Protective Enclosure for a Wellhead

Abstract

A protective enclosure for protecting well head equipment at a surface location is made up of an open framework of structural members which surround and protect the well head. Individual steel panels are assembled to form a series of upstanding walls which are covered by a series of roof panels and which together define the quasi-enclosed area surrounding the well head. The roof panels are covered with a steel grating which forms a covered roof for the protective enclosure. The tubing which makes up the steel panels is spaced to allow access to the enclosed area by a worker needing to access the well head.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A protective enclosure for encompassing an upstanding well head located at a well surface location above ground in order to preclude encounter between the well head and objects which might be brought into damaging contact therewith, the protective enclosure comprising:
 an open framework of structural members which define a quasi-enclosed area adapted to surround and protect the well head,   the open framework of structural members being comprised of a plurality of individual steel panels, each of the steel panels being constructed of lengths of square steel tubing, the panels being assembled to form a series of upstanding walls which are covered by a series of roof panels and which together define the quasi-enclosed area surrounding the well head;   wherein the series of roof panels are, in turn, covered with a steel grating which forms a covered roof for the protective enclosure;   wherein the lengths of square steel tubing which make up the steel panels are spaced a selected distance apart which allows access to the quasi-enclosed area by a worker needing to access the well head.   
     
     
         2 . The protective enclosure of  claim 1 , wherein the individual steel panels which make up the protective enclosure are joined together using a plurality of U-bolts. 
     
     
         3 . The protective enclosure of  claim 2 , wherein series of roof panels are connected to the steel grating which forms the covered roof for the protective enclosure by a plurality of removable U-bolts. 
     
     
         4 . The protective enclosure of  claim 3 , wherein the steel grating is provided with a series of upstanding ring members which allow the steel grating to be lifted into position on the roof panels. 
     
     
         5 . The protective enclosure of  claim 4 , wherein steel panels which make up the enclosure include upright legs and horizontal legs, and wherein at least selected ones of the legs are affixed to surrounding earth by a cemented retaining arrangement. 
     
     
         6 . The protective enclosure of  claim 5 , wherein the cemented retaining arrangement includes a generally planar retainer plate with a top surface arranged generally parallel to the surrounding surface of the earth once cemented in place, and downwardly extending retainer legs. 
     
     
         7 . The protective enclosure of  claim 6 , wherein the retaining plate and its associated retaining legs is joined to the selected leg of the enclosure by an upstanding ring member on the plate and a similar upstanding ring member on the enclosure leg, the ring member being joined by a removable U-bolt. 
     
     
         8 . The protective enclosure of  claim 1 , wherein the above ground location is the site of multiple well heads which connect the surface location with multiple underground well bores. 
     
     
         9 . A method of protecting an upstanding well head located at a well surface location above ground in order to preclude encounter between the well head and objects which might be brought into damaging contact therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
 transporting a plurality of structural members from a distant location to the well surface location containing the upstanding well head;   assembling the open framework of structural members to thereby define a quasi-enclosed area adapted to surround and protect the well head,   the open framework of structural members being comprised of a plurality of individual steel panels, each of the steel panels being constructed of lengths of square steel tubing, the panels being assembled to form a series of upstanding walls which are covered by a series of roof panels and which together define the quasi-enclosed area surrounding the well head;   covering the series of roof panels with a steel grating which forms a covered roof for the protective enclosure;   wherein the lengths of square steel tubing, when assembled, are spaced a selected distance apart which allows access to the quasi-enclosed area by a worker needing to access the well head.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the individual steel panels which make up the protective enclosure are joined together using a plurality of U-bolts. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein series of roof panels are connected to the steel grating which forms the covered roof for the protective enclosure by a plurality of removable U-bolts. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the steel grating is provided with a series of upstanding ring members and wherein the grating is transported into a desired position by lifting the grating with the upstanding ring members. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein steel panels which make up the enclosure include upright legs and horizontal legs, and wherein the steps of the method include the steps of affixing at least selected ones of the legs of the enclosure to surrounding earth by a cemented retaining arrangement. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the steps of affixing using the cemented retaining arrangement include digging a hole in a surface location and burying a planar retaining plate in the hole, the retaining plate having one or more depending retaining legs. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the generally planar retainer plate is buried below the surrounding earth surface and has a top surface arranged generally parallel to the surrounding surface of the earth once cemented in place. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the retaining plate and its associated retaining legs are joined to the selected leg of the enclosure by an upstanding ring member on the plate and a similar upstanding ring member on the enclosure leg, the ring member being joined by a removable U-bolt. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the steps of:
 separating each buried retaining plate and its associated retaining legs from the selected leg of the enclosure by removing the associated U-bolt;   disassembling the enclosure; and   moving the enclosure to another desired location.