Packer Calculations Secure

Front Inside Cover
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Baker Oil Tools
Hydraulics As It
Affects Our Tools
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© 1999 Baker Hughes Incorporated

All Rights Reserved Printed in U.S.A.
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Hydraulics As It Affects Our Tools Baker Oil Tools
Hydraulics As It Affects Our Tools
Section 1
Section 1... Page -1 of 73

Baker Oil Tools Hydraulics As It Affects Our Tools
Introduction to Scrambled Textbooks

You are about to start into a different kind of book. PLEASE DON’T BE ALARMED BY THE PHYSICIAL
SIZE OF IT! If you use it the way it was intended, chances are that you will never even look at half of the
pages.
Here is how the book works and why.
To begin, you START ON PAGE 1 and that’s about the end of the similarities between this and an ordinary
book.
While the pages are numbered in sequence, just like an ordinary book, they are not read in sequence.
When you get to the bottom of a page you will find one of two things: what page to turn to; or, more likely,
a question. You will be directed to another page depending on your answer. Each answer will direct you
to a different page.
The reason for extra pages is simple: not everyone will start with the same background and knowledge.
If you understand the subject or problem well, then you will take the right answer and will not need addi-
tional explanation. But if the subject is not clear to you, you are likely to select the wrong answer. When
you turn to that page you will see an explanation of what you are doing wrong, and more information about
the subject.
Everyone can go through the book at their own pace, picking up whatever extra information they need,
when they need it, and end at the same place as everyone else.
The book is written in a basic style that everyone can understand. Some of you might be somewhat bored
in the early passages. However, the exercise in arithmetic will do you no harm and by the time you get to
the more difficult problems, the practice will be of great value to you.
It is believed the information and knowledge in this book will help you do your job better and more easily.
I am sure you will find it worthwhile.
Please turn to page 3.
Section1...
Section 1...Page
Introduction
0 of 73
What are YOU doing on this page! You must have turned here from the introduction page. You goofed.
It said turn to page 3.
Remember this is a scattered textbook. You have to turn to the page indicated on the bottom of the page
you are reading.
Now let’s turn to page 3 as directed.
Section 1... Page 1 of 73

Most of us going through this book are a little rusty with our arithmetic. It has been quite a while since
school and we don’t use our arithmetic enough. We also have trouble understanding. “Where does that
decimal point go?” We will start by reviewing this and practicing arithmetic. Remember, we want ALL OF
your figuring in the book. Use the eraser all you want, but don’t do your figuring on a scratch pad and then
put the answer down on the page.
When using decimal points in addition and subtraction remember this: write the figures with one stacked
above the other, lining all the decimal points straight up and down. Line up the following figures and add
them.
(a) 1.1 + .005 + 28.02 + .6493 + 5. + .00006
(b) 62.62 + .097 + 931. + .0001 + 2.8 + .04
(c) 68,432.01 + 28,947.1 + 48,360.40 + 21,675.09 + 25.6
Use the following spaces to line up the figures and add them.
a. b. c.
When you have the following answers, turn to page 4.

(a) 34.77436
(b) 996.5571
(c) 167,440.2

This book includes information about FLUID, AREA, PRESSURE, and FORCE, and how they affect our
tools.
The material are broken down in the following manner:
• Arithmetic and decimals
• Displacement
• Timing cementing plugs
• Balancing columns of fluid to release tools
• Pressure, what it is, and how to calculate it
• Area, what it is, and how to calculate it
• Force, what it is, and how to calculate it
• Figuring weights of casing with float shoes, guide shoes, and differential
• Forces across bridge plugs
• How much to push or pull to release “DR” plugs
• How much to push or pull to open the valves on a retrievable bridge plug
• Proper hook load to release from Model “D” type packers
• Upstrain packers, how much to pull, how much can you pressure annulus
• Set down packers, how much to set down, how much you can pressure underneath, how much you
can pressure with the packer already landed, how to pressure a certain amount, how much you will
have to pressure annulus
• General information section
The following are general instructions for working this book.

1. Use a pencil. (You might change your mind about an answer.)
2. Do all your figuring in the book. Use the page that the problem is on plus the blank page to the left
(back of the preceding page).
Fine, we know how the book works, what subjects will be covered and what the ground rules are. So with
a smile of anticipation and a sharp pencil, let us commence.

Next let’s try some subtraction. The same rule applies as to the decimal. Simply line up the figures one
above the other, with the decimal directly under the other decimal. When you have done this, the figures
will fall in the correct place. Add zeros to the top figure to bring it out as far as the bottom figure. You can
add zeros to the bottom figure if it will help you.
(a) 27,493.1 minus 16,987.5
(b) 6,579.06 minus 1,782.1
(c) 1.0004 minus .963
(d) 93,648. minus .00007
(e) 27.0101 minus 19.1010
(f) 65.007 minus 1.00901
Use the following spaces to line up the figures and subtract.
When you have the following answers, turn to page 6.

(a) 10,505.6
(b) 4,796.96
(c) .0374
(d) 93,647.99993
(e) 7.9091
(f) 63.99799

Now for division using decimal points. This probably gives us as much trouble as all the rest combined.
In school we were taught that the number to be divided is called the dividend. The number used to divide
into it is called the divisor.
OK, here is how it goes. Divide the regular way, but before you begin, move the decimal point far enough
to the right in the divisor to make it a whole number, like this:
42 . 05. 123587
Then move the decimal point in the dividend to the right as many places as you did in the divisor. If you
need to add zeros to the dividend to accomplish this, then do so.
4205. 12358700.
∧ ∧
When you place the decimal point in the dividend, also place it in the answer (quotient) immediately above
the line, like this:
. .
4205. 12358700.
∧ ∧
Then you just divide, always keeping each number you put into the quotient right above the last number
you brought down from the dividend, like this:
2,939.04
4205. 12358700.00
∧ 8410
39487
37845
16420
12615
38050
37845
20500
16820
3680
If you already had a decimal point in the dividend, and moved the decimal over in the divisor, then all you
would need to do would be to move the decimal over in the dividend and not add zeros, like this:
42 . 05. 123 . 58.7
Got that all down pat? Let’s try a few.
Turn to page 7.

Well, we should have that down pat. The next thing we will brush up on will be multiplication and where
to place the decimal point.
In school we were taught that the top number (number to be multiplied) is called the multiplicand. The
bottom number (number to multiply with) is called the multiplier. For example, to multiply 468.23 by 6.2,
lay it out in this manner:
468.23
6.2
93646
280938
2,903.026 Count off three places from the right.
After you’ve multiplied the two figures, place the decimal point by counting all the numbers to the right of
the decimal points. In this case, there are three (the 23 and the 2). Since there are three, count over from
the right in the answer three places and put the decimal point. If your answer doesn’t have enough num-
bers to place the decimal point in the proper place, just add zeros to the left of your answer until you do.
Here are six examples to use for practice.
(a) 22.4 (b) 8643.01 (c) 4397.22

6. .785 382.1
(d) 1385.0 (e) .007 (f) 63.4

1.596 .01654 .01010
(a) 134.4 (d) 2,210.460

(b) 6,784.76285 (e) .00011578
(c) 1,680,177.762 (f) .640340
When you have the above answers, turn to page 5.

Here are four examples to practice on.
(a) 2.43 624. (b) 62.7 1.0698
(c) .06 2.438 (d) .0004 .009832
After you have worked the above correctly, turn to page 10.

In almost everything we do with tools, we need to figure capacity of tubing, drillpipe, and casing. We need
to know how much fluid is necessary to circulate down the tubing to the tool, to fill the casing, to figure a
cement squeeze job and to do other things as well.
The information necessary to do this is printed in our cementing handbook. For your convenience, it is
also reprinted in the back of this book under Engineering Tables, pages AA and BB. The information is
printed in both barrels and cubic feet. For those of you who might not be aware, California uses cubic feet
as their measurement of fluid. As you work these books, you will see references to cubic feet; if you use
them fine, if you don’t, then just ignore them.
To find capacity of a string of pipe, you simply look it up in the capacity charts. Be sure to get the right
size of pipe and under the column “Barrels per lineal feet”, (cu ft per lineal ft) you will find the capacity for
one foot of depth. You simply take that figure and multiply it by depth. Simple? Here is one for practice.
Carry your numbers out four places past the decimal point.
With the following set of conditions, you want to circulate fluid to within 3 bbl (16.83 cu ft) of the tool.
7 in. 23 lb/ft casing

2-7/8 in. EU 8rd tubing
Tool set at 6,800 ft
(a) 39.44 bbl 221.00 cu ft Turn to page 9.

(b) 36.372 bbl 204.374 cu ft Turn to page 11.
(c) 36.44 bbl 204.17 cu ft Turn to page 12.

Your Answer - 39.44 bbl 221.00 cu ft
WRONG!
You figured the capacity of the tubing right but you forget that we only wanted to circulate fluid down the
tubing and shut it down when we got within 3 bbl (16.83 cu ft) of the tool.
As you know, we do this quite often to keep from getting cement around the tool.
Let’s return to page 8 and do a little subtracting.

Your answers to the division problems should read as follows:

(a) 256.79
(b) .017
(c) 40.63
(d) 24.58
If they do not, return to page 7and refigure them.
In working with figures, one question always comes up: What rule do you follow in rounding off numbers?
There are different ways, but the following way will be observed in this book. If the number cut off is 5 or
above, raise the preceding number. If it is 4 or under, do not raise it. Here are some examples:
22.0674 .0982 1.0842 .877 .4326 .6948
22.07 .10 1.08 .88 .43 .70
As you can see above, we only carried two decimal points. How many you should carry would depend
upon what you are figuring. If you are dealing in pounds on a weight indicator, it is ridiculous to carry any.
When we deal with pressure, we don’t carry any unless the pressure is very small. However, as you go
through the books, you will be told how many to carry.
The question arises as to what to do with fractions. The easiest way to figure them is to convert them to
decimals. An example would be 2-3/8 in. EU tubing would convert to 2.375 in. when you need to use it.
Another thing that sometimes bothers us is figuring percentages. Always remember that a percentage is
based upon 100. If you want to know what 90% of something is, multiply by .90; and if you want to know
what 6% of something is, count off two places and multiply by .06. Here is an example:
What is 2% of 68.42?
68.42
.02
1.3684
Well, I think we have all the basics explained, so let’s put this show on the road.

WRONG!
Actually, your answer is right but you didn’t follow instructions. When you lifted the number for the capacity
of one foot, you carried five decimals. The problem told you to carry only four.
This brings up a good point: how many decimals to carry. When you are on your own and in the field, you
can carry as many as you want to. You should always carry enough to insure that you get a worthwhile
answer. While working this book, you will have to carry the amount shown if you are to get an answer that
is shown on the bottom of the page.
You are not penalized this time.
Continue on page 12.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
Here is another problem. We want you to know under the following set of circumstances, how much fluid
we will have to pump to clear the perfs. Again, carry four decimals.
5-1/2 in. 17 lb/ft casing

7,220 ft depth of perforations
7,180 ft depth of tool
(a) 28.002 bbl 155.806 cu ft Page 14

(b) 28.930 bbl 161.026 cu ft Page 13
(c) Any other answer Page 15

RIGHT!
The next thing we will discuss is timing cementing plugs. When we are on stage collar jobs, we get in-
volved in knowing when a cementing plug will bump. On some of the jobs they use the cementing truck,
which pumps out of a measured tank. When this happens, all we do is measure displacement.
Part of the time they will use a rig pump. When they do this, we have to time the plug to know when it will
land against the float collar or stage collar. In the back of this book under Engineering Tables, page CC,
shows how to time a plug and gives you the figures necessary to calculate it. There are three steps to the
calculations. Since we are going to end up with an answer in minutes, the Californians can figure displace-
ment in barrels and use the same chart. The three steps are as follows:
(1) Calculate the capacity of the casing. (You have already practiced this.)
(2) Multiply the strokes per bbl for the size pump you have times the capacity. (This will tell you how many
strokes it will take to pump that much fluid.)
(3) Time the pump with your watch to see how many strokes per minute it is pumping and get the minutes
per stroke figure. When you multiply minutes per stroke by how many strokes, this will give you how
many minutes it will take to bump the plug. (Min/stk is arrived at by dividing strokes/minutes into 1.00,
which is a full minute.) Example, 1.00 divided by 45 stks/min equals .022 min/stk.
We only show 85% pump efficiency as that is the figure most often quoted. Figure the following problem.
Carry decimals to a reasonable length.
Float Collar @ 8,210 ft
Pump is 6-1/4 in. bore with a 16 in. stroke, pumping at 55 stks/min
When you have the above calculated, turn to page 16.

WRONG!
You figured the capacity of the tubing correctly. But don’t you need to pump the fluid through 40 ft of blank
casing under the tool to reach the perforations? Sure you do.
The total capacity to the perforations is 7,180 ft of 2-3/8 in. tubing and 40 ft of 5-1/2 in. 17 lb/ft casing.
Let’s put on our thinking cap and return to page 12 to finish the problem.

You say that you got an answer, but not either of the two on the bottom of page 12.
You have a mistake somewhere. It might be from getting the wrong figure out of the tables in the back, or
it might be from a mistake in arithmetic.
We try to figure the most likely mistakes you will make in a problem and put them at the bottom of the
page as wrong answers. However, we can’t anticipate mistakes in getting numbers from charts or mis-
takes in arithmetic.
Any time you have an answer that is not shown on the bottom of the page, you can figure that you have
a mistake and start looking for it.
Return to page 12, and go over your figures to find the mistake.

You should have had an answer of about 33 to 34 minutes. If you were very far off, you had better go back
and find where the mistake is.
Before we leave the subject of timing plugs, there are a couple of things I would like to mention.
First, you have a copy of the chart that we used in your tech manual.
Second, always measure your fluid back into the measured tank after you have bumped the flexible plug
on the float collar. You also want to note the pressure you went to.
When you drop the trip plug and let it gravitate to the stage collar, you will need to pressure up on it to trip
the collar. If you pressure up and nothing happens, you will wonder whether it has reached the stage collar
or not. The only way you will have of knowing will be by measuring the fluid back. If you get the same
amount back for the same amount of pressure as before, then you will know that the trip plug isn’t down,
and that you are pressuring against the flexible plug.
If you get less fluid back for the same amount of pressure, then you will know that you are pressuring
against the trip plug.

Well, here we go on another subject. This subject is about pressure. We will start with a definition of
Pressure - The amount of force acting on one square inch of area.
This is a good definition. The amount of push exerted on one square inch. All the pressure that we mea-
sure will be termed in what force it exerts against one square inch.
We actually have two kinds of pressure. The first kind is that which you put on with a pump. We call it
applied pressure, or pump pressure. The second kind of pressure is caused by the column of fluid itself.
Since fluid has weight and is standing on top of itself, it creates pressure against everything in a well. This
is called hydrostatic pressure. Both kinds are measured by “how much push per square inch”. We are
going to measure this force in pounds, so we arrive at an answer in POUNDS PER square inch, or more
simply, psi.
The first kind of pressure we will deal with will be hydrostatic pressure.
Turn to page 19.

Your Answer - Well with 9-5/8 in. casing
WRONG!
Being in smaller pipe doesn’t bunch up all that fluid and make it weigh more. You are still measuring pres-
sure in how much push against one square inch. It makes no difference how big or small the pipe is, or
how many square inches you have, you still have the same push against one square inch.
Put your thinking cap on and go back to page 19, reread and select a better answer.

Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure created by the weight of a column of fluid standing on each square
inch of area in a well.
In this definition we are speaking of the weight of a column of fluids, but only that column of fluid that is
standing on one square inch. There are just two ways you can get more weight in that column of fluid.
You can make the column higher or you can make the column out of heavier fluid.
If we had two wells at the same depth with the same mud in them, but with different size casing in them,
which would have more hydrostatic pressure?
(a) Well with 9-5/8 in. casing Page 18

(b) Well with 13-3/8 in. casing Page 20
(c) Both would have the same Page 21

Your Answer - The well with 13-3/8 in. casing in it.
WRONG!
You must have figured that the bigger the well and casing, the more weight it would have. The main thing
you forgot was that all pressure is measured in how many pounds pushing on one square inch.
It would make no difference if it was 5-1/2 in. or 20 in. in diameter, the column of fluid would weigh the
same pushing on one square inch. So the hydrostatic pressure would be the same.
Turn to page 21 and continue.

Your Answer - Both wells would have the same hydrostatic pressure.
CORRECT!
Since all pressure that we deal with is measured in how many pounds there are pushing on one square
inch, the pressure would remain the same, no matter how many square inches you have.
I would like to mention that we use a square inch because it is a handy measurement for wells as they
have comparatively small diameters. Other industries might use a square foot or a square yard to mea-
sure pressure. As an example, ships might use either pounds per square foot or pounds per square yard
to measure hydrostatic pressure against the bottom. They measure increased pressure in a sonic boom
by how many pounds per square foot.
Since we are always going to use the number of pounds per square inch, the only thing that can vary is
how many pounds pushing on it. The only way we can increase pounds is to use heavier (more dense)
fluid or a higher column.
This makes our figuring very simple. The only two things that can affect hydrostatic pressure are a deeper
well (higher column) or heavier fluid. When we figure hydrostatic pressure, these are the only two things
we need to know. How deep? How many lb/gal (lb/cu ft) is the fluid?
The next thing we must do is learn to convert fluid weight into a figure that can be multiplied by depth to
give us hydrostatic pressure. To do this, we must convert fluid weight into a figure that will tell us how
many psi/ft that weight fluid will be.
If you are in California and ask a man what his mud weighs, he will tell you how many pounds per cubic
foot. In the rest of the country, he will tell you how many pounds per gallon.
Since you get your fluid weight in two different measurements, you will need two different figures. To ex-
plain the two different figures and where they come from, we will part ways for a few pages. So, according
to which way you get your fluid weight, take the page indicated below.
(a) Pounds per cubic foot Page 23

(b) Pounds per gallon Page 22

You get your fluid weight in pounds per gallon or more simply lb/gal.
We want a figure that we can multiply by lb/gal to give us the psi/one foot. We can then take psi/ft and
multiply to give us the hydrostatic pressure.
That magic figure is .052. This .052 is actually the psi/ft for one lb/gal fluid. When we multiply this by the
number of lb/gal the fluid is, we know the psi/ft for the weight fluid.
Let me illustrate this in this manner.
Let’s pour one gallon of fluid into a container big enough so that it will only come up one foot high. That
container would be 4.95 in. in diameter. This fluid only weighs one pound per gallon. We want to know
how much of that one pound of fluid is sitting on one square inch. Look at the following drawing.
Across the end of a 4.95 in. in diameter container is 19.24 sq in. of area. If we want to know how much of
that pound of fluid which is one foot high is sitting on one of those square inches, we divide 19.24 in2 into
1.00 lb. We come up with .05197 pounds resting on one square inch. We can shorten that to .052.
We take the psi/ft for one pound per gallon fluid and multiply by the number of pounds per gallon we have,
and we get psi/ft for our weight fluid. We multiply this by depth, and we know psi for that depth.
So, let us remember, .052 is the psi/ft for one lb/gal fluid. To figure hydrostatic pressure, we do this:
.052 x lb/gal x depth = hydrostatic pressure.
Carry three decimal points until you arrive at pressure. What is the hydrostatic pressure at bottom in a
1,000 ft well that is full of 12 pounds per gallon mud?
(a) 624 psi Page 24

(b) 52 psi Page 26
(c) 12,000 psi Page 25

You said that you would like to go the pounds per cubic foot route.
OK, what we want is a figure that we can multiply by pounds per cubic foot to give us pounds per square
inch per foot or more simply psi/ft. We can then multiply this by depth to get pounds per square inch for
any depth.
That figure is .007. This .007 is actually the psi/ft for one pound per cubic ft fluid. When we multiply this
by how many lbm/cu ft fluid we have, we know the psi/ft for that weight fluid.
Let me illustrate it in this manner.
Let’s take a cubic foot. It measures 1 ft by 1 ft by 1 ft high. We will fill it with fluid. This one cubic foot of
fluid will only weigh one pound. The pressure on the bottom would be 1 pound per square foot. How much
of the weight would be setting on one square inch?
Across the bottom will be 144 square inches. To find out how much weight is sitting on one square inch,
we would divide 144 in.2 into the one pound of fluid. This would tell us how much weight is on one square
inch. The answer we get is .006944. We can shorten this up to .007. This would be the psi/ft for 1 lbm/cu
ft fluid. If .007 is the psi/ft for 1 lbm/cu ft fluid, then .007 times your mud weight will give you the psi/ft for
your weight mud. You multiply this by depth and you have the hydrostatic pressure for the well.
So, let’s remember, .007 is the psi/ft for 1 lbm/cu ft fluid. To figure hydrostatic pressure, we do this:
.007 x lbm/cu ft x depth = hydrostatic pressure.
Carry three decimal points until you arrive at pressure. What is the hydrostatic pressure at bottom in a
1,000 ft well that is full of 89.8 lbm/cu ft mud?
(a) 7 psi Page 28

(b) 89,800 psi Page 27
(c) 629 psi Page 29

Your Answer - 624 psi
CORRECT!
You simply multiply .052 by lb/gal to find the pressure for one foot. You then multiply by depth to find pres-
sure for that many feet. Here are three abbreviations that we will use.
lb/gal - pounds per gallon

psi - pounds per square inch
psi/ft - pounds per square inch per foot
Carry three decimal points until you arrive at pressure then figure the three following problems.
Remember to show all your arithmetic.
Problem #1 Problem #2 Problem #3

Depth 3,500 ft Depth 13,250 ft Depth 9,363 ft
Mud Wt 12.4 lb/gal Mud Wt 9.6 lb/gal Mud Wt 14.4 lb/gal
The answer is 2,258 psi. The answer is 6,612 psi. The answer is 7,013 psi.
If you have another, re- If you have another, re- Be sure to have it right
read page 22 and check read page 22 and check before going to page 30.
your arithmetic. your arithmetic.

Your Answer - 12,000 psi
WRONG!
You just multiplied your depth by the mud weight. You can’t do that. You must multiply by .052.
Return to page 22 and rework the problem.

WRONG!
You used the .052 and multiplied it by depth, but what about your mud weight? What you actually arrived
at was the hydrostatic pressure if you had one pound per gallon fluid.
Return to page 22 and try it again.

WRONG!
Man oh man, that’s a lot of psi. You multiplied your mud weight by your depth, but forgot to multiply by
.007.
Let’s return to page 23 and refigure the problem.

Your Answer - 7 psi
WRONG!
That isn’t enough psi to mash your toe. You used your .007 but you multiplied it by depth and forgot your
mud weight. What you figured was the hydrostatic pressure for 1 lbm/cu ft fluid.
Return to page 23 and refigure the problem.

CORRECT!
You simply multiply .007 by lbm/cu ft to find the hydrostatic pressure for one foot and multiply this by depth
to find hydrostatic pressure for that depth. These abbreviations will be used from now on.
lbm/cu ft- Pounds per cubic foot

psi - Pounds per square inch
psi/ft - Pounds per square inch per foot
Carry three decimal points until you arrive at pressure and figure the three following problems. Remember
to show all your arithmetic.

Mud Wt 92.8 lbm/cu ft Mud Wt 71.8 lbm/cu ft Mud Wt 107.7 lbm/cu ft
The answer is 1,820 psi. The answer is 5,105 psi. The answer is 6,355 psi
If you have another, re- If you have another, re- Be sure to have it right
read page 23 and check read page 23 and check before going to page 30.
your arithmetic. your arithmetic.

Now you know how to figure the hydrostatic pressure in a well from scratch. However, to make things sim-
pler, we can make a table showing the psi/ft for the various weights of fluid. There are just so many
weights of fluid, so we take a calculator and multiply .052 (or .007) times our various fluid weights and we
have the psi/ft.
We will even go one better and carry more decimal points since the calculator is going to do all the work.
This will account for any small difference in the figures you might see.
This table of figures can be found in the back of the book under Engineering Tables on page DD. It gives
you the fluid weight in lbm/cu ft, then the psi/ft. This psi/ft is sometimes called fluid gradient. Remember
we’ve simply multiplied your magic number by the various weights of fluid.
hydrostatic pressure = fluid gradient x depth
Use the fluid gradient table in the back to figure the hydrostatic pressure in the following problems.

