Seamless woven wire sintered well screen

Abstract

The product is a seamless sintered woven wire well screen assembly concentrically mounted on a perforated or slotted mandrel. The seamless sintered woven wire screen can either be used as a component screen apparatus or as a primary screen filter element. In use as a component screen application, the seamless sintered woven wire screen provides a filter reinforcement to a primary filter, or filter housing or shroud device that protects the component screen from physical or mechanical damage during installation. In this configuration two ( 2 ) usually different and separate filter devices are combined. In use as a primary screen element no other means other than the seamless woven wire screen is involved in prohibiting unconsolidated sand production from the wellbore. The well screen relates generally to completing downhole wells, and in particular to well screens for filtering unconsolidated material out of inflowing well fluid in water, oil, gas, and recovery wells.

1 . A sand screen assembly for separating particulate material from a subsurface formation having fluid/gas, comprising: 
 a well screen wherein said well screen comprises a seamless sintered woven wire element.    
   
   
       2 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire element includes a mandrel having a plurality of apertures and a seamless sintered woven wire body mounted over the mandrel.  
   
   
       3 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body is made of a flat shaped ribbon wire.  
   
   
       4 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body is made of a round shaped wire.  
   
   
       5 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein a means for mechanical attachment is used for attaching the mandrel to said seamless sintered woven wire body.  
   
   
       6 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein a means for welding is used for attaching the mandrel to said seamless sintered woven wire body.  
   
   
       7 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body has pore space openings ranging from 20 micron to 1,000 micron.  
   
   
       8 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body is made in a tubular shape having a wall thickness ranging from 0.020 inches thick to 0.365 inches thick.  
   
   
       9 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body has an offset weave pattern.  
   
   
       10 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body has a non-offset weave pattern.  
   
   
       11 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein said seamless sintered woven wire body has pore space openings with tolerances ranging from plus forty microns to minus forty microns.  
   
   
       12 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 3 , wherein said flat shaped ribbon wire has a thickness ranging from 0.002 inches to 0.150 inches.  
   
   
       13 . The sand screen assembly according to  claim 4 , wherein said round shaped wire has a diameter ranging from 0.002 inches to 0.150 inches.  
   
   
       14 . A method of removing any particulated matter entrained in a subsurface gas/fluid formation, comprising the steps of: 
 obtaining a well screen from a seamless sintered woven wire material;    placing the well screen in a downhole environment in the subsurface gas/fluid formation; and    filtering the particulated matter from the subsurface gas/fluid formation.    
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 14 , further including the steps of: 
 flexing the seamless sintered woven wire material while maintaining a pore space opening size proportional to the amount of flexing.    
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein said step of making the well screen comprises adjusting a weave to create variably sized pore space openings according to layers within the seamless sintered woven wire material.  
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein said step of making the well screen comprises adding a drainage layer to the well screen.  
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 14 , further including the step of electropolishing the well screen prior to said step of placing the well screen downhole.  
   
   
       19 . A method of removing any particulated matter entrained in a subsurface gas/fluid formation, which comprises the step of filtering a volume of subsurface gas/fluid to remove any particulate matter, wherein the step of filtering is carried out with a device comprising: 
 a seamless sintered woven wire element.