DOWNHOLE INDUCTION HEATER AND COUPLING SYSTEM FOR OIL AND GAS WELLS

• Main Authors: Sharma Mukul M, Worthington Michael, Zowarka Raymond C, Hahne Jon, Pratap Siddharth, Bunkowski Bryan, Werst Michael D, Hearn Clay, Liu Hsing-Pang
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 21.12.2017
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; BLASTING; EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; ELECTRICITY; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; GEARING; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; HEATING; INDUCTANCES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; LIGHTING; MAGNETS; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; MINING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS; PIPES; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; TRANSFORMERS; WEAPONS

Described herein are methods and system that use electromagnetic heating to heat wellbores and the fluids therein. The heating is achieved by placing one or more permanent magnets in the wellbore and moving a metallic component and/or the one or more permanent magnets relative to each other. This generates eddy currents in the metallic component, which heat the metallic component. This heat is transferred to the fluids in the wellbore from the metallic component by convection. In some embodiments, permanent magnets are installed in the tubing to induce eddy current heating in a well by converting the linear motion of a sucker rod to rotary motion of a conducting tube using a lead or ball screw. The heater may directly integrate with existing pump jack equipment with little or no additional infrastructure required.