Methods, apparatus and systems for creating wellbore plugs for abandoned wells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12331614-B2
Application number	US-202318453025-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2023
Priority date	Apr 3, 2018
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

A wellbore is plugged using a bismuth alloy. The wellbore is arranged so that a liquid bismuth alloy sets with an excess pressure of the plug relative to the borehole fluid pressure along a desired seal height distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for plugging a wellbore traversing a formation, comprising:
a barrier deployed in the wellbore at or below a relatively permeable layer of the formation; and
a wellbore tool assembly including a packer deployed at a relatively impermeable layer of the formation, a tool body extending through the packer in the wellbore and comprising a fluid passageway having a fluid inlet located above the packer, a fluid outlet located below the packer, and a pump between said fluid inlet and fluid outlet for pumping fluid from above the packer to below the packer in the wellbore, said tool body including a bismuth alloy storage chamber storing bismuth alloy and adapted to release the bismuth alloy into the wellbore towards the barrier.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said tool assembly also stores a reaction heater.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said tool assembly further comprises an electrode assembly extending from a bottom of said tool body into the wellbore, and a controller coupled to both said electrode assembly and said pump.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the electrode assembly is mounted to said bottom of said tool body with a detachable mount or with a sacrificial tension joint.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the electrode assembly includes a resistive heating element.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the electrode assembly comprises telescoping pistons adapted to linearly retract said electrode assembly toward the tool body.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein said tool body comprises a fluid reservoir cavity with fluid and is adapted to dispense a volume of the fluid into the wellbore equal to the volume displacement of the retracted electrode assembly.

8. The system of claim 3 , wherein the electrode assembly comprises a plurality of vertically spaced electrode pairs.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Ramakrishnan Terizhandur S
• Zhang Hua
• Elias Quincy K
• Perez Albert

Classifications

• E21B33/138

  Plastering the borehole wall; Injecting into the formation · CPC title

• E21B29/12

  specially adapted for underwater installations (E21B29/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B33/143

  for underwater installations · CPC title

• G01N33/2028

  Metallic constituents · CPC title

• E21B33/134

  Bridging plugs · CPC title