Mud Wt 8.34 lbm/cu ft Mud Wt 15.4 lbm/cu ft Mud Wt 10.6 lbm/cu ft
62.4 lbm/cu ft 115.2 lbm/cu ft 79.3 lbm/cu ft
Is your answer 3,248 psi? Is your answer 7,488 psi? Is your answer 6,199 psi?
GOOD! It isn’t? Better GOOD! It isn’t? Better GOOD! If it isn’t, do it right
check your arithmetic. check your arithmetic. before turning to page 33.

WRONG!
You multiplied the fluid gradient by the depth of the well. The problem states that the fluid level was down
300 ft from the surface.
The height of the fluid column is what decides hydrostatic pressure, not the depth of the well. Since the
fluid level is not to the top of the well, you will have to take it, not the depth, to figure the hydrostatic
pressure.
Return to page 33 and figure the problem with the right height of fluid.

CORRECT!
The height of the column of fluid is what determines the hydrostatic pressure, not the depth of the well.
While we are on that subject, I would like to mention another thing that happens to us once in awhile. This
has to do with slanted wells. I have heard of a well that was slanted enough so that it took 10,200 ft of
pipe to reach bottom, but that the well was only about 5,000 ft deep. It is vertical height that determines
hydrostatic pressure. If you had the above situation, you would only have 5,000 ft of fluid as far as figuring
hydrostatic pressure is concerned.
So, in a well you are going to have a varying amount of hydrostatic pressure, according to how deep you
are. Up high in a well you are going to have a relatively small amount, but as you go deeper, you are going
to have more hydrostatic pressure until you reach bottom, at which point you will have the maximum
amount.
Let us consider the other kind of pressure. We call it applied pressure or pump pressure. This is the kind
of pressure we get by hooking up a pump. With this kind of pressure, there is no figuring to be done. We
simply look at a gage and read the pressure. There is another thing to be considered about pump pres-
sure there is pressure everywhere in the well.
If you put 5,000 psi pump pressure on a well, that 5,000 psi is present one foot deep or ten thousand
feet deep!
To do some calculating with both of these pressures combined, let’s turn to page 36.

Well, we now have our fluid gradient table and can That’s what I call running into a stump. But we are
very quickly figure hydrostatic pressure. going to bail you out of that predicament by giving
you a conversion chart to convert API gravity to
We can now go out to a man’s well and say, “I’m psi/ft of fluid gradient.
going to figure the hydrostatic pressure in the well,
what weight fluid do you have in the hole?” This table is just like the other table except this one
converts from API gravity instead of fluid weight.
And he just might say “I’ve got 38 gravity oil in the You will find it in the back under Engineering Ta-
hole.” bles on page EE. Use it to figure the following prob-
lems.
Problem #1 Problem #2
Depth 3,640 ft Depth 9,600 ft

Fluid API 28 gravity oil Fluid API 38 gravity oil
Fluid Level full Fluid Level 300 ft from surface
Your answer is 1,398 psi? Your answer is 3,475 psi?

GOOD, work problem #2. Then please turn to page 31.
Your answer is 3,367 psi?
Then please turn to page 32.

Your answer should read - 7,642 psi and 6,245 psi. If it

doesn’t, return to page 36 and figure out where you went
wrong.
One of the problems we have in regards to pressure, is

balancing a hole. Consider the drawing to the right. We
have a packer in the hole, and mud in the annulus, and
water in the tubing. This packer has no unloading device
on it, so we will have to balance the two columns of fluid to
release the tool.
The problem is real simple. We have more hydrostatic

pressure in the annulus, due to the mud, so we will have
to put enough pump pressure on the tubing to make up the
difference.
Can you figure out how much pump pressure would be
Water
Mud
Mud
necessary on the tubing to balance the tool? Sure you can.
Figure the annulus first, and then the tubing.
5,800 ft depth of tool
11.6 lb/gal mud in annulus

86.8 lbm/cu ft
8.34 lb/gal water in tubing

62.4 lbm/cu ft
Turn to page 37.

When a well has squeezed and it’s time to figure the dif-
ferential pressure so you can reverse out the cement,
everyone is in a hurry, and you don’t have much time for
calculating. The figure you get for your calculations is
“number of barrels left.” If you have to convert this to
number of feet of cement, and then into differential, you
are taking too much valuable time.
So, instead of you working with psi/ft you will be given the
figure for psi/bbl. Let’s assign these figures to the problem
on the right and see how it works.
Water
8.34 lb/gal water
12 lb/gal cement
We know the psi/ft for the water is .433 and the psi/ft for
the cement is .623. Instead of using these figures, we con-
vert them to psi/bbl. We look in our cementing handbook
and find that one bbl will fill 258 ft of 2-3/8 in. EU tubing. If
we multiply our psi/ft by 258 ft, we will have psi/258 ft or
psi/bbl in 2-3/8 in. tubing. This is all that the chart on page
FF has done. It did this for various psi/ft figures, and for
Water
Water
each size tubing.
By looking on page FF under the 2-3/8 in. column we find
that the cement has 161.0 psi/bbl and the water has 111.9
psi/bbl.
161.0 psi/bbl cement

111.9 psi/bbl water 6 bbl Cement
49.1 psi/bbl difference in hydrostatic pressure
So, instead of dealing with differential pressure per foot,
we have the differential pressure per 258 ft, which is the
same as differential per bbl. We know that we will have 49
psi differential for every bbl of cement that is left in the
tubing.
Before the job started, we figured the above and know
that we will have 49 psi/bbl differential. We can round that
off to 50 and when the well squeezes and we find that we
have 6 bbl of cement left over, we just multiply 6 x 50 and
learn that we will have 300 psi differential.
These charts on page FF are also in your cementing
handbook.
If you don’t completely understand the information above,
read it again.
If you do, please turn to page 38.

You noticed when we were referring to the pump pres-

sure it was measured in psi. This makes it easy for us.
Pump pressure just like hydrostatic pressure is mea-
sured in how many pounds pushing against one
square inch.
To find the pressure at any given point in a well, figure

the hydrostatic pressure then add any pump pressure
that you might have.
Pump
Find the pressure involved in the two questions listed Pressure
below. 3,600 psi
In the drawing to the right, what is the pressure at the

bottom stage collar?
What is the pressure at the top stage collar?

Stage
Collar 5,300 ft
Pump pressure is 3,600 psi
Hole full of 9.6 lb/gal mud
71.8 lbm/cu ft
Stage
Collar 8,100 ft
When you have calculated the above

turn to page 36.
10,750 ft

Your Answer - 986 psi pump pressure on the tub-

ing would balance the tool.
CORRECT!
Now let’s consider something slightly different. In
the drawing to the right, we have just finished a ce-
ment squeeze and have 6 bbl (34 cu ft) of cement
left in the tubing. We had water in the annulus and
followed the cement with water. We want to know
how much pressure to put on the annulus to bal-
Water
ance the two columns.
Let’s go through the reasoning of the problem to-
gether. We will start basic and then get to the short
cut.
First let’s consider the fluid above the cement. It is
water and would be balanced by the water in the
annulus down to the cement, as illustrated by the
dash in the annulus.
If the fluids from there up balance out, then we
need to consider the cement and the fluid column
Water
Water
opposite it in the annulus. To figure the differential
pressure we can use one of two methods. We
know the psi/ft for the cement and the psi/ft for the
6 bbl Cement (34 cu. ft)

water, so when we know that we have 6 bbl (34 cu
ft) of cement left over we could convert the 6 bbl
(34 cu ft) to the number of feet in 2-3/8 in. tubing,
and multiply that number by its psi/ft. We do the
same for that height of water and then subtract to
find the differential.
Through another method would we subtract the
psi/ft for the water from the psi/ft for the cement.
Then when we know that we have 6 bbl (34 cu ft)
of cement left over, we find out how many feet 6 bbl
(34 cu ft) of cement will fill in 2-3/8 in. tubing, and
multiply this number of feet by the difference in psi/
ft. This will tell us the differential pressure.
Both methods require you to convert the amount of
cement left in the tubing to height in order to figure
the hydrostatic pressure.
Actually the figure you get at the end of the job is
the number of barrels (cu ft) of cement is left, so we
will show you a short cut to help you do your
figuring rapidly.
If you work in barrels, turn to page 35.

If you work in cubic feet, turn to page 39.

Now to figure an actual job. We are going to put mud in the

hole and chase the cement with 5 bbl (28 cu ft) of water. No-
tice the drawing to the right. We have two differences in hydro-
static pressures between the cement and the mud and the
water and the mud. One will be in favor of the tubing and the
other in favor of the annulus.
How much pressure will be needed to equalize across this

tool? The figures I am using for mud weight are not exact con-
versions from barrels to cubic feet, so if you work in cubic feet
you will have a slightly different answer.
Mud
2-7/8 in. EU tubing
13 lb/gal mud in annulus
97 lbm/cu ft
15.5 lb/gal cement
116 lbm/cu ft
5 bbl (28 cu ft) fresh water behind cement
Fresh Water
4 bbl (22 cu ft) cement left in tubing
Mud
Mud
Cement
(a) Pressure Casing

(119 psi - figuring with barrels)
(117 psi - figuring with cu ft) Page 40
(b) Pressure Casing

(c) Pressure Tubing


When a well has squeezed and it is time to figure differential

so that you can reverse out, everyone is in a hurry, and the
figure that you get to work with is “number of cu ft left.” If you
have to convert this into the number of feet of cement, you
are working yourself too hard and taking valuable time.
So instead of working with psi/ft you will be given the figures
for psi/cu ft. Let’s assign these figures to the problem on the
right and see how it works.
62.4 lbm/cu ft water
Water
90.0 lbm/cu ft cement
We know the psi/ft for the water is .433 and the psi/ft for the
cement is .623. Instead of using these figures, we convert
them to psi/cu ft. We look in our cementing handbook and
find that one cu ft will fill 46.02 ft of 2-3/8 in. tubing. If we mul-
tiply our psi/ft by 46 ft, we have psi/46 ft, or psi/cu ft, as long
as we stay in 2-3/8 in. tubing. This is all that the chart on
page GG has done. It says every time you add a cu ft of ce-
ment in the tubing you will be filling it 46 ft and that will give
you 28.76 psi, and that 46 ft of water will give you 19.94 psi.
Look on page GG in the back of the book and find these
figures.
28.76 psi/cu ft cement
19.94 psi/cu ft water
8.82 psi/cu ft difference in hydrostatic pressure
Water
Water
34 cu. ft. Cement
So instead of dealing with differential pressure per foot, we
have differential pressure per 46 ft, which is the same as
differential per cu ft. We know that we will have 8.82 psi
differential for every cu ft of cement that is left over.
Before the job started, we figured the above and know that
we will have 8.82 psi/cu ft, differential. We can round that off
to 9. When the well squeezes and we find we have 34 cu ft
of cement left over, we multiply 34 x 9 and find that we have
306 differential.
The charts on page GG are also in your cementing
handbook.
If you don’t completely understand the information above,
read it again.
When you do, please turn to page 38.

Your Answer - Pressure Casing

(119 psi - figuring barrels)
(117 psi - figuring cu ft)
WRONG!
Your mathematics are correct, but you made an error in reasoning. Your cement is 90 psi heavier than
the mud. That means the tubing side is over balanced, however, your mud is so much heavier than the
water behind the cement that you end up with more pressure in the annulus.
You have the right figures but you need to pressure the tubing to equalize across this tool.
Return to page 38 and study the picture. When you understand how you are overbalanced and from which
side, then you will select the right answer.

Your Answer - Pressure Casing

WRONG!
You worked only half the problem. You figured the cement would out weigh the mud in the annulus and
calculated that it would be 90 psi.
What about the water behind the cement? It is a great deal lighter than the mud in the annulus opposite
it. You need to calculate that differential pressure also.
Return to page 38 and continue with the problem.

Your Answer - Pressure Tubing

CORRECT!
You figured the pressure differential in favor of the tubing due to the cement and the differential in favor
of the annulus due to the mud versus the water.
Since the differential due to the water was much greater, you ended up with more pressure in the annulus
and need to pressure the tubing to equalize across the tool.
On a job, you would figure the differential due to the water before the job and determine the amount of
differential per barrel (cu ft) of cement left. At the end of the squeeze job you can easily calculate the
differential.
This is one of two ways we work with pressure. We will discuss the other farther in the book.

So far we have discussed two kinds of pressure - applied and hydrostatic. We have explained how to find
the hydrostatic pressure knowing only mud weight and depth. Then, using engineering charts we deter-
mined the psi/ft for all weights of fluid. We figured in the applied pressure to determine the total pressure
in the well at any depth.
We then learned how to balance two columns of fluid and how to calculate the differential. But balancing
two columns of fluid is only one small problem we have in regard to pressure. What about the work that
pressure does? What about the tremendous forces created by pressure? To figure this, we will need to
return to one of the basic things we learned about pressure.
Pressure is the weight or push on one square inch. To find out how much total force we will get from this
pressure, we need to learn how to calculate the square inches involved. We have learned to calculate the
push that pressure gives in one square inch. Now we need to determine the total force - the amount of
pressure against the whole area.
This is the next topic in this book - AREA.

Your Answer - 16 inches
WHOOPS! YOU GOOFED!
You grabbed that answer a little too fast. It is 16 all right, but it is 16 square inches, not 16 inches.
Remember, area is measured in square inches and must be designated as such. Sixteen inches is a
straight line measurement.

AREA is the amount of flat space that something occupies. We know, and use, many measurements of
area. We use acres and square miles of land. We talk about how many square feet of area we have in
our house.
However, the hole drilled for an oilwell is seldom much larger than a foot in diameter, so it would be difficult
to use large measurements to figure area. Besides, our pressure is measured in how much it pushes
against one square inch so why not use the square inch?
In all well calculations, we will use the square inch for measurement of area. A square inch is an area that
is 1 in. x 1 in.
Figuring the area of a rectangle is a simple process. Multiply its length by its width. If the length and width
are measured in inches, you will end up with square inches. If they are in feet, you will end up with square
feet.
What is the area of the rectangle shown below?
2"
8"
(a) 16 inches Page 44

(b) 10 square inches Page 46
(c) 16 square inches Page 47

Your Answer - 10 square inches
WRONG!
You added the length to the width. All this will get you is a number. To find area you multiply the length
by the width. Since the length and width were 2 in. and 8 in., multiply them and your answer is 16 square
inches.
Don’t forget to write square inches after the numbers.
Turn to page 47.

CORRECT!
Enough of rectangles. Since all oilwells have round holes, and round casing set in them, perhaps we
should concentrate on circles. Even though we are working with round circles, the area will be measured
by square inches.
Most of you that have been involved in finding the area of circles, have probably found a chart that tells
you the area for any given circle. Do you remember the formula to find the area of a circle?
Most of us remember the formula taught in school. It was A = πr2 (3.14 times the radius squared.) This is
correct, but no one in the oilfied gives you the radius of a hole or of a pipe. We need to divide the circles
diameter by two, as radius is the distance from the center of the circle to the outside edge.
Since we determine measurements by diameter, we have converted the formula. This formula is:
AREA = DIAMETER2 x .785
or to put it more simply:
AREA = DIAMETER x DIAMETER x .785
To square a number, you multiply it by itself. Using the above formula instead of one using radius saves
us one piece of arithmetic. It is arrived at from the basic formula to find the area of a circle.
The formula A = D2 x .785 is arrived at by using a little algebra, but let’s turn the page and see how it was
done.
Turn to page 48.

Our purpose is to take the basic formula A = πr2 and convert it into a formula using diameter instead of
radius. We start with:
A = πr2
In which: π = 3.1416
r = radius
We know that: radius = diameter
2
We can say: area = 3.1416 x diameter 2

2
We can’t square the diameter (we don’t know what it will be), but we can square the 2 so we say:
area = 3.1416 x diameter2
4
We want to simplify the formula farther, but we can’t divide the 4 into the unknown diameter. You can
divide the 4 into the 3.1416 and the answer will come out the same. Want an example? Try this
one:
4 x 8 = 16
2
You can divide the two into the 8 and multiply 4 x 4 and get 16. You can divide the 2 into the 4 and multi-
ply 2 times 8 and still get 16. So, we take our formula above and change the 4 over under the 3.1416:
area = 3.1416 x diameter2
4
This will give us:
area = .785 x diameter2
So, let’s remember the formula: Area equals .785 times diameter squared.
What is the area of this circle? Hold your answer to two decimals.
8"
(a) 6.28 square inches Page 51

(b) 64 square inches Page 50
(c) 50.24 square inches Page 49

Your answer - 50.24 square inches
CORRECT!
Now let’s take a shot at two more. Work #1 and then #2. Be sure to show all of your arithmetic.
9" 3-1/2"
Check your answers against Check your answers against

those shown on page 52. those shown on page 53.

WRONG!
You squared the diameter, but forgot to multiply by .785.
Remember, there are two parts to the problem. First you must square the diameter then multiply by .785.
Return to page 48 and work the problem properly.

Your Answer - 6.28 square inches
WRONG!
You forgot to square the diameter (multiply it by itself) before you multiplied by .785.
Remember, you have to square the diameter then multiply by .785.
Return to page 48 and work the problem properly.

Your answer - 7.07 square inches
WRONG!
You forgot to square the diameter before multiplying by .785.
Return to page 49.
Your answer was - 14.13 square inches?
WRONG!
You added the diameter to itself instead of multiplying it by itself before multiplying by .785.
Return to page 49 and try again.
RIGHT ON THE MONEY!
Return to page 49 and work problem #2.

Your answer was - 2.75 square inches
WRONG!
You forgot to square the diameter (multiply it by itself) before multiplying by .785.
Return to page 49 and work problem #2 again.
WRONG!
You added the diameter to itself instead of multiplying it by itself before you multiplied by .785.
Return to page 49 and work problem #2 again.
Your answer was - 9.62 square inches:
EXCELLENT!
Let’s continue on page 55.

Your answer - .40-in2
WRONG!
You subtracted the ID from the OD, and then tried to figure area from that. It will get you nothing but a
number.
Return to page 55, find the area of each circle and then subtract. There is no short cut.

In addition to finding the area of a circle, we get involved in two other variations. First we have to find the
difference in area between two circles to find the end area of a string of pipe. It could either be the end
area of a string of tubing or a string of casing.
There is one main rule to remember: to find the end area of the string of pipe you must subtract area
from area. You cannot subtract diameter from diameter and then find the area.
So to find the end area, you find the area of the outside circle, and then find the area of the inside circle,
and subtract area from area.
When you find the area of a surface you must label it as such. To do this, write “in.2” after the number (i.e.
24.92 in.2).
How much end area is there in this string of casing? Carry your answers to two decimals.
OD = 7 in.
ID = 6.28 in.
(a) 7.51 in.2 Page 56

(b) .40 in.2 Page 54

Your Answer - 7.51-in.2
CORRECT!
Off hand you wouldn’t think there was much end area on the end of a joint of 7 in. 26 lb/ft casing. But
there is. We usually find there is a lot more area involved when we figure it out, than if we just guess at it.
The other way we use area is to find how much area there is in the annulus, above a tool. In this problem
we will say that all the area from the OD of the tubing to the ID of the casing is affecting us. We want to
calculate how much it will be. Carry two decimals.
ID of casing - 4.89 in.
OD of tubing - 2.375 in. (Use 2.38)
(a) 4.95 in.2 Page 58

(b) 14.33 in.2 Page 57

Your answer - 14.33 in.2
CORRECT!
Knowing how to figure the area involved in a well is important. It is, however, very time consuming to figure
the area from scratch each time you need it. We will give you some charts that will show the area for var-
ious sizes of pipe, both tubing and casing.
First let’s review what we said about area. To find the area in a circle we need to remember the formula
A = .785 x D 2. To find the cross sectional area of a string of pipe, we need to find the area of the outside
and the area of the inside, then subtract.
This same principle applies when we are finding the difference in area between tubing and casing. The
same would apply if you had multiple strings in the hole. You would have to find the area of all the strings
of tubing, then subtract them from the area of the ID of the casing.
In the back of this book under the engineering section you will find two charts having to do with area of
circles. The first chart is numbered HH and has all sizes of tubing, the inside, outside, and cross sectional
area for each of them. It also gives you area for packer bores and some common sizes of circles.
The second chart is for all popular sizes of casing. It shows the inside, outside, and cross sectional area
for each size. It is numbered JJ.
If you need to know the cross sectional area of 2-7/8 in. EU tubing, simply go to tubing chart HH, find
2-7/8 in. and follow it across until you find the cross sectional area. You’ll find the answer is 1.81 in2
To find the area in the annulus between 2-3/8 in. tubing, and the ID of 7 in. 23 lb/ft casing you would do
this. On the tubing chart, look up the outside area of 2-3/8 in. and you will find it to be 4.43-in.2 Then, turn
to the casing chart and look up the inside area of 7 in. 23 lb/ft and find it to be 31.83-in.2 Subtract and you
will find the difference in area to be 27.40-in.2
You will be using these charts throughout the rest of these books. I suggest that you familiarize yourself
with them. They will be of the utmost help to you.
Turn to page 59.

Your answer - 4.95 in.2
WRONG!
You subtracted the ID from the OD and then tried to figure area. This will get you nowhere. You must cal-
culate the area of each circle and then subtract one area from the other.

Let us review for a moment. We have pressure and we have area.
PRESSURE: Is the amount of weight or push against an object and is always measured by how many
pounds it is pushing on each square inch.
AREA: Is the amount of flat surface that an object has, and is always measured by the number of
square inches it has.
And now comes the next term we want to deal with. FORCE
FORCE: Is the total amount of push or pull that is exerted on an object. It is always measured in
pounds.
Force can come from several different sources. One would be mechanical. When you take hold of some-
thing and push or pull, you create a force across that object. This is measured in number of pounds push
or pull. Force is also created when a pressure pushes on an area.
We have said that pressure is the number of pounds pushing on one square inch. If the object has 5 in.2
of area, multiply the pressure by 5 to determine the total amount of force against the object. This brings
us to another very basic formula:
FORCE = PRESSURE x AREA

or, more simply,
F=PxA
SO: If you had 5 pounds per square inch pressure (5 psi) against an object
- and -
The object had 10 square inches of area (10 in2). How much force have you created?
(a) 50 pounds Page 60

(b) I don’t see it Page 61

Your answer - 50 pounds force
CORRECT!
We have now arrived at the main point in these books; the forces created by pressures acting on areas.
We will learn to find these forces as they apply to our tools. We have to find out how much pressure we
have, how much area the pressure is acting on and then multiply to find out how much force there is.
Force makes our tools go up or down the hole. This force can come from pressure acting on an area or
it can come from pulling or pushing on the tool with the rig.
In a larger sense, nothing would move if it were not for forces. Everything stands still until moved with a
force. When you can figure these forces you will know which way the object is trying to move and by how
many pounds force.
In a well there are forces everywhere. Pressure is creating forces trying to balloon the casing outward and
trying to collapse it. Forces try to blow up the tubing and collapse it. The weight of the tubing creates a
downward force and buoyancy creates an upward force. By resolving these forces we know what the tool
is doing. We figure the forces pushing up, the forces pushing down, and subtract one from the other.
Although forces are pushing inward and outward in a well, they are not what we will be interested in with
this book. We are only interested in the forces pushing up and down.
When we figure a problem it is very important to keep track of our figures. We have two kinds of force,
force up and force down. Force is always measured in pounds, so we will write it with one of these two
signs: lb↑ or lb↓.
If we have a figure that represents pounds force up we write lb↑ behind the number lb↓. For a down
force we write lb↓.
I cannot over emphasize the necessity of labeling your figures. When you need to go back in your figures
to get a pressure, you can find it because it is clearly labeled.
Let us go to page 62 and start with a simple problem.

