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G. PAU1 J. JUNIOR WI1lIAM H. WIILHITE WILSON AIME AIME I HOUS70N, PUNCA 7EX. CITY, OKLA. CONTINENTAL PONCA CITY, OIL CO. OKA. MEMBERS MEMBER

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400 to 650F IS Injected do~w tubing seI on a packer in 7.irr, casing. The risk of.jailure is high as injection tern. pcratures approach 650F. Several instances of casing fail. ure have bum observed undur these conditions. The alternatives to a low-pressure annulus can bu. di. vldcd into two categoriw: mechanical imulaticm attached to the injection tubing. and an insulating fluid to fill thu untire annulus bclwtxn the tuking and thu casing. Thi~ ariicle discusses (hc use of an irmulalirsg fluid for casing protection. Discussion ?hc wrrch for materials that reduce heat 11OW the in casing annulus begins by comparing thermal conductive. ties of possible constituents. Many oils have a moderately
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High. rcs\urc \(UdfTI inji%tion frequently cauw~ ca%in~ p iailur~ in wells completed with J-55: short-thread casing. lailurcs generally arc identified by ]oin( pullout or frac. turc occurring as the wellbore cools after steam injection. lensilc failures are the result of casing deformation when temperature-gcrwrated compressive forces exceed the yield ~trength of the casing steel.2 Preventing casing damage in injection or production WIMScompleted with J-55 ST&C, 8-rd casing requires re. ducing the casing temperature and/or the thermally in. duced compressive forces. There are many ways to reduce casing tempera[utx while steam is injected down the tubing. A common method is to set injection tubing on a packer to isolate [he casing from :he injected fluid. This technique has been used successfully to protect casing when injection temperatures are 500i-- or less, Few failures have occurred under these conditions because resulting casing temperatures did not exceed the temperature a! which casing steel yields when fully constrained. At tubing temperatures above SOW the Iow-pressure annulus is _rSOIpositive p~otection. against .casjng. fai!qrs,. --This is shown in Figi 1, wh]ch compares the relative fa]lure risk. for J-55 Sf&c wells when steam at temperatures of
original manuscript rt.ceit+d ii Soclet> of Petroleum Engineers offlcti .!rin. 10. IW?.. Rvv@@ m~nu~~lnt l-e:elv.ed Wt...!. l:l@~.. Wer. ( SW 17.%?) wns rwe.ented nt !Wh AIME Annuel ~ettln.~ held In lAX Anf@w. . Gilif.. Feb. 1%2S, 1S67. @J fkpv]-iEht 1067 .Amel-icm Institute of ?dinlnr?. ?.fer.rillurr?lcwl, und Prtroi?um Enclnci?rs. -lnr. .-. . *Reference ,kivcn: nl c?d uf VUp~r. . . .. . .. . xr3v3zn;

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low thermal conductivity (0.08 Btu/hr.ft F) and appear to be suitable insulators. I-Iowever, heat transfer by conduction is supplemented by natural convection when the fluid is mobile? Natural convection can increase the heat transmissibility of au oil by a factor of 10 to 20 over molecular conduction. Under these conditions oil is a poor insulator. FJatural convection is fluid motion caused by the variation of oil density with temperature. The amount .of fluid motion is inversely proportional to the viscosity. As viscosity increases, fluid motion decreases. This is irccom. panied by a decrease in the heat. carrying ability of the oil or, correspondingly, an increase-in its insulating properties. Thus, an oil with high viscosity at high tempmatirres should have a+ im-protiid apparent therm-al conductivity. Fig. 2 illustrates the variation -of the apparent thermal conductivity with oil viscosity in a 2%- X 7-in. annulus. ~qs. 25 to 27 of Ref. 3 were used to prepare Fig. 2, Oil-base fluids which are quite viscous at high tempera. turca have been developed. These gels are commonly used as completion fluids outside the production casing in wells completed for swam injection or stimulation service. In this application the high gel strength prevents or reduces fluid loss to the surrounding formations as well as formation sloughing and bridging. The temperature-viscosity properties of these fftrids also fit requirements of an insu. Iating fluid. When this pfopcrfy was rccogniz~d, the usc of the oil-base fluids in the tubing. casing annulus 10 con. trol heat losses and casing temperatures was obvious. Few data were available to evaluate performance of these fluids as insulators. Therefore. laboratory experiments were conducted to ( 1) determine the apparent thermal conductivity of these ffuids at high temperatures and (2) investigate the stability of one such tltrid under long-term heating. The experiments were conducted under simulated wellhorc tionditions, An annular test cell was constructed. which was essentially .a 32-in. section of a 2%1 X 7-in. casing annulus, The cell was sealed at each end by welding- an . ... . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . 1 I 1

