Transportation and sealing pattern of the temporary plugging ball at the spiral perforation in the horizontal well section

Multistage fracturing of horizontal wells is a critical technology for unconventional oil and gas reservoir stimulation. Ball-throwing temporary plugging fracturing is a new method for realizing uniform fracturing along horizontal wells and plays an important role in increasing oil and gas production. However,the transportation and sealing law of temporary plugging balls(TPBs) in the perforation section of horizontal wells is still unclear. Using COMSOL computational fluid dynamics and a particle tracking module, we simulate the transportation process of TPBs in a horizontal wellbore and analyse the effects of the ball density, ball diameter, ball number, fracturing fluid injection rate, and viscosity on the plugging efficiency of TPB transportation. This study reveals that when the density of TPBs is close to that of the fracturing fluid and a moderate diameter of the TPB is used, the plugging efficiency can be substantially enhanced. The plugging efficiency is greater when the TPB number is close to twice the number of perforations and is lower when the number of TPBs is three times the number of perforations.Adjusting the fracturing fluid injection rate from low to high can control the position of the TPBs,improving plugging efficiency. As the viscosity of the fracturing fluid increases, the plugging efficiency of the perforations decreases near the borehole heel and increases near the borehole toe. In contrast, the plugging efficiency of the central perforation is almost unaffected by the fracturing fluid viscosity. This study can serve as a valuable reference for establishing the parameters for temporary plugging and fracturing.

Fracture propagation law of temporary plugging and diversion fracturing in shale reservoirs under completion experiments of horizontal well with multi-cluster sand jetting perforation

This study conducted temporary plugging and diversion fracturing(TPDF)experiments using a true triaxial fracturing simulation system within a laboratory setting that replicated a lab-based horizontal well completion with multi-cluster sand jetting perforation.The effects of temporary plugging agent(TPA)particle size,TPA concentration,single-cluster perforation number and cluster number on plugging pressure,multi-fracture diversion pattern and distribution of TPAs were investigated.A combination of TPAs with small particle sizes within the fracture and large particle sizes within the segment is conducive to increasing the plugging pressure and promoting the diversion of multi-fractures.The addition of fibers can quickly achieve ultra-high pressure,but it may lead to longitudinal fractures extending along the wellbore.The temporary plugging peak pressure increases with an increase in the concentration of the TPA,reaching a peak at a certain concentration,and further increases do not significantly improve the temporary plugging peak pressure.The breaking pressure and temporary plugging peak pressure show a decreasing trend with an increase in single-cluster perforation number.A lower number of single-cluster perforations is beneficial for increasing the breaking pressure and temporary plugging peak pressure,and it has a more significant control on the propagation of multi-cluster fractures.A lower number of clusters is not conducive to increasing the total number and complexity of artificial fractures,while a higher number of clusters makes it difficult to achieve effective plugging.The TPAs within the fracture is mainly concentrated in the complex fracture areas,especially at the intersections of fractures.Meanwhile,the TPAs within the segment are primarily distributed near the perforation cluster apertures which initiated complex fractures.

Mechanism analysis and process optimization of sand and plug removal with rotating jet in horizontal well

In the view of the problems existing in horizontal well,such as sand depositing and cleaning difficulty of borehole,a technology with rotating jet suitable to resolution of the problems was presented.Based on liquid solid two-phase flow theory,the analyses on the sand movement law and the swirling field influential factors were conducted.Results show that:1) With the increasing of displacement in horizontal section annulus,swirling field strength increases,and when the displacement is constant,the closer from the nozzle,the stronger the swirling field strength is;2) Head rotating speed and liquid viscosity have little influence on the swirling field strength,but the sand-carrying rate of fluid can increase by increasing liquid viscosity in a certain range;3) Rotating the string and reducing its eccentricity in annulus are conducive for sand migration in the annulus;4) The sand can be suspended and accelerated again and the swirling field strength is enhanced by the helix agitator.Hence,the research results provide the theoretical basis for the design and application of rotating jet tool.