Your Answer - You don’t see it.
All right, let’s look at it a different way.
The drawing below has 10 squares in it. Let’s say each one represents one square inch of area.
1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2

TOTAL SQ IN. = 10
1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2 1 in.2
Now if we apply a pressure of 5 psi (5 pounds pushing on each square inch) against all 10 of these square
inches, we would be doing as the drawing underneath shows.
5 lb 5 lb 5 lb 5 lb 5 lb
TOTAL FORCE = 50 pounds
5 lb 5 lb 5 lb 5 lb 5 lb
Now we have 5 pounds pushing on each square inch and have 10 square inches. If we multiply the 5 psi
times the 10 in.2, we can see we will be pushing 50 pounds against the whole object.
OK? Let’s turn to page 60.

Here is a problem with a plain bridge plug of the

Model “N” variety.
First, find the area, then the pressure and then the
force. Be sure to label area as in.2, pressure as
psi and force as lb↓.
5,000
psi
0 psi
(a) 192,450 lb↓ Page 65

(b) 150,200 lb↓ Page 64
(c) 30,920 lb↓ Page 63

Your Answer - 30,920 lb↓
WRONG!
You took the ID of the casing and multiplied it by the pressure. You have to find the area of the inside of
the casing. This will tell you how many square inches that pressure is pushing on.

CORRECT!
We understand how force is developed by pressure pushing on an area. I would like to call your attention
to the arrow also. By looking at the answer, we see not only how much force we have but in which
direction.
All the figures you have should have something beside them to identify them. It might be any of the
following: psi - OD - ID - in.2 - lb↓ - lb↑ - " - '.
The problem you just worked was nice and easy. It just had one area and one pressure to work with.
Suppose we take this same well and add 2,000 psi below the bridge plug.
Will the net force across the bridge plug be:
(a) more than before Page 68

(b) less than before Page 66
(c) no change Page 67

WRONG!
When you grabbed for area in the chart, you got the area of the outside of the casing. The pressure cannot
reach the outside of the casing.
You need to get the area for the inside of the casing and multiply it by the pressure.

Your Answer - less than before
RIGHT!
It will be less than before because the pressure

you put underneath will create an upward force
that must be subtracted from the downward force.
When you have subtracted you will know the net
force across the tool.
Now we will work a problem involving a string of

casing. Remember that a string of pipe’s weight is
measured in pounds and, hanging in a well, its
force is down. Use the charts in the back of the
book and figure this problem
5,000 ft casing depth

12 lb/gal mud weight
Mud
Mud
Dry
89.8 lbm/cu ft
What is the hook load for this string of casing?

Shoe
Float
(a) 151,179 lb↓ Page 71

(b) 90,000 lb↓ Page 69
(c) 28,821lb↓ Page 70
(d) 61,179 lb↓ Page 72

Your Answer - no change
WRONG!
The pressure you just added below the bridge plug is going to push up on the bottom of the plug. The
pressure against the area on the bottom of the plug is going to create an upward force.
To resolve the forces across the bridge plug, you need to subtract one force from the other force.
In figuring this particular problem, you already know the pressure above the plug is creating a force of
150,200 lb↓. Multiply 2,000 psi under the plug by the inside area of the casing and get an upward force
of 60,080 lb↑.
To know which way the plug is trying to go and by what amount of force, subtract forces:
150,200 lb↓
60,080 lb↑
90,120 lb↓
Since the larger of the two forces was down, you end up with 90,120 lb↓.
Turn to page 66.

Your Answer - more than before
You are WRONG!
The pressure you just added below the bridge plug is going to push up on the bottom of the plug. This
pressure against the area on the bottom of the plug is going to create a force upward.
To resolve the forces across the bridge plug, subtract one force from the other force.
In figuring this particular problem, you already know that the pressure above the plug is creating a force
of 150,200 lb↓. Multiply the 2,000 psi under the plug by the inside area of the casing and get an upward
force of 60,080 lb↑.
To know which way the plug is trying to go and by what amount of force, subtract forces:
150,200 lb↓
60,080 lb↑
90,120 lb↓
Since the larger of the two forces was down, you end up with 90,120 lb↓.
Turn to page 66.

WRONG!
You figured the weight of the string of casing hanging in air. But this string of pipe is not hanging in air.
It is hanging in a hole full of fluid. That fluid is creating a pressure against the bottom of the string, pushing
up on all square inches. In this case, since the float shoe is on the bottom, sealing off the bottom of the
casing, it has a lot of area to work on.
That pressure pushing up on the bottom of the string creates an up force. You will have to figure it and
subtract it from the down force.
Return to page 66 and complete the problem.

CORRECT!
You figured the weight of the string of casing in air, by multi-

plying its weight per foot by the number of feet. You then fig-
ured the area across the bottom, and the amount of pressure
pushing up against it. When you multiplied them, you deter-
mined the upward force. You subtracted forces to get the
answer.
One thing that may have bothered you was the area across
the bottom of the float shoe. Since it is rounded, there is more
area. Also, pressure pushes at a right angle to all surfaces. So
why do we say that the pressure is pushing straight up and
count the area as though it were a flat surface?
Actually, when you push against a surface at an angle, the

force is at an angle. It is both upward and sideways. The up-
ward force is not as great as it would be if you were pushing
straight up. The more the angle is, the less force pushing up.
But with the extra area that you get from the angled surface,
you create enough upward forces to equal what you would
Drawing #1
have if the surface were flat. Consider drawing #1.
This means the pressure pushing against the rounded surfac-

es creates forces that are both upwards and sideways. We are
not interested in the forces going sideways. Although there is
more area involved in the rounded surface, only a portion of
the forces created are pushing up. The sum of these upward
forces is the same as though the pressure were pushing
upward against a flat surface. Consider drawing #2.
To calculate the angles of these forces we use vectors. To fig-

ure them we use vector addition. This is a complicated sub-
ject and I suggest that if we can see the reasoning of it we
leave the figuring of it to the engineers.
We need to remember when we figure pressure against area,

we treat all rounded surfaces as though they were flat.
Drawing #2

WRONG!
You did all your arithmetic correctly but got careless with your arrows.
The weight of the pipe is a down force but the pressure in the annulus pushing up on the bottom of the
float shoe is going to create an up force. The pressure is pushing on everything down there, the sides of
the hole, the bottom, etc., but we are only interested in the force pushing up on the bottom of the pipe
because that will affect the weight of the string of casing.
Return to page 66 and put the arrow in the proper direction. The answer will be obvious to you then.

WRONG!
You have two mistakes. You figured the pressure at bottom against the area under the float shoe but what
about the weight of the pipe itself? The weight of the casing hanging in the hole is going to create a down
force. You will have to multiply the casing’s weight per foot by the number of feet and make it a down force.
One more thing, how about that pressure pushing up on the bottom of the shoe? That would be an up
force, wouldn’t it? You called it a down force when you took this answer. Watch those arrows.

There is one more subject I would like to cover before we finish this book.
BUOYANCY
When you figured the upward force in the last problem, you automatically figured in what we know as
buoyancy. BUOYANCY is the upward force created by pressure acting upon an area that causes it to
weigh less when immersed in fluid. In this case, we had a float shoe on the casing which gave us a great
deal of area. The pressure acting upon this area created quite a bit of upward force or buoyancy. This
same effect causes you to weigh less when you are immersed in fluid.
When we were in school, we learned “Buoyancy is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced”. This ac-
tually comes from what is known as ”Archimedes’ Principle”. Archimedes, who was a Greek Mathemati-
cian and lived in 200 BC, stated that “a body wholly or partly submerged in a fluid creates an upward force
equal to the weight of the fluid it displaced. ” What we don’t remember from school is that Archimedes
placed some limitations upon this principle. This principle depends upon the pressure hydrostatically in-
duced. It also depends upon only one weight of fluid involved and the bottom end of the object is not being
packed off.
This principle of Archimedes is true when used within its limitations. In many industries it is the only prac-
tical way to figure these problems; an illustration would be a ship building.
However, in oil wells we have problems which are beyond the limitations of this principle. We have pump
pressure as well as hydrostatic pressure. We often have two or more weights of fluid in the hole, and we
put packers in a well.
So, when we consider buoyancy in an oil well, we have to look at what is causing this buoyancy. It is
caused by the pressure acting on the area underneath, which creates an upward force. When we figure
our problems as pressures times areas, we include buoyancy. We will determine the buoyancy effect on
an area. This is a pressure pushing on an area and causing the object to weigh less when in fluid.
So, when the customer asks if you have considered buoyancy, you can look him straight in the eye and
answer “Yes, sir!”
CONGRATULATIONS you have just finished Section 1. You are now ready to proceed with Section 2.

This page is blank
Section 2
Welcome to Section 2!
Before we start Section 2, I would like to bring up the subject of accuracy. You may think we carry the
accuracy of figures to extremes. We know that a weight indicator is not the most accurate instrument in
the world. If you come out with an answer of 23,432 lb↓, the weight indicator will not weigh the pipe totally
accurate. However, if you don’t come out with the right answer, you don’t know what the weight indicator
should read. You might say “Well, it was just a small mistake in arithmetic.” One zero more or less, or a
decimal point off one place, will make the difference of your answer being 5,382 lb↓, or 53,820 lb↓.
By this time you have worked through Section 1. Your arithmetic should be much improved. The practice
you have had should be sufficient to make your mistakes few and easily corrected.
Here are the rules regarding decimal points throughout this book. I think they are reasonable and should
cause no hardship.
ROUNDING When you round off a number that is 5 or larger, always bring the preceding number
OFF up to the next highest number. If it is 4 or smaller, leave the preceding number as it
is. (Example: 2,345.4 = 2,345.00 and 2,345.5 = 2,346.00 and 2,345.48 = 2,346.00)
FLUID Or psi/ft if you prefer. This figure is given to you as a
GRADIENT number carried to three decimal points. Carry all three.
PRESSURE This figure will always be a whole number. You should not carry any decimal points.
(Example: 1,820.7 = 1,821.00 psi)
AREA This figure will be given to you in two decimal points in the back of the book.
Carry two decimals.
FORCE This figure should always be carried to the nearest whole number.
Carry no numbers past the decimal point.
To work these problems, plan an approach. Most problems appear hard until you break them into small
parts. They then become simple. These problems always break down into two basic equations, so I sug-
gest we work them in this manner. First, work the problem in the annulus, then work the problem under
the tool. If the problem has no annulus (such as a bridge plug or “DR” plug) work the problem on top, then
the problem underneath.
Section 2... Introduction

Page 0 of 60
Instruction Page
(Annulus or above tool)
Fig #1
FIRST STEP SECOND STEP
Find the affected area Find the pressure
00.00 in.2 0,000 ft
- 00.00 in.2 x .000 psi/ft
00.00 in.2 THIRD STEP 0,000 psi
Find the force + 0,000 pump pressure
0,000 psi 0,000 psi
x 00.00 in.2
00,000 lb↓
(Underneath tool)
FOURTH STEP FIFTH STEP
Find the affected area Find the pressure
00.00 in.2 0,000 ft
- 00.00 in.2 x .000 psi/ft
00.00 in.2 SIXTH STEP 0,000 psi
Find the force + 0,000 pump pressure
0,000 psi 0,000 psi
x 00.00 in.2
00,000 lb↑
SEVENTH STEP EIGHTH STEP

Find the weight of pipe Resolve the forces
0,000 ft Add all up forces
x 00 lb/ft Add all down forces
00.000 lb↓ Subtract one from the other
Fig #2
FIRST STEP - You may need to subtract one area from another to get
the area you want (Figure 1). Perhaps you just need to get one area
(Figure 2).
SECOND STEP - Find hydrostatic pressure. If you have any pump
pressure, add it at this time.
THIRD STEP - Multiply to find force either up or down.
FOURTH through SIXTH STEPS - Do the same for under tool.
SEVENTH STEP - If you are to determine hook load, then calculate the
weight of the pipe in air.
EIGHTH STEP - Add all your up forces and all your down forces.
Then subtract one from the other and you will have your answer.
REMEMBER - Even though you won’t always need to calculate all of
the above, always lay out your figures in this manner to avoid confusion.
I CANNOT OVERSTRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF LAYING OUT
YOUR FIGURES IN THIS MANNER.
Turn to page 4.

Let us have a short review of the things we have covered.

PRESSURE: We have said there are two kinds of pressure, pump pressure and hydrostatic. Both are
measured in psi. Pump pressure is read directly from a gage. Hydrostatic pressure is caused by the
weight of fluid standing on top of more fluid. We can determine the hydrostatic pressure by multiplying the
psi/ft for 1 lb/gal (1 lb/cu ft) by mud weight and then by depth. Or, we can consult a chart that has already
done the first piece of arithmetic for us and get psi/ft for our mud weight, then simply multiply by depth.
To balance columns of fluid you must get both columns to have the same psi. To find how much force the
pressure is going to produce, you have to find the number of square inches this pressure is pushing
against.
AREA: To reduce area into a small enough unit of measurement for an oil well, we use a square inch. We
use this square inch also because our pressure is measured in how much it is pushing on one square
inch. To find the area of a circle, we use this formula: A = D 2 x .785. As long as we get the diameter in
inches, our answer will be in square inches. To get the amount of area between two circles, you must
subtract area from area. In this book we will use the area information listed under Engineering Tables.
FORCE: Force is the total amount of push or pull on an object. It is measured in pounds. Force can be
created in many ways, by its own weight hanging in the hole or by taking hold of it and pulling. Pressure
times area creates a force which we must calculate and add to the other forces.
RESOLVING FORCES: In most of our problems in the field, we are only interested in the forces that will
go in two directions: forces going up and forces going down. We first find the forces up and down created
by pressure times area, and label them lb↑ or lb↓. We then determine any other forces caused by our
pulling on the tool, or the weight of the pipe hanging in the hole and label them lb↑ or lb↓. When we figure
all the forces involved, we add the up forces and then add the down forces. At this point all we have to
do is subtract one from the other to know whether the tool or pipe is trying to go down or up and by how
many pounds.
Always label your figures so that you will be able to tell what they are. If you don’t, you will end up with a
barnyard full of animals, and not be able to tell the sheep from the goats.
Always do your arithmetic in the book. When you need additional room, use the back of the preceding
page.
If you have an answer unlike any at the bottom of the page, look to your arithmetic and/or procedure.
Turn to page 1.

Your answer - I don’t know. You will have to tell me the size of the hole in the guide shoe.
WRONG!
You do not need to know the hole size to figure this problem. Study the enlarged drawing # 1.
#1 #2
A A C C
E E
B B D D
It is true that you have pressure pushing against Area A. However, you have the same amount of pres-
sure pushing against Area B. The difference between these two areas is the cross sectional area of the
casing itself. You have that much more area underneath, so if you figure that amount of area times
pressure, you will have your up force.
Another way of illustrating this is with drawing # 2. You can simply say that Areas C and D cancel
themselves out, leaving you with Area E.

We ended Section 1 by figuring the hook load of a

string of casing with a float shoe on it. We figured
the pressure on bottom against the outside area of
the casing and called it an up force. We had no flu-
id inside the casing to create a down force. We
figured the weight of the string of casing by multi-
plying lb/ft by how many feet we had. We
subtracted one force from the other for the answer.
This problem is also about the weight of a string of
casing, but with a guide shoe on it. What is the
weight of this string of casing? Area and fluid gra-
dient charts are in the back under Engineering
Tables. Use cross section area.
4-1/2 in. 11.60 lb/ft casing
6,200 ft depth
13.2 lb/gal mud
98.7 lb/cu ft
Mud
Mud
Mud
(a) 71,920 lb↓ Page 5

(b) 57,715 lb↓ Page 7
(c) 4,297 lb↓ Page 6
(d) I don’t know. You will have
to tell me the size of the hole in
the guide shoe. Page 3

WRONG!
You simply multiplied the pipe’s weight per foot by the number of feet. All this will get you is its weight in
air.
Since this pipe is in fluid, it will weigh less. It will weigh less because of the hydrostatic pressure on bottom
pushing up on its end area. Everything in the guide shoe from the ID of the casing inward will cancel out,
but you still need the cross sectional area of the casing for this pressure to push up on. The pressure
pushing up on the end area of the casing causes it to weigh less. This is often referred to as buoyancy.
Return to page 4 and finish working the problem.

WRONG!
You figured the problem as though the pressure on bottom would be pushing upward on the whole OD
area of the casing.
Actually, you have this same pressure on the inside of the casing, since the guide shoe has a hole in it.
Everything from the ID of the casing inward is being pushed up and down, so you can say they cancel out
as you can see by the drawing on this page. However, the cross-sectional area of the casing is being
pushed up on, and this creates an upward force.
In this drawing you can see Area B and C cancel out leaving only Area A being pushed up on by the
pressure.
You have to figure this as a force up, and subtract it from the weight of the casing which is a down force.
This will tell you its adjusted weight, or what the weight indicator should read.
C C
B B
A A

CORRECT!
You figured the cross-sectional area of the casing times the hydrostatic pressure as an up force, and the
weight of the casing itself as a down force, and then when you subtracted, you had the answer.
What is the weight of these two strings of pipe hanging in the hole?
5-1/2 in. 20 lb/ft casing 2-7/8 in. EU 6.5 lb/ft tubing
8,700 in. depth of guide shoe 5,600 ft depth (open ended)
11.6 lb/gal mud 9.2 lb/gal salt water
86.8 lb/cu ft 68.8 lb/cu ft
Your answer should read 143,416 lb↓. Your answer should read 31,555 lb↓.
If not, then check your math and procedure. Be sure it does, then turn to page 10.
Then work problem #2.

Your Answer - Pressure inside is 90% of that

outside at the shoe.
A A
CORRECT!
The valve in the differential shoe opens up to allow
the fluid height to be 90% as high as the fluid level
outside. We know that if the mud is the same
Valve
Valve
weight and the column is only 90% as high, then
the pressure will only be 90%.
In the drawing to the right, we have a schematic
drawing showing the principal under which the
valve operates. Let’s be sure we understand it.
The inside portion is the valve which is free to
Receptacle
Receptacle
move up or down. As you can see, it fits into a re-
ceptacle which has a larger ID at the top than at the
bottom. Therefore, the valve seal is larger at the
top. Pressure from above pushing down on the
valve pushes from the valve ID to the seal OD, as
shown by “A”. There is 10% more area on top of
the valve than there is underneath the valve as
shown by “B”. This valve is mounted into its recep-
B B
tacle at the factory and the dead space between
the seals has only 14.7 psi trapped in it, or
atmospheric pressure.
The “toad stool” underneath the valve is a seat.
When the valve is pushed down, it will shut off on
this seat and not allow any more fluid through.
This is an excellent example of what we have been
studying in these books. Force = Pressure x Area.
If you have 10% more area on the top of the valve,
then it takes 10% less pressure to balance the forc-
es across the valve. If you get any more pressure,
the force will be greater on top of the valve and will
push it down. When it comes down, it shuts off on
a seat and will stay there until you run another joint
of casing, at which time you will no longer have
90% of the pressure inside, so the force under it
will then open the valve again to allow it to fill.
Turn to page 11.

WRONG!
You only figured the hydrostatic pressure on the outside of the casing against the area on the bottom of
the shoe forcing up, and subtracted this from the pipe weight.
How about the fluid on the inside of the casing pushing down on the inside of the shoe? That is going to
create a down force, and that down force will have to be dealt with.
Return to page 12 and work the rest of the problem.

You have now worked problems concerning float

shoes, guide shoes, and open ended pipe. We will
now take another step and enter the world of differ-
ential equipment for casing. These problems are
just like the others in that they are simple when
worked by a step-by-step method.
A differential shoe is simply a shoe with a device in
it that allows the casing to fill while you are running
it. However, it will only allow the casing to fill until
the fluid inside reaches a height that is 90% of the
fluid height outside the casing.
Since the fluid column outside the casing is full, we
know that the fluid level inside will be 10% down
from the top.
What about the hydrostatic pressure at the

shoe?
90% of Outside Height

(a) Same inside as outside, and is balanced.
Page 13
(b) Pressure inside is 90% of that outside.

Page 8

When going in the hole with casing, every time you lower a joint, the valve opens up and fluid rushes up
into the casing. When you stop to make a connection, the fluid rushing up into the casing, overfills it
slightly, and the pressure slams the valve back down and shut.
We cannot figure the weight of a string of casing with differential equipment on it while it is still filling.
However, this is not a problem as it has overfilled and closed the valve very quickly after you have finished
lowering a joint. We can figure its weight at this time.
With the valve closed, the problem is exactly like figuring a float shoe with the exception of your knowing
that the fluid column on the inside is 90% of the outside height.
So, to figure a problem concerning a hook load for a string of casing with differential on it, we do this. Fig-
ure the hydrostatic pressure on the outside against the complete area underneath the shoe. This is a force
up. Figure the height of the column of fluid inside the casing, (90% of that outside) convert this into hydro-
static pressure, which is against the inside area of the casing forcing down. Figure in the weight of the
string of pipe itself, and then resolve your forces.
I am asking you to figure the height of the column inside and convert it into pressure rather than just taking
90% of the outside pressure. I do this because when you are figuring a string of casing that has more than
one weight of pipe in it, this is the only way that will work.
Turn to page 12.

What would the hook load be for this string of

casing, with one piece of differential on it, giving a
90% fill?
6,500 ft depth
10.6 lb/gal mud
79.3 lb/cu ft
(a) 114,217 lb↓ Page 14

(b) 11,629 lb↓ Page 9
(c) 125,644 lb↓ Page 15

Your Answer - Same inside as outside, and is

balanced.
WRONG!
It is true that the mud is the same weight inside as
outside so far as its lb/gal (lb/cu ft) is concerned.
But what about the height of the two columns?
Consider the drawing to the right. The differential
shoe only lets in enough fluid to allow the inside
column to be 90% as high as the outside column.
We know that if two fluids weigh the same, the only
way you can have less hydrostatic pressure is to
have a lesser height of fluid. This is just exactly
what the differential shoe did. It only let the column
inside be 90% as high as the outside.
The hydrostatic pressure inside the casing will be
90% of Outside Height

90% of the hydrostatic pressure outside, at the
shoe.
Continue on page 8.

CORRECT!
We often run two pieces of differential equipment,
a shoe and a collar. When we do this, it will only fill
81%. The shoe lets in 90% and the collar only gets
90%. It lets 90% of that through, so you have 90%
of 90% which is 81%. With two pieces of equip-
ment and filling only 81%, how much will this string
of casing weigh?
7,900 ft depth
14.8 lb/gal mud
110.7 lb/cu ft
(a) 217,331 lb↓ Page 17

(b) 242,307 lb↓ Page 16
(c) 572,293 lb↓ Page 18

WRONG!
You figured the pressure on the outside pushing up against the bottom of the shoe. You also figured the
weight of the casing in air. But when you figured the pressure on the inside pushing down, you figured too
much pressure.
You actually figured the hydrostatic pressure on the inside of the casing as though it were full. That
differential shoe is only going to allow the inside to fill up to within 90% of the top.
You are going to have to calculate how much fluid is in the casing when it is 90% full, then figure the
hydrostatic pressure for that column of fluid.
Let’s return to page 12 and rework that part of the problem.

WRONG!
You figured the hydrostatic pressure in the annulus against the area under the shoe, and the weight of
the pipe correctly, but you figured the hydrostatic pressure inside the casing wrong.
You figured the inside as though it had filled 90%. It only filled 81% since there were two pieces of differ-
ential equipment on it. This will cause you to have less fluid in the casing, and therefore less hydrostatic
pressure.
Remember, the second piece of differential is the same as the first, and fills 90%. But, it is only getting
90% because of the first piece.
90% of 90% (.90 x .90) is equal to 81%.
Return to page 14, and figure the proper hydrostatic pressure, and continue with the problem.

