a new retievables wire line cemnting tool

8/20/2019 A New Retievables Wire Line Cemnting Tool

1/8

PETROLElM BRANCH; AlME

Fidel i ty

union

Building

Dallas Texas

THIS IS A PBEPRINT SUBJEX:T

TO

CORRECTION

P PER

NUMBER

53

A New Retrievable l ire Line Cementing Tool

By

Blake M

Caldwell and George E. Briggs

J r

Members AlME

Welex Jet

Services Inc Fort

WOrth

Tex

Publication

Rights Reserved

This paper i s to

be

presented a t

the

30th

Annual

Fal l Meeting of the Petroleum Branch of the

American

Ins t i tu te of

Mining

and

Metallurgical

Engineers

in

New Orleans October 2-5

1955 and

is

considered

the property

of

the

Petroleum

Branch.

Permission

to publish

i s

hereby restr icted to-an

abstract

of not more

than

300 words

with

no i l lus t ra t ions unless the paper

i s

specif ical ly re-

leased

th e p res s by the Branch

Publications

Committee Chairman or the Executive Secretary

on

hi

behalf. .Such abstract should contain appropriate

conspicuous

acknowledgments. Publication

e l se -

where after. publication

in

J ou rn al o f

Petroleum

Technology

i s

granted on request providing

proper

credi t

i s given that publication and

the

original p r s n t t i ~ n of th e p ape r.

Discussion of this paper i s

invi ted.

Three copies o f any discussion should

be

sent to the

Petroleum

Branch off ice; wil l

be

presented a t the above meeting with the paper and considered

for publication

in

J ou rn al o f Petroleum Technology.

STR CT

Thi s paper

describes

a new retrievable wire

l ine

cementing tool

i t s

f ie ld

operation well

applications well cond it ions and performance

data .

The

cementing

tool

is

run

in to

a

well

on

an

armored

electr ic cable

in the

same manner

as

a

conventional perforating

gun.

he tool ut i l izes

gases from the

burning

of a high

energy

propel

lan t to

expand

a rubber packe r against ei ther cas

ing or an

open

hole section. Further expansion

of

gases

shears an aluminum retaining plug from

the

bottom

of the

cement

container forcing cement

into

the desired

posi t ion.

The complete tool with

the exception of the small

aluminum plug and gun

seal i s

ret r ieved

from the well. Additional ce

menting runs may

be

made for addi t ional cement

f i l l

This

wire

l ine

tool

has been used

success

fu l ly

to

eliminate

bottom-hole

water

from

an open

hole section to squeeze cement ei ther a complete

or par t i a l se t of perforat ions to squeeze leaky

casing shoes to seal

leaky bridging

plugs and

to

seal channels

in the

annulus.

INTRODUCTION

the

past

few y ea rs w it h deeper dr i l l ing

References and i l lustrat ions a t end of paper

and new

well

completion techniques the cemen

of o i l

wells

has

become a more

highly develope

operation with specialized equipment

and

t rain

personnel.

During primary casing cementing operation

neat

cement i s

placed

in

the

annulus

to

accom

plish

any

or a l l of

the

following:

1 . Separate

formations

2. Seal

formation for deeper dr t l l ing

3.

Form a support

and protect ive

cement

sheath

around the

casing

Squeeze

cementing

may

be d ef in ed a s

a

sec

ary cementing operation in which

cement

or

oth

seal ing mate r ia l i s forced in to an

open

section

or

in to perforations to obtain a seal

or

a shu

off o f undes ir ab le f luids or gas.

The quantity of cement usually necessary t

a ct ua ll y s e al perforat ions channell:l and void

or

to successfully seal

an

open

hole section ba

generally

been

found to

be

relat ively small. I

i s

necessary only to f i l l t he d es ir ed channel o

perforat ions with

cement allowing

to

harden

posi t ion.

l

he

problem i s

to

place

the

cement

where i s needed and with

conventional metho

th is sometimes requires

many

times the wnount o

cement

actually needed

fo r sealing.

A new

retrievable squeeze cementing tool


2/8

WmE LINE CEMENTlNG TOOL ~ O -

which

is

run on a

wire l ine

has proven

to

be a

quick and

eff icient

means

of

combating water

problems

with

reduced workover

costs.

Such costs

are materially

reduced by

eliminating one com ;

plete

round

trip f

of

th e t ub ing

or dr i l l pipe.

Frequently, cement dr i l l out,

or

well

stimulation

techniques may

be

completely eliminated.

oth

er

wire

line

services

are needed in the recomple

tion

operation, c osts are reduced by combining

two

or

more

services.

Savings also

result by

a

decrease

in

the

w

(Waiting

on Cement

time.

