Emergency well plug apparatus

摘要

An emergency well plug apparatus that includes a drill string mating unit connectable endwise to an extant drill string, a top ring releasably attachable to the drill string mating unit, at least one support member attachable to the top ring, and additional support members attachable thereto, wherein sequential inflation of respective inflatable members disposed upon each support member effectively plugs a blowout preventer, wellhead, or well shaft, from gushing fluids and the drill string mating unit may be subseqeuntly retracted with the remainder of the apparatus in place.

主权项

1. An emergency well plug apparatus comprising:
a drill string mating unit attachable endwise to an extant drill string; a coupling top ring releasably attachable to the drill string mating unit; a plurality of support members attachable together in series to the top ring, each support member including:
a central pipe member having a first end, a second end, and a disk member perpendicularly disposed at the second end;an inflatable member disposed surrounding the pipe member, said inflatable member inflating to occupy a diameter greater than the diameter of the disk member; anda threaded aperture disposed at the second end to which a subsequent support member is attachable; wherein each inflatable member is sequentially inflatable, from a lowermost inflation episode to a topmost inflation episode, whereby a gushing wellhead is pluggable and the drill string retractable therefrom; wherein the drill string mating unit comprises:
an annular surface;an infundibular beveled intake;an annular undersurface disposed underlying the annular surface surrounding the beveled intake;a first aperture centrally disposed in the beveled intake;a plurality of locking studs disposed upon the annular undersurface moveable between a first position and a second position;an electronic data port disposed upon the annular surface; andconnection means disposed to interconnect the electronic data port with circuitry disposed in the top ring when coupled.