CORRECT!
That is exactly what that string of casing should weigh if all the pipe had the same weight and the string
had two pieces of differential equipment on it.
Since this equipment operates sight unseen on the bottom of a string of casing, customers wanted a way
of telling if it were filling properly. We put a chart in each crate of differential, showing the minimum hook
load for the various weights of that size casing. This is calculated for any depth they want to go to.
We have no way of knowing whether they will be running one or two pieces of differential equipment when
we put the chart in the crate, or whether their weight indicator will weigh very accurately. Therefore, to
keep the customer from becoming unduly alarmed, this chart is figured for the minimum weight. It is cal-
culated as though the pipe is only filling 75%. The actual weight of the string should be heavier than this,
and if they don’t weigh what the chart says, it would bear looking into. Needless to say, if it doesn’t fill you
might collapse a string of casing
About the only time you get involved in figuring the actual weight of a string of casing with differential is
when they are approaching the limitations of the rig. It might be that they are concerned about the rig itself,
or the amount of lines they have strung. When this happens, they will want to know exactly what the
weight will be.
Since almost all strings of casing have different weights of pipe run throughout, the problem might be a
little more complex than we have shown. Besides figuring the different weights of pipe into your calcula-
tions, you have some differences in inside diameters that will affect you if you want to figure the problem
exactly. All they entail is a little more arithmetic.
These differences in inside diameters caused by different weights of pipe create ledges. These ledges
have area, and these areas are pushed on by the hydrostatic pressure at their particular depth. They
might create a force up or a force down.
In this next problem you are going to get a free ride. You don’t have to work the problem. Enjoy it, as
there aren’t very many free rides in this book.
The problem is broken down into sections. Study them until you understand them. You will soon see that
it is exactly the same as we have been doing, just more of it.
The important thing is to draw the fluid level, and determine where it is. You can’t just say that there is
90% of the pressure inside. You have to know where the fluid level is in relation to the ledge. You have
to know this to calculate the hydrostatic pressure at that point.
Turn to page 19.

WRONG!
You figured the hydrostatic pressure in the annulus against the area under the string of casing and the
weight of the pipe, but you forgot to figure the hydrostatic pressure inside pushing down.
You must have been in too big of a hurry because you know the inside of the casing is going to have a
column of fluid that is 81% as high as the column on the outside.
You will have to figure the amount of fluid on the inside of the casing and the amount of hydrostatic pres-
sure it will exert. Multiply this number by the inside area of the casing to find the down force.

Casing program from surface.

900 ft of 5-1/2 in. 23 lb/ft
1,000 ft of 5-1/2 in. 20 lb/ft
7,000 ft of 5-1/2 in. 17 lb/ft
1,000 ft of 5-1/2 in. 23 lb/ft
9,900 ft total casing with one piece of differential
14.2 lb/gal mud
106.2 lb/cu ft
#1 9,900 ft 9,900 ft 900 ft

.90 % 8,910 ft 3
8,910 ft of fluid 990 ft fluid level
#2 5-1/2 in. OD = 23.76 in.2 9,900 ft 990 ft

1
.738 psi/ft
23.76 in.2 7,306. psi
7,306 psi
173,591 lb↑
4
#3 20 lb/ft ID = 17.93 in.2 The fluid does not come
23 lb/ft ID = 17.13 in.2 up over this ledge, so
.80 in.2 there can be no force
exerted against it.
#4 17 lb/ft ID = 18.80 in.2 1,900 ft

20 lb/ft ID = 17.93 in.2 990 ft fluid level
.87 in.2 910 ft of fluid
2
.87 in. .738 psi/ft
672 psi 672 psi
585 lb↑ 5
#5 17 lb/ft ID = 18.80 in.2 8,900 ft 8900 ft

23 lb/ft ID = 17.13 in.2 990 ft fluid level
1.67 in.2 7,910 ft of fluid
.738 psi/ft
5,838 psi 5,838 psi
1.67 in.2
9,750 lb↓
#6 23 lb/ft ID = 17.13 in.2 9,900 ft 6

990 ft fluid level
17.13 in.2 8,910 ft of fluid
6,576 psi .738 psi/ft
112,647 lb↓ 6,576 psi
900 ft 1,000 ft 7,000 ft 1,000 ft

23 lb/ft 20 lb/ft 17 lb/ft 23 lb/ft
20,700 lb↓ 20,000 lb↓ 119,000 lb↓ 23,000 lb↓
9900 ft
2
Turn to page 20.

20,700 lb↓
20,000 lb↓ 173,591 lb↑
119,000 lb↓ 585 lb↑ 305,097 lb↓
23,000 lb↓ 174,176 lb↑ 174,176 lb↑
112,647 lb↓ 130,921 lb↓ Hook load
9,750 lb↓
305,097 lb↓
I’m sure the first thing you thought about on page 19 was, “That
sure is a lot of arithmetic”. After the initial shock, you could see
that it was just the same thing over and over. Right?
Find the area involved, find the pressure at that point, and multiply
them for the force. Then determine whether the force is up or
down. Figure the pipe weights and start adding and subtracting
the forces. This method of calculating pipe weight has two very
good features. It is not too difficult and it is accurate. You are fig-
uring the weight of the pipe by the exact things that determine its
weight.
This should be enough practice for casing weight. We will now go
into the world of packers.
Packers are very similar to casing in many ways. After they’re put
in the hole, they will stay where they are until they are pushed or
pulled on by a force. We will work these problems the same way
we worked the casing problems. Figure the areas, the pressures,
and the forces. We will figure whether the tubing weight has any- 3,000 psi
thing to do with it, such as figuring hook load, or whether we are
just pulling or pushing on the tools involved,
The units of measurements are the same. Square inches for area.
Pounds per square inch for pressure. We use pounds for several
things, such as: force, tubing weight, how much we push or pull
on the tool. Actually, they are all forces.
We will start with a simple tool. A latching “DR” plug, shown in the
drawing to the right. We are going to take hold of the “DR” plug
with an overshot, and need to know whether we will have to push
on it or pull on it to unscrew it from the Model “D”. To figure the
problem, we don’t want any strain on plug, we just want it pushed
or pulled to the neutral point.
In the drawing to the right, would you push or pull?

4,000 psi
(a) Push Page 22
(b) Pull Page 23
(c) Don’t know Page 24

We want to have a 5,000 lb↑ strain on this “DR”

plug to unscrew it from the Model “D” Packer. Are
we going to have to push?. . . Pull? . . . How much?
40-26 “DR” plug, with a 2.688 in. seal bore
8,500 ft depth of “DR” plug
11.4 lb/gal mud (hole full)
85.3 lb/cu ft
2,750 psi below packer
Answers:
(a) 17,938 lb↑ Page 27
(b) 33,531 lb↑ Page 25
(c) 10,593 lb↓ Page 26
(d) 12,938 lb↑ Page 28

Your Answer - Push
CORRECT!
More pressure underneath means more force pushing up. You
have to set down and match it pound for pound.
But let’s see how we go about figuring the problem. We know
how much pressure we have, so we must figure out how much
area we have that will be affected by this pressure.
As you can see in the drawing, the pressure from above will be
pushing down. It will pressure up everything until it gets down to
the seal (o-rings). It can’t get by them. It will push on all the area
to the OD of the o-rings. This is the same as saying that it will
push on everything out to the bore of the packer. C C
The locator sub which has an OD larger than the bore of the
packer is being pushed down on also but, as you will notice, the
pressure can also get underneath it and push up so Area “C” A
balances out.
When you figure the area underneath, you will notice that the
pressure will be pushing up on all the area out to the bore of the
packer also.
So the drawing shows that pressure from above pushes down
on Area A and pressure from below pushes up on Area B.
If this were a 3.25 in. packer bore, we would look in the area
charts (page HH) and find that 3.25 in. = 8.30 in.2.
8.30 in.2 8.30 in.2 33,200 lb↑
3,000 psi 4,000 psi 24,900 lb↓
24,900 lb↓ 33,200 lb↑ 8,300 lb↑
To equalize this “DR” plug, you would have to set down

8,300 lb↓.
You might ask why we can’t multiply the differential pressure by
the area to figure this problem. This is a bad habit to get into.
The above problem is about the only one that you can multiply
the area by differential pressure and get the correct answer.
B
This is because you have exactly the same area above and
below. 4,000 psi
Let’s work it out this way; multiply the pressure times the area it
is working on and we will be ready for all the problems to come.
Let’s turn to page 21 for a problem that you can work.

Your Answer - Pull
WRONG!
The “DR” plug is sealed off in the bore of the packer with o-rings. It could be compared to a piston that
would try to go up or down if pushed on by a force. The latching threads, however, hold it in.
Whether it tries to go up or down will depend upon which side of it is pushed on the hardest. If as in this
case where there is more pressure from below (creating more force from below), then to equalize the “DR”
plug you will have to set down.
You will have to set down with enough force to equal the up force. As you remember, they are both
measured in pounds so you will have to equal it pound for pound.
To see how we go about calculating it, please turn to page 22.

Your Answer - Don’t know
WRONG!
There is sufficient information listed with the problem to be able to say that you would have to push.
The “DR” plug is sealed off in the bore of the packer with o-rings. It could be compared to a piston that
would try to go up or down if pushed on by a force. The latching threads, however, hold it in.
Whether it tries to go up or down will depend upon which side of it is pushed on the hardest. If, as in this
case where there is more pressure from below (creating more force from below), then to equalize the “DR”
plug you will have to set down.
You will have to set down with enough force to equal the up force. As you remember, they are both
measured in pounds so you will have to equal it pound for pound.
To see how we go about calculating it, please turn to page 22.

Your Answer - 33,531 lb↑
WRONG!
You figured the hydrostatic pressure on top of the “DR” plug and multiplied it by the area of the seal bore.
This gave you the force down. But what about the force up? This is created by the pressure under the
“DR” plug pushing up on the same amount of area.
You will have to calculate that force and subtract it from the other force to get your answer.
Return to page 21 and finish the problem.

WRONG!
You multiplied the pressure under the packer by the area of the sealing bore. This gave you your upward
force. What about the hydrostatic pressure on top of the packer pushing down?
This hydrostatic pressure is going to create a down force that will have to be considered also.

CORRECT!
Now let’s try another one. Again we want a
5,000 lb↑ upstrain on this “DR” plug. Will we
have to push?. . . Pull? . . . How much?
80-32 “DR” plug with a 3.25 seal bore

7,200 ft depth of “DR” plug
6,250 ft fluid level from surface
9.8 lb/gal salt water
73.3 lb/cu ft
3,100 psi below packer
(a) 26,713 lb↓ Page 30

(b) 9,690 lb↑ Page 29
(c) 16,713 lb↓ Page 31

WRONG!
You might have taken this answer because you forgot to add in the 5,000 lb↑ strain, or because you
figured by pulling the above 12,938 lb↑ you would be pulling the 5,000 lb↑.
When you calculated the forces, and resolved them, you found that the “DR” plug was trying to go down
the hole by a force of 12,938 lb↓. You are going to have to pull that much just to reach a neutral point.
If you want a 5,000 lb↑ strain on the “DR” plug, you are going to have to add that 5,000 lb↑ to the rest.

WRONG!
As a matter of fact you plain goofed. The fluid level in this well is 6,250 ft from the surface.
You only have 950 ft of fluid. That isn’t going to make very much hydrostatic pressure, is it?
Return to page 27 and calculate the right hydrostatic pressure and work it into the problem.

WRONG!
You got mixed up on your arrows, and your reasoning. You figured the problem right down to the fact that
the “DR” plug was trying to come up the hole 21,713 lb↑.
This “DR” plug has a 21,713 lb↑ strain on it to start with, and you only want it to have 5,000 lb↑ so you
subtract 5,000 lb↑ from it and when you set down 16,713 lb↓, it will still have 5,000 lb↑.
If you set down 26,713 lb↓, you would overcome its own force up plus set 5,000 lb↓ more set down weight
on it.
Return to page 27 and clean up the arrows and subtract instead of adding.

CORRECT!
I would like to mention that you might have difficulty opening the flapper valve in a Model D sometime
when you try to sting into it. This is caused by pressure under the flapper valve. To calculate how much
weight it will take to open it, figure the problem exactly as you did the “DR” Plug. Pressure x area below
and pressure x area above. Since there is quite a bit of area across a flapper valve, a pressure differential
can create an excessive amount of force for you to counteract.
Let’s examine this answer of 16,713 lb↓ that we have above for a minute. To release this “DR” Plug from
the Model D Packer, we need to set down and turn to the right. Most of the overshots we use to fish out
“DR” Plugs would have trouble doing this. They release by setting down and turning to the right.
You can rent overshots that are left handed and release in the opposite direction. These overshots are
sometimes difficult to come by. There is another way to release the “DR” Plug if the hole above it will hold
a column of fluid. You simply put in enough fluid above the “DR” Plug to equal the pressure trapped below
it. But how much fluid?
Since the area above and below the “DR” Plug is the same, all you have to do is equalize the pressure to
equalize the force. When we figured the problem we found that we had 484 psi above the plug and 3,100
psi below it. To equalize the pressure, we need 2,616 more psi above it.
With the weight fluid we have, we get .509 psi/ft or .509 psi every time we put in a ft of fluid. If we divide
this psi for one foot into the amount of psi we need, we know how many feet of this weight fluid will be
necessary to give us the 2,616 psi.
The 2,616 psi needed divided by .509 psi/ft gives us 5,140 ft of fluid necessary. If you need to convert this
into barrels (or cubic feet) of fluid, you have the same problem as figuring capacity of a hole or string of
pipe. Multiply the barrels (cu ft) per lineal ft for the size pipe you have by the amount of feet. In this case,
if you had 7 in. 26 lb/ft casing, it would give you 197 bbl (1,104 cu ft) of fluid necessary to equal 2,616 psi.
This same problem applies any time you need to add fluid to get a certain amount of pressure. You might
run into the problem in a low fluid level well in which you have to drop a ball and fill the hole to a certain
height to get the pressure necessary to set the tool.
The problem is two parts and not difficult. You find the psi/ft for the weight fluid you have and divide it into
the psi that you need. This gives you the number of feet you need. Then figure the capacity of that amount
of feet in the size pipe you have. You have converted the pressure you need into barrels (cu ft).

I would like to state again that these problems are worked with the understanding that even though the
chance of having a third pressure between the valves is small, you will have opened the valve on the weak
pressured side to allow the pressure between valves. When we latch onto a bridge plug and it doesn’t
move, we push and pull to equalize pressure. This would open the valve on the weak pressured side.
In the drawing below, you will notice the control bar head balances out with the exception of the OD of the
rod, which is Area A. It is pushed down on by pressure from above and Area B under the rod is pushed
up on by pressure from below.
Area C, which is from the OD of the valve seal inward to the OD of the rod, is pushed down on by pressure
from above, just as Area E is pushed up on by pressure from between valves.
Pressure between valves pushes down on Area F and pressure from below pushes up on Area D.
If you have a pressure differential from above, it

will push down on Areas A, which is the rod, and A
C, which is the valve itself. This is the same as say-
ing the complete OD area of the valve. To counter-
act pressure would be applied from below pushing
on Areas B, which is the rod, and E, which is the
underside of the top valve. This is the same as
saying the complete OD area of the valve.
If you have a pressure differential from below, it will
C C
be pushing up on Areas B and D, which is the
same as the OD area of the valve. Counteracting it
will be pressure from above pushing on Areas A
and F, which is again the same as saying the OD
area of a valve.
So, we end up by saying that if the pressure inside
the valves is the same as it is on the low pressure E E
side, all we need do is multiply the area of the valve
times the pressure from above to find the force
down. Take the area of the valve times the pres-
sure from below to find the force up, and then sub-
tract them to know how much we will have to push
or pull to open a valve.
F F
The outside diameter of the valves is the same as
the seal bore they fit and is listed in the Technical
Manual. They are also listed in the back of this
book and the area is calculated for them. You will
find them in the Engineering Section, Page HH.
D D
Ready to work a problem? Turn to page 33.

B

How much are we going to have to push or pull to

equalize pressure across this retrievable bridge
plug?
We swabbed the well to the tool and then filled the

well to 7,600 ft with 31 API gravity oil.
#47 bridge plug

8,900 ft depth of plug
9.4 lb/gal salt water in hole when plug is set
70.3 lb/cu ft
Well swabbed to 7,600 ft at this time
31 API gravity oil in hole now
a) Pull 2,406 lb↑ Page 37

(b) Push 18,918 lb↓ Page 38
(c) Push 4,851 lb↓ Page 34
(d) Push 21,324 lb↓ Page 36

Your Answer - Push 4,851 lb↓
WRONG!
You figured the original hydrostatic pressure that was trapped under the bridge plug and determined there
was oil on top of the plug now. However, you either forgot, or didn’t notice that the fluid level had been
swabbed down to 7,600 ft.
Return to page 33 and refigure the present pressure on top of the bridge plug. You will find that it makes
a big difference.

Another problem we have that is somewhat similar to a “DR”

#1
Plug is opening the valves on a retrievable bridge plug. It gets a 4,000 psi
little more complicated in that you might have three pressures
involved.
Drawing #1 illustrates a well that might have had a low fluid lev-
el, or perhaps was swabbed completely dry when the bridge
plug was set. You then loaded the hole above the plug with fluid.
You would have trapped below the plug, and between the
0 psi
valves, this small amount of pressure or perhaps zero pressure
that was in the hole when you set the plug.
Drawing #2 illustrates a well that had 5,000 psi hydrostatic pres-
sure when the plug was set. After running it, the hole was
swabbed part way down, or maybe bone dry.
0 psi
Drawing #3 illustrates how you could end up with three pres-
sures in the well. You ran the bridge plug with 5,000 psi hydro-
static pressure in the well. Then you swabbed it down, which #2
0 psi
would deplete the pressure above and between the valves. After
bringing in the top zone, you kill the well, which will put pressure
back on top of the plug but not between the valves.
In actual practice this situation probably would never be as se-
vere as I have depicted. When you pressured back up on the top
of the bridge plug, you would extrude the top packing cup, which
would tend to pressure between valves. It would be impossible 0 psi
to calculate how much so we won’t count it.
In figuring out how much you will have to push or pull to open the
valves, drawings #1 and #2 are simple. Drawing #3 is more
complicated because there are three pressures. There is a way
to simplify the problem; always open the valve into the weaker
of the two pressures first. This allows that pressure to go 5,000 psi
between the valves and you only have two pressures.

#3
8,000 psi
Let me say it another way. When you take hold of a retrievable
bridge plug, you know that one side has less pressure. Open the
valve into this lesser pressure. This allows that pressure to go
between valves to help open the difficult one. This also simplifies
the problem of determining how much you have to push or pull
to open the difficult valve.
0 psi
On the next page we will see what areas are actually affected.
5,000 psi

WRONG!
You figured the original hydrostatic pressure that was trapped under the bridge plug and converted it into
a force up. But you now have some oil on top of the bridge plug that is providing a force down, and you
need to calculate it. You will find that it is helping you to some extent.

Your Answer - Pull 2,406 lb↑
WRONG!
You calculated the oil on top of the plug as a pressure down and multiplied it by area to give you a force.
However, you forgot to figure the pressure under the bridge plug. This pressure was trapped under the
plug when you set it. It was caused by the hydrostatic pressure in the well at the time you set the bridge
plug and since it has no way of getting out, it is still there pushing up.

CORRECT!
Now let’s take a look at some of our everyday problems with re-
tainer production packers. These problems would pertain to our
Model D Packers, as well as our F, FA, DAs and all our perma-
nent packers. We need to know how annulus pressure as well
as tubing pressure affects us. What is the proper hook load to
release from the packer? What happens when we plug the
tubing, such as with a psi plug?
The schematic drawing to the right shows a seal assembly in a
Model “D”. The tubing OD is larger than the bore of the packer
in this case. What areas in the annulus would be affected by
pressure to give us up or down forces?
Area A would be pushed down on by pressure. But this is the
packer itself and it is set firmly in the casing and should not
move either up or down. Pressure in the annulus would be push-
ing on Area B. That area would be from the OD of the tubing in-
ward to the bore of the packer. As you will notice, anything
inward from the bore of the packer will be pushed both on up C C
and down, so it would cancel out. So we can say that with tubing E E
larger than the bore of the packer, annulus pressure will push up
on the difference in area between the OD of the tubing and the
bore of the packer.
What about pressure in the tubing? As we can see by the draw-
ing, this pressure will be pushing down on Areas E and C, which
is from the ID of the tubing to the ID of the seal assembly. This a a
pressure will continue on through the seal assembly and push b b
up on Area D, which is from the ID of the seal assembly to the
bore of the packer. Since Area D is pushed up on, we can sub-
tract it from the area that we have above. It equals Area C. This
leaves us with Area E, which is from the ID of the tubing to the
bore of the packer.
So, when we have tubing with an ID larger than the bore of the
packer, our pressure will push down on the difference in area
between the ID of the tubing and the bore of the packer. We fig-
ure these forces both up and down, then add in the weight of the
tubing to get the hook load.
Feel ready for a problem?

d d
(a) Sure Page 40
(b) I’d like more explanation Page 39

Your Answer - I’d like more explanation

OK, we need to find out the forces, both up and down on the seal assembly to know what our hook load
will be to unscrew from a Model D. The problem we will consider first will have tubing larger than the bore
of the packer. We know how to calculate the pressure involved but we need to figure out what areas are
involved if we are to know what the forces are. Let’s consider the drawing below.
First let’s look at the packer itself. Pressure in the annulus will push down on Area A and pressure down
the tubing will push up on Area G. But this packer is set in the casing and cannot move either up or down.
Since it is stationary, it can’t affect the forces up or down on our seal assembly.
Pressure in the annulus will push up on Area B, which is from the OD of the tubing to the bore of the
packer that we sealed in. From the bore of the packer inward is pushed both up and down on, and
therefore cancels itself out, (Area F).
Pressure in the tubing will push downward on Area E, which is from the ID of the tubing to the seal bore.
Anything from there inward will not only be pushed down on, but will be pushed up on from underneath.
We can say that from the seal bore inward everything will balance out. This is illustrated by Areas C and
D.
So to calculate a problem as to what the hook load

would be to come loose from a Model D Packer,
we need to do the following things. Draw a picture
and determine if the tubing is larger than the bore
of the packer. Assuming that it is, we start with the
annulus and find the difference between the area
of the OD of the tubing and the bore of the packer.
We multiply this by the pressure at that point, and
this will be an up force.
e e
We figure the difference in area between the ID of
the tubing and the bore of the packer and multiply
c c
this number by the tubing pressure. This will be a
down force. These are the actual forces tending to
push up and down on the seal assembly. a a
b b
We figure the weight of the tubing by multiplying its
weight per foot by how many feet we have, and this
f f
will be a down force. When we resolve these
forces, we will know the hook load.
Please turn to page 40 for a problem.
g g
d d

We know how to figure pressure and know what ar-

eas are affected, so now let’s plug some figures in
and work this problem.
What will the hook load be to come loose from this
packer? Do not figure any upstrain to unscrew
from it, just the neutral point.
8,325 ft setting depth

3-1/2 in. 9.30 lb/ft tubing
12.4 lb/gal mud in the annulus
92.8 lb/cu ft
20 API gravity oil in tubing
2.688 in. packer bore
MUD
MUD
OIL
Answers:
(a) 83,332 lb↓ Page 42
(b) 60,833 lb↓ Page 44
(c) 94,013 lb↓ Page 41

WRONG!
You figured your forces right but mixed up your arrows. Pressure in the annulus is going to create an up
force as long as your tubing is larger than the bore of the packer.
Pressure in the tubing is going to create a down force as long as the ID of the tubing is larger than the
bore of the packer.
Return to page 40 and straighten out the arrows and see if you don’t get the correct answer.

WRONG!
You figured your forces and pointed your arrows correctly but you made a very bad mistake. You used
the diameters of the tubing and packer bores instead of using their areas.
Return to page 40 and figure the problem using areas instead of diameters.

