1. A system for drilling a lateral hole departing from a main well, the system comprising:
a motor assembly including:
a motor to generate a rotating torque;
an axial thruster to generate an axial force;
a blocking system to fix the motor and the axial thruster downhole;
a drive shaft to transmit the rotating torque; and
a connector for transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force from the motor assembly to a drill string assembly, the drill string assembly comprising a drill pipe and a drill bit, the connector providing a fluid communication channel between the motor assembly and an inside of the drill pipe; wherein the connector is one of a first connector or a second connector, the first connector being connectable to the drill string assembly so as to transmit the axial force only to the drill pipe, and to transmit the rotating torque to a further drive shaft positioned within the drill pipe, and the second connector being connectable to the drill string assembly so as to transmit both the axial force and the rotating torque to the drill pipe.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the motor is located within the main well.
3. The system of claim 2, further comprising:
the drill string assembly, the drill string assembly being connected to the connector, the drill string assembly comprising
the drill pipe to transmit the axial force; and the further drive shaft to transmit the rotating torque, the further drive shaft being positioned within the drill pipe; the drill bit.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein:
a portion of the lateral hole comprises a curved hole having a determined radius of curvature;
the drill string assembly comprises three contact points to be in contact with a wall of the drilled lateral hole, the three contact points defining a drill pipe angle so as to allow to drill the curved hole.
5. The system of claim 4, further comprising
a thrust bearing to transmit the axial force from the drill pipe to the drill bit, the drill bit being located at an end of the further drive shaft;
a plain bearing system to support a flexion of the further drive shaft within the drill pipe.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the motor is electrical.
7. The system of claim 2, further comprising:
the drill string assembly, the drill string assembly being connected to the connector, the drill string assembly comprising
the drill pipe to transmit both the axial force and the rotating torque;
the drill bit.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
at least one variable diameter stabilizer to position the drill bit within a section of the lateral hole;
controlling means to mechanically control from a remote location at least one stabilizer parameter among a set of stabilizer parameters, the set of stabilizer parameters comprising a diameter size of a determined variable diameter stabilizer, a distance between a first stabilizer and a mark device inside the lateral hole, the mark device being any one of a distinct stabilizer or a drill bit, a coordinated reacting of at least two variable diameter stabilizers, and a azimuthal radius of the determined variable diameter stabilizer.
9. The system of claim 8, further comprising
a single control unit to control at least one stabilizer parameter among the set of stabilizer parameters.
10. The system of claim 9, the system comprising:
a configuration slot;
a configuration plot that may be displaced by the controlling means, the configuration plot allowing to select among a set of setting positions a desired setting position;
wherein:
the set of setting positions comprises at least three setting positions;
each setting position corresponds to a determined value of the at least one stabilizer parameter.
11. The system of claim 10, the system comprising two variable diameter stabilizers, wherein the two variable diameter stabilizers may be set in a coordinated fashion.
12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a Hall Effect sensor to measure a diameter of one of the two variable diameter stabilizers.
13. The system according to claim 1, the system further comprising at least one micro-sensor in a close neighborhood of the drill bit, the at least one micro-sensor allowing a measurement of an orientation of the drill bit relative to a reference direction.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein
the drill pipe is flexible, so as to allow a bending while transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force;
the system further comprises;
a bending guide with rotating supports to support the drill pipe at the bend.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein:
the rotating supports are belts being supported by a pulley.
16. The system of claim 2, further comprising:
a pump located downhole to pump a drilling fluid.
17. The system of claim 16 where:
the drilling fluid may circulate from the mail well to the drill bit through an annulus between the drilled lateral hole and the drill string assembly;
the drilling fluid may circulate from the drill bit to the main well through the fluid communication channel.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein:
the drill bit comprises a bit hole allowing to evacuate cuttings generated at the drill bit through the drill bit,
the drill bit comprises a main blade to insure a cutting action.
19. The system of claim 16, further comprising:
a passage located at an output of the lateral hole, the passage allowing to guide flow of drilling fluid from the lateral hole in the main well.
20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:
a sealing device to force the drilling fluid to circulate through the passage.
21. The system of claim 19 or to claim 20, where the passage is orientated downward.
22. The system of claim 16, further comprising:
a filter device for separating cuttings from the drilling fluid, the filter device being located downhole.
23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:
a compactor within the filter device to regularly provide a compaction of the filtered cuttings.
24. The system of claim 22, further comprising:
an adaptive system within the filter device to sort the filtered cutting depending on their size so as to avoid the filtered cuttings to cork the filter device.
25. The system of claim 16, further comprising:
a container within the main well to collect cuttings below the lateral hole.
26. The system of claim 16, further comprising:
a cuttings collector unit comprising an housing and a screw to pull the cuttings into the housing.
27. The system according to claim 16, further comprising:
a surface pump to generate a secondary circulation flow along a tubing, the secondary circulation flow allowing to carry to the surface cuttings generated at the drill bit and carried by a primary circulation flow from the drill bit to the secondary circulation flow.
