Ball valves, methods to close a ball valve, and methods to form a well barrier

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11555376-B2
Application number	US-202017118250-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2020
Priority date	May 5, 2020
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

Ball valves, methods to close a ball valve, and methods to form a well barrier are discussed. A ball valve includes a valve housing and a ball that is rotatably movable from an open position to a closed position. The ball valve also includes an actuation mechanism operable to rotate the ball from the open position to the closed position, where a fluid passage of the ball is not aligned with a fluid passage of the valve housing while the ball is in the closed position. The ball valve further includes a sleeve disposed in the valve housing and operable to shift from a first position to a second position to actuate the actuation mechanism.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A ball valve comprising:
a valve housing;
a ball rotatably movable from an open position to a closed position;
an actuation mechanism operable to rotate the ball from the open position to the closed position, wherein a fluid passage of the ball is not aligned with a fluid passage of the valve housing while the ball is in the closed position; and
a sleeve disposed in the valve housing and operable to shift from a first position to a second position to actuate the actuation mechanism,
wherein the sleeve remains slidably coupled to the valve housing after the sleeve shifts to the second position; and
a retaining mechanism that is initially engaged to the actuation mechanism to prevent actuation of the actuation mechanism, wherein the retaining mechanism is disengaged from the actuation mechanism after the sleeve shifts to the second position.

2. The ball valve of claim 1 , wherein the actuation mechanism comprises:
a latch engaged to a latch retainer and configured to disengage from the latch retainer in response to the sleeve shifting to the second position; and
a spring coupled to the latch and initially held in a first position, wherein the spring is configured to shift to a second position to rotate the ball to the closed position after the latch disengages from the latch retainer.

3. The ball valve of claim 2 , wherein the actuation mechanism comprises an arm that is coupled to the ball and the spring, and wherein the arm is configured to rotate the ball from the open position to the closed position in response to the spring shifting to the second position.

4. The ball valve of claim 2 , wherein the spring is in a compressed state while in the first position, and wherein the spring is in a natural state while in the second position.

5. The ball valve of claim 1 , wherein the retaining mechanism comprises a snap ring, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a spring initially held in a first position by the snap ring, and wherein the spring is configured to shift to a second position to rotate the ball to the closed position after the snap ring disengages the spring.

6. The ball valve of claim 1 , further comprising a diverter seat disposed on the sleeve and configured to retain a diverter flowing through the ball valve, and wherein the sleeve is configured to shift from the first position to the second position in response to receiving the diverter.

7. The ball valve of claim 6 , wherein the diverter seat is a ball seat configured to retain an activation ball.

8. The ball valve of claim 7 , wherein the sleeve comprises a shearable piece configured to shear in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied to the sleeve.

9. The ball valve of claim 7 , wherein the sleeve comprises a collet configured to collapse in response to a threshold amount of pressure applied to the sleeve, and wherein the sleeve is configured to shift to the second position after the collet collapses.

10. The ball valve of claim 1 , further comprising a ball seat, wherein a fluid seal is formed by the ball along the ball seat after the ball rotates to the closed position.

11. The ball valve of claim 1 , wherein the sleeve prevents the ball from rotating from the open position to the closed position while the sleeve is in the first position.

12. A method to close a ball valve, the method comprising:
disposing a diverter in a valve housing of a ball valve;
landing the diverter on a diverter seat that is coupled to a sleeve disposed in the valve housing;
shifting the sleeve from a first position to a second position to disengage a latch of the ball valve, wherein the sleeve remains slidably coupled to the valve housing after the sleeve shifts to the second position; and
in response to disengaging the latch, actuating an actuation mechanism of the ball valve to rotate a ball of the ball valve from an open position to a closed position, wherein the ball valve is closed while the ball is in the closed position.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a spring and an arm that is coupled to the ball, and wherein actuating the actuation mechanism comprises:
applying a spring force from the spring to the arm; and
moving the arm from a first position to a second position to rotate the ball from the open position to the closed position.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the ball valve comprises a shearable piece that prevents movement of the sleeve, the method further comprising applying a threshold amount of force to shear the shearable piece, wherein the sleeve shifts from the first position to the second position after the threshold amount of force is applied to the shearable piece.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising forming a fluid seal with a surface of the ball and a surface of a ball seat disposed in the ball valve.

16. A method to form a well barrier, the method comprising:
disposing a diverter in a valve housing of a ball valve, the ball valve comprising a ball having a fluid passage through the ball;
landing the diverter on a diverter seat that is coupled to a sleeve disposed in the valve housing;
shifting the sleeve from a first position to a second position to disengage a latch of the ball valve, wherein the sleeve remains slidably coupled to the valve housing after the sleeve shifts to the second position; and
in response to disengaging the latch, actuating an actuation mechanism of the ball valve to rotate a ball of the ball valve from an open position to a closed position, wherein the fluid passage of the ball is not aligned with a fluid passage of the valve housing of the ball valve while the ball is in the closed position.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a spring and an arm that is coupled to the ball, and wherein actuating the actuation mechanism comprises:
applying a spring force from the spring to the arm; and
moving the arm from a first position to a second position to rotate the ball from the open position to the closed position.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the ball valve comprises a shearable piece that prevents movement of the sleeve, the method further comprising applying a threshold amount of force to shear the shearable piece, wherein the sleeve shifts from the first position to the second position after the threshold amount of force is applied to the shearable piece.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising forming a fluid seal with a surface of the ball and a surface of a ball seat disposed in the ball valve.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Inglis Peter Dw
• Davies Katherine Ann

Classifications

• E21B34/14

  operated by movement of tools, e.g. sleeve valves operated by pistons or wire line tools {(E21B34/066 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• E21B2200/04

  Ball valves · CPC title

• E21B34/142 Primary

  unsupported or free-falling elements, e.g. balls, plugs, darts or pistons · CPC title

• E21B34/063 Primary

  Valve or closure with destructible element, e.g. frangible disc (E21B34/103 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B34/103

  with a shear pin · CPC title