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Completion of Corrosive Gas Wells and Deep

Gas Wells

Introduction
The sour nature of produced fluids where hydrogen sulfide or CO2
content is high require special techniques to be implemented in
completion practices , completion hookup and material selection .
Also the high pressure and temperature in deep wells will add
another complication which require special attention to the stresses
and movement of tubing by these effects .

Sour environment
High content of hydrogen sulfide and / or carbon dioxide in
produce gas may cause sever corrosion specially in high pressure
conditions and with presence of water, hydrogen sulfide is much
corrosive than carbon dioxide even with less content and also it cause
hydrogen embitterment problems . .

Sour environment ,moderate well depth .


Completion practices
Tubular selection : Due to the sour production , materials should be
selected which will withstand corrosion and embrittlement and
which have a hardness no higher than Rc22 . The API C-75
classification meet these requirement but normal higher strength
alloys do not .
The mill practice of substituting couplings made with higher
strength material than the pipe body is an ever present danger in

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sour well completions since an N-80 or P-110 coupling may fail due to
hydrogen embrittelment . By using the lower grade of tubular goods
which is mechanically sound , the danger of embitterment failure is
reduced. .

Cementing when hydrogen sulfide is present , it is good practice to


use a sulfate resistant cement for completion . If this is not done ,
future failure of the cement may occur due to strength retrogression
caused by high sulfates content of the formation waters .

Perforating . Practically all perforating methods are applicable


including using a conventional gun with drilling mud or with
perforating fluid spotted across the perforating zone , and using
through tubing gun with negative or equalized well pressures . The
only advantage to using perforating fluids and negative well bore
pressure method has been found to be in the initial breakdown
pressure encountered on acidizing .
If the reservoir consist of a single permeable section of less than
100 ft the through tubing negative pressure procedure may be used
(fig. 1) . If two or more sections of porosity are to be opened or one
section greater than 100 ft , the conventional casing gun perforating
in mud is recommended .

Completion plan . If multiple zones are encountered , the


recommended procedure is to 1) perforate all sections with casing
gun In mud , 2) run tubing with dual packers or packer and
retrievable bridge plug to straddle each zone individually ,

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3) spot acid (100 gallous per foot section ) on each zone , break down
and acidize at a high rate , 4) pull packer or packer and bridge plug

and set permanent packer above all perforations .


5) run tubing install Christmas tree , circulating around with
inhibited oil before setting in packer . 6) clean up well to pit until free
of mud . 7) acidiz formation at high injection rate and clean to pit .
If possible the acidized formation should not be exposed to mud .
This may be accomplished in multiple zones by setting permanent
packers between each zone and above the top zone . Sleeves and
plugs , then are used for cleaning up and acidizing each zone
individually . This procedure require inhibited wire line services for
operation in sour environment .
If mud must be dropped on acid zed section , it has been found that
displacing some inhibited oil into the formation ahead of the mud

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and using an invert emulsion mud weighted with lime results in
minimum formation damage .
Well heads. When selecting well head equipments , the
embrittelment and corrosive nature of sour production must be given
careful consideration . The National Association of Corrosion
Engineers has set specification for trim and body requirements for
valves in sour services , and all manufacturers produce valves
meeting these specifictions . Use of these valves minimize failures
have additional inherently desirable features foe use in sour
environment , such as longer lasting bubble tight sealing and
advantageous location of packing . Other well used equipment , such
as casing and tubing heads and hangers should be selected to
minimize stresses . Welding should be avoided since this cause areas
of varying hardness which can result in cracking and localized
corrosion .

Down hole corrosion and embrittelment can be successfully mitigated


by continuous or squeeze treatment with suitable corrosion inhibitor
. Performance of the inhibitor used should be checked with wire line
caliper surveys rather than depending solely on produced fluid ana-
-lysis and surface coupon corrosion rates .

Deep gas wells completions


Deep well tubing size is controlled by production rate , casing
program used economics & technology limit casing string sizes thus
tubing strings often cannot be as large as desired .