Numerical simulation on the multiple planar fracture propagation with perforation plugging in horizontal wells

Intra-stage multi-cluster temporary plugging and diverting fracturing(ITPF)is one of the fastest-growing techniques to obtain uniform reservoir stimulation in shale gas reservoirs.However,propagation geometries of multiple fractures during ITPF are not clear due that the existing numerical models cannot capture the effects of perforation plugging.In this paper,a new three-dimensional FEM based on CZM was developed to investigate multiple planar fracture propagation considering perforation plugging during ITPF.Meanwhile,the fluid pipe element and its subroutine were first developed to realize the flux partitioning before or after perforation plugging.The results showed that the perforation plugging changed the original distribution of the number of perforations in each fracture,thus changing the flux partitioning after perforation plugging,which could eliminate the effect of stress interference between multiple fractures and promote a uniform fluid distribution.The standard deviation of fluid distribution in the perforation plugging case was only 8.48%of that in the non-diversion case.Furthermore,critical plugging parameters have been investigated quantitatively.Specifically,injecting more diverters will create a higher fluid pressure rise in the wellbore,which will increase the risk of wellbore integrity.Comprehensively considering pressure rise and fluid distribution,the number of diverters should be 50%of the total number of perforations(N_(pt)),whose standard deviation of fluid distribution of multiple fractures was lower than those in the cases of injecting 10%N_(pt),30%N_(pt)and 70%N_(pt).The diverters should be injected at an appropriate timing,i.e.40%or 50%of the total fracturing time(tft),whose standard deviation of the fluid distribution was only about 20%of standard deviations in the cases of injecting at20%tftor 70%tft.A single injection with all diverters can maintain high bottom-hole pressure for a longer period and promote a more uniform fluid distribution.The standard deviation of the fluid distribution in the case of a single injection was 43.62%-55.41%of the other cases with multiple injection times.This study provides a meaningful perspective and some optimal plugging parameters on the field design during IPTF.

Effect of mechanical vibration process parameters on the cement plugs properties for abandoned wells

A high-quality plug of the abandoned wellbore is considered an essential technical aspect of the oil and gas well abandonment technology system. This paper presents a method of active mechanical excitation to enhance the quality of wellbore plug barriers. An indoor simulation platform is developed, and the effects of different combinations of vibration frequency, amplitude and duration on the properties of the wellbore plug cement material are investigated. It is observed that the optimal combination of excitation parameters occurs at a vibration frequency of 15 Hz, a vibration time of 6 min, and a vibration amplitude of 3 mm. Compared with the condition without the vibration process, the cementing strength, compressive strength, and tensile strength of wellbore cement plug with the optimal mechanical vibration process could increase by 51%, 38% and 20%, respectively, while the porosity decreases by 5%. As determined by scanning electron microscopy of the set cement's microstructure, mechanical vibration effectively eliminates internal porosity and improves the set cement's density. The optimal excitation parameters obtained from the test can guide the design of the vibration plugging tool. The designed vibration plugging tool is simulated in the near field. The cement plug cementation quality tester tests the vibrating and non-vibrating samples, and the cementation ratio is calculated. The test results show that the average cementation ratio of vibrating samples is 0.89375, and that of non-vibrating samples is 0.70625, and the cementation quality is improved by 27%. It is concluded that it not only provides essential data for the design of mechanical vibration plug apparatus, on-site vibration plugs, and the development of operational specifications for vibration plugs, but also provides solid engineering guidance.

Effects of fluid flow rate and viscosity on gravel-pack plugging and the optimization of sand-control wells production

Series of experiments were performed to simulate the invasion of formation sand into and the plugging process of gravel-pack at different viscosities and flowing rates of fluid.Two types of formation sands with the medium size of 0.10 mm and 0.16 mm and the quartz sand and ceramsite of 0.6-1.2 mm were used in the experiments.A new viscosity-velocity index(the product of fluid viscosity and velocity)was put forward to characterize the influencing mechanism and law of physical property and flow condition of formation fluid on gravel-pack plugging,and a new method to optimize the production rate of wells controlling sand production with gravel-packing was proposed.The results show that the permeability of formation sand invaded zone and final permeability of plugged gravel-pack have negative correlations with viscosity and flow velocity of fluid,the higher the flow velocity and viscosity,the lower the permeability of formation sand invaded zone and final permeability of plugged gravel-pack will be.The flow velocity and viscosity of fluid are key factors affecting plugging degree of the gravel zone.The viscosity-velocity index(v-v index)can reflect the flow characteristics of fluid very well and make it easier to analyze the plugging mechanism of gravel zone.For different combinations of fluid viscosity and flow velocity,if the v-v index is the same or close,their impact on the final gravel permeability would be the same or close.With the increase of the v-v index,the permeability of plugged gravel zone decreases first,then the reduction rate slows down till the permeability stabilizes.By optimizing production and increasing production step by step,the optimal working scheme for sand-control well can reduce the damage to gravel-pack zone permeability caused by sand-carrying fluid effectively,and increase well productivity and extend the sand control life.

