IADC/SPE 88022

Next Generation Expandable Liner Applications

Gareth Innes, Paul Metcalfe & David Hillis, Weatherford Intl. Inc.
Copyright 2004, IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition
This paper was prepared for presentation at the IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology
Conference and Exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1315 September 2004.
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Abstract
Expandable tubular technology is gradually becoming
mainstream. However, many of the early products released to
the industry utilized basic expansion concepts and their
designs were compromised by the reliance on conventional
techniques such as cementing.
This paper looks at the evolution of various expansion
concepts and how increased understanding of such techniques
is now being fed into the next generation of expandable
tubular based products. The paper discloses newly developed
expansion techniques, discusses the FEA and analytical test
results, which have allowed improvements in design, and
shows how the restrictions synonomous with conventional
expansion techniques have been removed.
Field case histories are discussed to illustrate progress
made with these next generation expandable liners.
Introduction
The term Solid Expandable Tubular or SET encompasses a
broad range of current and potential products and applications.
SET refers to methods involving the expansion of continuous
tubulars, i.e. without slots or perforations.
Two primary techniques are in use within the industry
today: fixed cone and rotary expansion.
Fixed Cone Expansion
Fixed cone expansion is an extrusion process in which a
swage (Figure 1) is used to expand the tubulars. In its simplest
form, the pipe behind the swage is fixed in position while the
swage is drawn towards the free end. This permanently
stretches the circumference of the pipe, and is normally

accompanied by a shortening of the pipe length from its free

end (since the total volume of pipe material remains
unchanged). Additional dimensional change is a 4-7%
reduction in wall thickness. In oilfield applications, the high
loads required to force the swage through the pipe are usually
applied through hydraulic pressure behind the swage,
sometimes supplemented by tension in the workstring. To
recover the swage and accommodate the high expansion
forces, this type of expansion is usually conducted from the
bottom upwards. The use of a low-friction internal coating is
necessary to reduce force requirements and provide acceptable
swage life.
Rotary Expansion
Rotary expansion tools (Figure 2) usually consist of one or
more rollers positioned so as to impart a radial force upon
discrete zones of a tubulars inner circumference. The contact
stress exerted by the working face of the roller produces a
resultant membrane stress sufficient to overcome the
circumferential yield strength and permanently stretch the
circumference.
In order to apply this radial around the entire inner
circumference of a pipe, the tools are rotated about their
longitudinal axis. The result of successive passes of rollers is a
diametric expansion of the tubular combined with a gradual
thinning of the pipe wall dictated by the balance of contact and
membrane stresses. While a rotary expander is being traversed
through a tubular, this dynamic stretch forming is not
usually accompanied by a corresponding shortening of the
pipe length. The use of rollers having a specific profile assists
in maintaining a concentration of point loading and in
minimizing tool friction. This allows for solid tubular
expansion with relatively low axial loads. Typical axial loads
for rotary expansions are of the order of 20% of those of
equivalent swage expansions. Hence the attributes of high
radial contact stress, low tool-to-pipe friction, low axial tool
loads facilitate the expansion of tubulars from either direction,
i.e. top-down or bottom-up. The top-down method allows
the expansion tool to be recovered partway through the
operation (if necessary), and then re-deployed to continue the
expansion process.
Rotary expansion processes fall into two distinct
categories, i.e. with fixed or compliant roller systems.
Fixed Rotary Expansion. With the fixed roller system, the
expansion characteristics are dictated by the geometry of the

IADC/SPE 88022

rolling elements, which combined with the expansion pitch,

control the expansion demands for axial force and torque. The
radial force, dictated by the tool geometry, is a reaction
component to the normal force and controls the axial force.
Compliant Rotary Expansion. In a compliant system, the
rollers float on pistons, which are activated by internal tool
pressure. The tool pressure dictates the maximum radial force
which can be exerted on the expandable tubular. Naturally this
gives the capability to produce a wide range of expansion
ratios for a single expandable system. With knowledge of the
material behavior, the tool pressure required for a given
expansion ratio can be determined. The major benefits of such
a system are the capability of producing expansions, which are
compliant with the parent casing.
Figure 3 demostrates compliant expansion. A section of
7.00 casing was collapsed on a press prior to being deployed
in a test well. A solid expandable tubular was positioned over
the collapsed casing the and subsequently expanded using the
compliant rotary expansion tool. The figure clearly shows the
ability of the compliant tool to deform the tubular to contact
the irregular inside diameter of the casing, eliminating any
annular gap.
The true value of compliant SET is realized when the
technology is applied to openhole zonal isolation devices,
openhole clads and non-cemented casing extensions. The
compliant nature of the expansion process is used to create
pressure seals between the SET and the formation in openhole.
Despite wellbores not being generally circular in shape, the
compliant expansion system is able to achieve a seal in a
variety of operating conditions, inducing sufficient stress
between the expanded tubular and the wellbore to achieve the
desired sealing performance.
Finite Element Analysis of rotary expansion.
In the past, three-dimensional, non-linear Finite Element
(FE) modeling of rotary expansion was not economically
viable due to the demands of computing power/time on the
simulation. Recently, such analyses have become feasible. A
three-dimensional FE model of a rotary expansion tool
expanding a tubular has now been created. The process
modeled is highly non-linear due to material yielding, tight
contacts, sliding and friction effects. The Finite Element code
ABAQUS was used to create parametric models which
allowed easy selection of geometric, material and dynamic
parameters and allowed comparisons with a range of
experimental results. In this first study, the generation of the
3D FE parametric models encompassed the effects of varying
six tool parameters:
Maximum tool diameter
Roller angle
Roller radius
Roller profile radius
Tool rotational velocity
Tool vertical displacement