WRONG!
You figured the forces correctly, but your arrows are mixed up.
When you figured the pressure in the annulus times the area it created a force, but that force should be
up. That force will be up as long as the tubing is larger than the bore of the packer. When the tubing is
larger than the bore of the packer, it provides a ledge for the pressure to get under and push up.
Return to page 44, correct your arrows, and find the right answer.

CORRECT!
Did you wonder while you were working the prob-
lem whether you had made allowances for buoy-
ancy? Well, you did make allowances. We have
said that buoyancy is actually an upward force
against the end area of the pipe. In this problem
you figured in buoyancy when you multiplied the
annulus pressure by the area from the OD of the
tubing to the packer bore. Notice the picture on this
page. The annulus area includes the end area of
the tubing. Also I might add, you figured it against
the right pressure too. When you figure problems
in this manner, you will be figuring in buoyancy.
Here is another problem with the tubing larger than
the bore of the packer. What is the hook load to
release from the Model D?
8,100 ft packer depth

2-7/8 in. EU 6.5 lb/ft tubing
9.2 lb/gal salt water in the annulus
68.8 lb/cu ft
Tubing swabbed bone dry
(a) 66,163 lb↓ Page 43

(b) 45,642 lb↓ Page 45
(c) 39,137 lb↓ Page 46

WRONG!
Slow down! You either got in too big a hurry or didn’t read the problem completely. The problem said that
the tubing was dry. If it is dry, there can be no hydrostatic pressure. You can have all the area in the world
but if you don’t have any pressure pushing on it, you have no force.
Return to page 44 and refigure the problem.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
In case there are some die hards among you who still think you can figure a difference in pressure times
a difference in area, I’d like to state that it didn’t work, did it?
I’ll show you an illustration of trying to figure a problem in that manner. We will just figure forces on bottom.
6 in.2 OD area of tubing

4 in.2 ID area of tubing
2 in.2 area of packer bore
4,000 psi tubing pressure
6,000 psi annulus pressure
CORRECT WAY TO FIGURE
Annulus
6 in.2 OD area of tubing 6,000 psi
2 in.2 packer bore area
4 in.2 4 in.2
6,000 psi
24,000 lb↑
Tubing
4 in.2 ID area of tubing 4,000 psi
2 in.2 packer bore area
2 in.2 2 in.2
4,000 psi
8,000 lb↓ 24,000 lb↑
8,000 lb↓
16,000 lb↑
IF YOU FIGURE DIFFERENCE IN PRESSURE

BY DIFFERENCE IN AREA
4 in.2 exposed area in annulus
2 in.2 exposed area in tubing
2 in.2 difference in favor of annulus
6,000 psi in annulus
4,000 psi in tubing
2,000 psi difference in favor of annulus
2,000 psi difference
2 in.2 difference
4,000 lb↑ which is as wrong as can be.
So don’t fall in the trap of trying to work from a
difference.
Turn to page 49.

Notice in this picture that you will be figuring buoy-

ancy when you figure the tubing pressure against
the area underneath.
What will be the hook load to release from this

packer? Again, just neutral point, don’t figure any
upstrain to unscrew from it.
6,500 ft packer setting depth

10 lb/gal fluid in annulus
74.8 lb/cu ft
WATER
8.34 lb/gal water in tubing
MUD
MUD
62.4 lb/cu ft
(a) 29,053 lb↓ Page 52

(b) 32,047 lb↓ Page 48
(c) 58,161 lb↓ Page 51
(d) 2,939 lb↓ Page 50

WRONG!
You did everything right up to the point of deciding which way your forces were. You said that annulus
pressure created an up force and that the tubing pressure created a down force. This is not correct.
Since the tubing is smaller than the bore of the packer, the annulus pressure will create a down force on
the tubing string. Since the tubing ID is smaller than the bore of the packer, the tubing pressure will hook
under this ledge and create an up force.
Return to page 47, take a good look at the drawing, and straighten out your forces. I think that you will
then have the correct answer.

Let’s talk about proper hook load to release from a

permanent packer. This time we will have a differ-
ent size tubing and different size packer bore.
This time we will have tubing that is smaller than
the bore of the packer. And, I might add, it sure a a
does make a difference.
If we look at the drawing to the right we see that
pressure in the annulus will be pushing on every-
thing from the OD of the tubing to the bore of the
packer. But this time it will be pushing down in-
stead of up.
Pressure in the tubing will again be pushing on ev-
erything from the ID of the tubing to the bore of the
packer but this time it will be pushing up instead of
down.
So, we will get our areas the same. From the OD
of the annulus, determine the area of the tubing to
the area of the packer bore. From the ID of the tub-
ing, determine the area of the tubing to the area of
the packer bore. But, our forces will be in opposite b b
directions.
All this points to the fact that to figure a problem,
you need to draw a picture. In this book we draw
the pictures for you. When you are in the field, you
need to draw yourself a rough sketch.
Ready for a problem? Sure you are. Just put on
your thinking cap and figure out which way the
forces are and attach your arrows correctly.

WRONG!
You got everything right except the direction of the force in the annulus. You said that the force in the
annulus is pushing up. This is not so. Since the OD of the tubing is smaller than the packer bore, the force
created will be downward.
Return to page 47 and study the drawing, then straighten out the annulus force. I think that you will find
you have the right answer then.

WRONG!
You got everything right up to the point of deciding which way your force from tubing pressure was. You
said that the tubing pressure created a down force. This is not true.
Since the ID of the tubing is smaller than the bore of the packer, the pressure in the tubing has nothing to
push down on but will get underneath this difference in area and push up.
Return to page 47 and study the drawing, then straighten out the force in the tubing. I think you will find
that you have the right answer.

CORRECT!
WELL DONE! You seem to be getting along fine.
Put your thinking cap on and tell me what the hook
load would be to come loose from this Model D.

SALT WATER
MUD
MUD
89.8 lb/cu ft
9.6 lb/gal salt water in tubing
71.8 lb/cu ft
(a) 55,107 lb↓ Page 55

(b) 55,393 lb↓ Page 54
(c) 46,707 lb↓ Page 56

In this well, we ran the tubing string in with a plug

in the tailpipe. We stung into the packer but then
we were unable to pull the plug. We had filled the
tubing part way while going in the hole to keep from
collapsing it. However, in trying to pull the plug, we
swabbed the hole down to 8,600 ft trying to put
more differential across the plug. At this point the
customer said, “To heck with it, come out of the
hole.” What will be the hook load to release it?

11.4 lb/gal mud in annulus and tubing
85.3 lb/cu ft
6,000 psi bottomhole pressure
(a) 24,270 lb↓ Page 60

(b) 21,429 lb↓ Page 57
(c) 42,270 lb↓ Page 59
(d) 40,205 lb↓ Page 58

WRONG!
Caught you on that one. This is one problem that
you certainly need a picture on. With this size of
tubing and packer bore, either way you pressure
will create an up force.
You will notice in the drawing to the right that the
OD of the tubing which is 2.875 in. is larger than
the bore of the packer which is 2.688 in. Therefore,
any pressure in the annulus will create an up force,
won’t it?
Notice that the ID of the tubing which is 2.441 in. is
smaller than the bore of the packer which is 2.688
in. Therefore, any pressure in the tubing will create
an up force.
So both of the forces, caused by pressure will cre-
ate up forces.
This is simply due to our picking a bore size (2.688
in.) that is in between the ID and OD of a size of
tubing.
Also with this size tubing and packer, any pressure
that you put on it with a pump truck will tend to jack
up out of the packer. No matter whether it is on the
tubing or casing.
Return to page 52 and straighten out your arrows.

After you do, I think you’ll have the right answer.

WRONG!
Caught you on that one. This is one problem that
you certainly need a picture on. With this size of
tubing and packer bore, either way you pressure
will create an up force.
You will notice in the drawing to the right that the
OD of the tubing is 2.875 in. and is larger than the
bore of the packer which is 2.688 in. Therefore,
any pressure in the annulus will create an up force,
won’t it?
Notice that the ID of the tubing which is 2.441 in. is
smaller than the bore of the packer which is 2.688
in. Therefore, any pressure in the tubing will create
an up force.
So both of the forces caused by pressure will cre-
ate up forces.
This is simply due to our picking a bore size (2.688
in.) that is in between the ID and OD of a particular
size of tubing.
Also with this size tubing and packer, any pressure
that you put on it with a pump truck will tend to jack
up out of the packer. No matter whether it be on the
tubing or the casing.
Return to page 52 and straighten out your arrows.

After you do, I think you’ll have the right answer.


#1
CORRECT!
If you arrived at this answer first, I take my hat off to you. This points
to the fact that if you draw a picture and use your head, you can figure
these problems. This size of packer bore just happens to be between
the ID and OD of 2-7/8 in. tubing. So as you figured, either way you
pressured, you create an up force. c c
Quite often with Model D Packers, we put a plug in the tubing. This
might be a psi plug to shut off the lower production. If you try to pull
a a
the seal assembly with this plug in it, you have different areas to work
with. To the right, we have two drawings of this problem; one with tub-
ing larger than the packer bore and one with the tubing smaller than
the packer bore. b
In drawing #1, in the annulus our area is the same, OD of the tubing
to the packer bore (Area A). In the tubing, our problem has changed.
Since it is plugged, we will be pushing down on the whole ID area of
d
the tubing; both Area B, which is against the plug, and Area C, which
is the difference between the ID area of the tubing and the OD area #2
of the plug. Since our tubing is plugged, we have to consider bottom-
hole pressure that might be different than our tubing pressure. Bot-
tomhole pressure will push up on everything underneath out to the
packer bore (Area D).
In drawing #2, with tubing smaller than the packer bore, the problem
in the annulus is the same - OD of the tubing to the packer bore - al- a a
though the direction of the force will be down instead of up. Inside the
tubing our pressure will push down on the complete ID area of the tub-
ing just as in the other problem. This will be Area B. As you can see,
c c
anything from the ID of the tubing outward will cancel itself out as in
Area C. Underneath, you have the same problem. Bottomhole pres-
sure will push up on everything out to the bore of the packer, which is
Area D.
c b c
So with plugged tubing, no matter what the size of tubing may be, use
the same rules for finding the affected area. In the annulus, use from
the OD of the tubing to the packer bore. Inside the tubing, use the
complete ID area of the tubing. Underneath use the complete area of d
the packer bore. But watch how you put the arrow in the annulus.
I cannot over emphasize how much help it is to draw a simple schematic drawing and then stop and think
about the problem. The reasoning of what is happening down hole then becomes clear to you. Study the
drawing while you are working the problem to see if you are working it properly.
Turn to page 53.

WRONG!
You figured the force in the annulus and the force from underneath correctly but you got fouled up when
you figured the force inside the tubing pushing down.
You figured the pressure inside the tubing would be pushing on the difference in area between the ID of
the tubing and the packer bore. This is not true.
If you look at the drawing again, you will see that this pressure inside the tubing cannot get out to get to
the packer bore. The only thing it can do is push straight down on everything out to the ID of the tubing.
Return to page 53 and refigure the force inside the tubing. When you plug this force into your
calculations, I think you will have the right answer.

WRONG!
You were doing a good job of figuring your forces with one exception; you forgot that the tubing wasn’t
full. You had swabbed it down while trying to release the plug.
Since it is swabbed down, you are going to have less pressure inside the tubing and, therefore, less force.
Return to page 53 and refigure the tubing part of the problem.

WRONG!
You figured the force in the annulus correctly and also the force in the tubing but you forgot about the
bottomhole pressure creating a force under the plugged tubing.
That trapped pressure underneath is going to push up on the plug, the end of the seal assembly and ev-
erything out to the packer bore. That’s a lot of area and a lot of pressure, so I would say that it will make
a force that will have to be dealt with.

CORRECT!
You have just earned yourself a big pat on the back.
So far, we have covered problems concerning differential equipment. We have covered tools with the
same affected area on top as on bottom, such as “DR” plugs and retrievable bridge plugs.
We have also covered problems concerning the proper hook load to release from permanent packers
such as Model D Packers.
Next we will work problems having to do with retrievable packers, upstrain as well as setdown packers.
These problems will concern how much to pull or push and how much you can pressure under or above
them.
The problem is somewhat different than figuring hook load.

Section 3
Welcome to Section 3!
We have at this point worked Sections I and II. These covered tools such as “DR” Plugs, where we found
the forces pushing up and forces pushing down, then resolved them for the answer. Retrievable bridge
plugs are figured about the same.
We also figured problems where we wanted to know hook load, such as the weight of strings of tubing or
casing and proper hook load to come loose from a Model D Packer. In these problems, we figured what
exposed areas we had, the pressures acting on them, and then multiplied them into forces. We then fig-
ured the weight of the string of tubing as a force down, and when we added all our down forces and all
our up forces and then subtracted, we had our answer.
Now we will deal with the problems we have as regards to retrievable packers. The problems differ, and
so does the way we go about working them.
Let us begin by turning to page 2.
Section 3... Introduction

Page 0 of 73
NOW, NOW, NOW. What are YOU doing on this page?
It said to turn to page 2. Let’s get on the ball!

As we start off in this book, we will decide what ar-

eas are affected by pressure when we have
upstrain retrievable packers.
Before, we had a string of tubing that had a seal
assembly tied on it, and packed off in the bore of a
packer. Now we have our packer tied on the tubing
and are packing off in the casing ID. This will give
us a lot more area.
But what are the areas affected by pressure?
Take a look at the drawing on the right and see
which area is affected by pressure in the annulus
above the tool.
(a) The area between the

ID of the tubing and
the ID of the casing. Page 4
(b) I don’t see it, show me. Page 6
(c) The area between the

OD of the tubing and
the ID of the casing. Page 5

Your Answer - The area between the ID of the casing and the ID of the tubing.
CORRECT!
We have area squared away in our mind now, so let’s see what else is different. What will we have to be
figuring in upstrain tools? Well, first we might want to know how much we will have to pull on the tool to
hold so much pressure in the annulus. Another thing might be, with so much pulled on the tool how much
can we pressure the annulus?
With as much area involved as we have with retrievable tools, some of the forces are so big that we can’t
pull enough to overcome them.
With our Model D Packers we were wanting to know hook load. Now we want to know how much to pull
(or push with setdown packers) or how much pressure. We are going to have to figure the problems slight-
ly different.
Let’s turn to page 8 and get an explanation as to what is different.

Your Answer - The area between the ID of the tubing and the ID of the casing.
WRONG!
This pressure that we have trapped in the annulus will push on everything that it can reach, but it can’t
reach the ID on the tubing.
The only thing that it can get to is the area between the OD of the tubing and the ID of the casing. Right?
OK, now please turn to page 5.

Your Answer - The area between the OD of the

tubing and the ID of the casing.
CORRECT!
What about the area under the upstrain packer?
When we pressure down the tubing, we are going
to be pushing up on the bottom of the tool, but by
what amount of area?
There is a drawing to the right. Look at it and see
which of the following are true statements.
I would take the area from:
(a) I don’t see it yet, show me. Page 9
(b) The area between the

ID of the casing and
the ID of the tubing. Page 3
(c) The area between the

the OD of the tubing. Page 7
(d) The area between the

the ID of the tool. Page 10

Your Answer - I don’t see it, show me.
OK, let’s draw another picture.

Now try to look at it the way the pressure in the an-
nulus would. It is going straight down the hole until
it runs into something to make it stop. That is the
tool.
It pushes down on everything out to the ID of the
casing. From there, it pushes on everything inward
to the OD of the tubing. What about swages? By
and large, they will all cancel out. In the drawing, I
have shown large tubing with a swage down to a
small mandrel tool. Notice how it balances out?
So far as collars are concerned, they will balance
out too. If you want to pick lint, perhaps they don’t
completely, but enough for our purposes. There is
about six inches more hydrostatic pressure push-
ing up on the bottom of collars than is pushing
down, so we say they cancel out.
We say that the area in the annulus that is affected
by pressure is that area between the OD of the
tubing and the ID of the casing.
OK? Let’s turn to page 5.

Your Answer - The area between the OD of the tubing and the ID of the casing.
NOT CORRECT!
The pressure below the tool (same thing as the pressure in the tubing) can’t get at the OD of the tubing
no matter how hard it tries.
It comes down the ID of the tubing and pushes back up at the bottom of the tool. It can’t get up past the
tool because of the seal inside the casing, and will push from there inward to the ID of the tubing.
As you can see from the drawing, even though your tubing ID is larger than the bore of the packer, every-
thing from the ID of the tubing inward will cancel out leaving you with area from the ID of the casing to the
ID of the tubing.
Also, if the ID of the tubing was smaller than the bore of the packer, you would still go to the ID of the
tubing for your area, wouldn’t you?

First, let’s take a string of tubing in the hole with a

packer hanging on it. The packer is unset.
If we want to know hook load, we take the weight
of the tubing which is force down, and subtract the
force up. (Pressure times the cross-sectional area
of the tubing.) This would give us the hook load.
However, if we said how much is being pushed on
the tool, and is it up or down? This leaves off hook
load, and we don’t figure the weight of the tubing
as a force down. If we figure it as just pressure
times areas, we would say that the pressure is the
same, but since we have more area on the bottom
side (area C), there is more force pushing up.
This is right so far as it goes, but we know that it
doesn’t continue to come on up. If you have a force
on something, and there is nothing to counter it, it’s
moving.
This tubing has a force pushing up, that built up
gradually as it went in the hole, but it shortened the
tubing until it built up a countering force in the tub-
ing string to hold it down.
These forces are still there, pushing up and the
countering force pushing down, but, since they are
equal, we can say that they are balanced and that
the tool won’t move.
If you removed the force under the tool (buoyan-
cy), the tool would go down the hole. By the same D D
token, if you removed the countering force, the tool
would head for the surface.
In the drawing to the right, A and B balance out. C A A
is being pushed up on by the hydrostatic pressure
(buoyancy) and there is a countering force D in the
tubing that is exactly equal to buoyancy.

B B
C C

Your Answer - I don’t see it yet, show me.

#1
In drawing #1, the pressure would come down the

tubing, and out the bottom. It would push on the
bottom of the hole, but that wouldn’t affect us. But,
it would push up on the bottom of the tool. It would
push up on everything from the inside of the casing
to the inside of the tubing.
Now let’s look at drawing #2. Here the tubing has
an ID larger than the ID of the tool. It would be
pushing up on areas “B” and “C”, but it would be
pushing down on area “A” so, you would have to
subtract that amount of area. You might just as well
have figured from the ID of the tubing to start with.
In looking at drawing #3, you will notice that the ID
of the tubing is smaller than the ID of the tool. You
#2
are still pushing up on area “B”, but you are push-
ing up on area “A” also. So, you would say that you
are pushing up on everything from the ID of the
tubing to the ID of the casing.
What about pressure pushing up on the area of the
ID of the tubing at the surface (area C)? First of all, A A
the hydrostatic pressure can’t push up at this point.
Applied pressure can. However, what it might push
up would only be helping you hold a strain on the
tool, you don’t need to count it.
When you go to the ID of the casing to the ID of the
tubing you will be right, no matter what the ID of the
tool is. This is the quickest and easiest way. C C
B B
#3
Please turn to page 3. C
A A

You said that pressure in the tubing would affect

the area between the ID of the casing and the ID of
the tool.
Partially true. But it certainly isn’t all the story.
#1
Let’s look at drawing #1. Here we have tubing
larger than the bore of the packer. Areas “C” and
“B” certainly are being pushed up on, but how
about area “A”? It is being pushed down on, and
would have to be subtracted from “C” and “B”.
Now to drawing #2. Here we have tubing with an
ID smaller than the bore of the packer. Again we A A
will be pushing up on area “B”, but we will also be
pushing up on area “A”.
So, by studying these two drawings we can see
that we will always be pushing up on the area be-
tween the ID of the tubing and the ID of the casing.
In drawing #1, you are pushing down on area “A”
and up on area “B” so they cancel out, leaving you C C
pushing up on area “C”, which is from the ID of the B B
tubing to the ID of the casing.
In drawing #2, you are pushing up on both of
these areas, A and B, so again you can say from
the ID of the tubing to the ID of the casing.
So, to find the proper area under the packer no
matter what the tubing size may be, you will take #2
the difference in area from the ID of the tubing to
the ID of the casing.
A A
B B

Now, let’s add one more thing to the picture. Let’s

seal off inside the casing with an O-ring, no slips,
just a seal. The tool is free to move up or down if
you put a force against it.
In drawing #1, if you wanted to find the hook load,
you would take the weight of the tubing, lb↓, add #1
the force in the annulus, lb↓, and subtract from
these the force under the tool, lb↑. This would give
you hook load.
MUD
MUD
In drawing #2, which is the same drawing, instead
of trying to find hook load, let’s say that we wanted
to find out how much is being pushed or pulled
across the tool itself. We are leaving off the weight
of the tubing as a force down. When we do this we
become unbalanced, as we have more area under
the packer for the pressure to push on. We would
say the packer would come out of the hole.
We know that this is not true. The tool will not con-
tinue to come on up the hole. It will only come up
MUD
until it builds up a resisting force in the tubing,
which will hold it down. When it does this, it is bal-
anced again. The forces are equal, both those
pushing up and those down.
One way of illustrating this force being in the tubing
is this: stand out away from a wall and place your
hand up against the wall. Lean against the wall. #2
You might say that the wall has no way of pushing,
but it is pushing back as hard as you are. If it
MUD
MUD
wasn’t, you would go through it. If you removed the
wall suddenly, your force would make you fall.
This resisting force built up gradually as you went
in the hole. As you went in the hole, the hydrostatic
pressure increased, pushing up on the end area of
the tubing. This shortens the tubing, which in turn
puts the resisting force in the tubing, pushing
down.
In drawing #2, do you think the forces across the MUD

tool are:
(a) Balanced Page 13
(b) Still think it’s unbalanced Page 15

Now that we have a grasp on this concept of work-

ing from a change, let’s work a problem. We will
start with a nice simple one and see how it goes.
10 in.2 area in the annulus
12 in.2 area under the tool
5,000 psi hydrostatic pressure when tool is set
1,000 psi applied pressure in the annulus
10,000 lb↑ upstrain on the tool
Is this tool trying to go up or down, and by what
amount of force?
(a) 10,000 lb↑ Page 16

(b) Neither (balanced) Page 14

Your Answer - Balanced
RIGHT!
We figure that even though there is more area under the tool creating a force up, there is a force in the
tubing pushing down that is exactly equal to it. We can say that the forces across the tool are balanced.
What this means to us is, that when we figure retrievable tools in which we want to know how much to
push or pull across a tool, we must start from the fact that the tool is balanced when we begin to set it.
That, even though we don’t count the tubing weight as a force down, we must count that part of it that is
holding the tool down. If we don’t, our answer will be off by that amount.
When we count that force down, and say that the forces across the tool are balanced, we are only inter-
ested in what we have done to the tool after that. This will include such things as; how much did we pull
or push?. . . did we pressure the annulus or tubing?. . . did we swab?
It will also require that we put our thinking cap on. Remember, figure the annulus first, then the tubing.
Figure the area, the pressure, and then the force.

Your Answer - Neither (balanced)
CORRECT!
Everything was balanced to start with. Then you
pulled 10,000 lb↑ upstrain and pressured 1,000 psi
against 10 in.2 in the annulus; this created a force
of 10,000 lb↓. This canceled out the upstrain you
pulled.
OK, let’s try one a little different. We have a
Full-Bore in the hole under these conditions:
10 in.2 Annulus area
12 in.2 Area under the tool
Hydrostatic pressure when tool is set, 5,000 psi
10,000 lb↑ upstrain pulled on the packer
Tubing swabbed bone dry
Is the tool trying to go up or down and by what
amount of force?
(a) 50,000 lb↓ Page 17

(b) 40,000 lb↓ Page 19

Your Answer - Still think it’s unbalanced
NOT TRUE!
When we were figuring the other problems involv-
ing hook load, we were figuring the weight of the
tubing as a force down. Now then, even though we
don’t want to know hook load, we must count that
part of it that is keeping the tool from moving up the
hole. If we don’t, then the forces across the tool are
unbalanced, as we have more force pushing up.
Any time you have more force on one side of an
object, it is going to move. It will move until it
comes up against a force equal to it that will stop it.
This tool, which had no slips, did move. It moved
up the hole, shortening the tubing, until it built up a
resisting force. We must take this force into ac-
count, because it is surely there. In the drawing to
the right, if you pressured up under the tool, it
Stored up force
would move up the hole, right? And if you removed
the pressure from under it, it would go down the
hole. Not only because of the pressure in the an-
nulus, but because of the stored up energy in the
tubing itself.
Remember, this shortening of the tubing was a
gradual affair. It shortened a little at a time as you
went in the hole, caused by the hydrostatic pres-
sure becoming greater as you went deeper and it
pushing on the end area of the tubing.
Let’s return to page 11, reread the problem and

take the correct answer.