This time may be further decreased by th e a dd i-

I

tion

of

small amounts (1

to

3 per

cent) of

calci

um chloride to th e cement s lu rr y to accelerate

i ts

sett ing. general a relativelY heavy

slurry

weight

reduces

th e w time and

provides

a

greater

cement

strength.

The danger of sticking the equipment in

cement is reduced,

since

the tool is immediately

pulled from th e well after th e cement has been

discharged from the cement container.

Surface testing

indicates

that

through th e

use

of

this tool, a mul tip le o f narrow

fissures

a re c re ated

and

sealed with the

cement

slurry,

providing

a more

uniform distribution of

cement

along

the well

bore.

To obtain satisfactory-results with

this

new method of

squeeze

cementing, i t is imperative

that no

fluid

or gas, which would agitate the

placed

cement, enter

the well during

th e

opera

t ion.

DESCRIPTION OF TOOL

This new wire line. squeeze cementing tool

is

available in five

(OD) sizes; namely,

3-in,

3

1/2-in,

4

1/4-in,

4 5/8-in and

5-in. Table

1

shows

the

most common

casing

sizes and

weights

with th e

r e ~ n e

tool size, tool

capacity,

and

the maximum obtainable

f i l l

The complete

cementing tool assembly

shown

in

Fig.

1 consists

of

seven fundamental parts-

packer bail assembly, packer rUbber, gun

s s e m ~

propellant charge,

pressure release

assembly,

cement container. and aluminum

retaining

--plug.

The packer

bai l

assembly consists of a con

nector, bail ,

coupling, and packer

body.

The

connector ~ t t c h e s to the cablehead and provides

a means ·of sealing an inSulated electrical con

tact

from

th e

cablehead

to th e

gun body.

A bail

attaches

the connector to the

coup

l ing

and

provides

an

opening

through

which

th e

cement container i s f ill ed and through which

the gun

assembly

is inserted

into th e

packer

body.

Fig.

2 shows cement

being

poured into th e

3-in tool and in

Fig.

3 th e gun

assembly

is being

inserted.into

the

packer body.

The coupling,

an

internally

threaded tubular

section,

attaches

the

bai l

to th e packer body and

s e c u r e ~ the gun

assembly

wi

thin th e

packer body.

The p c ~ e r body is a

perfora ted tubular

sec-

t ion, the lower end of which is

threaded

and a t-

tached to th e pressure release assembly. A spe

cia l

rubber packer is held

in position

over

the

packer

body by steel bands

at each

end.

This

packer is radially

expanded by gases developed.

within the packer body and

is

resil iently

return

able to i ts

normal position when

pressure is

re

leased. Surface

and

field

tests indicate

th e

elasticity and length of the packer

result in

a

highly effective packoff.

The 3-in tool has

be

successfully

set

in

5

1/2-in

ca sing, th e

3

1/2-

and

4 1/4-in tools in 7-in casing and th e 4

5/8

in and 5 -i n t oo ls

in

8

7/8-in

open hole.

A gun holder and.

locking

ring

secures

a he

treated

tubular

gun body, with

propellant

charg

in the packer assembly. Fig. 4 shows the gun

holder being made up to th e

coupling.

An elect

ca,l contact a t the uppermost end

of

th e

gu n

bod

provides electr ical

continuity

to

the propellan

charge

while

sea li ng the charge against

externa

f luids. The lower end of the gun body is seale

by means of a gun seal and

O-ring.

Below the packer

assembly

is a pressure re

lease

assembly

with

outwardly

seating

check

valves. These

valves prevent

th e outward escap

of cement and gases from

th e

tool. They permit

the

inward

flow of

well f luid into th e tool whe

t he p ressure within

is

reduced below

that

on the

outside.

The lower tubular port ion

of the tool, th e

cement container, carries neat cement or other

sealing materials

to

be

deposited in the

well.

This

container

i s

20

f t in

length and is con

structed

of alloy

steel tubi ng o f

varying

diam

eters. A

pair

of

inwardly projecting

pins at

th

l ower end of

th e

container r eceive the type

slots of an aluminum retaining

plug,

assuring i t

retention

and

holding

the

column

of neat

cement

Fig.

5

th e

aluminum

retaining

plug i s being

inserted into th e 3-in cement container.

FIELD

OPERATION

F:rnST CHECK RUN

t

has

been

found

through

f ield

experience

that

a detrimental factor in obtaining a succes

fu l squeeze

job

i s fluid entrance a t the zone to

be squeezed. A

check

run

with

an empty tool pr

or to a cementing run, establishes th e fluid le

vel

which can again be checked on each

successiv

run. Any . fluid entrance

will

be

detected and

measures

should

be

taken

to

prevent

agitation

o

th e cement.

