Patent 11560768 was granted and assigned to Halliburton on January, 2023 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Methods for positioning an expandable metal sealing element in the wellbore. An example method includes an expandable metal sealing element having a reactive metal and disposed in a location. The method further includes actuating a washout prevention element, contacting the expandable metal sealing element with a fluid that reacts with the reactive metal to produce a reaction product having a volume greater than the reactive metal, and allowing the washout prevention element to prevent at least a portion of the reaction product from flowing away from the location.