NOT CORRECT!
You took the 5,000 psi plus 1,000 psi applied pressure in the annulus and multiplied it by the 10 in.2, giving
you 60,000 lb↓. You took the 5,000 psi and multiplied it by the 12 in.2 under the tool, and added the 10,000
lb↑ upstrain giving you 70,000 lb↑. When you subtracted, you had 10,000 lb↑.
What you didn’t consider was that the tool was balanced to start with, and the only thing you did was pull
10,000 lb↑ and pressure 1,000 psi against 10 in.2 in the annulus. This gave you 10,000 lb↑ and 10,000
lb↓. The forces across the tool were balanced.
You need to know not only what pressures you have, but how and when they got there. It is only what you
did after you set the tool that will affect you.
Please return to page 12 and rework the problem.

CORRECT!
You figured that, since everything was balanced to
start with and the only things you had done since
were to pull on the tool and remove a force from
under the tool by swabbing, this was all that
needed figuring. It was.
This brings up a point that I would like to empha-
size. You notice that here you needed more infor-
5,000 psi
mation than you formerly did. You need to know
not only what is in the hole, but how it got there.
Consider the drawing to the right. It is the same
problem you just had. Everything is balanced to
start with and you pulled 10,000 lb↑.
If you had set this in dry casing and filled the annu-
lus you would have had 40,000 lb↓. (5,000 psi
against 10 in.2 in the annulus, minus 10,000 lb↑.)
As it was, you had the hole full, and then swabbed
down. You removed 60,000 lb↑, which becomes a
down force and then when you take the 10,000 lb↑
from it, you have 50,000 lb↓.
So, since you have to work these problems on the
basis of “what has been done since the tool was
set”, you will need more information. We will see to
it that you get this additional information. This infor-
mation will be such things as: How much was
pulled or pushed?. . . Was pressure applied?. . .
Was the hole swabbed? By knowing such things,
you will be able to work the problems.
10,000 lb
10,000 lb

Now let’s take a problem with real tubing and cas-

ing in it.
How much strain would we have to take with an “A”
type packer with one set of slips, if the man wanted
to swab the well to bottom. He wants to pressure
the annulus to 500 psi to be sure the tool isn’t
leaking.
Remember, that you have fluid gradient, and area
charts in the back of this book under Engineering
Tables.
2-3/8 in. EU 8rd 4.7 lb/ft tubing
9.6 lb/gal fluid in the hole
71.8 lb/cu ft 3,100 ft packer setting depth
(a) Pull 7,650 lb↑ Page 23

(b) Pull 56,999 lb↑ Page 21
(c) Pull 33,330 lb↑ Page 25
(d) Pull 25,680 lb↑ Page 27

WRONG!
Caught you on that one. When you set the tool, ev-
erything was equal. You pulled 10,000 lb↑. The
next thing you did was remove 5,000 psi that had
been pushing against the 12 in.2 underneath.
This 60,000 lb↑ had been pushing up against the
bottom of the packer. When you removed it, you al-
lowed that much more force to be pushing
downward.
Remember, everything was balanced to start with.
We did not pressure the annulus, we just removed
a pressure that was pushing against the bottom of
the tool.
In this case, we multiplied the pressure under the
tool, by the area under the tool to get the force and,
since, we removed this force, we have to turn our
arrow around and call it a down force.
Let’s return to page 14 and refigure the problem.

I think it is time to remind everyone to label all their figures for what they are, such as: psi, in.2, lb↑ or lb↓.
More and more, as you have to work part of a problem and then come back to it later to get part of the
information, you find that you don’t know what it was.
As you get more and more information on a page, you also need lay it out in a logical manner so you can
go back and get the proper figures. Once again, we will have a sample page showing a method of laying
out the problem. First work the annulus, then under the tool. As you work each side, figure out the area
that is affected, then the pressure, then multiply to get the force. Draw a line between your annulus and
your tubing figures.
ANNULUS
ID of casing = _______________ in.2 _______________ Fluid gradient
OD of tubing = _______________ in.2 x _______________ Depth
_______________ psi hydrostatic
Annulus area _______________ in.2 _______________ psi applied
_______________ total pressure
_______________ psi pressure
x _______________ in.2
_______________ lbs lb↓
If this were a pressure decrease, you would turn the arrow around and point it up.
__________________________________________________________________________________
TUBING
You repeat the same procedure here. Find the affected area, then the pressure, then multiply them to find
force. If this is a push up against the bottom of the tool, then it is lb↑ force up. If it is a decrease in pressure,
then you would turn the arrow around and it would be lb↓ force down.
By separating the annulus figures from the tubing figures, you make the problem easier to figure and can
keep track of your figures better.

WRONG!
You figured the 1547 psi hydrostatic in the annulus times the area and called it a down force. This force
is there, but it is exactly balanced by the force under the packer pushing up.
The only thing you are changing here is pressuring 500 psi against the annular area and taking away the
hydrostatic pressure from the area under the packer.
Remember, everything is balanced at the time the tool is set. Figure everything that you do after that point.
You must get this before you can work the rest of the problems.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
If you got to this page on the first try, you are a whiz.
You not only figured that the 200 psi was going to create a down force, but also that when you circulated
oil down the tubing, you would end up with 958 psi on the tubing, and after you set the tool, this would
have to be bled off. When you bled it off, you removed a force, just like swabbing.
If you figured the hydrostatic in the annulus, and then the tubing, and then subtracted, I will show you a
short-cut.
Fluid Gradient for the mud .623

Fluid Gradient for the oil - .357
Difference in Fluid Gradient .266
.266 FG
3600 Depth
957.6 Difference in Hydrostatic
Anytime you want to know the difference in hydrostatic pressure, just subtract the fluid gradient and mul-
tiply by the depth.
Turn to page 26 and continue.

YOU GOOFED!
You figured that everything was balanced to start with and then figured the pressure in the annulus would
create a down force, but what about all that swabbing?
This is going to remove a force under the packer, just like kicking a jack out from under a car.
Let’s go back and figure out how much that force was and then call it a down force, because we will have
to pull that much more just to hold the packer still.
Please return to page 18 and rework the problem.

WRONG!
You figured that the 200 psi in the annulus would be pushing down against its area thus creating a force,
but you forgot something.
When you circulate that oil to the bottom of the tubing, you are going to be holding some pressure on it.
Either that or you are going to be all wet, with it all flowing back up the tubing.
You are going to be holding enough pressure to equal the difference in hydrostatic pressures between
the tubing and annulus. You will hold it until you set the tool and then bleed it off. Right?
When you bleed it off, you are removing a pressure. When you remove a pressure from under a tool, you
are unbalancing the forces. All of a sudden you have a down force that has to be dealt with. It is about
like kicking a chair from under someone. The force was there all the time, but the chair held it in check.
He really had no problem until you jerked the chair out from under him.
These problems require that you put your thinking cap on. Even though we would circulate the oil down
the tubing, set the tool, and then bleed off without even thinking, we are affecting the tool. We don’t see
anything at the surface, but that tool just had a big force kicked out from under it.
Return to page 25 and rework the problem. Let’s figure out what that force would be and plug it into the
problem.

CORRECT!
You figured the force that was under the tool, and
since it was removed, you made it a down force.
You multiplied the pump pressure in the annulus
against the annular area, and this is a down force.
How about another? How much strain will we need
on an “A” type packer with this set of circumstanc-
es? We will circulate the oil down the tubing, then
set the tool, and pressure the annulus.

40 Gravity oil in the tubing
89.8 lb/cu ft
200 psi pump pressure held on annulus
No pressure held on the tubing
(a) Pull 29,028 lb↑ Page 28

(b) Pull 5,302 lb↑ Page 24
(c) Pull 31,944 lb↑ Page 22

We seem to have that down real good, so, let’s learn to figure one slightly different. Up to now we have
been figuring how much force. We have learned that FORCE equals PRESSURE TIMES AREA. To put
it more simply:
F=PxA
What about the problems where we need to figure pressure? We have problems with our upstrain tools
such as this: I have so much pulled on the packer, now how much can I pressure the annulus? To do this
we have to be able to figure pressure. If you are real good at algebra, you know that if F = P x A then P =
F / A. Or to spell it out, pressure equals force divided by area.
To prove this is very simple.
5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5
Let’s say that each square is one square inch and that there are five pounds pushing on each, or 5 psi.
We know that to find force we multiply 5 psi times 10 in.2 and we have 50 lb force. By the same reasoning,
if we know how much force we have and how many square inches, we can determine pressure. We take
50 lbs force and divide it by 10 in.2 and we have 5 psi. This is:
P=F
A
Remember, you have to divide the area that the pressure is going to be pushing on into the force, which
will be from the other direction.
You have an upstrain tool, and when you resolved the forces you found there was 15,000 lbs↑. The an-
nulus had 10 in.2 of affected area. The underside of the tool has 15 in.2 of area. How much can you pres-
sure the annulus before the tool would start to move down the hole?
(a) 1,000 psi Page 32
(b) 1,500 psi Page 30

WRONG!
You figured the decrease in pressure under the packer, and multiplied by the area and called it a down
force. This was right, but you forgot to figure the 500 psi in the annulus.
This 500 psi in the annulus creates a down force too, so go back and add it in.

WRONG!
The only way you could have arrived at this answer was to just figure the problem as pressure times area.
This is incorrect and will get you the wrong answer every time that you are not figuring hook load.
When you set this tool everything was balanced. At that time, you had mud in the annulus and oil in the
tubing. You must have had pressure on the tubing or the oil would be flowing back.
You must start at the time the tool was set and figure what you have done to the tool since then.

CORRECT!
You divided the area in the annulus that this pres-
sure was pushing on, into the force which was up.
This told you how much pressure it was going to
take to overcome the 20,000 lb↑. It would make no
difference if you were 5,000 ft or 20,000 ft deep,
the answer would be the same.
Let’s try another problem. Remember to figure out
the problem complete to where you know which
way the tool is trying to go, and by how much force.
Then divide by area to find pressure. (The area
that the pressure will be against.)
We run a Full-Bore in the hole, circulate fresh wa-
ter into the tubing, set the tool, and bleed off the
pressure. How much can we pressure the annulus
to before we transfer the tool?
2-3/8 in. EU 8 rd 4.7 lb/ft tubing

9.6 lb/gal salt water
71.8 lb/cu ft
8.34 lb/gal fresh water
62.4 lb/cu ft
15,000 lb↑ upstrain pulled on the tool
(a) 1,013 psi Page 31

(b) 453 psi Page 36
(c) 416 psi Page 34

CORRECT!
Now for a simple problem using this information:
15.30 in.2 affected area in annulus
16.60 in.2 affected area under tool
9.6 lb/gal fluid in tubing and annulus
71.8
lb/cu ft fluid
20,000 lb↑ pulled on packer
If this is an “A” packer, how much can you pressure

the annulus to before it would start down the hole?
(a) 1,655 psi Page 33

(b) 1,205 psi Page 35
(c) 1,307 psi Page 29

WRONG!
You divided the annulus area into the 15,000 lb↑ but you didn’t end up with 15,000 lb↑ on the packer.
When you circulated the fresh water down the tubing, set the packer and bled off the pressure that you
had on the tubing, you just kicked some of the force out from under the packer.
You are going to have to figure what this force is, and then subtract it from the 15,000 lb↑ to know what
force you end up with on the packer.
After you know this, then divide by the area.

WRONG!
You divided the force by the area on the wrong
side of the packer. Look at the drawing on the side
of this page. You have set the tool, resolved the
forces and find that you have 15,000 lb↑.
You want to find out how much you can pressure
the annulus to before the tool would start to move.
You might say, how much can I push on each
square inch in the annulus before I overcome
15,000 lb↑?
You divide the 10 in.2 that you have in the annulus
into the 15,000 lb↑ and say that if you push 1500
psi against 10 in.2 you equal 15,000 lb.
Remember, use the area that this pressure is actu-
ally going to push against to divide into the force.
Let’s go back to page 26, reread it and take the

10 in.2
10 in.2
proper answer.
15,000 lb
15,000 lb

WRONG!
Not only wrong, but very wrong. Here is a perfect example of a tool that is set and balanced except for
the 20,000 lb↑ that was pulled on it.
Even though there is more area under the tool, it was still balanced until you pulled the 20,000 lb↑.
You will have to start from when it was balanced and figure the changes since then. When you determine
which way it is going and by what amount of force, then you divide by area to find the permissible
pressure.
Return to page 30 and let’s rework the problem.

NO SIR!
You figured the pressure decrease under the packer and multiplied it by the area and deducted the force
from that 15,000 lb↑. This gave you the proper amount of force across the tool. But, when you divided by
the area, you divided by the area under the tool. You should have used the area in the annulus.
Return to page 29, and refigure the last part again.

WRONG!
You divided the wrong area into the force up. It is the area in the annulus that is going to be pressured
against to overcome the force, so, that is the area that you use.
Let’s go back and select the right area and divide it into the force to find out how much pressure we can
go to.

CORRECT!
Perhaps we had better work another problem with
an upstrain tool before we start into setdown
packers.
We want to run an “A” type packer to 1,000 ft. We
have salt water in the hole, and will circulate fresh
water into the tubing. How much will we have to
pull to have 15,000 lb↑ pulled on the tool? Then
with this pulled, how much can we pressure the an-
nulus before starting the tool down the hole?

10-3/4 in. OD 55.50 lb/ft casing
9.6 lb/gal salt water in the annulus
71.8 lb/cu ft
8.34 lb/gal fresh water in the tubing
62.4 lb/cu ft
Hold no pressure on the tubing.
(a) Pull 15,000 lb↑ Pressure to 220 psi Page 40

(b) Pull 19,629 lb↑ Pressure to 220 psi Page 42
(c) Pull 19,629 lb↑ Pressure to 294 psi Page 38

Your Answer - It would depend on other factors.

TRUE!
It would depend upon how much pressure you
were going to, how much weight you had left hang-
ing in the elevators, and also how the tubing was
landed at the surface. I might mention also that
only applied pressure can exert a force upon the ID
of the tubing.
Even though you took the right answer, I will briefly
review what the factors are.
30,000 lb
In the drawing to the right we have a string of tub-
ing that weighs 50,000 lb with the tool unset. We
set the tool, and slack off 20,000 lb↓. This leaves
us with 30,000 lb hanging in the elevators.
50,000 lb total tubing wieght

Pressure pushing up on the packer from the ID of
the casing to the ID of the tubing, immediately
starts trying to overcome what you have setting on
the tool, and you would always count this amount
of area. Applied pressure pushing up on the ID of
the tubing at the surface tries to pick up the weight
hanging in the elevators or slips. Until it picks up all
the weight in the elevators, it cannot rob you of the
setdown weight you have on the packer.
Like to know a quick way of figuring out whether
you need to add in the inside area of the tubing to
your other calculations?
20,000 lb
Then turn to page 43.

Your Answer - Pull 19,629 lb↑, pressure to 294 psi
YOU ARE HALF RIGHT!

You figured the pressure decrease under the packer times the area under the packer, and since it was a
down force you added it to the 15,000 lb↑ that you wanted and this is correct. You would have to pull
19,629 lb↑ to get 15,000 lb↑.
But, when you pulled that amount, you would just have 15,000 lb↑ pulled on the tool. You are going to
have to divide your annulus area into the 15,000 lb↑ to find out how much pressure will overcome it.
Return to page 36 and refigure the last part of the problem.

Your Answer - All the area inside the ID of the

casing.
MAYBE SO, MAYBE NO

You might need to only figure from the tubing ID to
the casing ID. It will actually depend upon other
factors such as pressure and depth. Also how you
are landed on top.
In the drawing to the right, we have a setdown tool
hanging in a set of elevators. The string weighed
30,000 lb
50,000 lb with the tool unset. We set the packer
and slacked off 20,000 lb↓ on it. This leaves us
with 30,000 lb hanging in the elevators. The line
cutting through the tubing in the drawing is the neu-

tral point in the tubing. From there down the weight
is on the packer and from there up is hanging in the
elevators.
Any hydrostatic and/or applied pressure that would
be pushing up on the bottom of the tool, from cas-
ing ID to the tubing ID is immediately bucking your
setdown weight. It is of concern to you and right
now.
Now, let’s look at the inside area of the tubing.
Pressure can’t push on anything until it gets to the
top. We don’t have any hydrostatic pressure at the
surface do we? But our applied pressure will be
pushing up there. But what is it trying to do?
It is trying to pick up on what weight we have hang-
20,000 lb
ing in the elevators. And until it creates a force big

enough to pick up all that we have in the elevators,
it won’t be bothering what we have setting on the
tool. And until that time comes, it does not matter.
The same would apply if you were landed in the
slips.

Your Answer - Pull 15,000 lb↑, pressure to 220 psi
ONLY PART RIGHT!

You forgot to figure in the pressure decrease that you will have when you bleed off the tubing. When you
circulate down that fresh water, you are going to have to hold pressure while you set the tool. Remember,
when you bleed it off, you are kicking part of the props out from under the tool.
Go back to page 36 and rework the problem.

Your Answer - Tubing ID to casing ID
MAYBE SO, MAYBE NO

You might need to figure all the area inside the ID
of the casing. It will actually depend upon other fac-
tors, such as pressure and depth. Also how you
are landed on top.
In the drawing to the right, we have a setdown tool
hanging in a set of elevators. The string weighed
50,000 lb with the tool unset. We set the packer
30,000 lb
and slacked off 20,000 lb↓ on it. This leaves us
with 30,000 lb↑ hanging in the elevators. The line
cutting through the tubing in the drawing is the neu-
tral point in the tubing. From there down the weight

is on the packer and from there up it is hanging in
the elevators.
Any hydrostatic and/or applied pressure that would
be pushing up on the bottom of the tool, from cas-
ing ID to the tubing ID is immediately bucking your
setdown weight. It is of concern to you and right
now.
Now, let’s look at the inside area of the tubing.
Pressure can’t push on anything until it gets to the
top. We don’t have any hydrostatic pressure at the
surface, do we? But our applied pressure will be
pushing up there. But what is it trying to do? It is
trying to pick up on what weight we have hanging
in the elevators. And until it creates a force big
20,000 lb
enough to pick up all the weight we have in the el-

evators, it won’t be bothering what we have setting
on the tool. And until that time comes, we could
care less. The same would apply if you were land-
ed in the slips.


Pressure to 220 psi
CORRECT!
Well, I’d say that is about enough problems with
upstrain tools, let’s try working some problems with
setdown packers.
The problems that we have with setdown packers
are:
a) How much weight will we have to setdown to
hold a certain amount of pressure.
b) With so much weight setdown, how much
pressure can we go to under the tool.
c) We need to go to a certain amount of pressure
under the tool, and have so much weight set-
down, how much pressure are we going to have
to put on the annulus to hold the tool down.
We will assume that these tools have no hydraulic
hold-down. Actually, when you figure the problem
you will determine whether you need one.
In the drawing to the right, let’s determine what our
areas will be. First the annular area. Well, it looks
like we will be pushing down on all the area from
the ID of the casing to the OD of the tubing. That’s
just the same as we used on the upstrain tools.
What about under the tool? Like the upstrain tool,
we will be pushing up on everything from the ID of
the casing to the ID of the tubing. But what about
the ID of the tubing at the top? With the upstrain,
we said that any push up at that point would just
help to hold us packed off, but if we have any now,
it would tend to pick up on our setdown tool.
What would you say we would use for area under

the tool?
a) Tubing ID to casing ID Page 41
b) All the area inside
the ID of the casing Page 39
c) It would depend on other factors Page 37

Since only the applied pressure can push against

the area in the top of the tubing, you can round off
some figures and quickly tell whether this inside
area will be of concern to you.
The inside area of 2-3/8 in. tubing is 3.13 in.2 and
the inside area of 2-7/8 in. tubing is 4.68 in.2. You
can round these off to 3 in.2 and 5 in.2. This is the
ID area of the tubing that is exposed to the applied
pressure. When you multiply this by the pressure
you intend to go to, you will know how much you
will be picking up of the weight you have left in the
30,000 lb
elevators or slips.
As an example, with 2-3/8 in. tubing which has
3 in.2 inside area, you wanted to go to 5,000 psi
pressure. You would take 3 in.2 times 5,000 psi,

which equals 15,000 lb↑. This would mean that if
you had 15,000 lb hanging in the elevators or slips,
then this force created by pressure would not be
great enough to pick up the 15,000 lb hanging from
the surface and start robbing you of setdown
weight. You could disregard the area inside the
tubing.
If you had 2-7/8 in. tubing and wanted to go to
4,000 psi, you would multiply 5 in.2 by 4,000 psi
and would need about 20,000 lb in the elevators or
slips to be safe.
If you are shallow, and have all your weight set on
the packer, you will probably need to figure it. If you
do figure it and the force created at the top of the
20,000 lb
tubing is enough to make your tool fail, you might

consider flanging it down.
When you flange it down, you have no worries. The
force created at the surface will only be pushing up
on the bolts holding the flange, and the tubing can’t
move up to start robbing you of setdown weight.

Your Answer - Setdown 29,120 lb↓
WRONG!
You forgot that when you displaced, you were already holding some pressure just to hold the 9.4 lb/gal
fluid up in the annulus.
You are either going to have to bleed this pressure off and figure the down force and then the up force
caused by pressuring up to 2,000 psi, or you might figure that you have that much pressure against the
bottom of the tool, and how much in addition it will take to make 2,000 psi and multiply this times the area
under the tool.

You can very quickly figure out for your particular

area, depth, pressure and size tubing as to
whether this will concern you.
Most of the areas we have are deep enough to not
have the problem, so for working these prob-
lems, we will use the ID of the casing to the ID of
the tubing for our area underneath retrievable
setdown packers.
The problems with setdown packers are worked
just the same as the upstrain tools. The initial set-
ting force is in a different direction, but we still work
from a change. Let’s try one.
We are running a “G” type packer (hook wall) with
no hold down. We are going to run the tool, dis-
place fresh water down the tubing, set the tool and
pressure up under the tool to 2,000 psi.

9.4 lb/gal fluid in the hole
70.3 lb/cu ft
Fresh water - 8.34 lb/gal
62.4 lb/cu ft
How much weight are we going to have to set-
down?
a) 23,675 lb↓ Page 47

(b) 5,445 lb↓ Page 54
(c) 29,120 lb↓ Page 44

WHOOPS! YOU’RE WRONG!

You did a fine job of figuring, except for one thing, you forgot the 1,000 psi on the annulus. That 1,000 psi
is going to give you a lot more, down force to divide up by that area.
Go back to page 55, put that 1,000 psi in the hopper and shake it up again. We’ll see what you come up
with then.

Your Answer - setdown 23,675 lb↓
YOU ARE RIGHT!

Now let’s work another problem. We are running a
“G” type packer with no hold down, we cannot
pressure the annulus, and with the following cir-
cumstances, what pressure can we go to under the
packer. Remember, P = F
A

8.34 lb/gal water in the hole
62.4 lb/cu ft
15,000 lb↓ set on packer
What pump pressure can I go to under the tool?
(a) 547 psi Page 49

(b) 523 psi Page 55

YOU ARE WRONG!