The completed parametric model predicted similar

behavior to that observed in numerous experimental tests. The
model was used to predict tool push loads, torque reactions,
tube elongation, wall thickness changes and tool tilting. With
a model exhibiting a close correlation between empirical data
and model output data, sufficient confidence exists to use FE
analysis to predict performance in both Test Rig and DownHole conditions.
Utilizing a validated 3D FE model dramatically reduces the
testing time required to simulate tool performance downhole
and subsequent iterations to improve tool design. With a
greater understanding of rotary expansion behavior, which is a
very complex process, the next generation of expandable liner
systems can be developed with lower budgets and in faster
time frames.
Features of Next Generation Expandable Systems
If the next generation of expandable liners is to offer stepchange advantages over the current offerings they must
simplify and reduce the cost of the solution. Cement, long
used as the primary sealing agent between pipe and formation
has many advantages. It is widely available, well understood,
and, when applied correctly, can provide long lasting pressure
integrity.
Openhole Zonal Isolation
However, the disadvantages of cement are considerable.
An annulus of sufficient clearance must be created to allow
cement placement without channeling. This in itself drives the
well design to utilize larger hole sections than actually
required, adding to the need to utilize the typical telescoping
casing scheme associated with todays wells. The placement
of the cement in the annulus also requires special tools, valves
and drillstrings to convey it from surface to the desired
location in the wellbore. The process is extremely time
consuming: not only must the cement be mixed and pumped; it
must be allowed to set downhole. In total, the operation can
take 24 hours or more per casing section, adding considerable
cost to the well.
Current SET solutions utilize cement for primary formation
zonal isolation, adding further cost to an already expensive
offering. The next generation of SET solutions achieves
sealing by expanding elastomer-clad tubulars against the
formation. By utilizing rotary compliant expansion, the
amount of stress induced into the formation can be controlled,
in a similar manner to adjusting the pressure in an inflatable
packer system. Figure 4 shows how tool operating parameters
can be selected to provide a seal for a given formation type.
When the tubular is expanded, the elastomer element is
compressed between the expanding tubular and the formation.
If the stress in the elastomer exceeds the formation breakdown
pressure, then the formation will fracture and sealing could be
lost. Furthermore, when the expansion process stops there is
some elastic springback of the pipe, resulting in a lower
residual compressive stress in the seal element than the peak
level during expansion. The collapse rating of a constrained

IADC/SPE 88022

expanded pipe is considerably higher than that of an

unconstrained expanded pipe. Therefore it is possible to
achieve higher elastomer stresses and sealing pressures
without tubular collapse than may be predicted from estimates
of unconstrained tubular collapse.

risk of being able to run the system to depth, but unable to

pump the expansion cone through the clad to surface without
becoming stuck. In addition to the size of the hole,
irregularities within the borehole profile can result in annular
fluid bypass along the length of the expanded system.

Monobore Functionality
Drilling through low/high pressure zones, depleteted
reservoirs and unstable formations can often result in
difficulties reaching pre-designed casing points. The lack of
contingencies available with conventional, telescoping casing
design can drive a conservative approach when designing tophole casing sizes. Larger diameter casings are installed from
surface to ensure that the production liner remains at an
appropriate size to guarantee the economic viability of the
well. This obviously has a negative financial impact on the
overall cost of the well. Solid Expandable technology can
provide solutions to well engineering challenges, providing
contingency liners and potential to reduce the well footprint.

To increase the openhole sealing range of the solid cone

product, it is possible to apply swellable elastomers to the
outside diameter of the expandable tubular. These elastomers
react with predetermined wellbore fluids, swelling in volume
to around 100% or more of their original size (approximately
double the wall thickness). This increases the operating
envelope of the fixed cone product in openhole.

