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[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/367,132, filed May 16, 2002, incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] Not Applicable
[0003] Tubular goods, such as oil country tubular goods (“OCTG's”) (e.g., well casing, tubing, drillpipe, drill collars, and line pipe) and flowline tubular goods, are often used for transportation of gases, liquids, and mechanical equipment, including various applications related to extraction of petroleum and natural gas from underground reservoirs, transportation of petroleum, natural gas, and other materials, such as solution mining and slurry transport lines in the mining industry. OCTG's may be used to transport the product from the underground reservoir, and also to house mechanical equipment (e.g., artificial lift devices, rod couplings, plungers, reciprocating rod pumping units, rotating progressive cavity pumps, and plunger lift units), electrical equipment (e.g., well monitoring equipment), and/or transport gases or liquids for disposal operations or secondary removal operations. These gases and liquids may contain corrosive materials such as, by way of example only, salt water, dissolved oxygen, CO
[0004] With respect to moving mechanical equipment and abrasive fluids, such as reciprocating or rotating rods or pumps or drilling or mining slurries (e.g., drilling mud), friction and abrasion may cause wear, fatigue, and even failure of the pipe and/or the equipment. In addition, this wear, fatigue, or failure may be accelerated due to the presence of corrosive or abrasive materials, such as, for example CO
[0005] In addition to the possible acceleration of mechanical wear, fatigue, and failure, the presence of corrosive material, in and of itself, may cause chemical damage to the OCTG's and flowline tubular goods. By way of example only, the presence of CO
[0006] It would therefore be desirable to create tubular goods which decrease or eliminate the mechanical and/or chemical wear, fatigue, or failure caused by the conditions surrounding the extraction of materials such as petroleum or natural gas and transportation of materials, thereby potentially increasing the life and productivity of the tubular good.
[0007] Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for reducing or eliminating the mechanical and/or chemical wear, fatigue, and failure on tubular goods. The methods comprise disposing a liner along at least a portion of the tubular good. The liner may decrease friction, thereby decreasing mechanical wear as well as reducing the amount of energy necessary to operate the mechanical tool or pump the abrasive fluid. In addition, the liner may also comprise a material which is resistant to particular chemicals or a barrier to particular chemicals, thereby decreasing or eliminating contact between the chemicals and the tubular good and decreasing or eliminating the wear or corrosion caused by those chemicals.
[0008]
[0009]
[0010] Referring now to
[0011] The liner
[0012] One method of disposing the polymer liners within the tubing sections includes providing a liner having an initial outside diameter similar to or larger than the inner diameter of the tubing, reducing the outer diameter of the liner by mechanical means and inserting the liner into the tubing bore. The ends of the polymer liner may then be softened using a heat source and formed around the end of the external pipe thread on the metal pipe. In some cases, the ends may be reinforced for additional structural integrity. The ends may then be joined onto a coupling (with or without an internal coating or corrosion resistant insert) used to join each stick of lined pipe. The process ultimately provides a one-piece seamless liner in each joint that is mechanically bonded to the metal pipe ID. The wall thickness of the claimed liners is preferably between about 2 and 10 millimeters. The diameter of the claimed liners may be between about 20 and 700 millimeters or greater. In the embodiments shown in
[0013] Referring now to
[0014] In addition, layers
[0015] when added to the layers may cause the layers to become bonded together without the need for additional adhesives.
[0016] The layers are typically coextruded through a specially designed extrusion die head using multiple extruders. The melted polymer layers are then cooled into one continuous seemless tube.
[0017] While embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. By way of example only, the friction and wear reducing layer may comprise nucleated polypropylene; polyolefins containing nanocomposites or other additives to control diffusion rates; impact copolymer grade polypropylene; homopolymer grade polypropylene; heterophasic copolymers; fractional melt grade polypropylene; other thermoplastics coextruded with polypropylene; reactor made thermoplastic polyolefins; metallocene catalyzed polypropylenes; random copolymer polypropylenes; blends, alloys, filled or reinforced polypropylene or polyethylene containing other polyolefins and structural reinforcement. In addition, additives may be included in the polymer to increase the lubricity of the liner material and decrease the coefficient of friction of the product.
[0018] The gas diffusion barrier may comprise other polymers, organic or inorganic materials, or metals. In some embodiments, this barrier is chosen to reduce or eliminate the permeation of carbon dioxide through liners utilized in CO
[0019] In embodiments in which the friction wear reducing layer and the diffusion barrier are chemically bonded 2,5-furandione or other similar additives may be used. The layers may also be bound by any acceptable adhesive as is known in the art. For example, an acceptable adhesive may comprise a copolymer. It is also envisioned that the friction wear reducing layer and the diffusion barrier need not be directly bonded together. There may be intermediate layers between the two. Additionally, there may be layers radially outward or inward of the diffusion barrier. By way of example only, the diffusion barrier may be sandwiched between the friction and wear reducing layer and a third layer. The third layer may be of the same or different material as the friction and wear reducing layer.