Remember that when you circulate the oil down the tubing and set the tool, you are going to end up with
pressure on the tubing. When you bleed it off, you are going to add a lot of setdown weight just about like
kicking a chair out from under someone.
I would like to say that as long as you held that pressure that was used to displace with on the tubing, the
tool would be balanced, except for the things you figured (annulus pressure and setdown weight). If you
held this displacement pressure on the tubing, you could go to 1,693 psi more under the tool. However,
that wasn’t the question, was it?
Return to page 55 and figure the rest of the problem.

WRONG!
You have 15,000 lb↓ setting on the packer, and you want to know how much you can pressure to under
the tool. You are going to have to use the area under the tool to divide into the 15,000 lb↓.
Return to page 47 and do it again.


RIGHT ON THE MONEY!
Now for your final problem with setdown packers,
we will work another figuring how much to pressure
the annulus. This problem has a little bit of every-
thing in it. When you can work this one, and under-
stand it, you will have a good grasp on what this
book has been trying to teach.
Run a “G” type packer, (no hold down) and set it.
Fill the casing and tubing with 38 gravity oil.
4,900 ft fluid level from surface when packer is set
38 gravity oil in hole
15,000 lb↓ set on the packer
2,000 psi pump pressure desired under the tool
What pressure will have to be held on annulus to
hold down the tool?
(a) Since this is the final problem with retrievable

tools, and we want you to know how to work
them, you will get no help with wrong answers.
You must come up with the following answer,
and show all arithmetic.
Answer - 1,298 psi

Your Answer - 571 psi.
WRONG!
You forgot to figure in the 2,500 psi that you are going to pressure to. It’s going to be under there, kicking
up a great big fuss, and it has a lot of area to kick against.
Since it will be trying to unset the tool, perhaps you had better go back and figure it into your calculations.

RIGHT!
You counted your pressure in the annulus, your
pressure decrease under the tool, and your set-
down weight. All of these gave you down forces,
and you divided by your area under the tool to see
how much you could pressure.
Another problem we have concerns a tool that is
already set, (perhaps flanged) and we have to go
to a certain amount of pressure under it. How much
will we have to pressure the annulus to hold it
down? How about trying one.
We have a “G” type packer in the hole.

(No hold down)
9.2 lb/gal fluid in the hole when set
68.8 lb/cu ft
15,000 lb↓ set on the tool
Pressure to 2,500 psi under the tool
How much pressure on the annulus to hold the tool
down?
(a) 2,101 psi Page 50

(b) 571 psi Page 51
(c) 1,965 psi Page 53

WRONG!
You did real fine up until you started to divide. And then you reached out and took the wrong area.
You figured out that the packer was trying to go up the hole by 55,150 lb↓, but instead of using the area
in the annulus to help hold it down, you used the area under the tool. Were you trying to boost it on up
some more?
Return to page 52 and use the right area.

Your Answer - Setdown 5,445 lb↓.
WRONG!
Wrong on several accounts. First you are going to pressure under the packer to 2,000 psi. You forgot to
figure that.
You don’t have to setdown this 5,445 lb↓ as it is caused by your bleeding off the displacement pressure.
It will get transferred to the tool as soon as you set the tool and bleed off, so it is already setting on the tool.
Now you must figure how much up force will be created by 2,000 psi and then figure you have already
overcome 5,445 lb of that up force. How much additional will you need?
Return to page 45 and complete the rest of the problem.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
That was an easy one, wasn’t it? Everything was
balanced except for the 15,000 lb↓. You just fig-
ured out how much area you had under the tool,
and divided it into 15,000.
Here is another one in which we want to know how
much we can pressure to under the tool. This is a
setdown tool with no hold down. We want to circu-
late the oil down the tubing, set the tool, and pres-
sure the annulus to 1,000 psi.

12.6 lb/gal mud in annulus
94.3 lb/cu ft
34 gravity oil in the tubing
20,000 lb↓ set on packer
What pump pressure can we go to under the tool?
(a) 1,693 psi Page 48

(b) 3,156 psi Page 46
(c) 4,087 psi Page 52

CONGRATULATIONS!
Let’s hope that congratulations are in order. If you turned here for help to figure the problem, I’m sorry,
there’s no help.
As you understand by now, whenever you are figuring just the tool itself and not hook load, you must figure
from a change when set procedure. This same principle applies when you are trying to figure a problem
with Model D Packers concerning how much to set on a locator seal assembly to hold it in the packer.
This differs from what is the hook load to come loose from the packer. In the latter you are figuring hook
load.
REMEMBER:
It doesn’t matter what kind of a packer you are figuring, whether it is a permanent type or a retrievable. If
you are figuring hook load, you figure straight Pressure Times Area. If you are figuring a problem con-
cerning the packer itself (how much to pull or push, how much you can pressure) you work from a change,
even though it might be a Model D Packer.
The good simple rule to follow is: if you are figuring hook load, it’s a straight pressure times area propo-
sition. If you are figuring how much to push or pull on a tool or how much you can pressure on one, work
from a balanced when set approach.
The difference in the two approaches is the resisting force built into the tubing, that is counteracting your
buoyant force. If you don’t figure it this way, your answer will be off by that amount, which is equal to
buoyancy.
The next section of the book could be called the useful information section. All of it wouldn’t be classed
as hydraulics, but it does cover things that are helpful to us in running of tools.

In this useful information section we will cover the following subjects:
1) Water-Oil ratio. What do you use for psi/ft when your fluid is a mixture of oil and water.
2) Other forces that concern us besides piston effect.
3) Stretch of tubular goods. How to figure stretch in tubing and casing without stretch charts.
4) Grades of tubular goods. What these mean in terms of minimum yield.
5) Vacuum. What a vacuum is and what it can and cannot do.
6) Some do’s and dont’s in running tools.
7) Remembering the importance of area.
A good understanding of the above should help you in running tools, and also clarify some of the things
that happen to you while you are running them.

Sometimes when we ask a customer in the field

what weight fluid he has in the hole, he will say 38
gravity oil, about 60% water cut. As we deal more
and more with production, we get our fluid as some 40%
percentage water cut. We still need to be able to 38 Gravity
convert this into hydrostatic pressure and it is sim- oil with
ple to do. .362 psi/ft
One foot long

What he is actually saying is that 60% of the fluid
is water and 40% is oil. We use fluid gradient or
psi/ft all the time so it would be simply that 60% of
that foot of fluid is water and 40% of the foot is oil. 60%
Water
In the drawing at the right, you have a column of with .434
fluid one foot high which is comprised of 38 gravity psi/ft
oil 60% fresh water cut.
To figure the fluid gradient or psi/ft you do this:
.434 psi/ft water .362 psi/ft 38 gr oil
.60 % water cut .40 % oil cut
.260 psi/60% of a ft .145 psi/40% of a ft
.260
.145
.405 psi/ft for the mixture
Multiply this .405 psi/ft times your depth, and you
know the hydrostatic pressure in the well. If the wa-
ter settled out in the well, it should still be a 60-40
proposition. The water could be anything from
fresh water to fairly salty, and the oil could be of
any gravity. It is real easy to look them up in your
fluid gradient charts.
What is the hydrostatic pressure in a well 12,000 ft
deep that has 26 gravity oil, 20% cut with 8.6 lb/gal
salt water? The fluid level is 3,000 ft from the
surface.
(a) 3,924 psi Page 62

(b) 4,800 psi Page 64
(c) 3,600 psi Page 60

Did you ever wonder how stretch charts were arrived at, or need to know the amount of stretch for a size
of tubing that wasn’t listed in your book? Actually, to figure the stretch in pipe without a chart is not too
complicated. The basic formula for stretch is known as Hooke’s Law.
It is this:
Stretch = Force x Length
Steel’s Elasticity Factor x Cross Sectional Area
In engineering terms: S = FxL

E x As
FORCE is how much you are pulling.
LENGTH is how long the pipe is.
STEEL’S ELASTICITY FACTOR is a constant, always 30,000,000.
CROSS SECTIONAL AREA is its outside area minus its inside area.
Let us illustrate the formula with an example problem. We have 2-3/8 in. tubing at 5,000 ft and want to
pull 20,000 lb. You would set up the problem in this manner:
Stretch = 20,000 x 5,000 x 12 = 120 = 30.7 in.
30,000,000 x 1.3 3.9
Since length is in feet and cross sectional area is in inches, multiply length by 12. This convert the feet to
inches. To get the cross sectional area consult the dimensional data in the back of this book.
4.43 in.2 minus 3.13 in.2 equals 1.3 in.2
To make the arithmetic easier, cross off zero’s on top of the line and cross off the same number below
the line. If depth doesn’t come out in zeros, move the decimal point over three places, and still cross off
three zero’s underneath the line. This will help with the multiplication. If you check that answer with your
cementing handbook, you will see that it is right.
This same formula applies to sucker rods or any other steel goods. To calculate for other than steel, use
a different formula. Notice that stretch has nothing to do with grade of pipe. It makes no difference whether
this was J-55 or P-110, it stretches the same for this amount of force.
Turn to page 65.

CORRECT!
Throughout this book, we have been figuring how much area there is on our tools that is exposed to pres-
sure and how much pressure we have at those points, then multiplying to find the forces. We find out
whether these forces are up or down, and how badly they are out of balance. These forces, caused by
pressure and area, are called piston effect by our engineers. It is only one of four things that cause our
tools to try to come up or go down the hole. The other three things are important to us also. The calcula-
tions needed to figure them are rather difficult, and they will not be in this book. Perhaps they will be in a
future book. I will list these other things that cause tubing to elongate and shorten, and a brief word of
explanation.
TEMPERATURE. We know that when you heat metal it expands and when you cool it, the metal con-
tracts. In a long string of pipe, where you change the temperature over its entire length, this contraction
or elongation, can be considerable. In a well, we run a string of pipe to bottom and the well, being warmer
than the air at the surface, will warm up the string and elongate it. If you produce the well, the hot fluid
from the bottom will heat the string of pipe as it comes up and this will elongate it more. If you start to inject
fluid into the well, it will be colder than the fluid in the well, and as it cools the string, it will shorten it. What
does this mean to you? It means that if you are tied directly to your tool on bottom, you are suddenly put-
ting more weight down on it, or picking up weight off it. If you are stung into your packer (locator seal as-
sembly) shortening of the tubing might be picking you up out of the packer. As you can readily see, the
above could either give you more force to maintain a pack off, or cause your tool to fail.
BALLOONING OR REVERSE BALLOONING. We ordinarily think of pipe as being stiff and unyielding.
However, when we get a long string of it hanging in a well, and subject it to the high pressures that we go
to, it is a great deal like a child’s balloon. When you pressure up inside it, it swells like the balloon. When
you pressure up outside it, it contracts or gets smaller in OD. When you pressure up inside of it and it
swells in OD, it gets shorter. When you pressure up outside it and contract it, it gets longer. On a string
of pipe, this difference in length is considerable. The next time you set a setdown packer, and pressure
the annulus to check it, and are hanging in the elevators, watch the weight indicator lose weight. The tub-
ing simply got longer, and since it couldn’t go down, it came up, relieving the weight indicator of weight.
Ballooning or reverse ballooning can very easily make 5,000 lb to 10,000 lb difference in your calculations,
as to what you have pushed or pulled on the tool.

Your Answer - .9 in. of stretch
YOU GOOFED!
You forgot to multiply the depth by 12 to convert it to inches. This leaves you dividing sq in. into feet. Ac-
tually, you could convert your cross sectional area into square feet, and then you would get your stretch
in feet.
Let’s go back and separate this information, so that when you multiply you get the correct information.
Return to page 65.

WRONG!
The only way to arrive at this answer is to have incorrect percentages. You have 20% cut with water, and
80% cut with oil.

BUCKLING (DUE TO PRESSURE). Buckling is

perhaps a little more difficult to understand. It is
caused by pressuring the inside of pipe. All pipe,
such as tubing has imperfections on the inside of
it. These imperfections give more area to the in-
side of the pipe on one side than the other. In the
drawings, to the right, we have a very much en- more
larged view of a section of pipe. As you can see, an area
imperfection gives more area to one side. You
might think this is very minute, and it is, but it oc-
curs all throughout the string, thousands upon
thousands of times. It isn’t the severity of these im-
perfections that bothers us, but the accumulation
of them. When you add them together, you have a
lot of force. This force pushes the tubing outward,
and it will seek the inside of the casing or hole and
conform to it. This causes it to buckle in a spiral, or
helical form. Needless to say, as it buckles out-
ward, it shortens. The amount that it tends to short-
en, will be governed to a great degree by both how
much pressure and how much annular room it has More area
to buckle in. times same
pressure
These were not put into this book to confuse, or
equals more
frighten you. They were put here to make you force.
aware that they do exist, and so that you can put
what you have been figuring (piston effect) in its
proper perspective. Piston effect is the force that
bothers us most of the time. Given the proper con-
ditions, any of these others could be powerful forc-
es. Again, I will list the four things that affect us and
our calculations in regard to tools.
more
PISTON EFFECT area
TEMPERATURE
BALLOONING AND REVERSE BALLOONING
BUCKLING
When you have a well problem in which you be-
lieve that these other forces will be severe, and
might cause a tool failure, you should contact your
District Mechanical Engineer. He has the facts and
figures to calculate them.

WRONG!
The well may be 12,000 ft deep, but the fluid level is 3,000 ft from the surface. You only have 9,000 ft of
fluid.
Return to page 58.

If you can remember this formula, you can figure the stretch for all kinds of situations, stretch on casing,
odd sizes of tubing, and the like.
To be sure that you have a grasp on it, let’s work a problem with it. I have a parallel hook up and am run-
ning 1.315 in. tubing for the short string. I am going to sting it into a parallel string anchor at 2,000 ft and
want to pull 7,000 lb↑ before I land it. How many inches of stretch will that be?
S = FxL
E x As
(a) .9 in. of stretch Page 61

(b) 11.4 in. of stretch Page 67

We know that the cross sectional area of 2-3/8 in. tubing is 1.3 in.2. We arrive at this by subtracting its
outside area from its inside area.
4.43 in.2 - 3.13 in.2 = 1.3 in.2
Since the rating on pipe is in thousands of pounds, we would say that the minimum yield of 2-3/8 in. upset
H-40 tubing would be 1.3 in.2 times 40,000 lb. When you multiply this, you get 52,000 lb minimum yield.
If you look in your cementing book, you will see that it has 52,170 lb. This small difference is because they
carry their decimals farther than we do when they figure area.
The next logical question is: Where do I take my cross-sectional area from all the time. The answer is this:
You always take the weakest point in the string. An upset joint looks like this:
You would have to take the joint itself. The upset simply means that they have built the end thicker so that
when they cut threads, the end will still be as strong as the tubing itself. Did you notice in the cementing
handbook that the minimum yield for 2-3/8 in. non-upset was 35,960 lb for H-40? They both have the
same ID and OD, why isn’t it as strong? Here is a drawing:
As you can see, the tubing is the same thickness, but the weakest part is that section right underneath
the last full thread. It is still H-40, but it is 40,000 lb times a smaller cross-sectional area.
What is the minimum yield for 2-3/8 in. OD EU tubing with a rating of P-110? What is the minimum yield
for 1.315 OD EU tubing with a rating of J-55? What is the minimum yield for 1.660 OD EU tubing with a
rating of JayCon-50?
(a) 143,000 lb
(b) 26,950 lb
(c) 33,500 lb
Turn to page 68.

Your Answer - 11.4 in. of stretch
CORRECT!
Something else that you might find to be both interesting and useful is how to arrive at minimum yield and
what the grades of pipe mean. But before we go into this, you need a good understanding of two terms
which we use often.
MINIMUM YIELD. This is the amount of pull that you can pull the pipe without permanently deforming it.
When you pull on the pipe up to the yield point and then slack off, it will return to its original shape. But if
you pull on it with a force greater than its yield point, you run the risk of separating the particles of metal
to where they will not re-assume their original shape. Another way of putting it is that you have exceeded
the pipe’s elastic limits. The figures you arrive at are minimum figures. The steel mills have said that it will
stand at least this amount and it should be in excess of this. One word of caution: the steel mills said that
it would stand this much pull at the time it left the mills and all wear and tear since that time have
weakened it.
TENSILE STRENGTH. This is the amount of pull necessary to completely separate the pipe. This will
always be some amount of pull that is greater than its minimum yield.
The figures we get apply to minimum yield and, actually, this is the only thing that we are interested in.
When you have exceeded the pipe’s minimum yield, you have already pulled too much. As you know, it
will come out of the hole in a corkscrew fashion. If you go to a pipe manufacturer’s book and find the ten-
sile strength figure, and use it, remember that you will already have ruined the pipe by exceeding its
minimum yield.
Next comes pipe ratings. We know that they give the following ratings to pipe: H-40, JayCon-50, J-55, N-
80, S-95, P-110 and some P-150. What these ratings mean is that the steel mill guarantees that you can
pull that much in thousands of pounds for every square inch of cross sectional area.

Let’s discuss Vacuum for a while. Actually, we don’t use vacuum in our calculations very often, but we
do talk about it and use it in our discussions quite often. Since we do talk about it quite a bit, perhaps we
had better be sure that we all look at it in the same way and understand it the same. I would venture the
opinion that vacuum is about as misunderstood a term as there is in the oilfield.
If you consult a dictionary, it will give you the definition of vacuum. It will probably say something to the
effect that it is: An absence of matter; a void; an absence of pressure. As we would understand it, it would
be some particular amount of space or a container in which all pressure has been removed.
If you put a pressure against something, then that pressure pushing against the area becomes a force. If
that force is great enough, it will move the object. If you remove a pressure from an object, the removal
cannot pull it. Pressure does not have fingers and even though it can push, it cannot take hold of some-
thing and pull it. I wish to make this very clear. Pressure can put its shoulder behind an object and do a
very good job of pushing, however, when you remove pressure from the object, it cannot reach around
behind and pull the object with it.
The atmosphere around the earth has been compared to the ocean. This is a good comparison. In the
ocean you have great depth of water. The water on the surface has very little pressure as it doesn’t have
any water on top of it pushing down. The deeper you go, the more pressure, until you get to bottom, at
which there is the maximum hydrostatic pressure. The atmosphere is the same. Up high there is very little
pressure, but since air has weight, and it is stacked on top of itself, the farther down you come the more
pressure. We bring this measurement of the hydrostatic pressure of air down to a common place to
measure depth, and that is sea level. The hydrostatic pressure of air at sea level is 14.7 psi.
We, of course, call this atmospheric pressure at sea level. If you removed every last bit of pressure from
a container at sea level, you would only be removing 14.7 psi. This would be a perfect vacuum. I would
like to mention that no one yet has been able to create a perfect vacuum. They can remove most of the
pressure, but can’t create a perfect vacuum by removing all the pressure.
This vacuum by itself can do no work. Whether the container collapses or not will be dependent upon how
much pressure is on the outside. If 14.7 psi is enough to collapse the container, it will collapse. A simple
test of this is with a soda straw. You have a good set of lungs, so you might try this: Take any good soda
straw, of the malted milk variety, and put a finger over one end. With that good set of lungs, suck the air
out of it, and see if you can collapse it. If it is a half way decent straw, you can’t do it. Why? Because the
vacuum that you put on it can’t pull and the atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi is not enough to push it in.
So, with all the mighty power of your lungs putting a vacuum on the straw, the only work done to collapse
it is the 14.7 psi outside it pushing inward.

Let us get rid of the thought that a vacuum pulls on something.

Since a perfect vacuum would only be the removal of 14.7 psi, we
don’t need to concern ourselves with how much of a vacuum is on
to pump
something, but we do need to concern ourselves with how much
pressure is on the other side. It is this pressure that will collapse the
tubing, casing or what not.
Now to follow this line of reasoning a little farther. We have all been
exposed to the theory that with a water pump you can’t raise water
over 33 feet. This is true, and let’s see why. First of all, these pumps
use the principle of a piston creating a partial vacuum and the pump
is on the surface.
On the right is a schematic drawing. If you remove the air from the
tube with a pump, the column of fluid will only come up until its hy-
drostatic head is equal to the atmospheric pressure on the outside
that is pushing it up. It is the 14.7 psi that is on the outside doing all
the pushing. It is pushing down and around the bottom and pushing
the column of fluid up, and since you removed the 14.7 psi in the
tube that was pushing down, it can push up until the column is high
enough to have a hydrostatic pressure of 14.7 psi. In the case of wa-
ter, it will lift the column about 33.8 ft. If you multiply .434 psi/ft times
33.8 ft you will get a hydrostatic pressure of 14.7 psi.
33.8 ft
The above is the principle of a barometer. Changes in atmospheric
pressure will raise or lower the column of fluid. Since 33 ft is an un-
handy length for a barometer, they use mercury. As you know, mer-
cury is heavy, and has a Fluid Gradient of 5.89 psi/ft 14.7 psi
atmospheric pressure will only push it up in the tube 29.92 inches.
This same principle applies when you suck on a straw in a glass of
water. You don’t pull the water up, but you do remove some of the
pressure, and the 14.7 psi atmospheric in the glass outside the
straw pushes the water down around the bottom of the straw and up
into your mouth. The same applies when you throw a suction into a
pit. There is 14.7 psi pushing down on the mud in the pit, and 14.7
14.7 psi
psi in hose pushing down on the mud. When you start the pump and
remove part of the pressure in the hose, then the 14.7 psi on top of
the mud in the pit will push it up into the hose. This is why pump
companies who want more fluid pumped, will enclose the fluid to be
pumped and pressure it. With more than 14.7 psi pushing the fluid
into the suction, you can really pump.
I might mention that with that water well, and your trying to raise that
column of fluid more than 33 feet, all you would have to do is cover
the annulus and pressure. With the suction pressured you could
make that water go a lot higher than 33 feet.
Please continue on page 70.

We see evidence of this principle all around us.

Mud pumps on big drilling rigs will be sitting on the
ground near the pit, so that they don’t have to raise
fluid so high. Did you ever notice the old Hallibur-
ton VP AC had its mixing tub slide out from the
side, and was up off the ground nearer to the
pump? 16 lb/gal (119 lb/cu ft) cement has a fluid
gradient of .831 psi ft, and can only be picked up
18 ft from a mixing tub. The less height from the
pump to the mixing tub, the less pressure drop you
need to get fluid and the less horse-power needed.
Consider the drawing to the right. There is a 20 ft
cylinder with the bottom end bull plugged. There is
a piston in the bottom end of it with a rod attached.
The piston is 2-1/2 in. in diameter and has 5 in.2 of
area. The piston fits the inside of the cylinder and
is packed off. Disregard friction.
Could you pull the piston out of the cylinder?

20 ft long cylinder
5 in.2 area on top of piston
(a) Yes Page 72

(b) No Page 71

Your Answer - No
WRONG!
You are answering with your emotions, or the way you feel, rather than with logic. I would have to be hon-
est enough to say that I feel about the same way. I feel as though it would take a super-human pull to get
that piston out. But logic tells me that all it would take is 14.7 psi times 5 in.2 or 73.5 lb↑ maximum.
This goes back to what I said a moment ago. Vacuum is a misunderstood subject. We attach a great
amount of importance to something that is just an absence of pressure. I think one reason for this is that
we hear an inrush of air to fill a partial vacuum and, since it makes a lot of noise, we think of it as being a
big force.
Let’s rejoin the class on page 72.

Your Answer - Yes
CORRECT!
Even though we might feel that it wouldn’t come out, logic and reasoning tell us that if we pull 14.7 psi
times 5 in.2 or 73.5 lb↑ it will come out.
Well, enough of vacuum. Let’s just be careful about saying: “That well went on a vacuum and just sucked
the casing right in,” because as we know, it went on a vacuum and was pushed in.
Since this book is for our new people as well as our older people, I think we might put in some do’s and
don’ts in running tools. Actually, they are some of the things that happen occasionally and embarrass us.
Always remember that the person responsible to see that a tool is in operating condition, has the right
size gage and guide rings, proper size and thread on the subs, etc., is the person who takes it out to run
the job. No matter who dressed the tool, or made it ready, it is still the responsibility of the man who runs
the job.
When this person doesn’t check everything properly, these are some of the things that can happen. A ball
won’t pass through a sub to reach the tool to set it, because he didn’t check before the job. Packers won’t
go through a multiple head because of tolerances in the head. Can’t set his tool properly because the mul-
tiple head isn’t compatible. Gets to the job and has the wrong subs, because he took someone’s word
that they were of a certain thread.
Other common mishaps concern receiving tools from the manufacturing plant. Never assume that a tool
is correct just because it comes from Houston. Always check it over. If you ordered a special tool, always
check it when it arrives to see that it was made according to your instruction.
All in all, the best thing all around is to know yourself that it is right because you, yourself, checked it. This
will save you a lot of embarrassment.