The first generation of expandable drilling products utilises

increased running clearances to provide contingency
intermediate liners between conventional casing strings. This
potentially allows the well engineer to downsize the surface
casings and thereby reduce the overall cost of the drilling
operation. This does not provide a whole product solution as
the system does not fully interface with conventional drilling
tools or casing strings, and still results in a slimming down of
the well.
The limitations of existing solutions are addressed by the
next generation of SET systems through delivering monobore
functionality. The SET system is compliantly expanded to fit
a into an overgauge hole, against the formation wall. The
zone is isolated and the wellbore retains the pre-installation
minimum inside diameter, allowing the drilling process to
continue with the same as size bit.
Delivering Optimised Openhole Zonal Isolation
Both fixed and rotary expansion techniques can be used to
provide openhole sealing against the formation without the
requirement for cementing. However there are some inherent
differences in the result.
Fixed cone expansion, by definition, will result in a fixed,
predetermined inside and outside diameter tubular. The
expansion swage assembly is pre-installed inside the
expandable liner while running in hole. The maximum post
expansion outside diameter is determined outside diameter of
the pre-installed swage, which in turn is dictated by the inside
diameter of the previous casing string. Due to the nature of
this technique a tight tolerance along the length of the
borehole, around 0.100, is required before a standard
elastomer can provide a comprehensive seal against the
formation.
An overgauge hole can result in the elastomers not
contacting the borehole and therefore not providing a
comprehensive seal against the formation. Conversely, if the
hole is under gauge, depending on the formation, there is a

Compliant rotary expanded tubulars have more flexibility

in terms of tolerance to borehole geometry. The expansion
technique forms the steel to the borehole wall and has a
borehole tolerance many times that of fixed cone expansion.
The maximum post expansion outside diameter is also greater
due to the rollers being able to extend further once they have
expanded past the previous casing shoe. It is also possible to
apply swellable elastomers to the outside diameter, if required,
to provide maximum compliancy.
Selecting Expansion Technique for Monobore
When tubulars are expanded hydraulically using a fixed
cone, the propoagtion pressure is applied directly to the inside
diameter of the expanded material behind the swage. At
expansion ratios over 20%, the propogation pressure
encroaches on the internal yield of the expande pipe. To
enable monobore functionaility, expansion ratios in excess of
20% are required for most hole sizes.
This highlights one of the benefits of rotary expansion.
Because all hydraulic pressure is contained within the
expansion device, and therefore not imparted on the internal
diameter of the expanded portion of the deformed tubular,
elarge expansion ratios are operationally achievable. This
increased expansion ratio provides significant additional
functionality, and depending on how the product is installed in
the wellbore, can result in zero post expansion reduction of
wellbore inside diameter. It also enables clad through clad
functionality.
Application of solid expandable tubulars
Non-cemented solid expandable tubulars can be applied in
all phases of a wells lifecycle, during drilling and completion
through to remedial applications when the well has matured.
Drilling Application
When a trouble zone is encountered during a drilling
operation, preventing further penetration, i.e. an underpressured, over-pressured or unstable zone, the conventional
approach is to cement in place a steel casing to isolate the
zone. Bit size must then be reduced to pass through the
cemented casing and allow drilling to continue onto target. By
utilizing a non-cemented, rotary expanded SET system, the
zone can be isolated without reducing the hole size.

To realize the full benefits of the system the hole needs to

be slightly enlarged (approximately 3/4in) across the trouble
zone prior to installation of the solid expandable product. The
system is then run into the hole and expanded, using the rotary
compliant expansion tool, against the enlarged borehole wall.
This results in a post expansion inside diameter equal to that
of the original wellbore and allows the operator to modify the
mud weight, if required, and continue drilling forward using
the same size bit.

IADC/SPE 88022

openhole was run in North America. A total length of 340ft of

expandable tubing was run into a well in Wyoming, expanded
and subsequently pressure tested to confirm effective zonal
isolation. The main objectives for the field trial were to verify
the borehole contact of the non-cemented solid expandable
system, prove the compliance of the system as well as
determining the capability to expand discreet sections of the
system downhole.

If another problem zone is encountered further on in the

drilling process, prior to the pre-designed casing point, the
same size expandable solution can again be run and set into
the openhole. This describes the technique as used in a
remedial drilling application; to ensure that casing points are
achieved as per plan. Additionally, by planning the solid
expandable installation upfront, the well design can be
slimmed down from the outset resulting in significant cost
savings.

The selected candidate well had 7, 20# and 23# casing to

approximately 5,800ft with perforations into the Tensleep B
sandstone interval at 5545ft to 5555ft. The well originally had
a 2-7/8 completion string in place, and was produced by
beam pump. The completion was removed prior to the field
trial, and the producing perforations cement squeezed and
tested. The targeted formation for installation of the solid
expandable system began below the casing shoe at 5766ft.
The formation comprised of predominantly carbonate intervals
and was subject to a slight water drive.

