Reinforced directional drilling assemblies and methods of forming same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228584-B2
Application number	US-201113293135-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2011
Priority date	Nov 10, 2011
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

Reinforced directional drilling assemblies and methods of forming reinforced directional drilling assemblies are provided. Strengthening materials may be incorporated into a resilient layer and/or a polymer-based composite material within a directional drilling assembly to improve the durability and performance of a power section within the directional drilling assembly. Inclusion of strengthening materials within a directional drilling assembly may provide a method to detect the status of a power section and send a signal from downhole upon detecting status of the power section. Inclusion of strengthening materials also may provide a method to collect data about operating conditions, including pressure, temperature, torque, RPM, stress level, shock, vibration, downhole weight on bit, and/or equivalent circulating density to send to the surface or to MWD/LWD systems. The strengthening materials may collect data by themselves or in conjunction with a sensor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A reinforced drilling assembly comprising:
at least one component with at least one strengthening material applied to a portion of at least one resilient layer to form at least one reinforced resilient layer, the at least one component having multiple axial sections with strengthening materials differing between at least two of the multiple axial sections; and
a reinforced polymer composite adhered to the at least one reinforced resilient layer.

2. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one resilient layer is selected from the group consisting of:
fluoroelastomer, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, nitrile rubber, synthetic rubber, synthetic polyisopropene, butyl rubber, halogenated butyl rubber, polybutadiene, nitrile butadiene rubber, carboxylated hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, flurocarbon rubber, perfluoroelastomer and natural rubber.

3. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced polymer composite is selected from the group consisting of:
epoxies, metal-filled epoxies, inorganic-filled epoxies, polymer fiber-filled epoxies, polyimides, polyether ether ketones, polyketones, phenolic resins, and polyphenylene sulfides.

4. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one strengthening material is selected from the group consisting of:
fibers, cord, carbon, glass, polymeric fibers, Kevlar, nylon, short or long fibers, microfibers, nano fibers, fabrics, sheets, mesh filaments, woven reinforcing cloths, three-dimensional structural fibers, wires, conductive polymers, bi-filament materials, multi-filament materials, and fiber optic materials.

5. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one polymer solidified on the portion of the at least one resilient layer in one of the following forms:
liquid, paste, slurry, powder, and granules.

6. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 5 , wherein the at least one polymer is solidified on the portion of the at least one resilient layer using at least one of the following processes:
using chemical additives, applying ultraviolet radiation, applying electron beams, heating, exposing to part of the microwave spectrum, exposing to the full microwave spectrum, steam curing, curing/solidification, and cooling.

7. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one resilient layer is selected from hydrogenated nitrile rubber or nitrile rubber, the at least one strengthening material is fiber cord, and the reinforced polymer composite is epoxy.

8. The reinforced directional drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one strengthening material and the at least one resilient layer is formed as multiple layers.

9. The reinforced drilling assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one component is selected from the group consisting of a stator and a rotor.

10. A method of forming a reinforced drilling assembly, the method comprising:
applying at least one strengthening material to a resilient layer of a component of the assembly to form a reinforced resilient layer, the component having multiple axial sections with strengthening materials differing between at least two of the multiple axial sections;
forming a polymer-based composite material having at least one strengthening material; and
adhering the reinforced resilient layer to the polymer-based composite material.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the resilient layer is formed through one of the following processes:
extrusion, coextrusion to form a tube with multi-layers, coextrusion to form a tube with multi-sections, winding, injection molding, compression molding, transfer molding, and shaping over a mandrel.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein adhering further comprises:
inserting at least one strengthening material between the reinforced resilient layer and the polymer-based composite material; and
filling a cavity through casting.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein adhering further comprises:
inserting at least one strengthening material between the reinforced resilient layer and the polymer-based composite material; and
filling a cavity through injection.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming a polymer-based composite material comprises:
mixing the polymer-based composite material with the at least one strengthening material.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one strengthening material is selected from the group consisting of:
fibers, cord, carbon, glass, polymeric fibers, Kevlar, nylon, short or long fibers, microfibers, nano fibers, fabrics, sheets, mesh filaments, woven reinforcing cloths, three-dimensional structural fibers, wires, conductive polymers, bi-filament materials, multi-filament materials, and fiber optic materials.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the polymer-based composite material is selected from the group consisting of:
epoxies, metal-filled epoxies, inorganic-filled epoxies, polymer fiber-filled epoxies, polyimides, polyether ether ketones, polyketones, phenolic resins, and polyphenylene sulfides.

Assignees

• Akbari Hossein
• Jones Geraint
• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Akbari Hossein
• Jones Geraint

Classifications

• E21B4/02 Primary

  Fluid rotary type drives · CPC title

• F04C2/1075 Primary

  Construction of the stationary member · CPC title

• B29L2031/7496

  Pumps · CPC title

• Y10T156/10

  Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor · CPC title

• F04C2230/24

  by extrusion · CPC title