| 摘要 |
A gripping tool having a mandrel reciprocatable within a slide member, the mandrel having a top connector for connecting to a tubular string and a bottom connector for connecting to a cutting tool, the slide member having at least one radially outwardly biased friction member and a slip cage with at least one window through which a slip is deployable, by movement of the mandrel within the slide member, to engage and grip a section of casing to be removed from a well, the mandrel being rotatable by rotation of the tubular string to operate the cutting tool with the gripping tool in the gripping mode. After detachment of the section of casing by the cutting tool, the gripping tool and the gripped section of casing are pulled from the well. The gripping mode is restorable to a running position to reset the tool in the casing. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method of removing a section of casing from a cased well, comprising:
providing a gripping tool including:
a mandrel having a proximal connector for connecting to a tubular string, a distal connector for connecting to a rotary cutting device, a flow bore extending from the proximal connector to the distal connector, an exterior surface with a reduced diameter portion intermediate the proximal connector and the distal connector and a larger diameter portion intermediate the reduced diameter portion and the proximal connector, and a threaded portion on the exterior surface of the mandrel;a slide member having a bore and an exterior surface, the slide member reciprocatably received on a portion of the mandrel intermediate the proximal connector and the distal connector, at least one friction member disposed on the exterior surface of the slide member and radially outwardly biased by at least one friction member spring element, a slip cage portion of the slide member having at least one window through which at least one slip is radially outwardly deployable from a retracted configuration to a deployed configuration to engage and grip an interior wall of a section of casing targeted for removal from a well, and a threaded portion within the bore of the slide member to threadably engage the threaded portion of the exterior surface of the mandrel to releasably secure the mandrel in a running position within the slide member;a flexible slip actuator having a bore received on the larger diameter portion of the mandrel in the running position, the slip actuator further including a plurality of radially outwardly extending sloped lobes positioned to engage and, upon reinforcement and then axial displacement of the slip actuator, to slidably displace correspondingly sloped lobes disposed on a radially interior portion of the at least one slip;a rigid back-up sleeve received on the reduced diameter portion of the mandrel distal to the larger diameter portion of the mandrel on which the bore of the slip actuator is received in the running position, the back-up sleeve aligned with the bore of the slip actuator and movable with the mandrel and relative to the slide member between a running position, adjacent and axially distal to the bore of the slip actuator, and a reinforcing position with the back-up sleeve received within the bore of the slip actuator in an enabled position to reinforce the slip actuator against radially inwardly collapse;a collet cage coupled to a distal end of the slide member, the collet cage having a bore and an interior recess; anda collet having a proximal ring, a distal ring and a plurality of angularly spaced collet fingers, each collet finger having a proximal end connected to the proximal ring, a distal end connected to the distal ring, and at least one of the collet fingers including a radially outwardly protruding ridge releasably received into the interior recess in the bore of the collet cage with the collet in a seated position within the collet cage, wherein the collet resists axial displacement by a distal stop on the mandrel in a proximal direction from the seated position; connecting a rotary cutting tool to the distal connector of the mandrel; connecting the proximal connector of the mandrel of the gripping tool to a distal end of a tubular string, the tubular string being both extendable into the cased well and rotatable from a rig; extending the tubular string from a rig to position the gripping tool within a section of well casing targeted for removal from the well; rotating the tubular string from the rig to rotate the mandrel to threadably disengage the threaded portion of the exterior surface of the mandrel from the threaded portion of the bore of the slide member to release the gripping tool from the running position; withdrawing the tubular string to displace the mandrel in a proximal direction within the bore of the slide member from the running position, with the back-up sleeve disposed axially adjacent the bore of the flexible slip actuator, to an enabled position with the back-up sleeve axially displaced by the mandrel into the bore of the flexible slip actuator to reinforce the slip actuator; withdrawing the tubular string further to further displace the mandrel in the proximal direction relative to the slide member to displace the back-up sleeve and the reinforced slip actuator received on the back-up sleeve to deploy the at least one slip radially outwardly through the at least one window in the slip cage of the slide member to engage and grip the section of casing; rotating the tubular string to rotate the mandrel within the bore of the back-up sleeve thereon and to operate the cutting tool to cut the casing as the slide member, slips, the reinforced slip actuator and the back-up sleeve received in the bore of the slip actuator remain stationary and lodged in gripping engagement with the section of casing; cutting the casing to provide a detached section of casing gripped by the gripping tool; and withdrawing the tubular string, the gripping tool, the cutting tool and the detached section of casing from the well; wherein the at least one spring biased friction member provides frictional resistance to rotation of the slide member of the gripping tool to enable threadably disengaging the threaded portion of the exterior surface of the mandrel from the threaded portion within the bore of the slide member; wherein the at least one spring biased friction member further provides frictional resistance to axial movement of the slide member of the gripping tool to enable insertion of the back-up sleeve on the mandrel into the bore of the flexible slip actuator coupled to the slide member; and wherein the gripping tool can be restored from the gripping mode to the running configuration by displacing the tubular string and the mandrel in a distal direction relative to the slide member to displace the back-up sleeve from the bore of the slip actuator. |
