close a cementing internal bypass of the upper cement retainer;

lowering the drill pipe to lower the upper stinger back into the upper cement retainer to open the cementing internal bypass;

pumping cement through the cementing internal bypass of the upper cement retainer to squeeze cement the zone; and

raising the drill string to pull the upper stinger from the upper cement retainer to close the cementing bypass.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein lowering comprises lowering the downhole tool assembly to below a zone in the wellbore to be squeeze cemented.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein lowering comprises lowering the downhole tool assembly to below wellbore perforations to be cemented or to below a casing leak to be repaired via remedial cementing.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the collapsed mode comprises a mechanical slip of the upper cement retainer not radially extended, a seal of the upper cement retainer not radially extended, a mechanical slip of the lower bridge plug not radially extended, and a seal of the lower bridge plug not radially extended.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein setting the lower bridge plug comprises dropping a setting ball through the drill string and the upper cement retainer to a ball seat of the lower bridge plug and pressuring the drill string to set the lower bridge plug.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein pressuring comprises pressuring the drill string to at least 1000 pounds per square inch gauge (psig).

22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the pressure testing comprises pressure testing the upper cement retainer from below, the lower bridge plug from above, and the casing between the upper cement retainer and the lower bridge plug, and wherein the lower stinger comprises aluminum and is drillable.

23. The method of claim 16 , comprising pressure testing by pressuring an annulus between the drill string and the casing.

24. A method of operating a downhole tool assembly for squeeze cementing, comprising:

coupling the downhole tool assembly to a lower end of a drill string via an upper stinger, the upper stinger coupled via a first shear pin to a cement retainer of the downhole tool assembly;

deploying into a wellbore via the drill string the downhole tool assembly to below a wellbore zone to be squeeze cemented, the downhole tool assembly comprising the cement retainer and a bridge plug coupled via a lower stinger, the bridge plug coupled to the lower stinger via a second shear pin;

setting the bridge plug by dropping an activation ball to a ball seat of the bridge plug and pressuring the drill string to at least 1000 pounds per square inch gauge (psig);

raising the drill string to pull up the lower stinger to shear the second shear pin to release the bridge plug from the lower stinger and the downhole tool assembly; setting the cement retainer by rotating the drill string in a first direction;

pressure testing between the cement retainer as set and the bridge plug as set to confirm seal integrity and isolation of the wellbore below the bridge plug;

unsetting the cement retainer by rotating the drill string in a second direction; raising the drill string to reposition the cement retainer above the wellbore zone;

re-setting the cement retainer by rotating the drill string in the first direction;

pressure testing by applying pressure to an annulus between the drill pipe and the casing;

raising the drill pipe to pull the upper stinger to shear the first shear pin to release the cement retainer from the upper stinger and the drill pipe and to close a cementing bypass of the cement retainer;

lowering the drill pipe to lower the upper stinger back into the cement retainer to open the cementing bypass;

pumping cement through the cementing bypass to squeeze cement the wellbore zone; and

raising the drill string to pull the upper stinger from the cement retainer to close the cementing bypass.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the cement retainer is re-settable, and wherein deploying comprises deploying the downhole tool assembly on a single run comprising lowering the bridge plug and the cement retainer in tandem into the wellbore as components of the downhole tool assembly on the single run.

26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the first shear pin comprises multiple shear pins.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 13, 2019
From: AL-MOUSA, AHMED; NEACSU, MARIUS; AL-RAMADHAN, AHMED A.
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 048589/0143 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200056446A1 · Feb 20, 2020
Cited By (6)
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