~ l N R U N

Three factors control the quant it y o f ceme

to

be displaced

into

th e formation:

(1 )

the

quantity

of propellant; (2) the position of the

tool

relative

to the lowest perforation or botto

lf

open hole; n (3)

th e

slurry weight.


3/8

530-G

BL l>JCE M. CALDWELL AN D GEORGE

E.

BRIGGS

JR .

After

th e check

run has been made

and

th e

fluid level established, prepara tions are made

for

the

cementing run.

The propellant charge

is

placed in th e gun

on

location

by th e s er vic e company operator

with

th e quantity o f p ro pe lla nt governed by

w ll depth

f luid

level,

and th e formation to be squeezed.

Surface tests

have indicated

that

a maximum pres

sure

of 8,460

psi

can be deve loped with a ful l

propellant

load.

The position or confinement of th e cementing

tool relative to

th e

lowest perforations or bot

tom of the open hole section, w ll govern to some

exte nt th e quanti ty

of

cement to be displaced.

This

distance w l l generally

vary

from 1

to 7 f t

Field

experience indicates th e

slurry weight

wi ll a ff ec t

t he quant it y

of cement

d ispl aced , t he

l ighter

slurry

weights being

more

readily dis

placed. Cement slurry weights are

varied between

15 Ib/gal, and 18 1/2 Ib/gal.

DISCHARGE

OF CEMENT

Upon lowering

the

too l to th e zone to be ce

mented, an

e le c tr ic a l c ir cu i t is energized, ignit

in g a squib which ignites th e propellant. Expand

' ng gas es

g e n e r ~ t e

by th e

burning

propellant ex

th e

packer outwardly, seal ing agains t upward

ow

of

fluids

as shown

in of Fig.

1.

simul

taneous force

applied

to th e cement moves i t down

ward

and

ou t

of

th e

container

after shearing

the

aluminum retaining plug.

Immediately

after discharge

of cement, th e

cement

tool

is

slowly

raised

to

t he surf ac e

and

preparations made for a second check run.

SECOND H K RUN

second check run

is usually

made 1 1/2 to

2 hours

af ter

th e

cementing

run to

determine

th e

cement

f i l l

in th e casing or the open hole section.

a

sufficient

f i l l has not beeq

effected,

addi

t ional cementing runs

( st ag es ) a re

made following

th e

same

procedure

as above.

ADDITIONAL

CEMENTING RUNS STAGES

I f

a long cement f i l l

or

plug back requiring

several runs is

necessary

to

obt ai n t he

desired

f i l l

a

check run

is made

after

th e

f i r s t

cement

run.

This determines

i f

the qu antity of cement

displaced is satisfactory

after

which several con

secutive

cementing runs

are made

without

a

check

run.

Upon approaching

th e

desired cement f i l l a

f inal check

run

determines

th e

to ta l

cement i ~

WELL

APPLICATIONS

OPEN HOLE PLUG BACK

A common w ll

completion practice

is tha

of setting casing above and dri l l ing a rat ho

or open

hole

below th e casing shoe into the pr

ducing

formation.

by

chance

th e w ll is

dri l led to o deep into wate r, th en part

of the

open hole section must be

sealed.

n

a water drive

f ield, such as

the TXL

Notrees f ield in West Texas, th e elevation of

water

table

steadily

r ises

as o il is produced

from th e

f ield.

Water

production may

increase

unt i l i t

becomes necessary to seal off th e ope

hole

section.

Today's accepted techniques

and materials

have

quite f requent ly proven inadequate in sea

in g

off water

because they do

not

eliminate

ch

nels or voids between th e formation

and

th e

pl

ging

material. ' 'Floating

plugs are th e resu

of no direct bond between formation and plug.

The new

wire

l ine

cementing

tool

has

been

found an effective means of sealing a s ec ti on

open hole. Jobs

calling for as

l i t t l e

as

2 f t

or as much as 52

f t

have been

effectively

seal

wi

th th is

tool . Frequently in l ong p lug

backs

i t

becomes more economical to

f i l l

a

portion

o

this section

with

sand or pea gravel,

and

squee

a 5 or

10

f t cap above . Field resul ts indica

this to

be as

satisfactory

as squeezing the e

t i re

section.

Generally,

a successful water shut-off ca

be obtained with

very

l i t t l e displacement

of c

ment into the

formation. n

excellent example

o

this

is

a

w ll

in

th e

TXL

Notrees

f ield

of

West Texas. A to ta l of, seven sacks of Type

I I

cement was

used

to plug 39 f t of 4 3/4

Ellen

berger

formation

with on ly 2

1/3

sacks

of

cem

being

displaced into th e

formation.

