SPE 89529 Inflatable Packers in Extreme Environments

Stuart Wilson, SPE, Ron Xu, Schlumberger Zafer Erkol, Aude Faugere, SPE, Bill Eatwell, SPE, Frank Espinosa, SPE, and

Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 2324 March 2004. This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in a proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to a proposal of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The proposal must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract Inflatable packers are ideal for through-tubing zonal isolation, but they are rarely used in extreme environments because of the assumed risk of failure. High pressures, high temperatures, high expansion ratios, and chemical resilience are particular challenges. This paper reports on three recent case histories that demonstrate inflatable packer technology can be used in several of these harsh wellbore conditions. The first case history describes a high-pressure cement squeeze job using a 2 1/8-in. packer with an expansion ratio larger than 3:1. The objective was to run the packer through a 2.313-in. restriction and set in 7 5/8-in. casing to permanently shut off a lower water zone before perforating higher in the well. The second study involves an inflatable packer used in conjunction with a butyl acetate furan resin for sand consolidation. The furan resin is known to be extremely detrimental to elastomers, so a full-scale simulation under given wellbore conditions was conducted to demonstrate its compatibility with the packer. The resin was utilized as a screenless sand-control solution that allowed fullbore production. The final case history involves pumping of a viscoelastic acid-diverting treatment fluid, used for matrix stimulation under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. Used in carbonate formations, the fluid is ideally suited for total zonal coverage matrix simulation and high temperatures. When a through-tubing inflatable packer is used as a treating packer, individual long producing zones can be fully isolated and evenly stimulated. Introduction As the burden of R&D spending in the oil field shifts to service companies, many new technologies are being introduced for well intervention. Combining multiple systems or processes can yield new and unique solutions to old intervention challenges. This is particularly true when

considering recently developed chemicals for which accurate placement and maximum treating length are critical in determining the success of the operation. In many wellbore completions, isolation of particular zones is required for successful treatments. For placement in completions with production tubing, coiled tubing (CT) is increasingly used as a conveyance mechanism; the isolation and placement can then be achieved through the use of new inflatable technology. The combination of new chemistry with new downhole hardware is a fruitful area of research, but compatibility between new technologies requires testing and confirmation. Two technologies may provide success when used separately but fail when used together. Moreover, a great deal of well intervention focus and development is also being placed on reservoir control and abandonment, with techniques such as water conformance and sand control gathering pace in the intervention fluids market. The ability to isolate individual intervals is again imperative to the successful shutoff of a particular zone. As the fluids push the envelope to treat higher-temperature reservoirs, temporary and permanent inflatable packer technology must follow in step. The potential or anticipated requirement for extreme throughtubing acid stimulations, water and sand conformance has traditionally forced the operator to retrieve the production tubing and then perform any isolation technique other than inflatable packers. Traditionally, stimulating wells with production tubing without inflatable assisting equipment meant that formations could not be stimulated selectively or could only be stimulated using less-effective diverting techniques. Inefficient fluid placement treatment and previous failed inflatable attempts from incompatibility in the extreme environments resulted in extended nonproductive time with a late payback that wiped out the investment for the production enhancement. Clearly this situation could not satisfy the industry because it reduced the inherent advantage of inflatable technology: minimized costs per length of pay zone. Noting that the majority of high-cost completed wells are multilayer, a means was required that allowed successful individual zonal isolation in more harsh environments and that allowed the use of available treatment chemicals on the market. Finally, the inflatable zonal isolation technique had to be reliable and fast, reducing overall treatment costs and enabling quick payback.

