Method of Sealing the Walls of Deep Wells Page: 2 of 4
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UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.
WILLIAM E. NOLAN, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA.
MP42HOD OF SEALING THE WALLS OF DEEP WELLS.1,398,563.
Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented Nov. 29,1921.
Application filed April 28, 1920. Serial No. 377,326.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. NoLAN, a
citizen of the United States, residing at
Tulsa, in the county of Tulsa and State of
5 Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful
Method of Sealing the Walls of Deep Wells,
of which the following is a specification.
This invention has reference to the method
of and means for lining oil wells where-
10 by the use of the customary metal casing is
avoided, the cost is very materially reduced
and numerous expenses and failures are
done away with.
The strata through which bores for oil
15 are made may be quite similar in different
parts of the country and usually consist of
surface dirt, limestone underlying it, fol-
lowed by water-bearing sandstone, then
many hundreds or even thousands of feet of
20 a formation known as shale, which is of a
friable, crumbly nature, then more lime-
stone and more sandstone, or sand, as it is
ordinarily termed, such sand containing gas
and oil. In the Texas oil fields the oil bear-
25 ing strata may occur three or four thousand
feet below the surface of the ground.
Such a well when lined with metal casing
is highly expensive to produce, costing, with
the casing, from eighty to one hundred
30 thousand dollars or more.
If such a well prove non-productive,
which sometimes occurs, the boring of the
well and oftentimes the metal casing there-
of, are a total loss and even when the cas-
35 ing is recovered the loss is very heavy.
As explained in my applications No.
370226, filed March 31, 1920, for method of
drilling wells; and No. 371053, filed April
3, 1920, for method of sealing the walls of
40 oil wells, it is feasible to omit the usual
metal casing with its high expense and many
disadvantages, and to provide a bore of rela-
tively small size, whereby the cost of boring
is reduced, and to seal the walls of the bore
45 in such manner as to prevent the influx of
water from the water-bearing strata and to
seal the walls against collapse by coating
them with a strongly adherent, resistant
material preventing collapse or crumbling
50 or caving of the walls.
In accordance with my application No.
371053, the lining is non-metallic and, as ef-
ficient as, or more efficient than, the usual'
metal casing and also representing but a
55 small fraction of the cost of such metal cas-
ing. A similar effect may be produced byemploying an initially flowable casing which
may be produced from cement in a more or
less fluid condition forced and held against
the walls by a suitable core which latter is 60
heated in order to quickly dry and harden
the cement.
Like conditions may be produced by the
use of sulfur, or a mixture of sulfur and
lime, or fire-clay in a semi-fluid condition, 65
the sulfur, or mixture of sulfur and lime,
being rendered fluid or flowable by heat
produced within the core.
Sulfur is advantageous either alone or as
an ingredient of a mixture, where it may be 70
obtained in large quantities and within
ready transportation distance of the oil
field, as, for instance, the Texas oil fields.
Furthermore the sulfur, or sulfur 'mixture,
produces a hard smooth and tenacious coat- 75
ing impervious to both water and oil, thus
sealing the walls of the well against both in-
flux of water and the collapse, or caving, of
the shale.
The invention will be best understood: 80
from a consideration of the following. de-
tailed description taken in connection with
the accompanying drawings forming part of
this specification, with the understanding,
however, that the invention is not confined 85
to any strict conformity with the showing
in the drawings, but may be 'changed and
modified so long as such changes and modi-
fications mark no material departure from
the salient features of the invention as ex- 90,
pressed in the appended claims.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of
an oil well produced in accordance with the
invention. 95
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section
through a fluid burner which may be em-
ployed in the practice of the invention.
In practising the invention there is first
formed in the surface of the ground a pit,. or 100
cellar, 1 of sufficient depth, say about 60
feet, and of suitable diameter to admit cer-
tain workmen and certain mechanisms or
structures. For the protection of the bot-
tom of the pit a layer or flooring 2 of cement 105
or . other suitable material is provided.
Traversing such layer in the upright axial
line of the pit is a short length 3 of casing.
The cellar 1 is carried to cap rock indicated
at 4 and which may be considered as consist- 110
ing of limestone which in turn overlies a
layer or layers of shale often being some
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Nolan, William E. Method of Sealing the Walls of Deep Wells, patent, November 29, 1921; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1258698/m1/2/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.