Delayed opening port assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12584377-B2
Application number	US-202217952767-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2022
Priority date	Sep 25, 2018
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

A port assembly for controlling fluid flow through a flow port of a port sub. The port assembly comprises a dissolvable barrier, a burst disk for protecting the dissolvable barrier from fluids inside the port sub, and optionally a protective layer for protecting the dissolvable barrier from external fluids. When the burst disk is ruptured by increased fluid pressure inside the port sub, the dissolvable barrier starts disintegrating from exposure to the fluid. When the dissolvable barrier and protective layer are broken through, a flow passage is opened in the port assembly to permit fluid flow therethrough. The flow passage may be positioned tangentially in the port sub. The breakthrough time of the dissolvable barrier may be preconfigured by providing one or more thinner areas therein and/or placing a corrosive material in the port assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wellbore string, for emplacement within a wellbore for conducting fluid between a surface of the earth and a subterranean formation, comprising:
a port sub; and a conduit; wherein:
the port sub is fluidly coupled to the conduit;
the port sub includes:
a housing;
a flow passage, defined within the housing;
a port, extending through the housing, from the flow passage to an environment external to the housing;

and
a sealing configuration, including;
a burst disk; and
a dissolvable barrier;

wherein: the port and the sealing configuration co-operate to establish a flow controller configuration that is characterized by a sealing-effective state and a sealing-ineffective state, wherein:
in the sealing-effective state, the port is sealed such that fluid communication, between the flow passage and the external environment, via the port, is prevented; and
in the sealing-ineffective state, fluid communication, between the flow passage and the external environment, via the port, is established;
the flow controller configuration is configured in a first sealing-effective configuration, wherein, in the first sealing-effective configuration:
the burst disk establishes a first sealing interface between the flow passage and the external environment, such that the first sealing interface seals the port and prevents fluid communication, via the port, between the flow passage and the barrier, and the dissolvable barrier establishes a second sealing interface between the flow passage and the external environment such that the second sealing interface also seals the port and prevents fluid communication, via the port, between the external environment and the burst disk, such that the flow controller configuration is disposed in the sealing-effective state;

while the flow controller configuration is configured in the first sealing-effective configuration, the flow controller configuration is configurable in a second sealing-effective configuration, wherein, in the second sealing-effective configuration, the first sealing interface, established by the burst disk, is absent, such that the dissolvable barrier is disposed in fluid communication with the flow passage, and the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is effective, such that the flow controller configuration, is disposed in the sealing-effective state;
the first sealing interface, established by the burst disk, is defeatable in response to application of a respective seal-defeating fluid pressure and only if the seal-defeating fluid pressure is equal to, or greater than, a seal-defeating minimum predetermined pressure that is respective to the burst disk, wherein the defeating is with effect that the flow controller configuration transitions from the first sealing-effective configuration to the second sealing-effective configuration;
the fluid communication, in which the dissolvable barrier is disposed with the flow passage while the second sealing-effective state is established, is effective for emplacing a dissolution-stimulating material in a dissolution-effective communication with the dissolvable barrier for stimulating dissolution of the dissolvable barrier, with effect that the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is defeated; and
the seal-defeating minimum predetermined fluid pressure, that is respective to the burst disk, is within a range, and the range is of from about 80% to about 100% of a yield pressure of the conduit.

2 . The wellbore string of claim 1 , wherein the defeating of the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is with effect that the flow controller configuration transitions from the second sealing-effective configuration to the sealing-ineffective configuration, such that the sealing-ineffective state is established.

3 . The wellbore string of claim 2 , wherein the defeating of the second sealing interface occurs after a breakthrough time that ranges from about 2 hours to 100 hours.

4 . The wellbore string of claim 1 , wherein:
the sealing configuration further includes a protective barrier, wherein the dissolvable barrier is disposed between the burst disk and the protective barrier; while the flow controller configuration is configured in the first sealing-effective configuration:
the protective barrier establishes a third sealing interface between the flow passage and the external environment, such that the third sealing interface also seals the port,
the third sealing interface, established by the protective barrier, is disposed between the external environment and the dissolvable barrier, such that fluid communication, via the port, between the external environment and the dissolvable barrier, is prevented by the third sealing interface;
while the flow controller configuration is configured in the second sealing-effective configuration, the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is effective, and the third sealing interface, established by the protective barrier, is effective; the defeating of the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is with effect that the flow controller configuration transitions from the second sealing-effective configuration to a third sealing-effective configuration, and while the flow controller configuration is configured in the third sealing-effective configuration:
the first sealing interface, established by the burst disk, is absent, and the second sealing interface, established by the dissolvable barrier, is absent, such that protective barrier is disposed in fluid communication with the flow passage; and
the third sealing interface, established by the protective barrier, is effective, such that the sealing-effective state, of the flow controller configuration, is effective; and
defeating, of the third sealing interface, is with effect that the flow controller configuration transitions from the third sealing-effective configuration to the sealing-ineffective configuration.

5 . The wellbore string of claim 4 , wherein:
the third sealing interface, established by the protective barrier, is defeatable in response to application of a respective seal-defeating fluid pressure and only if the applied seal-defeating fluid pressure, that is respective to the sealing interface that is established by the protective barrier, is equal to, or greater than, a respective seal-defeating minimum predetermined pressure, wherein the transitioning of the flow controller configuration, from the third sealing-effective configuration to the sealing-ineffective configuration, is effected by the defeating; and the burst disk is a first burst disk and the protective barrier is a second burst disk, and the seal-defeating minimum predetermined pressure, that is respective to the first burst disk, is greater than the seal-defeating minimum predetermined pressure, that is respective to the second burst disk.

6 . The wellbore string of claim 4 , wherein the fluid communication, in which the protective barrier is disposed with the flow passage while the third sealing-effective state is established, is effective for emplacing a dissolution-stimulating material in a dissolution-effective communication with the protective barrier for stimulating dissolution of the protective barrier, with effect that the third sealing interface, established by the protective outer barrier, is defeated, wherein the transitioning of the flow controller configuration, from the third sealing-effective configuration to the sealing-ineffective configuration, is effected by the defeating.

7 . The wellbore string of claim 1 , wherein the dissolvable barrier is directly attached to a wall of the housing.

Assignees

• Exxonmobil Technology & Engineering Company

Inventors

• Watkins Tom
• Machacek Todd
• Veizaj Bashkim
• Sherman Scott

Classifications

• G09G2354/00

  Aspects of interface with display user · CPC title

• G09G2340/0464

  Positioning · CPC title

• G09G5/377

  for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns (G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence) · CPC title

• E21B2200/06

  Sleeve valves · CPC title

• E21B33/1208

  characterised by the construction of the sealing or packing means (E21B33/1277 takes precedence) · CPC title