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SPE 89529

Engineered Approach DevelopmentOvercoming the Challenges The extreme wellbore environments and harsh treatment conditions that the inflatable packers could encounter and must perform in are listed below. Temperature Effect (high-temperature environments) The initial challenge with running inflatable packers in hightemperature wells is the immediate degradation of the rubber elastomer. In high-temperature environments, there is a potential for the elastomer to tear far more easily when subjected to the high expansion ratios and elongation stresses. Once a tear starts, it is not possible to hold the internal fluid pressure any longer. This tear then becomes the main failure mechanism. Temperature changes after inflation Another important design issue, regarding temperature, is what effect a change in temperature on the internal packer pressure will have, after inflation. The salient concerns with high-temperature applications are the potential after inflation for heat-up, particularly in permanent applications, and cooldown effects for the temporary isolation jobs. This may be seen from the high-volume, high-pump rate fluid treatments pumped cold from the surface that can cause cooldown effects on the packer and thus lead to internal packer pressure loss. The adverse side on this may be on permanent isolation applications where there can be an after-effect on the inflation pressure, because the heat-up of the packer to reservoir temperature can cause internal packer pressure increases. Chemical resistance As the development and complexity of stimulation chemicals progresses, high-expansion, high-temperature inflatable packers must withstand harsh chemical attack under extreme conditions. Two of the main components of the conventional inflatable packer, the internal bladder and external seal, are rubber-based materials, which naturally are weak to aggressive chemicals. Maximum differential pressure (drawdown and injection) Arguably the single most important consideration for inflatable packer applications is the maximum differential across the element. The two cases can be classed as drawdown, which includes a drop in external pressure after inflation, or as injection, that is, a buildup increase in external pressure. These cases can further be split into above- and below-packer applications. For example, a cement retainer operation in which the cement is pumped through and below the inflatable packer element and pressure built-up below would be classified as a below-injection treatment. Permanent bridge plug applications in which the element isolates a lower zone and the well is produced from a higher zone at a lower pressure would be classed as an above drawdown case. An increased expansion ratio (i.e., larger casing size) will lead to a reduced maximum differential pressure for the inflatable element. (See Fig. 1.) The maximum differential is calculated as the difference between the internal packer pressure and the largest difference in the external wellbore conditions from either above or below the packer element. When this differential limit is exceeded, failures can occur. The primary

failure mechanism is that element slats deform and separate, leading to internal elastomer burst-through and rupture on the sharp edged slats.

High expansion size (Inflation ratio) Lastly, inflating in large casing sizes in completions requiring through-tubing or through-restrictions intervention leads to high-expansion ratios. Slimhole tools that run through the narrow restrictions can require inflation of more than 3 times [considering the maximum bottomhole assembly (BHA) outside diameter (OD) to expand in large casing bore sizes internal diameter (ID) being at greater than 3:1 expansion ratio]. Accurate downhole smooth inflation and expandable slat deployment becomes more critical in larger casing to ensure sufficient anchoring support and overall seal. This is also particularly a concern in older wellbores that have a higher potential for deformed or corroded casing and also in wells in which hardened scale buildups have formed, in particular with sulphates such as barium and strontium. This leads to uneven wall surfaces in which there is a risk of failure from bladder breakdown and eventual rupture of the inflatable before the treatment has even commenced. Another concern directly linked to the casing is perforation burrs. The sharp edges of the burrs have the potential to cut through the slats, bursting the bladder with similar failure results. Successfully setting in the large expansion environment is only the beginning. When coupled with possible high treatment pressure, such as for cement squeeze operations, the inflatable packer must also withstand the high differential pressures created. Development of a 2 1/8-in. Bottomhole Assembly Following the field demand for a slimhole extreme environment inflatable packer, the 2 1/8-in. high-temperature, high-pressure inflatable anchoring packer was developed, tested, and finally deployed. Based on the inherent technical advantages, the same design principle is now also being used for a 2 1/8- in.-OD straddle version. Because this tool is also modular, the service can also be used in conjunction with a pulse telemetry wireless casing collar locator (CCL) (see Fig. 2 for complete BHA description). The inflatable element is fully H2S and CO2 resistant, as standard. However, in the 2 1/8-in. setting tool for H2S service, the parts built in ASTM 4140 steel are replaced by components manufactured in nickel based high-strength alloys that make the assembly fully H2S resistant. The descriptions of the individual components that form the inflatable element and the particular features of how the system can withstand extreme environments are discussed in the sections below. Tapered Slats The slats are not only the principal load-bearing members but they also provide an extrusion barrier for the inner elastomeric bladder. The challenge here was to package and deploy the load-bearing slats. To address these requirements, a tapered design has been devised that permits the slats to be narrow near the end fitting and wide in the central portion of the packer. The result is that the narrower section provides the

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required load cross-section near the end fitting whilst the wide portion of the slats delivers the necessary extrusion barrier and area coverage.

initiation in the ring. Thus the operating differential pressure of the inflatable packers is substantially improved.

