Anchoring device, system and method of attaching an anchor to a tubular

Tubular anchoring devices such as those used in the carbon dioxide sequestration and hydrocarbon recovery industries typically employ slips that ramp along surfaces of cones to wedgedly engage with a tubular (such as a casing or liner) to which they are to be anchored. Although these systems serve the function for which they were designed, the slips and cones require annular space that could be used for other purposes, such as for flowing fluid or increasing the tubular wall thickness to increase strength. The industry is interested in alternate devices and methods for anchoring to tubulars that overcome this drawback and others associated with the current technology.

Disclosed herein is an anchoring device. The anchoring device includes at least one slip configured to fixedly engage the anchoring device to a structure when urged against the structure, and a member separate from the at least one slip positioned radially of the at least one slip having a portion that is radially deformable in response to longitudinal compression, the portion being configured to urge the at least one slip against the structure when deformed.

Further disclosed herein is a method of attaching an anchor to a tubular. The method includes compressing a member of an anchor longitudinally, deforming a portion of the member radially, moving at least one slip separate from the member radially with the deforming of the portion, compressing the at least one slip radially between the portion and an inner wall of the tubular, and attaching the anchor to the tubular.

Further disclosed herein is an anchoring system. The system includes a tubular, and an anchoring device having, at least one slip configured to fixedly engage the anchoring device to the tubular when urged against the tubular, and a member separate from the at least one slip positioned radially of the at least one slip having a portion that is radially deformable in response to longitudinal compression, the portion being configured to urge the at least one slip against the tubular when deformed.

The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:

FIG. 1 depicts a partial cross sectional view of a tubular anchoring device disclosed herein in a non-anchoring position;

FIG. 2 depicts a partial cross sectional view of the tubular anchoring device of FIG. 1 in an anchoring position;

FIG. 3 depicts a partial cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the tubular anchoring device disclosed herein in an anchoring position;

FIG. 4 depicts a force diagram of the tubular anchoring device of FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 5 depicts a partial cross sectional view of an alternate tubular anchoring device disclosed herein in a non-anchoring position;

FIG. 6 depicts a partial cross sectional view of the tubular anchoring device of FIG. 5 in an anchoring position;

FIG. 7 depicts a partial cross sectional view of an alternate tubular anchoring device disclosed herein in an anchoring position;

FIG. 8 depicts a partial cross sectional view of an alternate tubular anchoring device disclosed herein in an anchoring position.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an embodiment of an anchoring device disclosed herein is illustrated at 10 . The anchoring device 10 includes at least one member 14 , being a single member having a hollow cylindrical shape in this embodiment, having at least one portion 18 that is radially deformable in response to longitudinal compression of the member 14 . The device 10 also has at least one slip 22 , with the embodiment in these figures having a plurality of the slips 22 . The slips 22 are radially compressible between the member 14 and a structure 26 , illustrated herein as a tubular when the portion 18 is sufficiently deformed to press the slip 22 against the tubular 26 . This urging force is normal to a wall 30 of the tubular 26 resulting in frictional engagement between the wall 30 and the slip 22 , as will be described in greater detail hereunder, thereby fixing the anchoring device 10 to the tubular 26 . The slips 22 may have teeth 34 , as shown or other features to increase frictional engagement with the wall 30 .

The member 14 is configured to deform radially in response to being longitudinally compressed. This embodiment includes radial grooves 38 in an inner surface 42 and/or an outer surface 46 of the member 14 . Still other embodiments can include small radial displacements 50 (see FIG. 5 ) of the member 14 in the directions in which radial deformations are desired.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the member 14 A is shown in a deformed position urging the slips 22 against the wall 30 of the tubular 26 . The member 14 A has taken on the shape of an arch. The device 10 includes a collar 54 and a sleeve 58 on opposing longitudinal ends 62 of the member 14 A to prevent the ends 62 from being longitudinally expanded. Since the ends 62 cannot longitudinally expand the arch shape of the member 14 assures the portion 18 A is in compression by the radial force of the tubular 26 against the slips 22 and the portion 18 A. One of the few ways that this configuration could fail would be through buckling of the portion 18 A, but that would require very high forces in the member 14 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , the member 14 B overcomes the potential of buckling under loads described above by intentionally buckling the portion 18 B of the member 14 B during the deformation process such that it is undulating. In some embodiments the buckling is set to substantially fill the annular space defined radially between the slips 22 and a mandrel 66 (the mandrel 66 being radially inwardly of the member 14 B). In so doing, there is essentially nowhere for the deformed portion 18 B of the member 14 B to go regardless of how high radial inward forces applied thereagainst become. Making the member 14 B of an incompressible material, such as metal for example, prevents any elasticity of the deformation of the member 14 B under load.