annular disc to the 2%.in. tubing and the 7-in. casing. Thermocouples located at selected positions along the tubing and casing anntrlus measured the respective temperatures. A heating element with guard heaters at either end was centered inside the 270 -in. tubing, providing a uniform radial heat ffux at the tubing surface. The 7-in. casing was either left exposed to the atmosphere or wrapped with a I -in. layer of fiber glass to adjust the mean temperature Icvel in the armulus. ~ooling coils were wrapped around the casing at both ends of the apparatus to control Iwat flow across the ends of the cell. ,, ...,.: ., .,+ . .... . . . .. . . .. . . ...... ... Fhrhf A MmMory IW
hdbOratOry data are riqxirtcd on one insulating fluid termed Fluid A, a commercially available oil.base system made by su~pending finely divided asbcs:os particles in oil gelled with a calcium soap. Suspending asbestos fibers in the gel!ed oil decreases its apparent thermal cmrductivity. Orw reason is that natural convection is rcduccci because the viscosity and density of the suspension arc higher than the viscosity and dutsity of the gelled oil: The other reason is that the heat transfer resistance of thu partially oil.wet asbestos may kw greater thun the ttwrmal resistance of the oil. Two batches of Fluid A wwrc tustcd. From cxpmimurts on the first batch, the apparcn~ thermal conductivity wai found to be 0.15 Btu/hr-ft F at an average cdl tcnlpcra ture of 253F. Tests on the first batch were aborttd after f:luid A thermally cracked when tubing tm-npcraturm in advertently were allowed to cxcccd 7001. The test of the wcond batch was divickxi into twt} Pdf[% In the first part the tubing temperature was held at 5501; for 115 hours. Under these conditions the average casing temperature was 331F and the apparent thermal conduc. tivity was 0.16 fltu/hr-ft F. After 73 hours of heating. a bulge was observed in tcmperatuw distribution on the tubing surface. Temperature diffurcncc at the bottom Llf the cell was 2041:. compared with 231F in the.middle and ._.. .. . .. . . . -.. . . ... . . ~; 1---- .1 ..1.

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105F at the top of the cell. Since heat flow at (he tubing surface was constant, these data suggest a substantial increase in the apparent thermal conductivity of Fluid A in the upper part of the cell. After 89 hours the bulge in the temperature profile stabilized in the lower two-thirds of the cell and remained there while tubing temperature was 550F (total time, 115 hours). in the second part of this experiment the average tubing temperature was increased to 672F. The average casing temperature was 408F and the apparent thermal conductivity of the fluid in the lower two-thirds of the cell was still 0.16 Ettu/hr-ft F about 17 hours after the temperature profile moved slowly to the lower half of the cell. This indicated a charme, with time, in the thermal Properties of Fluid A. Upon completion of the experiment the contents of the annulus were displaced from the test cell through the bottom port. Samples were taken representing the displaced fluid at 2-in. levels in the cell. Viscosity of the displaced fluid was considerably less than the initial mixture, Sam. ple analysis revealed that the solids suspended in Fluid A had separated and settled in the lower section of the cell. The solids concentration was 35 weight percent in the lower 10 in. of the cell compared with 22.5 weight percent in the initial mixture (Fig. 3). It can bc shown that the amount of settling is a function of cell length. Settling should be less in a long wellbore. If this were so the apparent thermal conductivity of Fluid A would approach the value calculated from laboratory data and the casing temperature would be in the desired range over much of its length. Calculations were made to estimate casing tcmpmaturc when Fluid A was placed between the tubing and the ca+ ing in a steam injection well. Calculations assumed that Fluid A did not decompose and that the solid components remained suspended throughout the entire wellbore. Under these circumstances. the casing temperatures would be in the safe region of Fig. 1 for tubing temperatures as high as 650F. .. . .. .. . ,. . .

