Perforating gun having self-closing penetration holes

Abstract

A perforating gun having an outer gun barrel, inside of which an inner barrel is coaxially arranged, carrying perforators that can be ignited by means of a detonating cord leading through the gun barrel and, after ignition, pierce the gun barrel in order to form penetration holes, wherein means are provided for automatically closing the penetration holes after the blast, said means being a swellable medium. In order to ensure that the swellable medium requires little space in the perforating gun and can be easily integrated into the perforating gun, the swellable medium is disposed in a laminary manner inside the perforating gun.

1 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A perforation gun having an outer gun barrel inside of which an inner barrel is coaxially situated, and which bears perforators that are ignitable via a detonating fuse leading through the gun barrel and which after ignition pierce the gun barrel to form penetration holes, wherein a means is provided for automatically closing the penetration holes after the shot, and this means is a swellable medium, wherein the swellable medium is situated in a planar manner inside the perforation gun. 
     
     
         14 . A perforation gun according to  claim 13 , wherein the swellable medium is provided as a coating in the perforation gun. 
     
     
         15 . A perforation gun according to  claim 14 , wherein the coating is situated on the interior of the gun barrel. 
     
     
         16 . A perforation gun according to  claim 14 , wherein the coating is situated on an additional thin-walled pipe which is located coaxially between the outer gun barrel and the Inner barrel. 
     
     
         17 . A perforation gun according to  claim 13 , wherein the swellable medium is applied as a solid material, for example supplied from a roll by wrapping, to the gun barrel or an additional thin-walled pipe which is located coaxially between the gun barrel and the inner barrel. 
     
     
         18 . A perforation gun according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the swellable medium is applied only in the region of the penetration holes as a solid material, for example as a circular blank, to the gun barrel and/or an additional thin-walled pipe which is located coaxially between the gun barrel and the inner barrel. 
     
     
         19 . A perforation gun according to  claim 13 , wherein the swellable medium itself is a pipe or tube which is located coaxially between the outer gun barrel and the inner barrel. 
     
     
         20 . A perforation gun according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the swellable medium is activated by the ignition of the perforators via contact with the borehole medium such as oil, gas, water, drilling fluids used in deep hole drilling, or by other borehole-related influences, swells up, and thus closes the penetration holes. 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising providing swellable planar medium inside a perforation gun, having an outer gun barrel inside of which an inner barrel is coaxially situated, and which has perforators that ignite via a detonating fuse leading through the gun barrel, and after ignition pierce the gun barrel to form penetration holes, wherein the swellable medium is activated by the ignition of the perforators v a contact with the borehole medium such as oil, gas, water, drilling fluids used in deep hole drilling, or by other borehole-related influences, swells up, and thereby closes the penetration holes. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to according to  claim 21 , wherein the swellable medium is provided as a coating in the perforation gun. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the swellable medium is applied as a solid material by wrapping. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the swellable medium itself is a pipe or tube which is located coaxially between the outer gun barrel and the inner barrel.