Coiled-Tubing Logging System

E.P. Howell, SPE, Areo Oil & Gas Co.

L."". Smith, Areo Oil & Gas Co.
C.G. Blount, SPE, Areo Alaska Inc.

Summary. Techniques have been developed to use coiled tubing containing a seven-conductor wireline to facilitate logging
operations. Equipment has been designed to permit the connection of conventional logging tools to the tubing and the recording of
logs. Operating techniques have been developed and applied under various wellbore conditions. The system allows traditional log
measurements in a well while wellbore conditions are controlled. Advantages of the system include reduced wellbore pressure
during perforation to maximize perforation performance; lubrication during pulling or pushing a logging tool through a borehole so
that a more uniform velocity can be maintained with a logging sonde; continued circulation and thus borehole stability during
logging; temperature reduction for improved reliability of logging sonde electronics in hot holes; and more stable positioning of
perforation equipment. The ability of coiled tubing to push tools down highly deviated or horizontal wellbores makes logging or
perforating feasible in these wells. Expenses can often be reduced with coiled-tubing logging because a rig is unnecessary during
many operations.
Introduction
Coiled-tubing workover operations have become quite common for
a number of problems and can be cost-effective. 1,2 However, some
of this effectiveness is lost when additional equipment is required
to perform logging services. To reduce the amount of equipment
needed to provide logging service during coiled-tubing workovers,
a system was developed to use the tubing to convey logging tools.
While this system was being developed, a number of new applications were found that did not previously involve coiled tubing but
that now provide improvements in the logging operation.
Coiled-tubing operations require an injector unit with the tubing
equipment but no workover rig. Logging in a conventional sense
then necessitates removing the injector truck, setting up a small
rig or tower to support the lubrication equipment, and positioning
the logging sonde into the well. The new system (illustrated in
Fig. 1), with a seven-conductor wireline maintained within the tubing, permits the running of logs with the tubing injector and can
reduce the number of trips or time in the hole.
Requirements. Typical requirements for logging operations that
are normally associated with coiled-tubing workovers are fairly rigorous. This logging often involves some of the more data-intensive
measurements, such as casing-corrosion inspection or cement-bond
evaluation. For this purpose, electrical connections have been
designed that use conventional seven-conductor wireline cable. Logging speeds as slow as 300 ft/hr [90 m/h] or as fast as 6,000 ft/hr
[1830 m/h] are readily attainable with the coiled-tubing injector
equipment. This allows extended operation of data-intensive tools,
as well as tools that make imaging measurements to locate areas
of specific interest within the well. Because coiled tubing stretches
much less than logging cable, actual depth positioning can be determined very accurately.
A requirement of pressure integrity and backup in case of failure is obviously very important in this system. Also, the system
has been designed to ensure that continuous fluid circulation is
possible throughout the logging operation.

Downhole Equipment
The design of this system was developed around a conventional
seven-conductor logging wireline maintained within the coiled tubing. The wireline can be enclosed while the coiled tubing is being
manufactured, or it can be installed in units already prepared for
operation. The field installation requires first laying out the tubing
in a reasonably straight line, then pumping a slick line through the
tubing with something like swab cups and a suitable fluid, and finally drawing the seven-conductor cable into the tubing with the
Copyright 1988 Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE Formation Evaluation, March 1988

slick line. This process is rather straightforward but requires care

in minimizing curvature of the tubing while the slick line is pumped
through it and in applying continuous tension while the logging wireline is drawn into place.
Two separate designs for the cable tubinghead have been developed and tested. A swivel head (Fig. 2) is used when logging tools
are run that require precise centering in the wellbore, such as some
of the ultrasonic wellbore-imaging tools. Our swivel head has a
3 lA-in. [8.26-cm] diameter. It uses a mandrel that slides over the
tubing and wireline and is then connected to the tubing in a manner that permits the setting of a specific break strength. The mandrel contains four fluid-injection ports to maintain circulation
through the tubing. The lower portion of the mandrel contains a
swivel joint that relieves the cross-stress on the logging sonde and
allows precise centralization. A weak point is then designed into
the system below the mandrel. The failure weight can be chosen
to match the tubing, logging tool, and wellbore conditions. In our
units, this is generally designed for 3,000 Ibf [13 345 N], leaving
exposed a I-in. [2.54-cm] -diameter fishing neck (Fig. 3) for retrieval.
A straight, 2Ys-in. [5A-cm] -diameter cable tubinghead has also
been developed. This head provides a more rigid connection and
fits into smaller-diameter pipe or works under more adverse wellbore conditions. Most of the tests with the rigid units have been
with wireline perforation guns.
With both types of cable tubingheads, the cable connection is
designed to ensure that no wireline is left in the well in case of
the tools sticking. Because only minimal tension is placed on the
wireline itself, this connection requires only a few strands of the
cable armor for support. The pressure integrity of the heads is maintained with conventional cone-and-basket assemblies similar to those
used in most wireline cable heads. Both cable tubingheads also have
a pressure-check valve that sets if a failure occurs in the tubing
system above the wellhead. This prevents borehole fluids from venting up through the coiled tubing. The downhole connector assembly contains a shock-absorbing section to prevent damage to both
the logging tool and the tubing.

