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Well Engineering Module

Casing Design Principles

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Casing Design Principles

Lecture Contents;
Lecture Objectives,
Definitions,
Casing Design Criteria,
Collapse,
Burst,
Tension.

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Casing Design Principles

Lecture Objectives
At the end of this lecture YOU will be able to:
Be familiar with the design criteria that is taken into
consideration when a casing string is to be designed with
respect to:
Collapse,
Burst,
Tension.

List the design safety factors.

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Casing Design Principles

Definition;
Casing design involves the determination of factors which
influence the failure and the selection of the most suitable
casing grades and weights for specific operations,
The casing program should also reflect the completion and
production requirements,
A good knowledge of the stress analysis and the ability to
apply it are necessary for the design of casing strings.

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Casing Design Principles

Definition;
The end product of such design is a pressure vessel capable of
withstanding the expected internal and external pressures and
axial loading,
Hole irregularities further subject the casing to bending forces
which must be considered during the selection of casing
grades,
In general, the cost of a given casing grade is proportional to
its weight, the heaviest weight being the most expensive,
And hence the designer must ensure the cheapest and the
best quality.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Casing design criteria are:
Collapse,
Burst,
Tension (weight, bending & shock load),
Triaxial,
Other service loads (Corrosion, wear, H2S, High
Temperature etc.)

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Collapse Pressure:
This pressure originates from the column of mud used to
drill the hole and acts on the outside of the empty casing,
Since the hydrostatic pressure of a column of mud
increases with depth collapse pressure is highest at the
bottom and zero at top.

Pressure

Pressure

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Basic Collapse Assumptions:
Casing is empty due to lost circulation
at shoe or at TD,
Internal pressure inside casing is zero,
External pressure is caused by mud in
which casing was run in,

CSD

No cement outside casing.

TD

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Collapse (C):
C = mud density x depth x acceleration due to gravity,
C = gh,
C = 0.052 h
Collapse pressure at shoe: External pressure - Internal
pressure
Collapse pressure at surface = 0

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Burst:
The burst criterion is normally based on the maximum
formation pressure resulting from a kick during the drilling of
the next hole section.

Pressure

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Burst:
Gas to Surface:
This is an extreme case,
For added safety it is assumed that the
influx fluid (gas) displaces the entire
drilling mud,

CSD

This will subject the inside casing to

bursting effects of formation pressure.
TD

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Burst:
Gas to Surface:
At the top of the hole, the external pressure due to hydrostatic
head of mud is zero and the internal pressure must be
supported entirely by the casing body,
Therefore, the burst pressure is highest at the top and lowest at
the casing shoe where internal pressure is resisted by the
external pressure originated from fluids outside the casing.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Burst:
Gas to Surface:
In conventional casing design, it is customary to assume a gas
kick, thereby anticipating the worst possible type of a kick,
The gas gradient is of the order of 0.1 psi/ft. This gradient
causes a small decrease in formation pressure as gas rises up
the well,
Casing seat should be selected so that gas pressure at the
casing shoe is less than the formation breakdown at the shoe,
In exploration wells where reservoir pressure is not known,
formation pressure from the next openhole section is calculated
form the maximum mud weight.
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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Burst:
Burst pressure at surface (B1) = Pf G x TD,
Calculate the internal pressure (Pi) at the shoe using the
maximum formation pressure at next hole TD, assuming the
hole is full of gas:
Pi = Pf - G (TD CSD)
Pe = 0.465 x CSD,

Burst pressure at shoe (B2) = Pi - Pe

B2 = (Pf - G) x (TD - CSD) - 0.465 x CSD.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Example:

9 5/8 casing,
CSD = 5000 ft,
TD = 10000 ft,
Pf = 5000 psi,
Mud for 9 5/8 casing = 10 ppg.
Collapse at shoe = 10 * 0.052 * 5000 = 2600 psi,
Burst at surface = 5000 - ( 0.1 * 10000 ) = 4000 psi,
Burst at shoe = { 5000 - ( 0.1* [ 10000 - 5000] ) } - { 0.465 * 5000}
= 4500 - 2325 = 2175 psi,
Selection L80 40lb/ft, B = 5750 psi, C = 3090 psi.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Most of axial tension arises from the weight of the casing
itself,
Other tension loadings can arise due to:
Bending,
Drag,
Shock loading and during pressure testing of casing.

In casing design, the uppermost joint of the string is

considered the weakest in tension as it has to carry the total
weight of the casing string.
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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Tensile forces are determined as follows:
Calculate weight of casing in air (positive value) using true
vertical depth,
Casing air weight = casing weight (lb/ft) * hole depth (TVD),
Calculate buoyancy for (negative value),
BF = Pe (Ae - Ai) for open-ended casing,
BF = Pe Ae - Pi Ai for closed casing

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Pressure area method
Ae

Ae

Ai

Ai
Pi

Pe

Pi
Pi
Open-ended CSG

Closed CSG
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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Example:
20, ID = 18.71 in, 133 lb/ft, open-ended,
CSD = 2800 ft, Mud = 10 ppg.

Solution using pressure-area method;

Air weight = 2800 ft * 133 lb/ft = 372,400 lbs,
B Force = Pe (Ae - Ai) for open-ended casing,
BF = 0.052 * 10 * 2800 (314.16 - 274.94) = 57,104 lb,
B weight = 372,400 - 57,104 =315,295 lbs.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Solution using Buoyancy Factor method;
Air weight = 2800 ft * 133 lb/ft = 372,400 lbs,
BF = ( 1- 10/65.4 ) = 0.847
BW = 372,400 * 0.847 = 315,422 lb (315,652 lb from pressure
area method).

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
Tension:
Calculate bending force in deviated wells (positive value),
Bending force = 63 Wn * OD * ,
Wn = wt of casing (lb/ft) positive force,
= dogleg severity (deg/100ft), (use 2deg/100 as an average)

Calculate pressure testing force:

The casing should be tested to the maximum pressure for which it
has been designed
Force due to pressure = /4 (ID2) * test pressure.

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Casing Design Principles

Design Criteria;
4.4 Minimum Design Factors
Table 1. Minimum Design Factors
DESIGN LOADS

Surface & intermediate

casings, drilling liners,
drilling tiebacks

Production casings/
liners, production tiebacks

Tubing

Collapse

1.0

1.1

1.1

1.25
1.1

1.25
1.1

1.25
1.1

Tension

1.6

1.6

1.6

Compression

1.2

1.2

1.2

Triaxial

1.25

1.25

1.25

Burst

normal service
critical service

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Casing Design Principles

Now You should be able to:
Be familiar with the design criteria that is taken into
consideration when a casing string is to be designed with
respect to:
Collapse,
Burst,
Tension.
List the usable design safety factors.

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12