Systems for forming lateral wellbores

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9915098-B2
Application number	US-201514656806-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2015
Priority date	Mar 1, 2011
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

Systems facilitate forming lateral wellbores by optionally eliminating one or more trips downhole. The systems provide for forming a lateral wellbore by enabling the milling of a casing window and/or the drilling of the desired lateral wellbore to a target depth during a single trip down hole. The systems also facilitate improved downhole dynamics control and overall bottom hole assembly functionality.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system forming a lateral wellbore, comprising:
a bit having a bit body, plurality of blades, and a recess formed between at least two of the plurality of blades;
a whipstock; and
an attachment system releasably coupling the bit to the whipstock, the attachment system including:
an attachment member coupled to the whipstock and the bit, the attachment member being positioned within the recess of the bit; and
a removable retainer at least partially within the bit body and coupling the attachment member to the bit body.

2. The system of claim 1 , the removable retainer including a retainer plate.

3. The system of claim 1 , the removable retainer including a locking member.

4. The system of claim 3 , the locking member being threadably coupled to the bit.

5. The system of claim 1 , the attachment member being arranged and designed to break after the whipstock is anchored within a wellbore.

6. The system of claim 5 , the attachment member being arranged and designed to break at a notch in an external surface of the attachment member.

7. The system of claim 6 , the attachment member being arranged and designed to break such that a remaining portion of the attachment member protruding from the whipstock is less than a portion of the attachment member within an opening in the whipstock.

8. The system of claim 1 , the attachment member including a notch receiving at least a portion of the removable retainer.

9. The system of claim 8 , the notch receiving a retainer plate of the removable retainer, the retainer plate being secured to the bit by a locking member threaded to the bit.

10. The system of claim 1 , the bit including a plurality of cutters and back-up components thereon.

11. The system of claim 10 , the back-up components having a different shape than the plurality of cutters.

12. The system of claim 11 , the back-up components having a contact surface having a radius of curvature greater than half a diameter of the plurality of cutters.

13. The system of claim 11 , the back-up components having a semicircular lead end portion and a flat trailing end portion.

14. The system of claim 10 , a gap between the plurality of cutters and corresponding back-up components being between 0.03 inch and 0.10 inch.

15. A system for forming a lateral wellbore, comprising:
a bit having a bit body, a plurality of blades, and a recess formed between at least two of the plurality of blades, the bit further including an interior flow passage fluidly coupled to one or more outlet nozzles;
a whipstock;
an attachment system releasably coupling the bit to the whipstock, the attachment system including:
an attachment member within the recess of the bit, and coupled to the bit and the whipstock; and
a retainer threadably coupled to the bit and coupling the attachment member to the bit body; and

a bypass system configured to allow fluid to flow to the whipstock and to isolate fluid pressure above the bypass system from at least one of the interior flow passage or a wellbore annulus.

16. The system of claim 15 , the attachment member being welded to at least one of the whipstock or the bit.

17. The system of claim 15 , the bypass system including a frangible member arranged and designed to selectively allow fluid flow into the interior flow passage.

18. The system of claim 15 , the one or more outlet nozzles being open and not including plugs.

19. The system of claim 15 , the retainer including:
an attachment member retainer engaged with the attachment member; and
a bolt securing the attachment member retainer in engagement with the attachment member, the bolt being threadably coupled to the bit body.

20. The system of claim 15 , the bypass system including:
a rupture disk at an entrance of the internal flow passage;
a manifold threadably receiving the rupture disk; and
a bypass port extending through the manifold, the bypass port being arranged and designed to enable fluid to be communicated to the whipstock.

Assignees

• Smith International

Inventors

• Alsup Shelton W
• Gregurek Philip M
• Swadi Shantanu N

Classifications

• E21B7/061

  the tool shaft advancing relative to a guide, e.g. a curved tube or a whipstock · CPC title

• E21B10/43

  characterised by the arrangement of teeth or other cutting elements · CPC title

• E21B29/06 Primary

  Cutting windows, e.g. directional window cutters for whipstock operations ({E21B29/005 and} E21B29/08 take precedence) · CPC title

• E21B7/064 Primary

  specially adapted drill bits therefor · CPC title