Surface Equipment
At the surface, a Y connection is installed within the coiled-tubing
reel. One side of the Y is then connected to the pump swivel normally found on this equipment and used for fluid circulation during
the tubing operation. A high-pressure feed-through has been
designed into a connector sub that is then attached to the other side
of the Y. A seven-conductor wireline section then connects to a
collector-ring assembly mounted on the tubing drum axle. The connector sub is actually swaged onto the tubing and uses a wireline
37

LOG....
RECTJIIONICS

.....----1-1/4"
~-----1"

TU8fNG CONTAINING

WlRELIHE

'----1-3/4"

Fig. 1-Coiled-tublng logging system.

COILED
TUBING

oe
o

FLUID PORTS

O-RING

FISHING ASSEMBLY
AND CHECK VALVE
(INTERNAL)

assembly similar to a wireline cable head system for the feedthrough. Conventional logging-truck electronics modules are then
connected to the collector rings so that logs can be recorded and
displayed in real time. A module that converts depth information
from the tubing injector is normally used to provide depth to the
recording system. In some cases, a second depth encoder is attached
to the tubing undet'the injector frame.

"''''L-__

History and Tests

BALL-JOINT
SWIVEL
WIRELINE

LOGGING SONDE
CABLEHEAD CONNECTOR

Fig. 2-Coiled-tublng swivel connector assembly.

38

Fig. 3-Flshlng head for coiled-tubing connector.

A number of laboratory tests of this system have been run in shallow

boreholes designed specifically for testing logging tools. These tests
were made in both cased and open holes. Equipment was designed
to place specific, measured stress levels on tile logging sondes and
coiled tubing. While minimum-diameter downhole equipment was
being designed, tests were run repeatedly to ensure that strength
and pressure criteria were met. After original specifications were
met with the equipment, two sondes were used for testing under
field conditions. These were an ultrasonic imaging system, similar
to Mobil Oil Co.'s Televiewer, 3 and a perforating gun. The
ultrasonic imaging tool requires uniform logging velocity. This uniform velocity can be maintained with the tubing system, which allows lubrication through fluid circulation, thus minimizing tool
sticking or pulsed movement that can occur when a wireline
stretches. The perforating gun requires accurate depth location and
tests the overall strength of the system with strong shock waves
when the gun is fired repeatedly.
After successful tests in laboratory boreholes, the equipment was
run in a number of oil wells under workover conditions. The system has been found to operate efficiently in both vertical and deviated wells and to produce quality logs without major modifications
SPE Formation Evaluation. March 1988

to normal coiled-tubing procedures. During the last 2 years, logging operations have been run in wells with deviations up to 92 0
[1.6 rad] from vertical. Downhole equipment has included openhole dual-induction gamma ray sondes, perforating guns as large
as 3%-in. [8.57-cm] OD, and a complete production logging system.

Potential for CoiledTubing Logging

Coiled-tubing logging provides an economic advantage when measurements are needed during some workover operations. It also will
provide improvements when logging in such difficult openhole conditions as highly deviated holes, hot holes, and possibly unstable
holes where circulation needs to continue during logging. It also
allows control of wellbore conditions while logging. Examples for
potential applications include the following.
1. A spinner survey can be run with packer equipment to control flow rate systematically so that more accurate profiles can be
measured.
2. For some time, reduced wellbore pressure 4 has been maintained by pumping nitrogen during workover operations so that formation damage caused by wellbore fluid invasion can be avoided.
With wireline equipment, this concept can be applied to more
elaborate perforation techniques.
3. Some logging measurements, such as temperature surveys, are
needed while a wellbore fluid is being injected, such as during and
after stimulation operations.

SPE Formation Evaluation, March 1988

In summary, a number of improvements can be made by using

coiled tubing to run conventional wireline logs, in many cases with
economic advantages.

References
1. Herring, G.D. et al.: "Selective Gas Shut-Off Using Sodium Silicate
in the Prudhoe Field, Alaska," paper SPE 12473 presented at the 1984
SPE Formation Damage Control Symposium, Bakersfield, Feb. 13-14.
2. Harrison, T.W. and Blount, C.G.: "Coiled Tubing Cement Squeeze
Techniques at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska," paper SPE 15104 presented at
the 1986 SPE California Regional Meeting, Oakland, April 2-4.
3. Zemanek, J. et al.: "The Borehole Televiewer: A New Logging Concept for Fracture Location and Other Types of Borehole Inspection,"
JPT (June 1969) 762-74; Trans., AIME, 246.
4. Weeks, S.G.: "Coiled Tubing, Nitrogen Cut Workover Costs," World
Oil (Feb. 1, 1970) 29-32.

SI Metric Conversion Factor

in. x 2.54*
E+OO
Conversion factor is exact.

cm

SPEFE

Original SPE manuscript received for review Oct. 5, 1986. Paper accepted for publication
May 12, 1987. Revised manuscript received July 16, 1987. Paper (SPE 15489) first presented
at the 1986 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Oct. 5-8.

39