SPHERICAL BLOWOUT PREVENTER WITH ENERGIZEABLE PACKER SEAL AND METHOD OF USING SAME

摘要

A blowout preventer (116) and seal assembly for sealing a wellbore penetrating a subsurface formation is provided. The blowout preventer includes a housing having a flow path (251) therethrough in fluid communication with the wellbore and a sealing assembly (122) positionable in the housing about the flow path. The sealing assembly includes a piston (231) slidably positionable in the housing and a packer element (233). The packer element includes a plurality of fingers (260) and a packer seal (262). The fingers include a housing portion (266) and a piston portion (264). The housing portion is slidably movable along the housing and the piston portion is slidingly movable along the piston. The fingers are engageable by the piston and movable to a sealed position about the flow path whereby the packer seal is energized to form a seal about the blowout preventer.