阅读说明：本技术 包括脐带件的介入式驱动系统 (Interventional drive system including an umbilical ) 是由 胡戈·弗朗西斯科·利斯博阿桑托斯 奈伊·鲁宾逊·萨尔维多斯赖斯 毛里西奥·加拉西 林科尔恩·奥 于 2019-10-24 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种包括脐带件的介入式驱动清管器。在这种情况下,本发明提供了一种包括脐带件的介入式驱动清管器,其中,脐带件(6)由低密度材料制造,其中,脐带件(6)包括具有低摩擦系数的材料的外部覆盖物。(The present invention relates to an intervention-driven pig comprising an umbilical. In this case, the invention provides an interventional drive pig comprising an umbilical, wherein the umbilical (6) is manufactured from a low density material, wherein the umbilical (6) comprises an outer covering of a material having a low coefficient of friction.)

1. An interventional drive pig comprising an umbilical, characterized in that the umbilical (6) is manufactured from a low density material and wherein the umbilical (6) comprises an outer covering of a low coefficient of friction material.

2. The driving pig according to claim 1, characterized in that the umbilical (6) has a density close to the medium in which the umbilical (6) is applied, wherein the umbilical (6) is manufactured with a low density material.

3. The driving pig according to claim 2, characterized in that the outer covering of the umbilical (6) comprises a material having a low coefficient of friction compared to steel.

4. The driving pig according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the umbilical (6) comprises at least one buoyancy centralizer (15), wherein the at least one buoyancy centralizer (15) imparts a density to the umbilical (6) close to the medium in which the umbilical (6) is applied.

5. The driving pig according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it further comprises at least one driving element (13) to allow movement of the pig (5) and movement of the umbilical (6).

6. The driving pig according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the driving pig (5) consists of more than one module (11), wherein each module (11) is connected to an adjacent module (11) by means of an articulated coupling (12).

7. The driving pig according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the driving pig (5) comprises a single flexible module.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a pipeline cleaning technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to an intervention drive pig that includes an umbilical.

Background

Production of oil from offshore wells almost always involves drilling of the well and interconnection of the well with a fixed production unit (SPU). The interconnection is typically performed by means of rigid and/or flexible pipes.

An SPU may also be interconnected to other SPUs by means of rigid or flexible pipes or otherwise to onshore sites. These pipes may experience blockages caused by, for example, hydrates and paraffins.

As is well known in the art, these plugs cause significant damage to the industry due to the fact that they impede the continuity of production from the well or the diversion of produced fluids.

The use of a pig in an incompletely plugged pipe is an effective cleaning process. However, in view of the fact that the pig moves within the interior of the pipe due to the pressure difference responsible for the movement of the fluid within the interior of the pipe, the pig can only be used in a pipe that is not completely blocked.

Thus, in a clogged pipe, internal cleaning using a pig becomes extremely difficult.

In some cases, in the current state of the art, coiled tubing comprising a wound steel drum in the form of a reel is applied and pushed into the interior of the production pipeline.

However, these devices have a limited range and cannot be displaced in an ascending manner within the production pipeline, and furthermore many platforms cannot operate these devices due to their large weight.

It is known to use robotic units with driving capabilities in the construction and maintenance of production and injection wells.

However, such units cannot also be displaced by a few kilometers inside the flexible line, due to the various bends present in the line and the high traction forces necessary for this.

Based on this situation, a commonly employed solution includes attempting to clear the blockage from the SPU for the blocked production pipeline. In this case, different techniques are used, such as pressure relief of the tubing line and injection of solvent. Such techniques may be applied from the SPU, from the probe, or from other devices connected to the line.

However, these techniques are very time-delayed and, in addition, have high costs due to the loss of production time and the high daily rates charged by the use of probes. Moreover, these techniques are not always successful, in which case the lines must be replaced.

Furthermore, no document is known concerning a pig which can be displaced in an ascending manner within a flexible pipe.