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Tubing movement A tubing under changing temperature and
pressure conditions will have constantly fluctuating length if the
tubing is free to move . If tubing is not free to move , varying stress
levels will be imposed in the string .
Continuous high flow rates will cause a temperature increase
which will lengthen the string . Cooling as from a high volume
stimulation job of long duration will shorten the string . Pressure
applied internally both from fluid density and surface pressure will
ballon the tubing and shorten it .Reverse ballooning from pressure
outside the tubing will lengthen it . Depending on piston area exposed
pressure applied inside and out side the tubing may either lengthen
or shorten the string . Calculation thus must be made to determine
the net effect of these factor so that proper design measure can be
taken to compensate for it .
Compensation of tubing movement could be accomplished by using
tubing expansion receptacle . It is an assembly of two basic parts , a
polished tubing and a sleeve which work over the tube . The lower
polished tube portion of the expansion receptacle has a landing
nipple profile machined in its upper end . The landing nipple can be
pluged so that production tubing may be detached from the polished
tube section and removed from the well with out dumping fluid on
the formation .
The outer sleeve upper half of the assembly contains several sets
of chevron or "W" type synthetic packing rings and is free to move
vertically over a long distance .
The liner production receptacle could be selected to achieve a leak-
free completion because:
1. It allows use of a maximum size tubing string to surface to
accommodate large gas flow rates and high volume stimulation on

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jobs.
2. No liner tie-back to a shallower depth is required.
3. Tubing is spaced so that it cannot move during producing and
shut-in periods, so no seal damage or wear is possible.
4. Well control on future workovers is not complicated, since
tubing is set at the usual setting depth of about 15,500-feet.
Figure2 shows the down hole hookup used on well no 2 Rhoda field in
Texas. The 51/2-inch OD X 41/4 -inch ID X 30 foot long special liner
production receptacle, honed, polished and Teflon-coated inside, was
installed as the first joint on top of the 5-inch X 78/5-inch liner
hanger. It was topped by a conventional 53/4-inch ID liner tie-back
receptacle, and the liner was run and cemented. Cement was tagged
above the liner top and it was necessary to drill completely through
the production receptacle section. Initially, there was concern as to
the possible effect of drilling in the receptacle since the interior bore
is a sealing surface and damage to it could prevent obtaining a leak-
tight connection. However, no damage was apparent after extensive
pressure testing. It is felt that the teflon coating helped in preventing
damage by resisting bond with the cement and making it easier to
drill .Precise calculations were made to determine elongation and
shortening effects on the tubing string. Based on the stimulation job
to be performed-20,000 gallons of acid and 132 Mcf of nitrogen
injected at a wellhead pressure of 9,800 psi-it was determined that
the tubing would shorten 1371/2-inches during stimulation. This, plus
elongation due to producing the hot gas then was considered in
designing the final string. To provide maximum well control on
future workovers, the 5-inch drillable packer/landing nipple
combination shown in the drawing was set on wire line at about
20,000 feet. The position No.1 Otis landing nipple below the tubing

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hookup run consisted of :

*A 3 1/2 –inch position No. 1 landing , which can be used to plug off
and test the tubing string .
* An 8-foor long seal element equipped with eight sets of high
temperature Viton and asbestos seal rings . Ends of seal elements
were backed up with phenolic retainers . Seal element OD was
47/32-inches, to fit inside the 41/4 –inch ID receptacle . OD of the
seals proper was only about 0.0025 –inches less than receptacle ID.
* A 31/2 –inch OD X 20-foot long spacer joint.
* A 31/2 –inch Hydril CS X 8.66-foot long X 31/2 –inch PH-6 special
locator joint designed to seat on a matching shoulder machined in
the top of the production receptacle . Locator OD below the
shoulder was 37/8 inches . Shoulder dimensions were 47/16 –in ODX
3/4 –in long . OD of the locator above the was 4 1/2-inches .

*A special pack off sub with 3 1/2 –inch PH-6 connections was used
to prevent any accumulation of junk in the seal area between tubing
and liner receptacle . The enlarged 5 23/32 –inch OD of this sub was
equipped with a Teflon seal ring that conformed to the 5 3/4 ID of
the tie-back receptacle .
* 3 1/2 –inch OD, 12.95-pound , C-75 , PH-6 tubing to surface .
The above assembly was run and landed , and the well was
acidized without incident. Spacing is such that above 15000 pounds
weight remains on the locator shoulder when the well is produced .
This compression is sufficient to keep the string seated when the
well is shut in , eliminating any possible seal wear due to movement .
Key to this exact spacing is consideration of all possible effects
when calculating tubing movements and designing the installation .

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