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Overall Syllabus: Drilling and Hydrofracking Technology
Introduction to FIELD Drilling Methods and Practices
Drilling fluids:
• WBM : functional additives, formulation/adjustment, characterization, compatibility
• OBM: functional additives, formulation/adjustment, characterization, compatibility
Fundamentals of Wellbore Hydraulics
• Lab-to-Field-concept, Power law model for rheology, wellbore pressures, ECD
Casing Design: Need, Type and Characterization.
Mud Logging
Cementing methods
Fundamentals of Hydraulic Fracturing and Fracturing Fluid Design
Casing Design: Need
Wellbore Stability
• Provides strength by preventing cavings
• prevent contamination of water and sand
• Preserve the inner casings from corrosion
• Prevent issues such as kick or lost circulation.
• Isolate reactive formations from servicing fluids
Installation provision for wellhead equipment
• blowout preventers
• production packers, and
• production tubing.
5-in. production
liner
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Casing Types: 1. Conductor Casing
The outermost casing string.
Length ≈ 40 to 600 ft. (onshore).
Outside Diameter (OD):
for shallow wells, typical OD is 16 in.
For deep wells, typical OD is 20 in.
Features
Isolates the initial formation zone.
Protects the subsequent casing strings
from corrosion.
May be used to support some of the
well load structurally.
Spud mud used while drilling the zone
Casing Types: 2. Surface Casing
Length ≈ 300 to 5000 ft. (onshore).*
Outside Diameter (OD):
Typical designs: 10-3/4”. and 13-3/8”.
Features
protects the shallow freshwater sands
from contamination
Protects the subsequent casing strings
from corrosion.
Supports the BOP (blow out preventer).
Spud mud or WBM typically used while drilling the zone
*Owing possibility of contamination of shallow water-supply aquifers, surface-casing setting depths and
cementing practices are often subject to government regulations.
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Casing Types: 3. Intermediate Casing
Length ≈ 4000 to 15000 ft.
Outside Diameter (OD):
Typical designs: 9 5/8” to 13 3/8”
Features
Protects from abnormally pressured formations,
lost circulation zones, unstable shale sections, or salt sections
Sustains high-density drilling fluids.
WBMs or OBMs based on requirement
used while drilling the zone
additional intermediate casings may be required
based on sensitivity of the formation.
[Link]
Casing Types: 4. Liner
Length ≈ 500 to 4000 ft.
Outside Diameter (OD):
Typical designs: 3” to 7 5/8”
Features
Liners are casing strings that do not extend to the surface.
A liner hanger is used to suspend the top of the liner
in the previous casing shoe.
Principal advantage: lower cost
Challenges:
o if a hanger fails to suspend the liner correctly or
if a seal between the liner and the larger casing is not effective.
o using a liner exposes the previous casing string it to additional wear.
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Casing Types: 4. Liner
Types of Liners
Drilling Liner
o Function same as intermediate casing.
o May overlaps the existing casing by 200 to 400 ft.
o Isolates troublesome zones and to permit drilling below these zones
without having well problems.
Production Liner
o Function same as production casing.
o Provide isolation across the production or injection zones.
Tie-back Liner
o connected to the top of the liner and extends to the surface,
o converts liner to full string of (detachable) casing.
Scab Liner
o A section of casing used to repair existing damaged casing.
o It may be cemented or sealed with packers.
Casing Types: 4. Liner
Demonstrating tie-back liner
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Casing Characteristics: Manufacturing-Based
Alloy formation in furnace:
using iron ore, limestone, coke, portions of molybdenum/chrome
Molten metal made into solids bars (billets) or flat sheets.
Seamless process for casing manufacturing:
Using solid bars (billets)
[Link]
Hot pierced tube used to form tubulars
Heat and cold treatment to provide strength
Electric–resistance-welding (ERW) process for casing
manufacturing:
Using flat sheet steel stock
Heat for welding is generated by resistance to
flow of electric current.