Carcass Restraint System (CRS) Elements using relatively long lengths of exposed slats on either side of a central seal cover have a great potential to soft-set. A soft-set packer is a condition in which a volume of fluid is trapped in an annular space between the casing and the inflatable element when outer portions of the inflatable element engage the casing before the center portions of the element do. As the packer inflates, this annular volume of incompressible fluid holds a portion of the sealing surface of the packer element away from the casing; this may result in an inefficient seal. To prevent soft-set from occurring in the existing inflatable packer, a carcass restraint system (CRS) has been developed using a device that imposes a constant axial tensile load on the slat carcass during inflation. This creates a tension on the packer that will allow a progressive inflation process starting from its center portion and then extending gradually toward both ends. (See Fig. 3.) Carbon fiber sheet It has been observed that at expansion ratios larger than approximately 2.5:1, the bladder does not inflate uniformly but will z-fold, causing local axial strains as high as 100%. The additional axial strain could reduce the expanded bladder thickness by as much as one-half and greatly increases the probability of bladder failure. A composite-type bladder design has been developed to control the bladder axial strain to zero during inflation. Carbon fibers are placed on the external bladder surface in the axial direction, so that the axial strain of the bladder is eliminated because the high fiber stiffness leaves the bladder circumference free to expand. Bladder elastomer An elastomeric bladder contains the inflation fluid and causes the carcass and seal cover to expand to the bore size of the casing. The bladder experiences a very high hoop strain. In some cases, 3:1 expansion ratio for example, the bladder can easily experience approximately 500% elongation. High elongation and high tear strength in a hot downhole environment are the primary requirements for the bladder elastomer. A proprietary elastomer has been developed that can withstand the high temperature and pressures at the required expansion ratios of 3:1 inflation and above. Stress ring assembly Modeling work indicates that the stress ring experiences high stresses when the packer is inflated with a high expansion ratio and to high pressure. In addition to the selection of a high-strength material with good environmental cracking resistance, predeformation is performed to increase its effective load rating and a protection ring is also applied to the stress ring assembly. The protection insert ring distributes localized slat contact loads around the complete ring circumferences, which minimizes local yielding and crack