28. The system according to claim 26, further comprising:
a flow guide allowing the primary circulation flow to circulate at a relatively high flow velocity between the lateral hole and the tubing so as to avoid a sedimentation of the cuttings.
29. The system of claim 1, wherein the motor is located within the drilled lateral hole.
30. A method for drilling a lateral hole departing from a main well, the method comprising:
blocking a motor and an axial thruster downhole, the motor and the axial thrusters respectively allowing to generate a rotating torque and an axial force;
providing a connector for transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force from a motor assembly to a drill string assembly, the motor assembly including the motor, the axial thruster and a drive shaft, the drill string assembly including a drill pipe and a drill bit;
wherein:
the connector provides a fluid communication channel between the motor assembly and the inside of the drill pipe;
the connector is either one of the first connector or a second connector the first connector being connectable to the drill string assembly so as to transmit the axial force only to the drill pipe, and to transmit the rotating torque to a further drive shaft positioned within the drill pipe, and the second connector being connectable to the drill string assembly so as to transmit both the axial force and the rotating torque to the drill pipe.
31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the motor is located within the mail well.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the drill pipe transmits the axial force, and the further drive shaft transmits the rotating torque to the drill bit.
33. The method of claim 32, further comprising
controlling an effective radius of a curved hole of the lateral hole, the controlling being performed by combining an angled mode to a straight mode wherein;
during the angled mode, three contacts points of the drill string assembly are in contact with a wall of the drilled lateral hole so as to allow to drill the curved hole; and
during the straight mode, the following steps are performed;
rotating the drill pipe of a first angle;
transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force to the drill bit for a first determined duration;
pulling the drill string assembly back over a determined distance;
rotating the drill pipe of a second angle;
transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force to the drill bit for a second determined duration.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein the controlling is performed by combining the angled mode and the straight mode to a jetting mode, the jetting mode comprising:
providing a jet of fluid to preferentially erode a formation in a determined direction.
35. The method of claim 31, wherein the drill pipe transmits both the rotating torque and the axial force to the drill bit.
36. The method according to claim 30, further comprising:
mechanically controlling from a remote location at least one stabilizer parameter among a set of stabilizer parameters, the set of stabilizer parameters comprising a diameter size of a determined variable diameter stabilizer, a distance between a first stabilizer relative to a mark device, the mark device being any one of a distinct stabilizer or a drill bit, a retracting of a least two variable diameter stabilizers, and an azimuthal radius of the determined variable diameter stabilizer.
37. The method according to claim 36, further comprising:
displacing a configuration plot within a configuration slot, so as to select a desired setting position among a set of setting positions comprising at least three setting positions, each setting position corresponding to a determined value of the at least one stabilizer parameter.
38. The method according to claim 30, wherein:
the drill pipe is flexible, so as to allow a bending while transmitting the rotating torque and the axial force;
the drill pipe is supported at the bend by a bending guide comprising rotating supports.
39. The method according to claim 30, the method further comprising monitoring an orientation of the drill bit relative to at least one reference direction with at least one micro sensor located in a close neighborhood of the drill bit.
40. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:
generating a circulation of a drilling fluid to the drill bit with a pump located downhole.
41. The method according to claim 40, wherein:
the drilling fluid circulates to the drill bit through an annulus between the drilled lateral hole and the drill string assembly;
the drilling fluid circulates from the drill bit through the fluid communication channel.
42. The method according to claim 40, the method further comprising guiding the drilling fluid at an output of the lateral hole through a passage having a predetermined orientation.
43. The method according to claim 42, wherein the drilling fluid is guided downward.
44. The method according to claim 40, further comprising downhole filtering cuttings from the drilling fluid.
45. The method according to claim 44, further comprising compacting the filtered cuttings inside a filter device.
46. The method according to claim 44, further comprising sorting the filtered cuttings according to their size so as to avoid the filtered cuttings to cork the filter device.
47. The method according to claim 40, further comprising collecting cuttings downhole at a location below the lateral hole.
48. The method according to claim 40, further comprising:
generating a secondary circulation flow along a tubing, the secondary circulation flow allowing to carry to the surface cuttings generated at the drill bit and carried by a primary circulation flow from the drill bit to the secondary circulation flow.
49. The method of claim 30, wherein the motor is located within the drilled lateral hole.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claims which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A foamable composition comprising a carrier and a liquefied or a compressed gas propellant, the carrier comprising:
i) about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of a surface-active agent;
ii) about 2% to about 75% by weight of the carrier of an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of an emollient, a polar solvent, an oil, and mixtures thereof;
iii) about 0.01% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of at least one polymeric agent selected from the group consisting of a bioadhesive agent, a gelling agent, a film forming agent, and a phase change agent; and
iv) water;
wherein upon release from a foam dispenser, a foam is produced; and
wherein the foam remains stable as a foam for at least 60 seconds at 37\xb0 C.
2. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier further comprises an active agent.
3. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the liquefied or compressed gas propellant is present at about 3% to about 25% by weight of the carrier.
4. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of an emollient, a polar solvent, an essential oil, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
5. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises a micro-emulsion.
6. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises nano-particles.
7. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the surface-active agent is present at less than about 2% by weight of the carrier.
8. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the polymeric agent is present at less than about 1% by weight of the carrier.
9. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier does not include petrolatum.
10. The foamable composition of claim 2, wherein the active agent is selected from the group consisting of an antibacterial agent, an antibiotic, an anti-parasitic agent, an antifungal agent, an antiviral agent, a corticosteroid, a steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, a non-steroidal immunomodulating agent, an immunosuppressant, an anti-allergic agent, an antihistamine, an anticancer agent, a hormone, an androgen, an estrogen, a progesterone, a contraceptive agent, a retinoid, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin D, an anesthetic, a lubricating agent, an immunizing agent, a cytotoxic drug, an antiproliferative drug, an anti-oxidant, a radical scavenger, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
11. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises less than about 2% by weight of the carrier of one or more lower alcohols having up to 5 carbon atoms in their carbon chain skeleton.
12. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the polymeric agent is selected from the group consisting of locust bean gum, sodium alginate, sodium caseinate, egg albumin, gelatin agar, carrageenin gum, xanthan gum, quince seed extract, tragacanth gum, guar gum, starch, chemically modified starches, cellulose ethers, hydroxyethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxy propylmethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl guar gum, soluble starch, cationic celluloses, cationic guars, carboxyvinyl polymers, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid polymers, polymethacrylic acid polymers, polyvinyl acetate polymers, polyvinyl chloride polymers, polyvinylidene chloride polymers, acrylic acidethyl acrylate copolymers, crosslinked copolymers of acrylic acid and C10-C30 alkyl acrylate (pemulen), carboxyvinyl polymers, carbopols, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
13. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the foamable composition further comprises about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of a foam adjuvant selected from the group consisting of a fatty alcohol having 15 or more carbons in its carbon chain; a fatty acid having 16 or more carbons in its carbon chain; fatty alcohols, derived from beeswax and including a mixture of alcohols, a majority of which has at least 20 carbon atoms in their carbon chain; a fatty alcohol having at least one double bond; a fatty acid having at least one double bond; a branched fatty alcohol; a branched fatty acid; a fatty acid substituted with a hydroxyl group; cetyl alcohol; stearyl alcohol; arachidyl alcohol; behenyl alcohol; 1-triacontanol; hexadecanoic acid; stearic acid; arachidic acid; behenic acid; octacosanoic acid; 12-hydroxy stearic acid; and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
14. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the surface-active agent is selected from the group consisting of a non ionic surface-active agent, a cationic surface-active agent, an amphoteric surface-active agent, an ionic surface-active agent, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
15. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the surface-active agent is a non ionic surface-active agent.
16. The foamable composition of claim 13, wherein the combined amount of foam adjuvant, surface active agent, and gelling agent is less than about 8% by weight of the carrier.
17. The foamable composition of claim 14, wherein the surface-active agent is selected from the group consisting of a polysorbate, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monostearate, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate, a polyoxyethylene fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylene (8) stearate, polyoxyethylene (20) stearate, polyoxyethylene (40) stearate, polyoxyethylene (100) stearate, a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene cetyl ether, polyoxyethylene (23) cetyl ether, polyoxyethylene (2) cetyl ether, polyoxyethylene (10) cetyl ether, isoceteth-20, a sucrose ester, a partial ester of sorbitol and its anhydrides, sorbitan monolaurate, sorbitan stearate, a monoglyceride, glyceryl monostearate, a diglyceride, lecithin, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, sodium methyl oleoyl taurate, sodium lauryl sulfate, triethanolamine lauryl sulfate, a betaine, cocamidopropyl betaine, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
18. The foamable composition of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises more than about 50% by weight of the carrier of a potent solvent.
19. The foamable composition of claim 18, wherein the potent solvent is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, hexylene glycol, butane-diol and isomers thereof, glycerol, benzyl alcohol, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethyl oleate, ethyl caprylate, dimethylacetamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, N-hydroxyethylpyrrolidone, polyvinylpyrrolidone, isosorbide derivatives, dimethyl isosorbide, glycofurol, ethoxydiglycol, and mixtures of any two or more thereof.
20. The foamable composition of claim 10, wherein the active agent is suitable for the treatment of a disorder of a body cavity or a mucosal surface, wherein the disorder is selected from the group consisting of a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, a viral infection, vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, HIV, a sexually transmitted disease, post-surgical adhesions, a hormonal deficiency, and a combination of any two or more thereof.
21. A foamable composition comprising a carrier and a liquefied or a compressed gas propellant, the carrier comprising:
i) about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of a surface-active agent;
ii) about 70% to about 99% by weight of the carrier of a hydrophobic organic solvent;
iii) a stabilizer selected from the group consisting of about 0.01% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of a polymeric agent and about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the carrier of foam adjuvant;
wherein upon release from a foam dispenser, a foam is produced; and
wherein the foam remains stable as a foam for at least 60 seconds at 37\xb0 C.