System and method for valve greasing in a well tree

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11814939-B2
Application number	US-202017755071-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 23, 2020
Priority date	Oct 25, 2019
Publication date	Nov 14, 2023
Grant date	Nov 14, 2023

Abstract

A technique facilitates greasing of valves on a well tree, e.g. a frac tree, according to a simple process which enables selected, individual valves to be greased when desired. In some applications, the greasing process may be automated and controlled via a greasing control system. According to an embodiment, a greasing system is connected with grease ports at a plurality of actuatable valves located in a well tree. The greasing system has a plurality of grease valves which may be associated with each of the actuatable valves, e.g. with each of the grease ports. A pump is used to pump grease to the grease valves and the grease valves are selectively actuated to open positions to provide controlled greasing of desired actuatable valves so as to remove debris from and to lubricate selected actuatable valves.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for use in a well application, comprising:
a well tree having a flow cross and a plurality of valve sections coupled to the flow cross, the plurality of valve sections comprising actuatable valves, each actuatable valve having a grease port through which grease may be received to flush debris from the actuatable valve;
a greasing system having a grease reservoir, a grease pump which is fed by grease from the grease reservoir, and a grease distribution network connected between the grease pump and the grease ports, the grease distribution network comprising a plurality of grease valves actuatable to control flow of grease to selected grease ports;
a control system connected to the grease valves to selectively open and close the grease valves; and
a sensor system to sense valve position of each actuatable valve, the sensor system coupled to the control system to provide an indication to the control system when valve actuation is affected by debris in a given actuatable valve.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the grease valves are disposed in a grease distribution manifold.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the grease valves comprise a dedicated grease valve in fluid communication with each grease port.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein each actuatable valve has at least a pair of grease ports.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the greasing system comprises dual grease reservoirs and dual grease pumps.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to automatically initiate flushing of the given actuatable valve with grease to clear the debris.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the actuatable valves are hydraulically actuatable valves.

8. A system, comprising:
a frac tree having a plurality of actuatable valves;
a greasing system coupled to the plurality of actuatable valves to supply grease under pressure for cleaning debris from selected actuatable valves of the plurality of actuatable valves;
a valve control system to control actuation of individual actuatable valves between closed and open positions;
a sensor system to sense valve position of each actuatable valve, the sensor system coupled to the valve control system to provide an indication to the control system when valve actuation is affected by debris in a given actuatable valve; and
a greasing control system to automatically control greasing of individual actuatable valves.

9. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of actuatable valves is positioned along valve sections coupled with a flow cross of the frac tree.

10. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of actuatable valves comprises grease ports with each actuatable valve having at least one grease port.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the greasing system comprises a plurality of grease valves positioned to selectively control flow of grease to the grease ports.

12. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the greasing control system is coupled with the plurality of grease valves to enable control of selected individual grease valves.

13. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the grease valves are positioned in a manifold.

14. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the plurality of grease valves is located at the frac tree and just one grease line is connected between the frac tree and a grease supply.

15. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein multiple grease valves of the plurality of grease valves are daisy-chained together.

16. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the valve control system and the greasing control system are part of the same computer control system.

17. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the valve control system and the greasing control system are each part of a separate computer control system.

18. A method, comprising:
pumping grease to a well tree to remove debris from actuatable valves positioned in the well tree;
providing grease valves along flows of grease to individual actuatable valves;
sensing actuation of the actuatable valves to determine which actuatable valves would benefit from greasing and debris removal; and
using a greasing control system to selectively open grease valves to accommodate desired debris removal from selected actuatable valves.

19. The method as recited in claim 18 , further comprising using the greasing control system to automatically direct grease to specific actuatable valves based on feedback from a sensor system.

Assignees

• Cameron Int Corp

Inventors

• Viator Mark
• Chen Yang
• Desai Payal
• Khokhar Aleem Aman
• Sharma Nivedita
• Traylor Jeffery

Classifications

• E21B43/2607 Primary

  Surface equipment specially adapted for fracturing operations · CPC title

• E21B34/02

  in well heads · CPC title

• F16N11/00

  Arrangements for supplying grease from a stationary reservoir or the equivalent in or on the machine or member to be lubricated; Grease cups · CPC title

• F16N13/22

  with distributing equipment (separate distributing equipment F16N25/00) · CPC title

• F16N2250/04

  Pressure · CPC title