Release tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12371959-B2
Application number	US-202318229091-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2023
Priority date	Aug 1, 2022
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

A release tool for connecting a workstring to a toolstring. The release tool will be used for contingency if the toolstring gets stuck downhole and hopefully rarely would be actuated. In the present disclosure, the release tool is not broken or destroyed, but is simply disconnected into two parts using the propellent of a low explosive combustion element. This element produces gasses that drive the disconnecting process. The gasses are directed to press a tubular piston to translate from a first position where a wedging portion of the tubular piston is inside a lock ring bracing the lock ring in a locking configuration to a second position where the wedging portion is out of contact with the lock ring. The lock ring is then able to slip free from one or more locking grooves releasing the upper portion of the release tool from the lower.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A release tool for releasably securing a workstring to a downhole tool deployable into a wellbore extending through a subterranean earthen formation, the release tool comprising:
a downhole housing having a downhole end for connecting to the downhole tool and an uphole end opposite the downhole end; and
an uphole assembly, comprising:
an uphole housing having an uphole end connectable to the workstring and a downhole end connectable to the downhole housing;
a lock ring configured to releasably secure the uphole housing to the downhole housing, wherein the lock ring has a locked state in which the lock ring is pressed outwardly towards a locking groove of the downhole housing whereby the lock ring is prevented from deflecting radially inwards, and an unlocked state in which the lock ring is allowed to deflect radially inwards away from the locking groove whereby the uphole housing may disconnect from the downhole housing;
a movable wedge moveable between a first position preventing the lock ring from transitioning from the locked state to the unlocked state and a second position permitting the lock ring to transition from the locked state to the unlocked state;
a combustion element configured to propel the movable wedge from the first position to the second position to release the downhole housing from the uphole housing in response the release tool receiving a release signal; and

an actuation module housing the combustion element and an electronic switch configured to actuate the combustion element in response to receiving the release signal, wherein the actuation module is positioned at the uphole end of the uphole housing whereby the actuation module is removeable from the uphole housing without disassembling the lock ring from the movable wedge.

2. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the uphole assembly further comprises a mandrel which extends into the downhole housing when the uphole assembly is connected to the downhole housing and wherein the mandrel carries the lock ring and an electrical contact for carrying electrical signals and/or data to the downhole tool.

3. The release tool according to claim 2 , wherein the uphole assembly further comprises a piston carried on a periphery of the mandrel whereby the piston seals against both a periphery of the mandrel and a radially inner surface of at least one of the uphole housing and the downhole housing, and wherein the piston engages a radially inner surface of the lock ring with a surface defining the movable wedge.

4. The release tool according to claim 3 , wherein the mandrel comprises a catch sleeve at a downhole end thereof, the catch sleeve comprising a ring shoulder projecting uphole towards the uphole housing with an annular space for the piston whereby the catch sleeve is configured to apply, in response to the application of tension against the uphole housing, an uphole directed compressive force against a downhole end of the lock ring sufficient to deflect the lock ring inwardly when the movable wedge is in the second position.

5. The release tool according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a primary shear pin received in a primary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the primary shear pin frangibly retains the piston in a first axial position relative to the mandrel when in an unsheared state; and
a secondary shear pin received in a secondary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the secondary shear pin frangibly retains the piston in the first axial position relative to the mandrel when in an unsheared state, wherein the secondary groove is greater in length along a central axis of the release tool than the primary groove such that the secondary shear pin is not subject to shearing in the secondary groove in response to the application of an axially directed force against the piston until the primary shear pin has been sheared in the primary groove.

6. The release tool according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a primary shear pin received in a primary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the primary shear pin frangibly couples the piston to the mandrel when in an unsheared state; and
a secondary shear pin received in a secondary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the secondary shear pin frangibly couples the piston to the mandrel when in an unsheared state, wherein the primary shear pin is configured to shear prior to the secondary shear pin in response to the application of an axially directed force against the piston.

7. The release tool according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a primary shear pin received in a primary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the primary shear pin frangibly couples the piston to the mandrel when in an unsheared state; and
a secondary shear pin received in a secondary groove formed in at least one of the piston and the mandrel whereby the secondary shear pin frangibly couples the piston to the mandrel when in an unsheared state;
wherein, when in the unsheared state, the primary shear pin is configured to divert axially directed forces applied to the release tool from the secondary shear pin.

8. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the combustion element comprises a unitized ignitor and power cartridge.

9. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the combustion element comprises low explosive configured to avoid the formation of a supersonic shockwave in response to ignition of the low explosive.

10. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the actuation module comprises a heat shield that at least partially covers the electronic switch for insulating the electronic switch from at least some of heat present in the wellbore.

11. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the actuation module comprises an initiator and an actuation housing that is sealingly received in at least one of the uphole housing and the downhole housing, and wherein the initiator is removeably positioned in a receptacle formed in the actuation housing whereby the initiator is removeable from the actuation housing with the actuation housing positioned in at least one of the uphole housing and the downhole housing.

12. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the actuation module housing comprises an off-axis orienting pin that is radially offset from a central axis of the release tool, wherein the off-axis orienting pin is configured for maintaining a predefined relative orientation between the actuation housing and the downhole housing.

13. The release tool according to claim 1 , wherein the uphole assembly further comprises at least one push-off lug axially translatable between a recessed position and an extended position and having an uphole face facing a downhole face of the moveable wedge and a downhole face facing the downhole housing, wherein the at least one push-off lug is configured to translate from the recessed position to the extended position as the moveable wedge translates from the first position to the second position whereby an axially directed downhole force is applied to the downhole housing by the downhole face of the at least one push-off lug in the extended position.

14. A release tool for releasably securing a workstring to a downhole tool deployable into a wellbore extending through a subterranean earthen formation, the release tool comprising:
an uphole housing connectable to the workstring;
a downhole housing connected to the uphole housing when the release tool is in a locked state and disconnected from th

Assignees

• G&H Diversified Mfg Lp

Inventors

• Zakharia Steven
• Atilano Christian
• Ward Ryan

Classifications

• E21B23/042

  using a single piston or multiple mechanically interconnected pistons · CPC title

• E21B17/06 Primary

  Releasing-joints, e.g. safety joints · CPC title

• E21B47/017

  Protecting measuring instruments · CPC title

• E21B23/0414 Primary

  using explosives · CPC title