Case History 1US Gulf of Mexico, high-expansion, high-pressure cement retainer application. A well in the Gulf of Mexico had a sudden large water increase that resulted in a high water cut of more than 80%. The 10 ft zone at a depth of 12,034 ft required permanent abandonment, allowing an upper potential oil zone 30 ft above to be perforated and produced. The zone was to be closed using microfine cement at 13.8 ppg and approximately 6 bbl would be required to plug-off and squeeze-off the zone. The operator required a squeeze pressure of at least 1,500 psi. The minimum restriction in the well was 2.313 in; therefore, the completion required slimhole BHA intervention techniques. The well was completed within the 2 7/8-in. production tubing and 7 5/8-in. (33.7 lbm/ft) casing, meaning any possible expansion tools would have to expand at least 3.14 times in OD and also withstand the necessary squeeze pressure. The inflatable packer element was runin hole and inflated using 8.4 ppg brine just above the perforation zone at 12,019 ft. The philosophy behind the inflation method was that because the element would be permanently left downhole, the packer must be inflated with as close to the bottomhole temperature as possible. In this way the bull-plugged inflation method would be selected by the use of a closable downhole valve called a circulate inflate orifice tool (CIOT). The CIOT has the advantage of allowing high rate circulation whilst the CT is run into the well. Once the CT reaches the setting depth, all external flow paths can be closed by the use of an internal spring and mandrel. This function will allow the fluid at the bottom of the CT to heat up to near-bottomhole temperature, and when pumping commences all the fluid is diverted into the packer element, (i.e., closed system, no external flow). This will help to eliminate any heat-up effect leading to the increase of internal pressure in the packer. When the pumping of the cement commenced, another important design consideration had to be considered; in addition to the bottomhole squeeze pressure, the increase in the hydrostatics in the 1-in. CT had to be calculated because the hydrostatic pressure also acted as differential pressure on the packer as a below-injection pressure. When the belowpacker squeeze pressure increased, this pressure combined with the hydrostatic differential exceeded 2,000 psi. Therefore, a small amount of backpressure was also applied on the CT/tubing annulus. The cement was successfully squeezed into the waterproducing zone with the squeeze pressure constantly held below the inflatable packer. The cement retainer was then disconnected and left downhole, and the CT was pulled out of hole to the surface. The upper zone was then perforated using wireline and the well set on production. Case History 2North Africa, furan resin treatment. With new chemicals entering the stimulation and reservoir conformance market daily, it is essential to establish that the inflatable packer rubber bladder and seals can withstand chemical attack. A CT operation was designed in North

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SPE 89529

Africa that centered on using a furan resin to control the sand influx in a particular reservoir zone that had been causing production problems. The client desired full bore access to the lower zones and required a sand control solution with minimal effects on the total production and that avoided the use of conventional sand screens. The operational objective was a temporary specific zonal isolation solution that included the accurate placement and pumping of the furan resin as a screenless sand control solution. The downhole equipment had then to be retrieved to the surface, allowing lower fullbore unrestricted production from the upper and lower zones. The particular well specifications included a 2.75-in. minimum restriction set in 4.5-in. tubing, so that the 2 1/8-in. inflatable element would run through and inflate in the lower 7 5/8-in. casing. The bottomhole temperature (BHT) was estimated at 250F with a bottomhole pressure (BHP) of approximately 6,000 psi. The major operation concern was if the inflatable element could withstand the chemically aggressive butyl acetate component found in the furan resin at the temperatures and pressures stated. In addition, with the chemical volumes and pumping rates through the CT and inflatable, the element must also withstand the chemical attack for at least 10 hr of constant direct contact. An autoclave full-scale test was initially taken under these conditions. The packer element was inflated to 1,000 psi relative internal pressure (7,000 psi absolute pressure), and the furan resin was injected above the element at 1,000 psi, keeping a constant 1,000 psi below-wall differential across the packer element. (See Fig. 4.) The packer was successfully held and continuously monitored under these conditions for the full duration of 10 hr and then retrieved from the autoclave. Throughout the test, no pressure leaked across the element seal and the 1,000 psi pressure was kept constant. From visual inspection the element was seen to have no degradation on the external rubber seal or internal elastomer (see Fig. 5). The inside carbon fiber sheet was in one complete piece, indicating no potential failure areas of the bladder and the bladder itself showed no indication of zfolding or rupture areas. The conclusion was that the inflatable packer element had shown good compatibility with the furan resin and was approved for operational use in the field. Case History 3Middle East high-temperature, highpressure stimulation treatment. The third case history involves an oil-producing well in the Middle East in which one lower zone was underperforming and needed stimulating. The objective involved isolating the upper producing zone to stimulate the lower zone with a perforation length of 30 ft. The minimum restriction in the well was 2.313 in. and the inflatable packer was to be set in the 5-in. liner (17 lbm/ft) at 7,500 ft with a 1.5-in. OD CT. In the high-temperature environment of more than 300F, a stimulation chemical had already been selected from the successful matrix operations previously performed in the region. However, this operation required complete zonal isolation between the two zones at the temperatures and treating pressures needed for the successful matrix stimulation. The stimulation chemical used was a selfdiverting viscoelastic acid that is used in carbonate reservoirs and ideally suited for applications with long perforation zones, in which equal placement of the acid results in a uniform

