Abstract:
An oil and gas downhole device is disclosed wherein the device separates the oil and gas from undesired water, which returns to the formation.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/684,053 filed Aug. 16, 2012, which application is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in its entirety. 
         [0002]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/684,059 filed Aug. 16, 2012, which application is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in its entirety. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0003]    N/A 
       REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
       [0004]    N/A 
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0005]    1. Field of the Disclosure 
         [0006]    This disclosure relates to apparatus and method for well production of fluids and gas. 
         [0007]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0008]    In the production of wells and other product sumps, the effluent of the well may contain materials which are harmful to the operation of the production of desirable materials. An example of this is oil and gas wells. If these wells produce, they usually produce oil and gas and significant amounts of water. The water is not desirable and has to be hauled away in trucks or barges. It is not known how to suppress water as an effluent from the well. This suppression of water effluent might also avoid pollution and pressure loss in the well, which loss decreases the volume of oil and gas produced as the volume of water increases, ultimately making the well unprofitable. 
         [0009]    As another illustration, it is not known how to suppress salts and other minerals as effluent from seawater producing water. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0010]    The apparatus is located in a well or other producer of liquids which may be used to produce a product. The product production may also involve the production of undesirable by-products, such as the production of a well that produces effluents of oil and gas with a harmful by-product of water. The apparatus is configured to reduce or eliminate the water in the product stream by preventing the harmful by-product from entering the product stream in whole or in part. To accomplish this, a downhole fluid gas directional compressor is inserted below an isolation packer abutting a casing. The isolation packer prevents fluid being in the annulus between the casing and the tubing from flowing to the surface with the desirable product with present production of undesirable fluid. The fluid is forced in the apparatus to flow into the downhole fluid gas directional compressor. The compressor then separates the undesirable product by having the undesirable product impeded from passing through the compressor while the oil and gas passes through the compressor. Thus, in an oil and gas well, the oil and gas will flow through the well annulus to the surface while the water in the well is caused to reenter the formation by the compressor of the apparatus. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0011]    For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present disclosure, reference should be made to the following drawings in which like parts are given like reference numerals and wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a depiction of the installation of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor mounted, in a well and showing the flow of oil gas and water passing through the compressor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a side view of a Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is an end view of a first end of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is an end view of a second end of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor taken along the section lines A-A of FIG,  2 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the device showing three bands or rings on the outside of the compressor  100 : 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a partial view of a screen construction of the Downhole Fluid Gas Directional Compressor of  FIG. 2  with the sand screen partially in place; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a side view partly in phantom line of the stepped bars. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  shows a downhole system  110  configured to exclude water from oil and gas stream flowing to the surface  104 . The exclusion device  110  comprises a gas directional compressor  200  mounted in a well bore  103 . The well bore  103  runs from the length of the well to the surface  104 . The well bore  103  has a well casing  102  which supports a well tubing string  106 . The lower end of the well tubing siring  106  is attached to an isolation packer  190  configured to provide pressure isolation and disposed between the casing  102  and the tubing  106  as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. The well tubing string  106  may also be used to suppress flow from the well  103  to the surface  104 . Oil  302  and gas  301  may flow through the well bore  103  and through the isolation packer connection  190  to tubing  106  and arriving at the surface  104 , which is well known in the art. However, for the present disclosure, the flow of the water  303  does not flow into well bore tubing  106  through the downhole device or compressor  200 . Instead the water  303 , after encountering the compressor  200  through a screen  240 , is reinjected by the compressor  200  back into the formation surrounding the casing  102 . The compressor  200  separates at least some of the water  303  from the oil  302  and gas  301 . The water  303  flows, for example, back through perforations  107  in the casing  102  to the formation. The compressor  200  is the primary part of the exclusion device  110 . In some embodiments, an optional second compressor  210  maybe disposed above or below compressor  200  and attached to well bore tubing  106 . In some embodiments, the compressor  200  may be disposed uphole, downhole, or level with the perforations  107 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows an exemplary compressor  100  that may be used as compressor  200  or  210 , Compressor  100  may include a housing  105 . The screen  240  (or core frame) may be disposed in openings of the housing  105  and configured to allow fluids  301 , 302 , 303  to enter into the compressor  100  through openings  260 . The compressor  100  may be configured to attach to well bore tubing  106  at threaded connection points  160 . Attachment to the well bore tubing  106  may be facilitated by nuts  304 ,  305  configured to mating with conventional downhole piping tools. Slot  170  may be configured to receive welding material in order for the screen  240  or its sub components ( FIG. 8 ) to be attached to the compressor  100 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the number of grooves  260  in the device  110  is another means of controlling the flow of oil and gas, as is the diameter of the device  110 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows a nut  304  and threaded pipe  160  along the A-A. section lines of  FIG. 2 . Similarly,  FIG. 4  shows nut  305  and threaded pipe  160  from the opposite direction. 
         [0023]      FIG. 5  shows the inner diameter  155  of the device  100 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 6  shows the compressor  100  surrounded by rings or bands  280  disposed between the nuts  304 , 305 . The rings  280  may be attached (such as by welding or other suitable techniques known to person of ordinary skill in the art) on both ends of compressor  100  and in the middle. The rings  280  may also be attached outside either of the screen  240  and/or the wire bars  120  ( FIG. 7 ) and configured to protect the screen  240  and/or the wire bars  120 . Note that the bands  280  do not fully obstruct or do not obstruct the flow of fluids through the wire screen  240 . 
         [0025]    Generally the pressure on the outside of the compressor  100  controls the How of oil and gas and other materials. As configured in  FIG. 1 , the hydrostatic head in the well bore  103  may be 1000 feet. As the well bore length may be 4000 feet, the net hydrostatic head will be 3000 feet, and half of that pressure will be applied to the outside of the compressor  100 . Optional pressure relief valve  290  may be disposed on the bottom or lower end of compressor  100 . The pressure relief valve  290  may be configured to prevent or control excessive pressures from occurring inside the compressor  100 . Alternatively, a choke device may be used to regulate internal pressure of the compressor  100 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 7  shows a series of bars  120  and wire  121  that may be formed, and form and surround the screen  240  in the compressor  100 . The bars  120  may be wrapped symmetrically on the compressor  100  and configured to bar entrance of water  303  into the interior of the compressor  100 . The bars  120  may be disposed at different angles to achieve different permeabilities by placing alternate layers perpendicular or at other angles to decrease porosity through the wire gaps  121  to change flow of the oil and gas through the wire gaps  121 . The wire bars  120  may be also be configured as a zero tolerance sand screen or mineral screen. 
         [0027]      FIG. 8  shows a configuration for welding bars  220  to compressor  100 . Welds (not shown) are used to bond industrial bars  220  together for added strength and stability. Each layer of bars  220  is stepped with each bar  220  shorter than the previous bar  220 . Each bar  220  is stepped at each end to allow for the proper amount of weld to weld the bars  220  together. This bonds the ends of each layer together and ail ends of bars  220  to the core frame  240  for attaching of the bars  220 . The spacing between them is filled to the top of the slot  170  with weld to complete the attaching of the bars  220 .