| CPC E21B 33/1285 (2013.01) [E21B 23/08 (2013.01); E21B 34/06 (2013.01); E21B 2200/05 (2020.05); E21B 2200/08 (2020.05)] | 18 Claims |
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1. A method comprising:
deploying a toolstring, including a fluid-activated shifting setting tool and a plug assembly, into a tubing string, containing well fluid,
the fluid-activated shifting setting tool including:
a fluid entry valve,
a piston,
a fluid pressure chamber,
a relief pressure chamber,
wherein the piston is able to shift longitudinally and provide a shifting force relative to the toolstring,
wherein the fluid entry valve includes two positions: an opened and a closed position, wherein the closed position of the fluid entry valve provides a temporary fluid entry barrier between the well fluid and the fluid pressure chamber,
the plug assembly including a locking ring and an expandable assembly, comprising a gripping portion and a sealing portion, wherein the expandable assembly of the plug assembly can be expanded using the shifting force of the piston relative to the toolstring,
wherein the locking ring includes a shallow flared outer surface and a steep flared outer surface, wherein a conical angle of the steep flared outer surface varies from a conical angle of the shallow flared outer surface by 0.5 to 15 degrees,
wherein the gripping portion includes a flared inner surface; wherein the gripping portion includes separate bi-stable slips configured to rotate radially relative to the locking ring from a first stable position, in which the flared inner surface contacts the steep flared outer surface of the locking ring, to a second stable position, in which the flared inner surface contacts the shallow flared outer surface of the locking ring;
conveying the toolstring inside the tubing string with the bi-stable slips of the gripping portion in the first stable position;
increasing the hydrostatic pressure of the well fluid surrounding the tubing string as the relative depth of the toolstring compared to the ground level or seabed level is increasing;
opening the fluid entry valve;
transferring the hydrostatic pressure of the well fluid towards the fluid pressure chamber through the opened fluid entry valve;
creating a pressure differential between the fluid pressure chamber and the relief pressure chamber, providing the shifting force on the piston relative to the toolstring;
expanding the expandable assembly of the plug assembly, using the shifting force of the piston to longitudinally move the locking ring relative to the expandable assembly, wherein the locking ring transmits the shifting force toward the gripping portion to expand the bi-stable slips in the first stable position;
retrieving the toolstring along with the fluid-activated shifting setting tool.
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