Louisiana Patent of the Month – August 2022
Section mills are designed for cutting and milling a complete section of casing. They’re typically designed and equipped with specialty tools to cut through sections of wellbore tubulars including the casing pipes. Unfortunately, the industry has highlighted some pain points with these mills, including the short life span of the milling tools from excessive wear and tear. This wear and tear can result in wobbling and vibrating cutters causing failures or poor cuts. Dynasty Energy Services, LLC has designed a solution that limits these vibrations, prevents this wobbling, and improves the reliability of the cutting process.
These objectives are achieved using stabilized multiple string section milling which protects the outer casing stings. The design includes a tubular body with mill carriers which carry hardened cutters. The cutters can pivotally extend out from the mill window in the body, controlled by the upward movement of a drive plunger. The drive plunger itself is controlled by fluid pressure which moves a piston and flow tube to drive the plunger upwards. When this fluid pressure ceases, the mill carriers retract back into place. This design successfully minimizes the forces applied to the outer casing during milling and prevents oscillations and wobbling.
The company is the global leader in specialized fishing services and plug & abandonment operations, wellbore remediation, casing exits, and rental tool inventories. It’s this experience that has led to their design of the Predator section milling technology. Their proprietary – and newly patented – technology better mitigates sustained casing pressure and provides an improved environment for barrier placement.
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