Water Shut-off
Application of non-cemented, solid expandable tubulars in
openhole is not limited to well construction. This technique
can also be applied to production optimization and water
management.

From the 7 23# casing shoe, the well was drilled out over
approximately 360ft, nominally vertical, to 6-1/8 openhole.
The formation was not exposed to a leak off or formation
integrity test at any time recent field trial experiences led the
operator to believe this risked inducing uncontrollable losses.

Controlling the production of water is one of the major

challenges that face reservoir management.
Maturing
reservoirs are most often accompanied by increasing water
production. If the reservoir section of the well is cased and
perforated there are a number of solutions, including solid
expandables, which can be applied to isolate the water bearing
zones.
When both oil and water are produced from an openhole
completion, the issue becomes more complex. One of the
main problems is accurate identification of the source of the
water production within the well. In addition to this, most
conventional mechanical techniques for openhole zonal
isolation permit only very limited post installation remedial
action.
The reduced post-installation through-bore
dramatically reduces intervention options further down the
wellbore. Therefore, the approach to water shut-off is often
conservative. Consequently, a lot of oil can be inadvertently
shut-off in the process.
The use non-cemented solid expandable tubulars provides
a unique solution to this difficult issue. By using the rotary
compliant expansion technique to deliver full bore post
expansion access; the main problems associated with curing
water production can be addressed. If the wellbore waters out
from top to bottom, compliant rotary expansion permits
consecutive identical products to be run through and expanded
to isolate additional zones below.
Field trials of SET openhole sealing systems
One of the first field trials carried out to demonstrate the
sealing capability of compliantly expanded solid tubulars in

Following the drilling operation, a dummy run was

performed and an ultrasonic caliper was run, logging all of the
openhole sections.
9 solid expandable joints and an
expandable liner hanger were run into the hole. Once at depth
the expandable liner hanger was set in the joint above the
shoe. The liner hanger was load tested prior to releasing the
running tools.
The first full expansion run required the expansion of
around 100ft of solid tubular, from the expandable liner
hanger, across the casing shoe and into the openhole.
Following this, the expansion tools were retrieved to surface
and configured for selective expansion. One of the features of
the rotary expansion technique is the ability to run through
unexpanded pipe to any point within the string, apply pressure
to the tool and begin expansion of a discreet zone. This
selective expansion functionality is extremely beneficial
when installing openhole completions in conjunction with
expandable sand screens. With the tool reconfigured, 4
individual zones of 27ft in length were expanded against the
borehole. The expansion tool was then retrieved to surface
before post installation testing was carried out.
Post installation testing was carried out to confirm
expandable casing contact with formation, post expansion
inside diameters and pressure integrity of openhole zonal
isolation. An ultrasonic log was run (figure 5) into the
expanded system. The log confirmed a bond between the
expanded sections and the formation wall. The individual seal
units were clearly visible along the length of the clad,
demonstrating compliant expansion against the borehole.
Following the ultrasonic log, an inflatable straddle packer
assembly with pressure gauges was run into the hole to

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pressure test across the sections of expanded zonal isolation.

A maximum test pressure of 500psi, dictated by the fracture
breakdown limit of the formation, was successfully applied
across the expanded sections.

Figure 2 Rotary Compliant Expansion Tool

Conclusions
The evolution of solid expandable systems has resulted in
the delivery of products, which can now fundamentally change
the way that wells are drilled and completed. Non-cemented
expandable liners are the next generation of cost saving
products to emerge from this technology. Rotary compliant
expansion has the additional benefit of providing zero
reduction in post-expansion through-bore, allowing a more
innovative approach to drilling and water management issues.
SI Metric Conversion Factors
ft
x
3.048 E-01 = m
inches
x
2.54 E-02 = m
bbl
x
1.588 E-01 = m3
lbs
x
4.535 E-01 = Kg

Figure 3 Rotary compliant expansion of solid tubular

References

1. Braas, J.C.M., Alhevba, C.O., Shandoodi, M., Van Noort, R.H.,

Baaijens, M.N., Water Production Management PDOs
Successful Application of Expandable Technology SPE 81489,
April, 2003.
2. Freyer, R., Huse, A., Swelling Packer for Zonal Isolation In
Open Hole Screen Completions SPE 73812, October, 2002.

Figure 1 Fixed cone expansion of solid tubular

Figure 4 - Compliant tool operating parameters in formation

10000
9000

Elastomer stress (psi)

8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Tool pressure (psi)

stress in elastomer

Formation breakdown pressure

Expandable collapse rating

Stress in elastomer after springback

Figure 5 Ultrasonic Caliper log of installed SET system

IADC/SPE 88022

Figure 6 Installation diagram for expandable zonal isolation