CHAPTER-10 LOST CIRCULATION

Lost circulation is defined as the total or partial loss of drilling fluids or cement slurries into highly permeable zones, cavernous formations, and natural or induced fractures during drilling or cementing operations. Lost circulation must not be confused with fluid loss which is more related to primary porosity, whereas lost circulation can occur in formations with both primary and secondary porosities. Lost circulation can be an expensive and time-consuming problem. During drilling, this loss may vary from a gradual lowering of the mud in the pits to a complete loss of returns. The major consequences of lost circulation include the following: -The possibility of a blowout because of a drop in the mud level. -The possibility of sticking the drill pipe because of poor cuttings removal. -No zonal isolation due to insufficient cement fill-up. -Excessive cost because of loss of mud, increased rig time, and remedial cementing operations. -Losses to the producing zone resulting in extensive formation damage.

-The loss of the well Seeping losses can occur with any type of lost circulation zone, when the solids in the mud are not sufficiently fine to seal the formation face. Partial losses frequently occur in highly permeable gravels, small natural fractures, or as a result of fracture initiation. Complete losses are usually confined to long gravel sections, large natural fractures, wide induced fractures, or cavernous formations

Classification of lost-circulation zones Severity classification for lost circulation is as follows:

Type of losses Seeping (minor) Partial (medium) Complete (severe)

Severity Less than 10 bbl/hr 10 to 500 bbl/hr Total, unable to keep the hole full

In addition, it is common to classify lost-circulation zones into four categories. -Unconsolidated or highly permeable formations -Natural fractures or fissures

-Induced vertical or horizontal fractures -Cavernous or vugular formations Identifying features of lost circulation zones; Porous Sands and Gravels -Gradual lowering of the mud level in pits -Losses may become complete, if drilling is continued -Since rock permeability must exceed about 10d before whole mud can penetrate, and oil and gas sand permeability seldom exceeds about 3.5d, it is improbable that loose sands are the cause of mud loss to an oil or gas sand unless the loss can be attributed to the ease with which this type of formation fractures Natural Fractures -May occur in any type of rock -Loss is evidenced by gradual lowering of the mud in the pits. If drilling is continued and more fractures are exposed, complete loss of returns may be experienced. -Fracture must have a finite supported with to take mud Induced Fractures -Occur where fractures are horizontal in any formation under mud rings

-Loss is usually sudden and accompanied by complete loss of returns. Conditions are conductive to forming induced fractures when mud weight exceeds 10.5 lb/gal -Loss may follow any surge of pressure of trip -When loss of circulation occurs and adjacent wells have not experienced lost circulation, induced factures should be expected. Cavernous Zones -Normally confined to limestone -Loss of returns may be sudden and complete -Bit may drop several inches to several feet just preceding loss -Drilling may be rough before loss

Lost Circulation While Drilling It is possible to classify the available solutions in three categories and there is an optimum technique for solving each particular type and severity of a lost circulation problem. Bridging Agents in the Drilling Fluid: When the loss of mud is first detected, immediate consideration should be given to the possibility of reducing and maintaining the mud weight at the minimum necessary to control the formation pore pressure. Reduced mud pressure will help combat losses no matter what types of formations are exposed. A

continuing partial loss of returns is indicative of seepage, and can usually be solved by decreasing the equivalent mud circulating density, or by adding Lost Circulation Materials (LCMs) to the drilling mud. Decreasing the weight of the mud or its downhole rheological properties can reduce the equivalent mud circulating density. According to their physical nature and mechanism of action; LCMs can be classified into four categories; -Granular -Lamellar -Fibrous -Encapsulated The granular LCMs form two types of bridges; one at the formation face and one within the formation matrix. The latter type of sealing is preferred because a more permanent bridge forms within the formation, and pipe movement in the wellbore does not easily dislodge the granular particles. The effectiveness of granular LCMs depends primarily on a proper particle-size distribution, with larger particles first forming a bridge across or within the void, and the smaller particles bridging the openings between the larger particles. This process continues until the void spaces become smaller than the drilling mud solids. The problem finally becomes one of filtration. A blend of large, medium, and small particles, or one of large and small particles, is most commonly used.