The document "PIG instruments dad Petrobras: Resultados eperspectivas" (instrumented PIG from Brazilian oil company: results and prospects), written by Carlos Henrique Francisco de Oliveira and Claudio Soligo Camerini (Brazilian oil company), shows only the driving PIGs for inspection of risers and special lines. The pig is basically provided with two units, the first being a drive module and the second being an inspection module. The drive module acts as a small tractor allowing the inspection module to reach difficult to access areas, overcome bends and shift in vertical and horizontal directions, further operating under unusual conditions. The nature of the inspection module will depend on the inspection method it is intended to use. The driving pig is provided with an electric motor and is powered by an umbilical, by means of which also the control of the driving pig and the transmission of the data resulting from the examination are performed.

Document PI0005931A shows a device for pipeline inspection consisting of two pigs connected by an articulated rod. The device shown by this document solves the problem of conventional pigs when there is a large variation in the diameter of the pipe. The articulation between the pigs allows greater mobility of the assembly in pipes with significant bending.

From what has been set forth above, it is clear that the prior art includes a pig that is capable of being displaced within a pipe having a bend and a drive pig that includes a drive module to move the pig within the blocked flexible pipe.

However, these drive modules do not allow the pig to be displaced along a long pipe with a bend, in particular in view of the fact that: the increased load is generated by the exponential increase with respect to the distance traversed and the curve, resulting in an increase in the force required to pull due to the increased friction between the umbilical and the inner portion of the pipe. Therefore, the prior art lacks the following pig: the pig is adapted to clear a long blocked pipe of a blockage and to allow the pig to be displaced within the pipe having a bend and a rising section.

As will be set forth in more detail below, the present invention aims to provide a solution to the aforementioned problems of the prior art in a practical and effective manner.

Disclosure of Invention

A first object of the invention is to provide an intervention drive pig that can be used in, for example, an ascending section of a flexible pipe and in flexible pipes having a long length.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the invention provides an interventional drive pig comprising an umbilical, wherein the umbilical (6) is manufactured from a low density material and wherein the umbilical (6) comprises an outer covering of a material having a low coefficient of friction.

Drawings

The detailed description provided below refers to the accompanying drawings and their corresponding reference numerals.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an oil production system in which the present invention may be applied.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a drive pig according to an alternative configuration of the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an alternative configuration of the umbilical of the drive pig of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic of a pig launcher/receiver into which the driving pig of the present invention may be inserted.

Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a SPU's direct vertical trap into which the driving pig of the present invention may be inserted.

Detailed Description

In a preliminary manner it should be emphasized that the following description is based on a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, as will be apparent to any person skilled in the art, the invention is not limited to this particular embodiment.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an oil production system in which the present invention may be applied. Generally, the system comprises an SPU 3 connected to a well 1 by means of a coiled tubing 2. A driving pig 5 connected to the SPU by means of an umbilical 6 is also schematically illustrated according to an alternative configuration of the invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a driving pig 5 according to an alternative configuration of the invention.

According to the most common configuration of the invention, the interventional drive pig 5 comprises an umbilical 6, wherein the umbilical 6 has a low density, and wherein the umbilical 6 comprises an outer covering of a material having a low coefficient of friction. Preferably, the equivalent density of the umbilical 6 is a density that is close to the average density where the umbilical 6 is applied.

Typically, the umbilicals are inserted into a mixture of water, oil and gas, and therefore, the density of the umbilicals must be close to that of the mixture. In other words, the umbilical must be made of the following materials: the density of the material is close to the density of the medium inserted within the interior of the pipe.

One of the biggest limitations of the current technology is that the effect of the drag of the umbilical 6, caused by the realization of the continuous bend and affected by the dragged load, is significantly increased. This increase can be estimated by means of the euler-eltleman formula according to which the force required to drive the umbilical 6 and the pig 5 increases exponentially with the number of bends traversed.

To compensate for this increase, the umbilical 6 connected to the drive pig 5 of the present invention is made of a material having a low density, such as hollow microspheres. In this way, it is ensured that the umbilical comprises a neutral density (or close to a neutral density) with respect to the fluid in which the umbilical is immersed.