Development and evaluation of an electropositive wellbore stabilizer with flexible adaptability for drilling strongly hydratable shales

In order to overcome serious instability prob- lems in hydratable shale formations, a novel electropositive wellbore stabilizer （EPWS） was prepared by a new approach. It has good colloidal stability, particle size dis- tribution, compatibility, sealing property, and flexible adaptability. A variety of methods including measurements of particle size, Zeta potential, colloidal stability, contact angle, shale stability index, shale dispersion, shale swelling, and plugging experiments were adopted to characterize the EPWS and evaluate its anti-sloughing capacity and flexible adaptability. Results show that the EPWS has advantages over the conventional wellbore stabilizer （ZX-3） in particle size distribution, colloidal stability, inhibition, compatibil- ity, and flexible adaptability. The EPWS with an average particle size of 507 nm and an average Zeta potential of 54 mV could be stable for 147 days and be compatible with salt tolerant or positive charged additives, and it also exhibited preferable anti-sloughing performance to hydrat- able shales at 77, 100, and 120 ~C, and better compatibility with sodium bentonite than ZX-3 and KC1. The EPWS can plug micro-fractures and pores by forming a tight external mud cake and an internal sealing belt to retard pressure transmission and prevent filtrate invasion, enhancing hydrophobicity of shale surfaces by adsorption to inhibithydration. The EPWS with flexible adaptability to tem- perature for inhibition and sealing capacity is available for long open-hole sections during drilling.

Optimization of refracturing timing for horizontal wells in tight oil reservoirs: A case study of Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation, Songliao Basin, NE China

Tight oil reservoirs in Songliao Basin were taken as subjects and a novel idealized refracturing well concept was proposed by considering the special parameters of volume fracturing horizontal wells, the refracturing potential of candidate wells were graded and prioritized, and a production prediction model of refracturing considering the stress sensitivity was established using numerical simulation method to sort out the optimal refracturing method and timing. The simulations show that: with the same perforation clusters, the order of fracturing technologies with contribution to productivity from big to small is refracturing between existent fractured sections, orientation diversion inside fractures, extended refracturing, refracturing of existent fractures; and the later the refracturing timing, the shorter the effective time. Based on this, the prediction model of breakdown pressure considering the variation of formation pressure was used to find out the variation pattern of breakdown pressure of different positions at different production time. Through the classification of the breakdown pressure, the times of temporary plugging and diverting and the amount of temporary plugging agent were determined under the optimal refracturing timing. Daily oil production per well increased from 2.3 t/d to 16.5 t/d in the field test. The research results provide important reference for refracturing optimization design of similar tight oil reservoirs.

Research on High Temperature and High Density White Oil Based Drilling Fluid and Its Application in Well 201H7-6

As the depth and horizontal length of shale gas development wells increase,the requirement for the temperature resistance and the ability of the drilling fluids to stabilize the shale formation becomes higher.A new type of high temperature and high density white oil based drilling fluid system has been developed in laboratory.Research shows that the drilling fluid system has good rheological property,low filtration loss,strong anti-debris pollution capability and good plugging performance at high temperature and high density.The system has been successfully applied in the 201H7-6 well.Application results show that the drilling fluid rheology,high temperature and high pressure fluid loss and demulsification voltage meet the field requirements.The drilling fluid performance is stable in drilling an 1800 m horizontal section,and no stuck or shale swelling and wellbore collapsing are induced.It is the first well drilled successfully with domestic white oil-based drilling fluid in Zigong Region.It also sets several new records including the deepest well,the shortest drilling cycle,and the fastest drilling speed in that region,which provides valuable experience for the future drilling activities.

Production of Rubidium Bose-Einstein Condensate in an Optically Plugged Magnetic Quadrupole Trap

We experimentally produce the rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate in an optically plugged magnetic quadrupole trap. A far blue-detuned focused laser beam with a wavelength of 532nm is plugged in the center of the magnetic quadrupole trap to increase the number of trapped atoms and to suppress the heating. An rf evaporative cooling in the magneto-optical hybrid trap is applied to decrease the atom temperature into degeneracy. The atom number of the condensate is 1.2（0.4）× 10^5 and the temperature is below lOOnK. We also study characteristic behaviors of the condensate, such as phase space density, condensate fraction and anisotropic expansion.

