Method of Sealing the Walls of Deep Wells Page: 3 of 4
[1], 3 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this patent.
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1,398,563
thousands of feet thick. The shale rests
upon other cap rock 6 in turn resting upon
gas sand 7 which in turn covers oil sand 8,
the layers 7 and 8 corresponding to, or con-
5 sisting of, sandstone and comprising the gas
and oil bearing strata from which the oil is
obtained.
For the purpose of drilling and in order
to hold back the flow of water'into the bore
10 of the well being drilled, and also to prevent
caving of the walls of the bore where trav-
ersing the unstable shale, a sufficient air
pressure is maintained within the bore, in-
dicated at 9 and there is provided, say at
15 the surface of the ground, means for pro-
ducing such air pressure such as an air pump
10 connected by a pipe 11 to the casing 3 into
which it discharges and this casing may be
capped by a valve 12 so that the air pres-
20 sure may be maintained in the bore suffi- -
ciently to hold the walls intact and prevent
the flow of water into the bore.
In order to effect the sealing of the bore
walls in situ there is provided a core 13 car-
25 ried by a rope or cable 14 from the surface
of the ground so that the core may be located
at any desired point or points along the
bore. Within the core 13, which is hollow,
there are located suitably related electric are
30 terminals 15 so disposed that on these termi-
nals being connected up in an electric cir-
cuit and current supplied an are is produced.
The core 13 is made of refractory material
such, for instance, as alundum .obtainable
35 on the market in suitable manufactured
shapes.
The core 13 is made of a size to move
freely along: the bore 9 and the electrodes 15
between which the are or arcs are formed
40 are carried by a supporting block 16 so as to
be about equidistant from the inner walls of
the core 13.
The cable 14 may be conveniently formed
of suitable conductors connected to the ter-
45 minals of the transformer 17 at the surface
of the ,ground, or in any other suitable loca-
tion, permitting currents of appropriate
character to be fed to the are terminals 15,
whereby an intense heat may be produced'
6o within the core 13 at a temperature sufficient
to raise that of the walls of the bore to
a degree. causing the softening, melting and
final coalescing of the shale forming the
walls of the bore.
55 While electrically produced heat is the
most easily managed, the heating of the walls
of the bore may be otherwise accomplished.
The invention may, however, be carried out
with other sources of heat capable of being
50 localized in the bore in close heating relation
to the walls thereof and capable of adjust-
ment along the bore, whereby the glazing
effect upon the walls may be accomplished.
As an example, reference is directed to Fig.
2 where there is shown a core 13a similar tothe core 132 and made of the same or equiva-
lent material. The core 13a carries a tank
or reservoir 17 for a supply of fluid fuel,
such as gas, and the reservoir 17 is connected
to a burner 18 lodged in the core 13a and con- 70
nected to the tank 17. The core 13" may be
provided wherever necessary, with perfora-
tions 19 permitting the escape of the prod-
ucts of combustion from the burner 18 to
rise to the top of the well to be there dis- 75
seminated.
It is evident that the cores 13 and 13a, and
the means for heating them while within the
bore of the well, are sufficient to indicate
that numerous other means for the purpose 80
may be employed without it being necessary
to illustrate and describe various other forms
for the purpose.
During the boring operation, or after -it.
has been sufficiently completed, the walls of 85
the bore may be effectively sealed against
leakage or caving by the local application
of heat, either produced electrically as indi-
cated in Fig. 1, or by the means of a fuel
and suitable burner as indicated in Fig. 2. 90
In the practice of the invention and in
order to properly distribute the heat and the
material constituting the lining when such
material is other than the shale constituting
the walls of the well, the core is moved up 95
and down thus causing a distribution of the
heat and of the softened and flowable mate-
rial. For this purpose the lower end of the
core is more or less pointed, as indicated at
20, in both Figs. 1 and 2. In the structure 100
shown in Fig. 2 the core is supported by a
cable 21 so that the core may be moved up
and down the same as the core 13 in Fig. 1.
In the practice of the invention the boring
is continued below the casing section 3, 105
which may be, for example, an 8" casing
or in some instances smaller, until the shale
has been penetrated for a suitable distance,
say fifteen or twenty feet, and then the bor-
ing tool is withdrawn and the heating ele- 110
ment represented by the core 13 or 13a in-
serted. The treatment by heat is continued
until a molten or flowable condition is pro-
duced in the case of the shale or the like and
a glass-like surface covers the walls of the 115
bore rendering such surface, when cooled
and hardened, impervious to water and ce-
menting the shale against caving tendencies.
In the case of the production of the coating
from cement, the latter is applied to the soft 120
state and heated, and at the same time
smoothed and dried until firm by the heat-
ing element or elements housed in the core.
When the preliminary portion of the bore
has been thus coated or cased, the heater is 125
withdrawn and the boring tools introduced
and the boring continued to as great a depth
as may be deemed advisable in accordance
with the nature of the material bored. In
this manner the well is produced by alter- 1302
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Reference the current page of this Patent.
Nolan, William E. Method of Sealing the Walls of Deep Wells, patent, November 29, 1921; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1258698/m1/3/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.