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A field test of Fluid A was planned to determine if ( 1) Fluid A wr uld decompose at high temperatures in actual use, (2) suspended solids would settle throughout the casing annulus and (3) the packer could be pulled when solids settled on top of the packer. The test was conducted in a well 3,878 ft dee~ completed The lower- 1,250 with 51/2 -in,, 14-lb/ft J-55 ST&C casing. I ft of casing was cemented. A packer was run on 2% -in. tubing and set at 3,578 ft. Then a blanking plug was set in the tubing below the packer. Fluid A (formulated with lease, crude) was displaced down tubing through the bypask ports above the-packer and into the casing annulus. The tubing was cleared by displacing Fluid A into the -anmilirs with lease crude, the ports were closed and the ~blanking plug was removed. Steam was injected for 15 days of a 17-ddy period. Average injection temperature was 646F and average in. jection pressure was 2,140 psig. Maximum casing rise was 12 in., but the casing-free point was not known. During injection, annulus pressure was maintained at 130 PSI above the injection pressure and tluid was bled off to maintain this pressure. Four weeks after the stimulation. Fluid A was displaced out of the casing annulus by wtting a blanking plug below the packer and injecting hot oil down the tubing. Returns of Fluid A were observed af!er 6 bbl of lease crude had entered Ihc casing annulus. Samples of [hc displaced f?tiia wcrt taken at ~elcctCd intervals. The first 4 hhl out were lumpy and water cut. After that the fluid character changed to a vi~cous. gzawy. homogeneous fluid. Breakthrough of Ieaw crude occurred after displacement of 50 bbl of annular space. The packer wa: released with a 50,tlf)0.lb pull, 20.00[) lb over the tubing weight. Nurmal release usually requires 10,000 lb over the tubing weight, No particular ditlicuhy was encountered in removing the tubing and packer from the well. I+owevcr. about 1 ft of tightly packed solids ,had .. accumulated on top of the packer. The J slots on the packer assembly were also packed with so]ids. . . .. . - l&rp$ekt&r ~ .FieId Ted al? Wdd ~-. l-he samples of displaced fluid w~rc analy;cd for stilid~ content. These data. with Ihc volume of. fluid di~placcd. arc prcsmttmf in .-i-able 1. Vi$cositics of Simplcs I tfirough 7 were measured at 75F using a Brookfh!ld viscometer (Idb]e ]). Data in ~tblc 1 show that solids wltled in Ihe casing annulus. The extent of separation was not so severe as observed in the laboratory cell. However, 9 bbl of Fluid A were not displaced and 13 percent of the solids initially present in the displaced fluid remained in the annulus bw fore the packer was pulled. l-his provides intwcsti lng but inconclusive speculation regarding the solids content of . . . TABLE 1. ANALYSISOF SOLIDS CO~TENT Location Solids In Terms of Viscosity (weight Fluid Displaced (cp_a~75F) percent) (bbl) -Sample .. 33,850 16.3 1
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unrecovered Fluid A and/or the concentration in the last 16 bbl of displaced fluid. With the exception of Sample 9 from the tubing wiper. a considerable concentration of solids remained suspended in Fluid A, The insulating properties of Fluid A were reduced somewhat but certainly not destroyed. Although direct measurements of casing temperatures were not made. somt data were available to be used in estimating casing
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Conskmkms Heat loss control and casing protection by using an Insulating fluid in the tubing-casing annulus have been demonstrated in both laboratory and field for injection temperatures of 646F and injection times up to 15 days. Both laboratory- and field-test results suggest that difficulties can arise duc to thermal decomposition of certain well completion fluids. Thermal cracking and settling of wsspcnded solids were verified in tests involving one corn. mercially available fluid, Some risk is involved in using these materials at high temperatures: ( 1) packer removal may. be difllctrlt when sett]ing is extmsive: (2) formation damage may occur if. the tlu~d gets on the produ~ing formation: and (3) thermal decomposition may reduce insulating value of the fluid., Field results from one test indicate that these are nrrt severe problems for injection time> up 10 15 days. Thus. it is feasible to prevrnt casing damage in wells not ade. quately completed for thermal stimulation treatments by using an insulating fluid in the tubing-casing annulus. Acknowledg.mvtts The ~uthors express their appreciation m the managemen: of Continental Oil Co. for permission to publish thi> article, and to other company personnel who contributed their talenti and support.
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Fluids expand when heated. and the volume of fluid ex. pelled is a direct measure of the average fluid temperature in the annulus. It was estimated that the, volume of fluid displac~ by thermal expansion during steam injection was 6.8 bbl. Another 0.6 bbl of fluid expansion was ab- sorbed by. holding the casing pressure at 2,500 psi. Hence. -the volume of oil expelled if the annulus pressure were O psi would have been 7.4 bbl. By back calculation, the casing temperature was estimated to be 276F. After 15 days of injection, casing temperature was es. timated ass,uming that the apparent thermal conductivity of Fluid A was 0.16 Btu/hr-ft J--. Calculated casing temperature was 293F. a safe casing situation according to Fig. 1. Without Fluid A in the annulus, the estimated casing temperatures varied from 440 to 497F depending on the extent of drying assumed in determining the value of cement thermal conductivity. This temperature variation corresponds to medium-to.high risk~ of casing failur~ on Fig. 1. The estimate of fluid displaced by thermal expansion is approximate. Water and gas were produced by decomposition of Fluid A during the heating phase, In spite of this the agreement between predicted and estimated casing temperatures is reasonably good, These calculations indicate that the insulating value of Fluid A was retained for injection times corresponding to the usual steam simulation treatment.