Experimental Study of Engineered Cement Plug to Effectively Cure Losses While Drilling in Iranian Oil/Gas Well

Mud losses are one of the most severe problems encountered in drilling. This is commonly known as lost circulation. It can occur in naturally fractured formations and also can be induced in formations through drilling. Mud losses while drilling leading to cost overruns and HSE concerns, primary cement job failure due to not getting the cement up to the desired height resulting in subsequent sustained casing pressure and corrosion, not able to perform work over activity on certain wells due to losses. The objective of this paper is to explain extreme lost circulation problem and introduce cement plug formulation to cure or mitigate this problem. In addition, the cement plug has certain compressive strength that this is proper for use to control lost circulation in field. And finally, the application of a cement plug is described in one well of the Gas Field (National Iranian Oil Company).

Numerical Analysis of Dynamical Effects Associated with a Plugging String in a Horizontal Well

The finite element method has been applied to simulate the dynamics of a water plugging string in a complex horizontal well of a low-permeability oilfield.The force associated with the pipe string and the packer has been determined under the sucking action of the oil well pump.Such analysis has been conducted for a real drilling well,taking into account the process of lifting,lowering,unblocking and water plugging.Comparison between field measured data and simulation data indicates that the model is reliable and accurate.The packer creep effect under different pressure differences has also been investigated in the framework of the same model.

Calculating minimum perforating depth with consideration of plastic deformation around well-hole

In order to obtain the perforation depth, the three zones with different permeability because of plastic deformation and fluid invasion were studied based on related theories. The study shows that the calculation of perforation depth should take account of not only damaged zone, but also plastic zone, because the plastic zone has much lower permeability. The required minimum perforation depth was obtained by making the solution of elastic/plastic equations, and the factors affecting perforation depth were analyzed accordingly.

Characterisation of Geomechanical Properties of Bentonite Clay Used for Plug and Abandonment Operations of Coal Seam Gas Wells

Compressed bentonite in the form of pellets or plugs is used for the abandonment of production wells for the oil and gas industry. The design of the abandonment systems is based on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of the compressed bentonite defined by mechanical parameters that are used from published data rather than quantified for the used material by laboratory investigations. This paper presents an experimental study on characterising the swelling and shear strength behaviour of raw and polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) treated bentonite. Dislodgement tests consist of three hydrated bentonite plugs inserted in steel casings with the failure mechanism characterised. The bentonite used comes from a local mine (in Queensland, Australia) and is comparable to other bentonites usually used for the abandonment of wells or for other problems where mineral sealing is required (e.g. basal clay barriers of landfills). The experiments have shown that polymer treated bentonite shows significantly larger shear strengths than raw bentonite with simultaneously less swelling. More compressed samples also showed higher shear strengths and less swelling. The dislodgement tests have characterised for the first time the cascaded failure mechanism of a series of plugs forming an abandonment system. This investigation is the first step towards the development of an improved design for abandonment systems for wells using bentonite plugs.

Observation of Atomic Dynamic Behaviors in the Evaporative Cooling by In-Situ Imaging the Plugged Hole of Ultracold Atoms

We experimentally observe the dynamic evolution of atoms in the evaporative cooling, by in-situ imaging the plugged hole of ultracold atoms. Ultracold rubidium atoms confined in a magnetic trap are plugged using a blue-detuned laser beam with a waist of 20 m at a wavelength of 767 nm. We probe the variation of the atomic temperature and width versus the radio frequency in the evaporative cooling. Both the behaviors are in good agreement with the calculation of the trapping potential dressed by the rf signal above the threshold temperature,while deviating from the calculation near the phase transition. To accurately obtain the atomic width, we use the plugged hole as the reference to optimize the optical imaging system by precisely minimizing the artificial structures due to the defocus effect.

Resin Plug Application on Subsea Wells as A Suspension Barrier

A subsea wellhead equipped with obsolete vertical Christmas tree needs to be suspended for subsea tree recovery and subsequently to be permanently abandoned. Due to obsolete Christmas tree design combined with tubing inaccessibility issue,conventional subsea intervention method for setting downhole mechanical plug barriers with a semisubmersible rig or a riserless light well intervention vessel is not feasible to suspend the well. Attempt was made to suspend the well from a riserless light well intervention vessel by setting tubing mechanical plugs in 2017,but the mandrel of the tree running tool (TRT) was sheared off accidently while landing the TRT&subsea intervention lubricator (SIL) on the subsea tree. Due to resin’s superior mechanical and rheological properties,resin was evaluated as a well suspension material to create a suspension barrier. Resin plug was deployed successfully from a dive support vessel (DSV) across the perforations to allow the tree removal at cost effective manner. Resin plugging demonstrates a new approach at well P&A area.

