US 11,814,919 B2
Downhole tool with a propellant charge
Rae Younger, Aberdeenshire (GB)
Assigned to SPEX CORPORATE HOLDINGS LIMITED, Aberdeen (GB)
Filed by SPEX CORPORATE HOLDINGS LIMITED, Aberdeen (GB)
Filed on Sep. 12, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/942,357.
Application 16/998,373 is a division of application No. 15/565,497, abandoned, previously published as PCT/GB2016/051032, filed on Apr. 13, 2016.
Application 17/942,357 is a continuation of application No. 16/998,373, filed on Aug. 20, 2020, granted, now 11,441,379.
Claims priority of application No. 1506265 (GB), filed on Apr. 13, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2023/0101688 A1, Mar. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. E21B 29/02 (2006.01); E21B 29/06 (2006.01); E21B 23/04 (2006.01); E21B 7/04 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 29/02 (2013.01) [E21B 7/04 (2013.01); E21B 23/04 (2013.01); E21B 29/06 (2013.01)] 29 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of removing material from a target, the method comprising:
providing a tool, the tool having at least one propellant source, a propellant of the at least one propellant source having a low rate of combustion that once ignited burns or otherwise decomposes to produce propellant gas and other combustion products as a stream of combustion products at high pressure;
igniting the propellant of the at least one of the propellant source to form a combustion zone producing a stream of combustion products;
pressurising the tool with the stream of combustion products to a pressure higher than an environmental pressure;
directing at least one jet of combustion products generated at the combustion zone along at least one tool flow path;
expelling the at least one jet of combustion products from the at least one tool flow path to cause the expelled jet(s) of combustion products to interact with the target, the interaction causing material to be removed from the target; and
after the propellant has been ignited to produce combustion products, moving the tool with respect to the target so that the interaction with the target occurs at different locations on the target.