distribution along the complete zone. The operator desired all of the treatment fluid to flow into the lower zone and even if the fluid was self-diverting, a more accurate matrix stimulation could be performed from the use of a mechanical isolation technique compared to a chemical one of bullheading or through the CT alone. The inflation method chosen for this operation was the orifice inflation method that consists of permanentely open orifice ports below the packer element. The largest risk of failure would come from the cool-down effects on the internal packer pressure caused by the high volume of cold fluid being pumped at a high rate from the surface and thus cooling down the external packer environment. With the orifice inflation method the inflation fluid is circuated through the CT. Once a certain backpressure has been reached, inflation of the packer takes place, whilst circulation continues. This results in the internal packer fluid temperature being as near to the treatment temperature as possible and thus a near-constant packer inflation pressure. Because the packer will be retrieved at the end of the treatment, the heat-up effects are of lesser concern. The inflatable packer was set in the 5-in. liner, and the pumping treatment commenced with more than 120 bbl of acid pumped at a maximum differential pressure of 4,500 psi. A final key point was that after the stimulation treatment had been pumped the well needed to be nitrogen lifted-in and the acid flowed back to the surface as soon as possible after the acid had spent in the formation. It was essential that the nitrogen could be pumped through the CT after inflation without risking reinflation of the packer element. However, because of the deflation mechanism on the inflatable packer system, fluid can be pumped through the packer after deflation with no fluid reentering the elastomer. Once the well was lifted-in, the inflatable packer was pulled through the restriction and brought back to the surface without a problem. Evaluation A reliable means of selectively isolating individual multilayer harsh environment wells on CT has been developed and introduced to the oil and gas industry. The wells accessed include deviated and horizontal well trajectories in gas and oil producers in the Middle East, North and South America, North Africa, and the Far East. All of the wells were cased hole with production tubing completed, and the applications completed to date include treating packer operations such as acid matrix stimulation, water conformance and sand control, bridge plug operations both permanent and retrievable, cement retainer operations, and through-tubing gravel pack production packer jobs. Conclusions Extended field experience with the 2 1/8-in. high-temperature, high-pressure inflatable anchoring packer has proven that extreme environment wells can reliably be stimulated or have lower zones permanently isolated on CT with this technique. Fast job turnaround times and pinpointed fluid placement enable performance enhancement of wells that could not be satisfactorily treated economically with previous intervention techniques and methods. With the modular nature of the tool, add-on assemblies enable both wired and wireless real-time CT depth correlation operations. Based on operators requests

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and feedback from service locations, developments to further enlarge the scope of applications and the line of packer sizes are ongoing. Being able to selectively isolate and treat zones in extremeenvironment wells opens up new options and alternatives to the well construction phase. These include rig-based or rigless treatments such as individual zone well testing and gauge carrier techniques. Besides the directly enabled operation, using the highpressure, high-temperature slim packer adds a new planning and contingency option to the cost-efficient construction of multilayer wells. Potential or planned harsh zonal isolated stimulation and individual zone abandonment no longer must be prepared for in the completion phase of an extreme environment well. Acknowledgments The authors thank Schlumberger for permission to publish this paper.

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SPE 89529

Fig. 1: The figure shows the maximum differential pressure reduction for an increasing casing ID size

Fig. 3: The carcass restraint system (CRS) ensures uniform inflation of the bladder to maximize anchoring and sealing of the element

Fig. 2: Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) diagram including the wireless CCL

Fig. 4: Post-test element and rubber seal cover

8000 7000 6000 Pressure psi 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 13:33 13:58 14:22 14:47 15:11 15:36 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:14 17:39 18:03 18:28 18:52 19:17 19:42 20:08 20:32 20:57 21:21 21:46 22:10 Inflate Above Below

Time

Fig. 5: Pressure vs. time graph showing the inflation pressure, above-packer pressure (furan resin fluid) and below-packer pressure

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