Purging Plugs and Well Blocks for Refining Ladle

1 Scope This standard specifies the classification, technical requirements, test methods, inspection rules, marking, packing, transportation, storage and quality certificate of purging plugs and well blocks for refining ladle.

Fatigue Life Analysis of Coiled Tubing in Deep Well Jet Plugging Removal

The coiled tubing plugging has become the main means of plugging in gas Wells in Xinjiang. These Wells are deep and have high pressure, which can easily affect the fatigue life of the operating coiled tubing. In order to improve the life of coiled tubing in high-pressure gas Wells, this paper studies the plugging conditions of coiled tubing in high-pressure ultra-deep Wells. Firstly, the cross section deformation of coiled tubing under high internal pressure is analyzed. Secondly, the factors influencing the fatigue life of coiled tubing and the influence of surface damage on the fatigue life of coiled tubing were studied. Finally, the mechanism of furrow damage caused by coiled tubing and the main measures to reduce furrow damage are analyzed. The following suggestions are made to improve the life of coiled tubing: select the right material and the right size coiled tubing;Use appropriate measures to prevent premature coiled tubing failure and reduce operating costs.

Synthesis and Evaluation of a Water-Swelling Polymer Plugging Agent SWL-1

In this paper, to solve the problems of low water absorption and weak pressure bearing capacity of current plugging materials, acrylic acid (AA), acrylamide (AM), and sodium allyl sulfonate (SAS) are used as monomers, and soluble starch is used as grafting. Material, the use of free radical aqueous solution method to synthesize the plugging agent SWL-1 with good water absorption and strong salt resistance. The monomer ratio is set as n (AA):n (AM):n (SAS) = 5:2:1, the experimental synthesis temperature is 70°C, and the orthogonal experiment is used to determine the experimental synthesis conditions as AA neutralization degree 80%, The amount of initiator is 0.60%, the amount of crosslinking agent is 0.50%, the ratio of monomer to starch is 7:1, and the amount of calcium carbonate is 13%. The comprehensive evaluation of the performance of the plugging agent SWL-1 shows that the water absorption performance at 60°C is the best 268.78 g/g, and the water absorption performance in 8% NaCl, 0.9% CaCl2 and composite brine is 21.5 g/g, 12.5 g/g and 24.9 g/g, indicating good resistance to sodium and calcium, the water retention rate is still higher than 30% after 15 days at 160°C. The sand bed plugging test found that the maximum pressure of SWL-1 was 7 MPa, and the crack plugging test found that when the crack width was 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm, the maximum compressive strength of SWL-1 was 10 MPa. The acid solubility test showed that the maximum pressure was 10 MPa. The highest rate is 86.38%.

Influence of Incomplete Soil Plugs on Bearing Capacities of Bucket Foundations in Clay

Due to the uneven seabed and heaving of soil during pumping,incomplete soil plugs may occur during the installation of bucket foundations,and the impacts on the bearing capacities of bucket foundations need to be evaluated.In this paper,the contact ratio(the ratio of the top diameter of the soil plug to the diameter of the bucket)and the soil plug ratio(the ratio of the soil heave height to the skirt height)are defined to describe the shape and size of the incomplete soil plug.Then,finite element models are established to investigate the bearing capacities of bucket foundations with incomplete soil plugs and the influences of the contact ratios,and the soil plug ratios on the bearing capacities are analyzed.The results show that the vertical bearing capacity of bucket foundations in homogeneous soil continuously improves with the increase of the contact ratio.However,in normally consolidated soil,the vertical bearing capacity barely changes when the contact ratio is smaller than 0.75,while the bearing capacity suddenly increases when the contact ratio increases to 1 due to the change of failure mode.The contact ratio hardly affects the horizontal bearing capacity of bucket foundations.Moreover,the moment bearing capacity improves with the increase of the contact ratio for small aspect ratios,but hardly varies with increasing contact ratio for aspect ratios larger than 0.5.Consequently,the reduction coefficient method is proposed based on this analysis to calculate the bearing capacities of bucket foundations considering the influence of incomplete soil plugs.The comparison results show that the proposed reduction coefficient method can be used to evaluate the influences of incomplete soil plug on the bearing capacities of bucket foundations.