~ r i o r to

menting, the

well

flowed 300 BOPD with 10 per

cent

water.

After cementing, th e w ll fiowed

BOPD with no water.

This

job was performed w

a

saving

of

approximately

1,000

in comparison

to another method of plug back.

The

low:

cost and p in

point

accuracy of

this

new method should

al low remedial

measures

to be taken

on

many thin zone completions whic

would

otherwise

not

be

attra.ptive. Wire

l ine

measurements along with casing collar checks i

sure

correct

placement of cement and th e exact

measurement

of

quantity

o

material displaced

to th e

formation.

As an example o thin z o n ~ remedial worko

2 f t

of

a 3-ft open hole section in a

well

in

th e Chalk Hills

field in

North Central Texas w

successfully

cemented with two sacks

of

cemen

The

water

production was reduced

from

50 to 4


4/8

WTRli T.TNR

mOT.

cent.

GAS WEIJ S

A

ver y h igh

rat io of successful cementing

jobs

have

been performed

in the open hole

section

of

gas

wells in which there was l i t t l e or no f lu

id in

the well

At the

time

of . this

writing,

the

open hole section

of

six gas wells

had

been ce

mented. The water production o f th ese

wells

was

ei ther

completelY

eliminated

or

materiallY

re

duced.

The cementing

equipment

was lubricated in

to each gas well through th e equipment as shown

in Fig.

6.

Care was taken to seal a l l gas

leaks

to

prevent any movement or agi ta ti on i n th e

bot

tom of

the

well

COMMUNICATION

OR

CHANNELS

During

the

primary placement

of

cement be

hind

the casing, the cement

s lur ry t rave ls up

ward

in the annulus and may

become

contaminated

with

mud

leaving

channels

or

voids beh ind

th e

casing.

Such channels o r voids

may

allow the

m o v e m e ~ t of

fluids

or

gases

between

zones.

Wire line cementing

has

been found a quick

and

economical

means of eliminating

such channels

or

voids.

I t

has

also been

used effect ively

as

a

means of sealing communication due to hydraulic

f rac tu r ing o r acidi zing .

The quantity of cement

necessary to seal such a channel or

fracture

or

even to f i l l a section of the

annulus is

gener

allY quite

small. Experience with wire

l ine ce

menting has shown that i t is desirable to squeeze

through eight

or more

perforations to

prevent any

tendency to

choke the flow of cement.

As an example , in attempting to fracture a

sand in a 4,000 f t well in the Cree

Sykes

f ield

in West

Texas,

communication was

established be

tween two producing

sands.

To eliminate

th is

channel th e lower zone was temporarilY blocked

by

dlUllp1ng

sand,

and a shale section between the

two sands was perforated

with 12

shots from a

4-way je t

gun.

The perforations w then

squeezed with one

sack

of Type

II I Portland

ce

ment. A check

ru n

indicated that 5/8 of a sack

of cement was placed behincl

th e

casing. The ef

fec tiv en ess of t he seal was la ter tested under

4,200 psi

and

found sat isfactory.

SQUEEZING PERFORATIONS

A popuiar

well completion practice

of today

is dri l l ing through the prospec tive pay zone,

cementing t he c as in g

str ing, and

perforating

th e

zone for production.

The wire

line cementing tool has been used

in f ield ~

to

successfully seal: (1 ) a com

plete perforated

section,

and

(2 )

a portion

of

a perforated section.

Exper ience has

shown that

sat isfactory re

sults can

be achieved

with th e packer of the

wi

l ine cementing

tool

set in

perforations.

I t

i s

there fore poss ible to seal part of a perforated

section,

eliminating

dr i l l

out and reperforat

ing.

When

squeezing ei ther

a

complete section

of

perforations,

or a portion

thereof,

the in i -

t i a l

entry of the

slurry

i s

directed into

the

lower-most

of

the perfora t ions .

the desired

section

of perforations is not completely o v r

additional cementing runs

must

necessarilY

be

made.

A

2 f t

section

o

perforations has

been

successfu lly sea led without damaging th e remain

in g

perforations by

the

invasion

of cement. n

the

Juliana f ield

of

North

Central Texas,

the

lower

2 f t of a perforated

section

was sealed

th 1/2 sack of cement. P rior to

cementing,

th

well produced

90

BOPD and 10 WPD and af ter

ce

menting,

the well produced 98 BOPD and 0 BWPD

Although

t he capac ity

of

the

tool

somewhat

l imits

i t s economic

use

to

th in zones, la rg e p e

forated sections have been successfullY sealed.

