Well Clean Up

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Why clean up the well?

Solids initially suspended in the completion fluid will settle under
gravity

end up sitting in top of any barriers in the well - top packer

can effect function of moving equipment such as sliding sleeves, safety
valves, dynamic seal assemblies etc.

Solids can prevent the release of anchor latches and retrievable

packers

During completion operations solids in the completion fluid can

cause problems

solids on top of wireline plug could prevent recovery

Plug flow paths
Obstruct seal bores

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Elements of hole clean up

z Removal

displacement

z Chemical

clean up of Oil Based Muds

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z Mud

of solids

Removal of Solids
z Removal

of all drilling solids, prior to mud displacement

and chemical clean-up, important for two reasons :
removal of drilling solids from a deviated wellbore better
performed with drilling fluid.
base fluid and clean-up chemicals will not remove solid debris
from the wellbore.

hole cleaning is directly dependent on the

ability of mud to suspend the drill cuttings and carry
them to the surface.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

z Efficient

Factors effecting solids removal

Annular velocity.

Hole inclination because of its effect on cuttings beds.

Mud rheology.

Sweeps.

Pipe rotation and reciprocation to counteract settling tendency.

Wellbore geometry.

Particle size, shape and density.

Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

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Significance of hole inclination

Transport Mechanism

0-10 deg

Similar to that in a vertical wells - no tendency for cuttings to form a bed.

>10 deg

cuttings move towards the low side of the annulus resulting in the formation of
a cuttings bed.

40-50 deg

At low flow rates the bed thickness increases with hole angle, reaching a
maximum at hole angles within this range.
Critical range of hole angles where hole cleaning is more difficult due to the
gravity forces causing the cuttings beds to slide downwards against the flow.
With no flow rate the cuttings beds tend to avalanche down the wellbore, which
can result in packing off around drill strings.

50-90 deg

An equilibrium thickness is reached where the rate of bed formation is equal to

the rate of bed erosion. As the flow rate is increased, the bed is de-stabilised
and more cuttings are forced into the flow stream.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Hole Inclination

Sweeps
Use of high-viscosity sweeps to improve cuttings removal is
common practice.

Hi-vis pills most effective in vertical and low angle wells

can be effective in high angle wells if cuttings moved into flow stream
need to be disturbed by rotation / reciprocation whilst the hi-vis pill is
passing

Turbulent (lov Vis) sweeps can help if flow rate is high and
volume of the sweep is large

Turbulence can erode existing cuttings beds

if the volume of the sweep is insufficient, cuttings only transported short
distance before settling back to the low side of the hole
problem can sometimes be overcome by tandem pills (turbulent sweep
then viscous pill).

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Pipe Rotation and Reciprocation

pipe rotation good in high inclination wells:

mechanically disturbs cuttings beds, moving solids back into the mud
flow stream for removal.
particularly useful in laminar flow, with viscous fluids - particles on the
low side of the hole are moved into the higher flow velocity regions
particles can settle and be re-deposited quite quickly if viscosity and gel
strengths are insufficient

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Displacement to Completion Fluid

z Mud

Conditioning prior to displacement

z Use

of Displacement Pills
of drillstring

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z Centralisation

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Displacement pills for OBM

Fluid

Base Oil

Push Pill

Low Mud
Weight &
Low
Deviation

High Mud
Weight or
High
Deviation

Comments

30 bbl

50-100 bbl

Used to thin the mud and prevent gelled mud from

sticking to the casing wall. Pill should be treated with 12 ppb emulsifier to ensure no solids settlement when
mixed with any gelled mud sticking to the casing wall.

100 bbl

100-150
bbl

Pill will act like a piston and will displace the whole
mud out of the hole. It will help remove solids that have
accumulated on the low side of the hole, particularly at
adverse angles.

The displacement flow rate should be such that the base oil is in turbulent
flow and the push pill is in laminar flow.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

The composition of the push pill should be 3 ppb XC polymer + 3 - 5%

surfactant in seawater. Aim for YP of approx. 50.

Pipe Stand Off

z

Without centralisation stand-off of most sizes of drillpipe, in a

deviated hole section, is below 50%

Pipe stand-off has impact on:

flow rate required to initiate fluid movement

critical flow rate for turbulence
upper limit of laminar flow in order to avoid by-passing fluid.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Aim is to displace oil based drilling fluid from the wellbore leaving the casing
water wet, before displacing the well to the completion fluid (inhibited
seawater or brine).

At end of drilling process, well is usually left full of oily mud

Mud generally consists of an oily base fluid with water, clay (for viscosity) and
barite / dolomite (for density)

Emulsifiers - oil wetting agents - in oil phase ensure all surfaces (tubulars,
barite, formation) are oil wet, any water is encapsulated as microscopic
droplets.

When displacing the well to water, not only does the oily mud require
displacing, but also the casing surfaces need to be changed from oil wet to
water wet.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Chemical and Mechanical Clean Up

Removal of Oil
z

Water alone will not remove oily mud.

oily mud is best removed by pumping:

solvents, to dissolve any oily residues;
surfactants (surface active agents), to change the casing surface from oil
wet to water wet, i.e. counteracting the emulsifiers in the oily mud.

Chemical pills ideally pumped at maximum pump rate to

generate turbulent flow.

reasonably long contact times for each pill is required often as

much as 10 minutes

The well is then displaced to inhibited freshwater, seawater or

brine, depending on the completion requirements.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Surfactants

Mechanical Tools
z Mechanical

tool strings aide chemicals during the

clean-up process

z generally

of a scraper, a brush or a combination of both

z Historically

recently, purpose designed equipment on market

Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

z More

used conventional drilling equipment

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Mechanical Clean-Up Tools

360 deg Scraper

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Wellbore Patroller

Success of the well clean-up operation generally assessed by measuring the

percent solids content of fluids returning from the well

Turbidity meters sometimes used as secondary confirmation of having

achieved a clean well

Neither measurement gives an accurate measure of how clean the well is

down hole they merely measure the cleanliness of the water returning at
surface

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

How Clean is the Well?

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Solids Centrifuge

Usual technique to remove suspended solids from brines and

completion fluids.

Filtration technology changed considerably from the 1980's

increased awareness of the importance of both the content and

size distribution of suspended solids in workover and completion
fluids led to the introduction of more sophisticated filtration
equipment.

In preparation for brine filtration it is of paramount importance

that all-surface and subsurface equipment (tanks, lines, pumps
and downhole tubulars) are scrupulously cleaned to prevent
brine contamination.

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Copyright 2001 SIEP B.V

Filtration

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Filtration Systems

10

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Filter Cartridges

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DE Filtration Unit

11

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Filtration considerations

12