Thru-casing milling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10030459-B2
Application number	US-201514789001-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 1, 2015
Priority date	Jul 8, 2014
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

A section milling device may include a plurality of rotatable arms that each include one or more cutting members. The rotatable arms may be rotated between a retracted position and an extended position. When rotated to the extended position, the rotatable arms may be locked or substantially limited in their movement by one or more hydraulic pistons. The rotatable arms may be held at a predetermined angle during milling operations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a tubular body;
a first piston within the tubular body;
a plurality of openings extending radially through the tubular body;
a plurality of rotatable arms each having a cutting member defined by a front face and a back face, each rotatable arm rotatably coupled to the first piston such that an arm connection point is located radially within an inner surface of the tubular body, and each rotatable arm configured to be rotated between a retracted position and an extended position; and
a cutting surface on the front face of the cutting member, the cutting surface including a at least one cutting insert coupled thereto.

2. The device of claim 1 , each of the plurality of rotatable arms further including a secondary cutting member including a secondary front face parallel to and proximate the back face, the secondary front face and the back face defining a clearing gap therebetween.

3. The device of claim 2 , each of the plurality of rotatable arms further includes a tertiary front face parallel to and proximate a secondary back face, the secondary front face and the back face defining a secondary clearing gap therebetween.

4. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more expandable stabilizer members operatively associated with the tubular body and configured to have an expanded position having a stabilizer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the tubular body.

5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an expandable an underreamer or section mill coupled to the tubular body and configured to be expanded to remove cement.

6. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first fluid chamber, the first piston being associated with the first fluid chamber;
a second fluid chamber;
a second piston associated with the second fluid chamber; and
a stop block associated with the second fluid chamber and having an engaged position and a disengaged position, the stop block having a sloped surface configured to engage directly with the plurality of rotatable arms in the extended position when in the engaged position.

7. The device of claim 6 , further comprising:
a fluid passage between the first fluid chamber and second fluid chamber and configured to provide fluid communication between the first fluid chamber and second fluid chamber.

8. A system for removal of casing in a downhole environment, the device comprising:
a section milling device including:
a tubular body;
a first piston within the tubular body, the first piston being movable between a pressurized position and an unpressurized position;
a plurality of openings extending radially through the tubular body;
at least three rotatable arms each having a front face and a back face, each rotatable arm coupled to the first piston and configured to rotate between a retracted position and an extended position, wherein at the pressurized position of the first piston, an arm connection point is longitudinally aligned with at least one of the plurality of openings; and
a cutting surface on each front face and adjacent a first end portion of each of the rotatable arms, the cutting surface including a plurality of cutting inserts coupled thereto in a tiled pattern; and

one or more expandable stabilizer members operatively associated with the section milling device and configured to apply a radially outward force on a casing.

9. The system of claim 8 , each of the at least three rotatable arms further including a secondary cutting member including a secondary front face parallel to and proximate the back face, the secondary front face and the back face defining a clearing gap therebetween.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein at the unpressurized position of the first piston, the arm connection point is located longitudinally adjacent an inner surface of the tubular body.

11. The system of claim 8 , the plurality of cutting inserts include at least one cutting insert with a plurality of cutting edges oriented to be one or more of the following:
parallel to an edge of the at least one cutting insert;
parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tubular body when the at least three rotatable arms are in the retracted position;
at a non-zero angle with the longitudinal axis of the tubular body when the at least three rotatable arms are in the extended position;
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tubular body when the at least three rotatable arms are in the extended position;
linearly;
circularly; or
elliptically.

12. The system of claim 8 , an expansion ratio of the at least three rotatable arms relative to the tubular body being greater than 1.35:1.

13. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a first fluid chamber;
a second fluid chamber in fluid communication with the first fluid chamber;
a fluid outlet in fluid communication with the second fluid chamber;
a first piston associated with the first fluid chamber and rotatably connected to a second end of each of the rotatable arms at an arm connection point;
a second piston associated with the second fluid chamber; and
a stop block associated with the second fluid chamber and having an engaged position and a disengaged position, the stop block having a sloped surface configured to engage with the rotatable arms in the extended position when in the engaged position.

14. A method, comprising:
tripping a section milling device into a cased wellbore;
expanding an expandable stabilizer member coupled to the section milling device;
moving a plurality of rotatable arms of the section milling device to an extended position such that the plurality of rotatable arms are adjacent casing of the cased wellbore and define a cutting diameter greater than 1.2 times a body diameter of the section milling device, wherein moving the plurality of rotatable arms includes:
pressurizing the section milling device with drilling fluid and moving a piston within a body of the section milling device to a pressurized position; and
rotating the rotatable arms about an arm connection located on the piston;

rotating the plurality of rotatable arms relative to a longitudinal axis of the casing; and
while rotating the plurality of rotatable arms, cutting the casing using a cutting surface on the rotatable arms, the cutting surface being configured to cut the casing by face milling.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising flushing cuttings from the cutting surface using drilling fluid.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the cutting diameter is greater than 1.4 times the body diameter.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the section milling device includes first and second section mills, the first section mill being configured to mill an inner casing and the second section mill being configured to use the plurality of rotatable arms to mill an outer casing.

Assignees

• Smith International

Inventors

• Stokes David A
• O'Rourke Timothy M
• Fuller Nathan E

Classifications

• E21B29/005 Primary

  with a radially-expansible cutter rotating inside the pipe, e.g. for cutting an annular window · CPC title

• E21B29/002

  Cutting, e.g. milling, a pipe with a cutter rotating along the circumference of the pipe · CPC title