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162, No. 7, lr?. \\illhite. G. I}UIII and Dietrich, (kmrpk.tion of Str~nl Jnjm-tion 1967) 15.21.

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4. ftl(akk,y, \\. B.: Str.lnwd \\ IJlls Xtwl Good Cnnll,lt,tion... oil Fluid A has several disadvantages when used a% an *** d (;CIS 1. (A]]ril 4, 1966) 64, No. 14, 1.36. insulating fluid between the tubing and casing. Both lab. oratory and field data prove that the suspended solid~ . se[t]e. @r laboratory data are directly applicable tO the . - . . . region. imrnidiately above ,.the packer.. i.e.. the. maximum . concen~ration zone. These data- indicate that the solids ~ f%+ /. concentration can go as high as 35 percent in that region. The only evidence of similar settling from the field aata .,.. -is that I ft of tightly packed material (Sample 10) was found on top of the packer and in the J slots. Although this material possibly accumulated as the packer was pulled, the evidence strongly supports settling as the probable cause. The tight packing probably occurrcsf as the packer was pulled. A ltit)grrsphicdl .skemh and photo ()/ G. PAL:I. WIL1. H 1 I L or appear cm puge 2 I oj the lrrn,, /967, i.wne (]] JOURNAL In this particular field test, Fluid A, formulated with PEIROI.EU TECH NOLOGY. Joii N H. WI LSO!U (left) i.~ u M lease crude. was gassy after heating. This suggested some senior drilling engineer in CtItIinen tul Oil C() ..s recen IIYS l type of thermal decomposition during steam injection. jormed prodncl{mr engineering ~ervice.s grtntp in 1{()[4., ((m. Laboratory tests were run on the initial formulation of Wil.wm joined Cmrtinenral in 1957 ajter receiving his de. Fluid A in a high-pressure cell at 644F. A large volu_meof grei in gebh%$ jrni?z-Colorado .fch;)bl (IJ Mines,. prit]f I,, gas was evolved after the cell temperature stabilized. Specaswoning his presen f po.\i/i(m, Wilson w{)rked a{ vrrrignt.~ trometric analysis of this gas proved that the mixture was petroleam engineerit~g assignments thr(nlgimul the Racky thermally cracked. The same thing would happen in the Momrtain area, including thermal prt~iect engit~eer. WILfseldtest at the tubing surface and in the vicinity of the L I A M L. JVfARTI N (right) i-t s44F. fvi.wr of the recovery packer and is the reason that Fluid A was gassy. Crackme/hods section and productitm re.rearch divi.rian o.f Coning also leads to segregation. The average solids content of Fluid A. in the. .high-pr~ssure. cdl after ..cracking was .. tinentals Re.rearch. c!. Develf~pole??t ?ept, <t %W CifY. . . . 29.7 weight pereent. Okla. He +va.r jormedy research gr(ndp leader frrr thertnal

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