Furthermore, the resistance to movement of the umbilical 6 is further reduced in view of the fact that: the umbilical 6 receives a covering comprising a composition having a low coefficient of friction relative to steel, such as, for example, graphite, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and molybdenum disulfide.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic view of an alternative configuration of the umbilical 6 of the drive pig 5 of the present invention, wherein the umbilical 6 comprises at least a buoyant centralizer 15. This configuration may be employed to enhance the neutral density characteristics of the umbilical 6.

The buoyancy centralizer 15 may be made of a low density material (or otherwise include a float), which imparts neutral buoyancy on the centralizer 15/umbilical assembly 6.

In this way, the driving pig 5 of the present invention can be used in long sections of flexible pipe 2 without requiring a large force to move the driving pig 5, due to the fact that: the weight of the drive pig 5 will be balanced by the buoyancy of the umbilical 6 and the friction generated will not increase excessively due to the low coefficient of friction of the materials used.

The driving pig 5 of the present invention can therefore be used to remove obstacles and/or achieve a series of operations and maintenance in long sections of pipes 2, these pipes 2 being rigid or flexible, rising, horizontal or falling, and having a large number of bends. Optionally, a drive pig 5 is supplied and controlled from the SPU 3 by means of an umbilical 6.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of a pig launcher/receiver 7, in which pig launcher/receiver 7 the driving pig 5 of the present invention can be inserted. The invention provides that the driving pig 5 can be inserted in the pig launcher/receiver 7 of the SPU 3 in order to be inserted into the rigid or flexible pipe 2.

Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic view of a direct vertical trap 10 of the SPU 3, into which direct vertical trap 10 the driving pig 5 of the present invention can be inserted. Again, this may be a suitable way of inserting the driving pig 5 of the present invention into a flexible (or rigid) pipe in need of repair.

In both configurations, a sealing device 8 is employed to allow the cleaning pig 5 to enter the pipe 2. The seal may be static or dynamic and therefore this does not represent a limitation on the scope of the invention.

Optionally, the driving pig 5 further comprises at least one driving element 13 to assist the movement of the pig 5 and the umbilical 6 within the pipe 2 and/or the well 1. The drive element 13 may employ a series of strategies to move the pig 5, such as using wheels, peristaltic motion, and helical motion.

The position of the drive assembly 13 may be defined at the distal end of the umbilical 6. In this way, this will further help to solve the problem of boarding the rising section of the flexible pipe 2.

Alternatively, the driving pig 5 may consist of more than one module 11, wherein each module 11 is connected to an adjacent module by means of an articulated coupling 12. In this way, the driving pig 5 of the present invention will also have the ability to climb portions of the bend of the pipe 2 having a small radius of curvature.

When this configuration is employed, each module 11 may be used to house various electronic components.

Alternatively, the drive pig 5 may comprise a single flexible module, the length of which may be variable. This configuration will also allow the cleaning pig 5 to be displaced within the interior of the flexible pipe 2 having a bend.

Based on the stated it is clear that the invention solves the problems of the prior art in that the invention proposes to provide a driving pig 5, which driving pig 5 comprises an umbilical 6 with a neutral density and a low coefficient of friction, allowing the pig 5 to be used in e.g. an ascending section of a flexible pipe 2.

Furthermore, due to the aforementioned various optional features of the drive pig 5 of the present invention, the drive pig 5 is also able to effectively displace within the interior of a flexible pipe 2 comprising a long section having a bend.

The driving pig 5 of the invention can therefore be applied in a wide variety of maintenance operations in rising sections of flexible pipelines 2 and long sections with bends in these pipelines 2, which cannot be satisfactorily achieved by the prior art. Operations to which the drive pig 5 may be applied include: hydrate removal operations, paraffin removal operations and removal operations of stuck pigs, and other necessary operations, among others.

The technology described herein has primary application, but is not limited to, pipelines 2 having a direct vertical trap 10 or, in addition, a pig launcher/receiver 7. In those cases where these elements are not present in pipeline 2, an adaptation of the pipeline from SPU 3 may be implemented to allow access to its interior.

Allowing numerous variations that affect the scope of protection of the present application. In this way, the following facts are emphasized: the present invention is not limited to the specific configurations/embodiments described above.