Controlling fluid flow through a valve

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11608719-B2
Application number	US-202117180974-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2021
Priority date	Nov 15, 2016
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

A valve includes an exterior body and an interior body. The exterior body includes an ultrahard material, at least one exterior inlet, at least one exterior outlet, and a chamber inside the exterior body and in fluid communication with the exterior inlet and the exterior outlet. The interior body is located in the chamber within the exterior body and is moveable relative to the exterior body from an open configuration to a closed configuration. The interior body includes an ultrahard material, at least one interior inlet, and at least one interior outlet.

First claim

We claim:

1. A valve, the valve comprising:
an exterior body, at least a portion of the exterior body including an ultrahard material, the exterior body including:
at least one exterior inlet;
at least one exterior outlet;
a chamber located inside the exterior body in fluid communication with the exterior inlet and the exterior outlet; and

an interior body located in the chamber within the exterior body and moveable relative to the exterior body from an open configuration to a closed configuration, at least a portion of the interior body including an ultrahard material, the interior body including:
at least one interior inlet that includes an outline that has at least one protrusion, the at least one protrusion protruding toward the center of the at least one interior inlet and occluding a portion of the at least one exterior inlet; and
at least one interior outlet.

2. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the exterior body including the ultrahard material and the at least a portion of the interior body including the ultrahard material are adjacent.

3. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interior inlet is disposed adjacent to the at least one exterior inlet in the open configuration.

4. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one exterior inlet and the at least one interior inlet have a maximum dimension between 2 mm and 5 mm.

5. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the interior inlet is complementarily shaped to the exterior inlet.

6. The valve of claim 1 , further comprising a first exterior inlet and a second exterior inlet, wherein the first exterior inlet and the second exterior inlet are located on radially opposing sides of the exterior body.

7. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the interior body is configured to be moved at least in part by fluid pressure.

8. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interior outlet is disposed longitudinally within the exterior outlet, the interior outlet and the exterior outlet being coaxial.

9. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the exterior body has a longitudinal length of less than about 15 cm.

10. The valve of claim 1 , wherein a radial clearance between the interior body and exterior body is less than about 5 micrometers.

11. A valve, the valve comprising:
an exterior body, wherein at least a portion of the exterior body includes polycrystalline diamond (PCD), the exterior body including:
an exterior surface, the exterior surface including a recess,
at least one exterior inlet, the at least one exterior inlet positioned in the recess of the exterior surface,
at least one exterior outlet, and
a chamber disposed inside the exterior body in fluid communication with the exterior inlet and the exterior outlet, the chamber having a generally cylindrical shape; and

an interior body disposed within the chamber, wherein at least a portion of the interior body includes polycrystalline diamond (PCD), the interior body having a generally cylindrical shape including:
at least one interior outlet; and
at least one interior inlet,
the interior body being longitudinally aligned with the at least one exterior inlet, such that rotational movement of the interior body selectively blocks fluid flow through the at least one exterior inlet of the exterior body and into the interior body.

12. The valve of claim 11 , wherein the valve has an open configuration and a closed configuration, and the valve moves from the closed configuration to the open configuration and from the open configuration to the closed configuration, at least in part using an electric actuator.

13. The valve of claim 12 , wherein 0.1 N-m is required to move the valve from the closed configuration to the open configuration.

14. The valve of claim 13 , wherein the valve moves from the closed configuration to the open configuration and from the open configuration to the closed configuration in less than 15 ms.

15. The valve of claim 11 , wherein the recess is recessed through about 50% of a radius of the exterior body.

16. A method for controlling fluid flow through a valve, the method comprising:
moving an interior body, the interior body positioned within an exterior body, the interior body including at least one interior inlet and the exterior body including at least one exterior inlet, wherein at least a portion of the exterior body and at least a portion of the interior body include polycrystalline diamond (PCD), wherein the at least a portion of the exterior body and the at least a portion of the interior body including PCD are adjacently disposed, and wherein the interior body is moved at least in part by fluid pressure;
aligning the at least one interior inlet and the at least one exterior inlet in an open configuration;
directing a fluid through the exterior inlet using a recess in the exterior body and into the interior inlet; and
directing the fluid from the interior inlet to an interior outlet.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising directing a first fluid flow from a first exterior inlet and a second fluid flow from a second exterior inlet, the first exterior inlet and the second exterior inlet disposed on radially opposing sides of the exterior body, the first fluid flow contacting the second fluid flow in the open configuration.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising a closed configuration, wherein in the closed configuration a first force is applied to the interior body by fluid pressure through the first exterior inlet, and a second force is applied to the interior body by fluid pressure through the second exterior inlet, and wherein the first force and the second force are approximately equivalent.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein moving the interior body occurs over 15 ms.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one interior inlet includes an outline that has at least one protrusion, the at least one protrusion protruding toward the center of the at least one interior inlet and occluding a portion of the at least one exterior inlet.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Hall David R
• Marshall Jonathan D
• Hoyle David C
• Taylor Malcolm R
• Englund Jordan Dane

Classifications

• E21B34/06

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• E21B41/0085 Primary

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