Excess material formed in the welding process is
then trimmed. API SPEC 5CT covers
specifications related to
both seamless as well as
ERW process.
Casing Characteristics:
Proportionality limit & Yield Strength
Proportionality Limit (PL):
Up to this stress, stress is linearly proportional to strain.
The stress-strain ratio is elastic limit.
The typical elastic modulus of the steel is 30,000 psi.
PL YS
Yield Strength (YS or ):
Beyond the yield strength,
permanent deformation will occur.
Pipe-Body Tensile Strength (Ften) :
Minimum force to cause permanent
deformation of the pipe.
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Casing Characteristics: Numerical Problem 1
Question: Compute the pipe-body tensile strength for 20-in., K-55 casing with a
nominal wall thickness of 0.635 in. and a nominal weight per foot of 133 lbf/ft.
dn = nominal OD of the casing.
d = nominal ID of the casing.
= Yield strength
For K-55 = yield strength = 55,000 psi
Casing Characteristics: Grade
Grade :
Owing to variety of chemical composition and treatment processes,
the physical properties of the casings vary significantly.
API Casing Steel Grades
API uses a grade designation for casing
to define the strength characteristics.
The grade code consists of a letter
followed by a number: Common application
casing.
o The number designates the minimum
yield strength of steel in thousands of psi. Corrosion-resistant
casing.
o The letter refers to the chemical composition and
Deep-well casing.
heat treatment process of the material.
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Casing Characteristics: Lengths
The API standards recognize three length ranges:
Range 1 (R-1) : 16 – 25 ft
Range 2 (R-2): 25 – 34 ft
Range 3 (R-3): > 34 ft [most common]
More is the casing-length, less is the number of connections in the string.
Individual joints of casing are connected together by threaded connections.
API STD 5B: “specification for threading, gauging, and thread inspection
for casing, tubing and line pipe thread.”
Casing Characteristics: Weights, OD and ID
For each casing size, there are range of casing weights available
The weight of casing is represented as “weight per foot of the casing”
The casing weight, “lb/ft” is representation of the wall thickness of the pipe.
For instance, below table shows four different weights of 9 5/8” casing.
The wall thickness has a tolerance of : 12.5%.
The drift diameter: diameter of a cylindrical
drift mandrel that can pass freely through
the casing.
A bit of a size smaller than the drift
diameter will pass through the pipe.
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Casing Characteristics: Casing Burst Pressure
If casing is subjected to internal pressure higher than external, it is said
that casing is exposed to burst pressure loading.
The casing “burst pressure” is measure of the minimum internal yield
pressure of the casing (beyond which the deformation is permanent).
“API Burst” formula (Burlow equation):
dn = nominal OD of the casing.
t = nominal wall thickness.
f = 0.875 (considering API tolerance of 12.5% in the wall thickness)
= Yield strength
Casing Characteristics:
Casing Collapse Pressure
Casing collapse-pressure
If casing is subjected to external pressure higher than internal, it is
said that casing is exposed to collapse pressure loading.
External pressure that generates the minimum yield stress
(beyond which the deformation is permanent).
Lame’s formula
dn = nominal OD of the casing.
t = nominal wall thickness.
= Yield strength
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Casing Characteristics: Numerical Problem 2
Question: Compute the API burst resistance for 20-in., 133-lbf/ft, K-55 casing with
a nominal wall thickness of 0.635 in.
dn = nominal OD of the casing.
t = nominal wall thickness.
f = 0.875 (considering API tolerance of 12.5% in the wall thickness)
= Yield strength
Casing Characteristics: Numerical Problem 3
Question: Compute the yield collapse-pressure rating for 20-in., K-55 casing with a
nominal wall thickness of 0.635 in. and a nominal weight per foot of 133 lbf/ft.
dn = nominal OD of the casing.
t = nominal wall thickness.
= Yield strength