In-situ pressure-preserved coring for deep exploration:Insight into the rotation behavior of the valve cover of a pressure controller

In-situ pressure-preserved coring(IPP-Coring)is considered to be the most reliable and efficient method for the identification of the scale of oil and gas resources.During IPP-Coring,because the rotation behavior of the pressure controller valve cover in different medium environments is unclear,interference between the valve cover and inner pipe may occur and negatively affect the IPP-Coring success rate.To address this issue,we conducted a series of indoor experiments employing a high-speed camera to gain greater insights into the valve cover rotation behavior in different medium environments,e.g.,air,water,and simulated drilling fluids.The results indicated that the variation in the valve cover rotation angle in the air and fluid environments can be described by a one-phase exponential decay function with a constant time parameter and by biphasic dose response function,respectively.The rotation behavior in the fluid environments exhibited distinct elastic and gravitational acceleration zones.In the fluid environments,the density clearly impacted the valve cover closing time and rotation behavior,whereas the effect of viscosity was very slight.This can be attributed to the negligible influence of the fluid viscosity on the drag coefficient found in this study;meanwhile,the density can increase the buoyancy and the time period during which the valve cover experienced a high drag coefficient.Considering these results,control schemes for the valve cover rotation behavior during IPP-Coring were proposed for different layers and geological conditions in which the different drilling fluids should be used,e.g.,the use of a high-density valve cover in high-pore pressure layers.

Development of a pressure coring system for the investigation of deep underground exploration

To provide a more accurate evaluation of the scale of deep underground resources,a new pressure coring system was carefully developed and its strength and safety of the engineering were verified by theoretical analyses and numerical simulation.The designed pressure coring system can obtain cores with length of 3 m and diameter of 50 mm at 70 MPa.The results of the ball-drop operation experiment demonstrate that differential motion assembly can effectively cut a safety pin by applying a tensile force of 4852 N,and it can lift the core tube through the center pole to complete a series of mechanical actions to seal the pressure.Additionally,by maintaining pressures at 70 MPa for 30 min,the pressure sealing capacity of the system was proven.Furthermore,a core sample with a diameter of 50 mm was obtained through a core drilling experiment and the coring performance of the pressure coring system was verified.This study can not only enrich the existing onshore coring technology but also provide a theoretical guide and design criteria for the development of similar pressure coring systems to meet the demand for deeper underground exploration.

Rotational failure analysis of spherical-cylindrical shell pressure controllers related to gas hydrate drilling investigations

In situ pressure-preserved coring(IPP-Coring)technology is considered one of the most efficient methods for assessing resources.However,seal failure caused by the rotation of pressure controllers greatly affects the success of pressure coring.In this paper,a novel spherical-cylindrical shell pressure controller was proposed.The finite element analysis model was used to analyze the stress distribution and deformation characteristics of the pressure controller at different rotation angles.The seal failure mechanism caused by the rotation of the pressure controller was discussed.The stress deviation rate was defined to quantitatively characterize the stress concentration.Based on the test equipment designed in this laboratory,the ultimate bearing strength of the pressure controller was tested.The results show that the rotation of the valve cover causes an increase in the deformation on its lower side.Furthermore,the specific sealing pressure in the weak zone is greatly reduced by a statistically significant amount,resulting in seal failure.When the valve cover rotates 5°around the major axis,the stress deviation rate is-92.6%.To prevent rotating failure of the pressure controller,it is necessary to control the rotation angle of the valve cover within 1°around the major axis.The results of this research can help engineers reduce failure-related accidents,provide countermeasures for pressure coring,and contribute to the exploration and evaluation of deep oil and gas resources.

Vacuum press drying studies on two fast-growing Indian wood species

Two fast-growing Indian species, Melia composita Benth. and Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm., which have different sets of physical properties, were dried together in a vacuum press dryer(VPD) under two drying conditions,i.e., above boiling point(ABP) and below boiling point(BBP). The ABP and BBP conditions were maintained by keeping the temperature constant at 75 ℃ and maintaining two pressure levels: 300 mm of Hg(ABP) and 450 mm of Hg(BBP). In order to understand pressure conditions at the core during vacuum drying, a cylindrical brass pipe was inserted in both wood cores and attached with pressure gauges placed outside of the VPD. The results indicate that the Melia wood core attained equilibrium pressure immediately with the pressure of VPD, while Eucalyptus attained it very slowly, reaching equilibrium at later stages of drying when cracks and checks advanced to the core.The drying rate was higher for Melia than Eucalyptus under both drying conditions. The drying rate of Melia(ABP) was higher than Melia(BBP), however, the drying rate for Eucalyptus(ABP) was not significantly different from the BBP drying rate.