This book has been about PRESSURE, AREA and FORCE. I would like to take this opportunity to re-
impress on you the importance of area.
All of the time that we have been in the oilfield, we have been very impressed with pressure. We are fond
of saying, “We went to 6,000 pounds pressure, or maybe even 9,000 pounds pressure.” The only thing
important about pressure by itself is that it might blow up a line or the tubing.
What you should be just as interested in is “How much area was it pushing on”? This is what will determine
how much work that pressure is going to perform.
I will list an extreme example to point out what area could do to you. We have built some duplex cementing
shoes that were 72 in. diameter and larger. They figure out the problems before and know how to cement
with them, but let’s consider this size pipe, its limitations and some of the things this amount of area could
give us.
72 in. ID = 4,072 in.2 of area
73-1/2 in. OD = 4,243 in.2 of area
490 psi burst
30 psi collapse
5,643,000 lb minimum yield (mill rated 33,000)
200 psi shear strength on cement
We are not impressed with 1,000 psi, but 1,000 psi under this shoe would create a force of 4,243,000 lb↑.
Another thing, with this size of casing, even though it was 3/4 in. thick to the wall, would collapse with 30
psi. Those fluid columns would have to be right on the money or you could get 30 psi differential real quick.
We look at the 200 psi shear on the cement and think, “It must be weak.” 200 psi times 4,072 in.2 (inside
area) actually is giving us a shear strength of 814,400 lb. So that cement is giving us a shear strength of
over 3/4 of a million pounds. That is quite a bit.
So let us always be as impressed with area as we are with pressure. It causes our tools to both work and
fail, just as much as pressure does.
I hope that you have found this book to be of help to you. It was written to help you to understand the
problems connected with the running of tools and to help you in solving them. If this book has helped you
to be able to do your job better and easier, then it was time well spent.
Thank you.

This page is blank

Engineering Tables

Table AA
Tubing Sizes and Capacities
API Weight Cubic Feet Lineal Feet Barrels Lineal
Coupling
Size per Lineal per Lineal per Cubic per Lineal Feet per
Designation
(OD) Foot Foot Foot Foot Barrel
1.660 EU 2.40 .01040 96.19 .001852 540.0
1.900 NU 2.75 .01414 70.71 .002518 397.0
1.900 EU 2.90 .01415 70.67 .002520 396.8
2.375 NU 4.60 .02172 46.04 .003868 258.5
2.375 EU 4.70 .02173 46.02 .003870 258.4
2.875 NU 6.40 .03252 30.75 .005792 172.7
2.875 EU 6.50 .03253 30.74 .005794 172.6
3.500 NU 9.20 .04886 20.47 .008702 114.9
3.500 EU 9.30 .04888 20.46 .008706 114.9
3.500 NU 10.20 .04661 21.46 .008301 120.5
4.000 NU 9.50 .06869 14.56 .01223 81.75
4.000 EU 11.00 .06597 15.16 .01175 85.12
4.500 NU 12.60 .08549 11.70 .01523 65.69
4.500 EU 12.75 .08552 11.69 .01523 65.64
AA
Table BB
Casing Sizes and Capacities
(Volume in couplings has been omitted since the maximum error incurred is only .2%.)
Size Weight Cubic Feet Lineal Fee Barrels per Lineal Feet
(OD) per Foot per Lineal Foot per Cubic Foot Lineal Foot per Barrel
4 9.50 .0687 14.56 .0122 81.97
4 11.60 .0642 15.58 .0114 87.72
4 12.60 .0617 16.21 .0110 90.91
4-1/2 9.50 .0912 10.96 .0162 61.73
4-1/2 11.60 .0873 11.45 .0155 64.52
4-1/2 12.60 .0855 11.70 .0152 65.79
4-1/2 13.50 .0838 11.93 .0149 67.11
4-1/2 16.60 .0798 12.53 .0142 70.42
5-1/2 13.00 .1388 7.205 .0247 40.49
5-1/2 14.00 .1370 7.299 .0244 40.98
5-1/2 15.00 .1349 7.413 .0240 41.67
5-1/2 15.50 .1336 7.485 .0238 42.02
5-1/2 17.00 .1305 7.663 .0232 43.10
5-1/2 20.00 .1245 8.032 .0222 45.05
5-1/2 23.00 .1189 8.410 .0212 47.17
5-1/2 25.00 .1144 8.741 .0204 49.08
7 17.00 .2331 4.290 .0415 24.10
7 20.00 .2273 4.400 .0405 24.69
7 22.00 .2233 4.478 .0398 25.13
7 23.00 .2210 4.525 .0394 25.38
7 24.00 .2190 4.566 .0390 25.64
7 26.00 .2148 4.656 .0383 26.11
7 28.00 .2106 4.748 .0375 26.67
7 29.00 .2086 4.794 .0372 26.88
7 30.00 .2066 4.840 .0368 27.15
7 32.00 .2025 4.938 .0361 27.70
7 33.70 .1995 5.013 .0355 28.17
7 34.00 .1990 5.025 .0354 28.22
7 35.00 .1966 5.087 .0350 28.57
7 35.30 .1963 5.094 .0350 28.60
7 38.00 .1911 5.233 .0340 29.41
7 40.00 .1858 5.382 .0331 30.21
BBof 73
Section 3... Page 77
Table CC
Method of Calculating Time in Minutes Necessary to Pump Cementing Plug to Seat
(Calculated on 85% pump efficiency)
Step: 1. Calculate capacity of casing in bbl’s by multiplying depth to which plug is to be pumped by factor
shown under column titled, “Bbl’s per Lineal Foot,” opposite size and weight of casing involved.
Step: 2. Multiply casing capacity (Bbl’s) by Factor “A”.
Step: 3. Multiply results of Step No. 2 by Factor “B”.
Factor “A” @ 85% Factor “A” @ 85%

Bore Stroke Bore Stroke
Pump Eff Stk/Bbl Pump Eff Stk/Bbl
3-1/2" 10" 29.629 6-3/4" 16" 5.000
4" 10" 22.727 7" 16" 4.640
4-1/2" 10" 17.937 7-1/4" 16" 4.319
5" 10" 14.556 7-1/2" 16" 4.040
5" 12" 12.106 7-3/4" 16" 3.773
5-1/2" 12" 10.000 5" 18" 8.064
6" 12" 8.438 5-1/2" 18" 6.688
6-1/4" 12" 7.751 6" 18" 5.555
6-1/2" 12" 7.178 6-1/4" 18" 5.181
6-3/4" 12" 6.644 6-1/2" 18" 4.784
7" 12" 6.172 6-3/4" 18" 4.444
7-1/4" 12" 5.763 7" 18" 4.115
7-1/2" 12" 5.376 7-1/4" 18" 3.838
7-3/4" 12" 5.037 7-1/2" 18" 3.584
5" 14" 10.395 7-3/4" 18" 3.361
5-1/2" 14" 8.583 6-1/2" 20" 4.291
6" 14" 7.204 6-3/4" 20" 4.000
6-1/4" 14" 6.644 7" 20" 3.703
6-1/2" 14" 6.153 7-1/4" 20" 3.460
6-3/4" 14" 5.681 7-1/2" 20" 3.236
7" 14" 5.305 7-3/4" 20" 3.030
7-1/4" 14" 4.938 6-3/4" 24" 3.322
7-1/2" 14" 4.618 7" 24" 3.095
7-3/4" 14" 4.310 7-1/4" 24" 2.881
5" 16" 9.09 7-1/2" 24" 2.691
5-1/2" 16" 7.518 7-3/4" 24" 2.518
6" 16" 6.309 8" 24" 2.366
6-1/4" 16" 5.813
6-1/2" 16" 5.376
Pump Strokes/Min Factor “B” Min/Stk Pump Strokes/Min Factor “B” Min/Stk
10 .100 65 .015
20 .050 70 .014
30 .033 75 .013
40 .025 80 .013
45 .022 85 .012
50 .020 90 .011
55 .018 95 .011
60 .017 100 .010
CC
Table DD
Fluid Gradient Table
(Weight given in pounds per gallon or pounds per cubic foot)
To find hydrostatic pressure, find fluid gradient in center column opposite mud weight shown in left or right
column. Multiply fluid gradient by depth in feet.
Wt in Lbs Fluid Gradient Wt in Lbs Wt in Lbs Fluid Gradient Wt in Lbs

per Gallon (PSI per Foot) per Cu Ft per Gallon (PSI per Foot) per Cu Ft
Oil 7.2 .374 53.9 13.6 .706 101.7
7.4 .384 55.4 13.8 .717 103.2
7.6 .395 56.9 14.0 .727 104.7
7.8 .405 58.3 14.2 .738 106.2
8.0 .416 59.8 14.4 .748 107.7
8.2 .426 61.3 14.6 .758 109.2
Water 8.34 .433 62.4 14.8 .769 110.7
8.4 .436 62.8 15.0 .779 112.2
8.6 .447 64.3 15.2 .790 113.7
8.8 .457 65.8 15.4 .800 115.2
9.0 .468 67.3 15.6 .810 116.7
9.2 .478 68.8 15.8 .821 118.2
9.4 .488 70.3 16.0 .831 119.7
9.6 .499 71.8 16.2* .842* 121.2
9.8 .509 73.3 16.4 .852 122.7
10.0 .519 74.8 16.6 .862 124.2
10.2 .530 76.3 16.8 .873 125.7
10.4 .540 77.8 17.0 .883 127.2
10.6 .551 79.3 17.2 .894 128.7
10.8 .561 80.8 17.4 .904 130.2
11.0 .571 82.3 17.6 .914 131.6
11.2 .582 83.8 17.8 .925 133.1
11.4 .592 85.3 18.0 .935 134.6
11.6 .603 86.8 18.2 .945 136.1
11.8 .613 88.3 18.4 .956 137.6
12.0 .623 89.8 18.6 .966 139.1
12.2 .634 91.3 18.8 .977 140.6
12.4 .644 92.8 19.0 .987 142.1
12.6 .655 94.3 19.2 .997 143.6
12.8 .665 95.7 19.4 1.008 145.1
13.0 .675 97.2 19.6 1.018 146.6
13.2 .686 98.7 19.8 1.028 148.1
13.4 .696 100.2 20.0 1.039 149.6
*Common Cement Slurry
DDof 73
Table EE
Fluid Gradient Table
(Weight given in API gravity)
To find hydrostatic pressure, find fluid gradient in right-hand column opposite API gravity of oil.
Multiply fluid gradient by depth in feet.
API Gravity Fluid Gradient

of Oil (PSI per Foot)
10 .433
12 .427
15 .418
18 .410
20 .405
22 .399
24 .394
26 .389
28 .384
30 .379
31 .377
32 .375
33 .373
34 .370
35 .368
36 .366
37 .364
38 .362
39 .359
40 .357
41 .355
42 (Diesel Oil) .354
43 .351
44 .349
46 .345
48 .341
50 .338
55 .329
60 .320
EE
Table FF
PSI per Barrel
Mud Weight
Psi/Ft 2-3/8" EU 2-7/8" EU 2-7/8" IU 3 -1/2" IU
Lbs/Gal
Tubing Tubing Drill Pipe Drill Pipe
(Pure Water)
8.34 .433 111.9 74.8 97.7 58.9
9.0 .468 120.8 80.7 105.4 63.6
9.2 .478 123.5 82.5 107.8 65.0
9.4 .488 126.1 84.3 110.1 66.4
9.6 .499 128.8 86.1 112.4 67.8
9.8 .509 131.5 87.9 114.8 69.2
10.0 .519 134.2 89.7 117.1 70.7
10.2 .530 136.9 91.4 119.5 72.1
10.4 .540 139.6 93.2 121.8 73.5
10.6 .551 142.2 95.0 124.2 74.9
10.8 .561 144.9 96.8 126.5 76.3
11.0 .571 147.6 98.6 128.8 77.7
11.2 .582 150.3 100.4 131.2 79.1
11.4 .592 153.0 102.2 133.5 80.5
11.6 .603 155.7 104.0 135.9 82.0
11.8 .613 158.3 105.8 138.2 83.4
12.0 .623 161.0 107.6 140.6 84.8
12.2 .634 163.7 109.4 142.9 86.2
12.4 .644 166.4 111.2 145.2 87.6
12.6 .655 169.1 113.0 147.6 89.0
12.8 .665 171.8 114.8 149.9 90.4
13.0 .675 174.5 116.5 152.3 91.8
13.2 .686 177.1 118.3 154.6 93.3
13.4 .696 179.8 120.1 157.0 94.7
13.6 .707 182.5 121.9 159.3 96.1
13.8 .717 185.2 123.7 161.6 97.5
14.0 .727 187.9 125.5 164.0 98.9
14.5 .753 194.6 130.0 169.8 102.4
15.0 .779 201.3 134.5 175.7 106.0
15.5 .805 208.0 139.0 181.6 109.5
16.0 .831 214.7 143.4 187.4 113.0
16.5 .857 221.4 147.9 193.3 116.6
17.0 .883 228.1 152.4 199.1 120.1
17.5 .909 234.8 156.9 205.0 123.6
18.0 .935 241.5 161.4 210.8 127.2
18.5 .961 248.3 165.8 216.7 130.7
19.0 .987 255.0 170.3 222.6 134.2
19.5 1.01 261.7 174.8 228.4 137.8
20.0 1.04 268.4 179.3 234.3 141.3
FFof 73
Table GG
PSI per Cubic Foot
Mud Weight
Psi/Ft 2-3/8" EU 2-7/8" EU 3-1/2" EU 3 -1/2" IU
Lbs/Cu Ft
Tubing Tubing Tubing Drill Pipe
(Pure Water)
62.4 .433 19.94 13.32 8.87 10.50
70.0 .486 22.37 14.94 9.94 11.77
71.0 .493 22.69 15.15 10.09 11.94
72.0 .500 23.00 15.37 10.23 12.11
73.0 .507 23.32 15.58 10.37 12.28
74.0 .514 23.64 15.79 10.51 12.45
75.0 .521 23.96 16.01 10.66 12.62
76.0 .528 24.28 16.22 10.80 12.78
77.0 .535 24.60 16.43 10.94 12.95
78.0 .542 24.92 16.65 11.08 13.12
79.0 .549 25.24 16.86 11.22 13.29
80.0 .556 25.56 17.08 11.37 13.47
81.0 .563 25.88 17.29 11.51 13.62
82.0 .569 26.20 17.50 11.65 13.79
83.0 .576 26.52 17.72 11.79 13.96
84.0 .583 26.84 17.93 11.93 14.13
85.0 .590 27.16 18.14 12.08 14.30
86.0 .597 27.48 18.36 12.22 14.47
87.0 .604 27.80 18.57 12.36 14.63
88.0 .611 28.12 18.78 12.50 14.80
89.0 .618 28.44 19.00 12.64 14.97
90.0 .625 28.76 19.21 12.79 15.14
91.0 .632 29.08 19.42 12.93 15.31
92.0 .639 29.39 19.64 13.07 15.48
93.0 .646 29.71 19.85 13.21 15.64
94.0 .653 30.03 20.06 13.35 15.81
95.0 .660 30.35 20.28 13.50 15.98
96.0 .667 30.67 20.49 13.64 16.15
97.0 .674 30.99 20.70 13.78 16.32
98.0 .681 31.31 20.92 13.92 16.48
99.0 .688 31.63 21.13 14.06 16.65
100.0 .694 31.95 21.34 14.21 16.82
101.0 .701 32.27 21.56 14.35 16.99
102.0 .708 32.59 21.77 14.49 17.16
103.0 .715 32.91 21.98 14.63 17.33
104.0 .722 33.23 22.20 14.78 17.49
105.0 .729 33.55 22.41 14.92 17.66
106.0 .736 33.87 22.62 15.06 17.83
107.0 .743 34.19 22.84 15.20 18.00
108.0 .750 34.51 23.05 15.34 18.17
109.0 .757 34.83 23.26 15.49 18.33
110.0 .764 35.15 23.48 15.63 18.50
111.0 .771 35.47 23.69 15.77 18.67
112.0 .778 35.79 23.91 15.91 18.84
113.0 .785 36.10 24.12 16.05 19.01
114.0 .792 36.42 24.33 16.20 19.18
115.0 .799 36.74 24.55 16.34 19.34
116.0 .806 37.06 24.76 16.48 19.51
117.0 .813 37.38 24.97 16.62 19.68
118.0 .819 37.70 25.19 16.76 19.85
119.0 .826 38.02 25.40 16.91 20.02
GG
Table HH
Tubing Dimensional Data
Outside Nominal Inside Wall Inside Outside Cross
Diameter Weight Diameter Thickness Area Area Sectional
In. Lb per Ft In. In. Sq In. Sq In. Area Sq In.
1.050 1.14 - 1.20 .824 .113 .53 .87 .33
1.315 1.68 - 1.80 1.049 .133 .86 1.36 .49
1.660 2.27 - 2.40 1.380 .140 1.50 2.16 .67
1.900 2.75 - 2.90 1.610 .145 2.04 2.84 .80
2.000 3.30 - 3.40 1.670 .165 2.19 3.14 .95
2.063 3.25 - 3.40 1.750 .156 2.41 3.34 .94
2.375 4.60 - 4.70 1.995 .190 3.13 4.43 1.30
2.875 6.40 - 6.50 2.441 .217 4.68 6.49 1.81
3.500 9. 20 - 9.30 2.992 .254 7.03 9.62 2.59
4.000 9.50 3.548 .226 9.89 12.57 2.68
4.500 12.60 3.958 .271 12.30 15.90 3.60
Area of Packer Bores

1.96 in. diameter = 3 in.2
2.688 in. diameter =5.67 in.2
3.25 in. diameter =8.30 in.2
Area of Valves on Retrievable Bridge Plugs

Size # 43 1-15/16 in. diameter = 2.95 in.2
HHof 73
Table JJ
Casing Dimensional Data
Cross
Outside Nominal Inside Wall Inside Outside
Sectional
Diameter Weight Diameter Thickness Area Area
Area
In. Lb per Ft In. In. In.2 In.2
Sq In.
4-1/2 9.50 4.090 .205 13.14 15.90 2.78
4-1/2 10.50 4.052 .224 12.90 3.01
4-1/2 11.60 4.000 .250 12.57 3.34
4-1/2 13.50 3.920 .290 12.07 3.84
5 11.50 4.560 .220 16.33 19.64 3.30
5 13.00 4.494 .253 15.86 3.77
5 15.00 4.408 .296 15.26 4.37
5 18.00 4.276 .362 14.36 5.28
5-1/2 14.00 5.012 .244 19.73 23.76 4.03
5-1/2 15.50 4.950 .275 19.24 4.51
5-1/2 17.00 4.892 .304 18.80 4.96
5-1/2 20.00 4.778 .361 17.93 5.83
5-1/2 23.00 4.670 .415 17.13 6.63
6-5/8 20.00 6.049 .288 28.74 34.47 5.73
6-5/8 24.00 5.921 .352 27.54 6.94
6-5/8 28.00 5.791 .417 26.34 8.13
6-5/8 32.00 5.675 .475 25.29 9.18
7 17.00 6.538 .231 33.59 38.49 4.91
7 20.00 6.456 .272 32.74 5.75
7 23.00 6.366 .317 31.83 6.66
7 26.00 6.276 .362 30.94 7.55
7 29.00 6.184 .408 30.04 8.45
7 32.00 6.094 .453 29.17 9.32
7 35.00 6.004 .498 28.31 10.17
7 38.00 5.920 .540 27.53 10.96
7-5/8 24.00 7.025 .300 38.76 45.66 6.90
7-5/8 26.40 6.969 .328 38.14 7.52
7-5/8 29.70 6.875 .375 37.12 8.54
7-5/8 33.70 6.765 .430 35.94 9.72
7-5/8 39.00 6.625 .500 34.47 11.19
8-5/8 24.00 8.097 .264 51.49 58.43 6.93
8-5/8 28.00 8.017 .304 50.48 7.95
8-5/8 32.00 7.921 .352 49.28 9.15
8-5/8 36.00 7.825 .400 48.09 10.34
8-5/8 40.00 7.725 .450 46.87 11.56
8-5/8 44.00 7.625 .500 45.66 12.76
8-5/8 49.00 7.511 .557 44.31 14.12
9-5/8 32.30 9.001 .312 63.63 72.76 9.13
9-5/8 36.00 8.921 .352 62.51 10.26
9-5/8 40.00 8.835 .395 61.31 11.45
9-5/8 43.50 8.755 .435 60.20 12.56
9-5/8 47.00 8.681 .472 59.19 13.57
9-5/8 53.50 8.535 .545 57.21 15.55
10-3/4 32.75 10.192 .279 81.59 90.76 9.18
10-3/4 40.50 10.050 .350 79.33 11.44
10-3/4 45.50 9.950 .400 77.76 13.01
10-3/4 51.00 9.850 .450 76.20 14.56
10-3/4 55.50 9.760 .495 74.82 15.95
JJ
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Date Completed: __________________________________________

Book Number: __________________________________________

© 1999 Baker Hughes Incorporated

Hydraulics As It Affects Our Tools

Section 1... Page -1 of 73

Introduction to Scrambled Textbooks

Please turn to page 3.

Now let’s turn to page 3 as directed.

Section 1... Page 1 of 73

When you have the following answers, turn to page 4.

Section 1... Page 2 of 73

The following are general instructions for working this book.

Please turn to page 2.

Section 1... Page 3 of 73

When you have the following answers, turn to page 6.

Section 1... Page 4 of 73

Got that all down pat? Let’s try a few.

Section 1... Page 5 of 73

(a) 22.4 (b) 8643.01 (c) 4397.22

(d) 1385.0 (e) .007 (f) 63.4

(a) 134.4 (d) 2,210.460

When you have the above answers, turn to page 5.

Section 1... Page 6 of 73

Here are four examples to practice on.

(a) 2.43 624. (b) 62.7 1.0698

(c) .06 2.438 (d) .0004 .009832

Section 1... Page 7 of 73

7 in. 23 lb/ft casing

(a) 39.44 bbl 221.00 cu ft Turn to page 9.

Section 1... Page 8 of 73

Your Answer - 39.44 bbl 221.00 cu ft

Let’s return to page 8 and do a little subtracting.

Section 1... Page 9 of 73

Your answers to the division problems should read as follows:

If they do not, return to page 7and refigure them.

Please turn to page 8.

Section 1... Page 10 of 73

Your Answer - 36.372 bbl 204.374 cu ft

You are not penalized this time.

Continue on page 12.

Section 1... Page 11 of 73

Your Answer - 36.44 bbl 204.17 cu ft

5-1/2 in. 17 lb/ft casing

(a) 28.002 bbl 155.806 cu ft Page 14

Section 1... Page 12 of 73

Your Answer - 28.93 bbl 161.026 cu ft

When you have the above calculated, turn to page 16.

Section 1... Page 13 of 73

Your Answer - 28.002 bbl 155.806 cu ft

Section 1... Page 14 of 73

Section 1... Page 15 of 73

Please turn to page 17.

Section 1... Page 16 of 73

Turn to page 19.

Section 1... Page 17 of 73

Your Answer - Well with 9-5/8 in. casing

Section 1... Page 18 of 73

(a) Well with 9-5/8 in. casing Page 18

Section 1... Page 19 of 73

Your Answer - The well with 13-3/8 in. casing in it.

Turn to page 21 and continue.

Section 1... Page 20 of 73