This i s

accomplished by

blocking the

lower per

forations

with

sand

or

pea

gravel or

by

sett ing

abr idging plug a few feet below the top perfor

t ions.

The top

perforations

are

then

squeezed,

sealing

the entire

section below.

As an example, 168 f t

of

perforations in a

gas

well in the Hugoton field of Kansas were su

cessfully sealed. This well

had

been

producing

from perforations between

3,308 to

3,140 f t .

was desirable to squeeze th e upper perforations

to

eliminate any possible

channel ing through to

producing

perforations

above. This

was accom

plished

by

sett ing a wire line bridging plug in

th e perforations a t 3,143 f t and squeezing a 3

cap above

the

plug.

This

job was reported as su

cessful.

LEAKY BRIDGING

PLUGS ND CASING SHOES

This method

of

squeeze cementing has

been

successfully

used

to seal leaky bridging plugs

and l eaky casing

shoes.

n the

Lindsay

f ield of Oklahoma a leaky

bridging plug set a t

11,029

f t was effectivelY

sealed,

using

one -hal f o f

a

ful l

propellant

load

and a 16 Ib/gal cement

slurry.

The water prOdu

tion was

reduced

from 54 B D

to

1 B/D.

Leaky casing

sqoes

have

been

successfully

sealed by

squeezing either

through perforations

above th e shoe

or

squeezing around

th e

bottom of

the shoe.

As

an example , the

bottom

of a leaky

shoe

was

sealed

with five sacks

of

cement in a

well in the

North

Russell f ield of w Mexico.

This job was

reported

successful.


5/8

BLAKE M CALDWELL

ND

GEORGE E. BRIGGS

JR

Table

2

is

a summary of

representative Jobs

performed with the wire l ine squeeze cementing

tool.

SlliMARY

ND CONCLUSIONS:

This new wire

l ine

squeeze

cementing

tool,

util izing a high energy propellant

to

force ce

ment into the desired position, has i nc reased the

scope

of wire

l ine services by

providing

the fol

lOWing advantages

in squeeze cementing:

1. savings offered

the

o il operator

in

r ig time

2. Reduced danger

of

sticking

t he equ ip

ment

3. Pin point placement of cement

4. Versatil i ty

in

that the packer may be

set under

most

conditions

i n open hol e, p r f o r ~

t ions,

s lots ,

or casing

5. Well

fluid

is

not necessa ry

6.

portion

of a

perforated

interval can

be sealed

7.

portion

of

an

open hole

section

can

be sealed

8.

relatively

heavier

cement

slurry

pro

vides less w time with greater cement strength

9. more even distr ibution of cement along.

the well bore

10 . The

possibl e future

use of sealing mate

r ials

not

heretofore

p ract ic al i n squeeze

cement

ing.

11 .

greater

f lexibi l i ty and

use of wire

l ine

services

in recampletions

12. Monetary savings resulting

in

the use

of

smaller

quantities

of

cement

13 .

Monetary

savings resulting in

th e e limi

n ation o f dri l lable or

retrievable

packers

and

other

spec1allzed

squeeze

cementing tools

WIR L

1 P CKOFF HE

\4 5WAGE

NIPP

m L . . . . ~

U I

c;? BLEED

V L

LUBRI C T

KNOWLEDGMENT

II GATE

V L

1 = =

: ~ = = = = = = =

C S I

I

I_ -

I

r t r I l :

U

I

I

I

I

_____ 1

_____

1

I

The authors wish to thank the

Welex

Jet

Services,

Inc.,

for permission

to

publish this

data.

They

also

acknowl.edge with appreciation

the assistance

of those of

this organization

who

cooperated in

the prepara tion

of

this

paper.

1.

Huber, T. A.,

Tausch,

G H. ,

and

Dublin, III

J. R. : A

Simplified

Cementing Tecbiiique

for Recompletion

Operations, Jour.

Pet. Tec

(Jan.,

1954)

6,

No.1,

27 .

2.

Howard, George C., and Fast , C.

R.:

Squeeze

Cementing

Operations, Jour. Pet.

Tech. (Feb

1950) 189. 53.

3. Alquis:r;-F. N., and Miller, H H.: Effects

of

Calcium Chloride in Oil-Well Cements, Oil

and Gas

Jour.

(July 17,

1941).

4. Anderson, Francis

M.: Modern

Oil-Well

Ce

menting Operations, Trans.

API, (June

16 ,

1953).

REFERENCES

IGUR


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I ti CASLEHE AD N I

Jr r

FT R ETON TiON

a new retievables wire line cemnting tool

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