Embodiments of the device 10 have legs 70 that define the deformed portions 18 A, 18 B and form specific angles relative to an axis 74 of the device 10 when the portion 18 A, 18 B is fully deformed. The legs 70 effectively become wedged in the annular space between the slips 22 and the mandrel 66 . This structure can be set to maintain desired radial loads between the slips 22 and the wall 30 . Referring to FIG. 4 , one of the legs 70 is shown in a force diagram. Θ represents the angle between the leg 70 and the axis 74 . F R is the magnitude of the radial force and F L is the magnitude of the longitudinal force. If we let μ be the coefficient of friction between the slips 22 and the wall 30 then the following two equations hold:

Therefore:

As an example, if we want the anchor to hold 10,000 lbs. longitudinally (F L =10,000), and we know the slips 22 to wall 30 frictional coefficient is 0.4 (μ=0.4). Then the member 14 is configured so that when fully deformed forms an angle of Θ at least 68 degrees to support a radial force of 25,000 lbs. (F R =25,000).

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , an alternate embodiment of an anchoring device is illustrated at 110 . The device 110 has similarities to device 10 and thus only differences between the device 110 and the device 10 are described hereunder. The device 110 includes a mandrel 112 with a shoulder 116 thereon that engages with end 120 of the member 14 C. A sleeve 124 engages with the other end 128 of the member 14 C. The member 14 C is radially deformable over its entire length. A slip 132 includes T-shaped bar 133 that engages within a T-shaped slot 134 in the sleeve 124 to carry longitudinal loads between the slip 132 and the sleeve 124 . A latch 136 shown herein is a ratcheting device that allows the mandrel 112 to move relative to the sleeve 124 in a direction that longitudinally compresses the member 14 C but prevents the mandrel 112 from moving in the opposing direction relative to the sleeve 124 . This latch 136 maintains the member 14 C in the deformed position once it has been deformed, thereby maintaining the slip 132 engagement with the tubular 26 .

Embodiments of the members 14 - 14 C disclosed herein, though not required, have perimetrically continuous walls 142 . Being perimetrically continuous gives the walls 142 circumferential hoop strength that they would lack if the walls 142 were not continuous. The perimetrical continuous walls 142 also create a fluidic barrier. In applications wherein the ends 120 , 128 and 62 are sealingly engaged with the mandrels 66 , 112 , collars 54 and sleeves 58 , 124 , for example, fluid can be prevented from flowing between the member 14 - 14 C and any of the aforementioned components to which it is sealed.

Referring to FIG. 7 , an alternate embodiment of an anchoring device disclosed herein is illustrated at 210 . The anchoring device 210 employs members 214 A- 214 J made of a plurality of conical spring washers, often referred to as Belleville washers that define a plurality of deformable portions 218 A- 218 J. Each of the adjacent conical spring washers 214 A- 214 J is oriented opposite to its neighbor. As such, longitudinal compression of the portions 218 A- 218 J between the collar 54 and the sleeve 58 cause the portions 218 A- 218 J to urge the slips 22 radially outwardly into anchoring engagement with the walls 30 of the tubular 26 . The legs 70 of the portions 218 A- 218 J are configured to meet the criteria discussed above.

Referring to FIG. 8 , an alternate embodiment of an anchoring device disclosed herein is illustrated at 310 . The anchoring device 310 employs a member 314 that has a deformable portion 318 that moves radially outwardly in response to longitudinal compression of the member 314 . The member 314 is made of one or more materials that are substantially incompressible but is readily deformable when a load is applied thereto. Materials such as polymers, elastomers, and soft metal are well suited for this application. As such, when the member 314 is longitudinally compressed, such as between a collar 354 and a sleeve 358 , it dimensionally shrinks longitudinally while dimensionally expanding radially. And since the mandrel 66 essentially prevents the member 314 from extending radially inwardly the radial expansion is primarily in a radial outward direction. The radial outward expansion of the member 314 urges the slips 22 radially outwardly into anchoring engagement with the walls 30 of the tubular 26 . In still other embodiments the member 314 could be fluid filled bladder wherein the fluid is also substantially incompressible. Since the volume of the incompressible member 314 is constant, longitudinal compression of the member 314 necessarily causes it to expand radially.

While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.