Fibrous materials are best used for controlling losses to porous and highly permeable formations, because they are able to form a mat-like bridge over the pore openings. The mat reduces the size of the openings to the formation, permitting the colloidal particles in the mud to rapidly deposit a filter cake. Flake LCMs are also designed to bridge and form a mat on the formation face, also providing the best results when treating losses to permeable and porous formations. Blends of granular, flake, and fibrous LCMs are effective in solving actual field problems. This strategy provides a gradation of particles size as well as variation of material types for sealing different classes of lost circulation zones. Another important parameter is that; the effectiveness of a plug in preventing fluid loss into a fracture depends on the mechanical strength of the plug as well as its permeability. The portion of the plug responsible for its mechanical strength is the bridge, and the portion that controls the plug permeability is the filter. Single Particle Bridging: If the dimension of a particle normal to the fracture direction is larger than the width of the fracture opening; single-particle bridging is possible. This type of bridging can also occur inside a fracture at locations where it undergoes a sudden reduction in width

Multiple Particle Bridging: If all particle dimensions are smaller than the fracture width, bridges are possible only when two-three particles interact to form a stable arch from one fracture wall to the other. Consider a two-particle bridge at the fracture undergoes a sudden reduction in width. It is assumed for simplicity that the two particles are identical in shape, size, and mechanical properties Implications of Bridging Models: The mathematical models for the single and two particle bridges indicate that the particle size and shape play important role in determining the maximum allowable pressure

differential across the plug. The result has implications with respect to particle-size distribution and concentration in the drilling fluid A wide distribution of particle sizes makes available many combinations of particle sizes for bridging a wide range of fracture widths. The bridging models show that stable bridges can develop only with particles of certain dimensions relative to the fracture width. As a result, particles outside an effective range for a fracture of interest do not contribute to a stable bridge, although they may act as filter material. Consequently, a tailored particle-size distribution for a narrow range of fracture widths should provide the best plugging capabilities.

A higher particle concentration at the fracture site improves the probability of forming a bridge and decreases the volume of drilling fluid that passes through the fracture before a plug forms. Also a lot of tests are performed. The results obtained are as follows; -The modified version of the API bridging materials tester improves the data quality of slot tests, making it a more effective tool for screening potential LCMs -The large-scale LCTF more accurately simulates dynamic flowing conditions prevalent in fracture-plugging applications. Significant

differences in plugging performance are noted between the LTCF and the API tester with some materials -The PMPT complements the slot tests by measuring the material properties important in bridge-plugging mechanics and has proved valuable in measuring the elastic modulus, compressive strength, and softening temperature of LCM particles. The softening temperature correlated well with the effects of temperature on laboratory slotplugging performance -Effective theoretical models of one and two particle bridging mechanics were developed that predict the maximum pressure differential sustainable by a plug. Variables in the models include the size and shape of the bridging particles relative to the fracture width as well as the

mechanical properties of the particles. The models were shown to provide accurate predictions of slot-plugging test results -Plugging performance plots that allow the comparison of LCMs of different particle sizes and different types in fractures of known width can also help to determine the potential for plugging bit nozzles in field LCM applications. Plugging performance plots developed for several commercial LCMs have potential in severe, fracture-dominated, under pressured loss zones. -Particle size distribution is an important factor in the bridge-plugging process. Quality control is important in the LCM manufacturing process to ensure economical use of materials with consistent results in field applications

Surface Mixed Systems: Cement Plugs: Neat cement slurries are effective for solving seeping or minor loss, with the advantage of providing high final compressive strengths. Slurries with a limited degree of fluid-loss control can be used to solve seeping, partial, or total losses, and contain a mixture of clays, diatomaceous earth, and LCMs. The size of the LCM is increased as the losses become more severe. Low-density cement systems can be used for

any type of lost circulation problem. They have the added advantage of reducing the hydrostatic pressure. Thixotropy is a term used to describe the property exhibited by a system that is fluid under shear, but develops a gel structure when the shear is stopped. In practical terms, thixotropic systems are fluid during mixing and displacement, but rapidly form a rigid, self-supporting gel structure when pumping ceases. When thixotropic slurry enters a lost circulation zone, the velocity of the leading edge decreases and a gel structure starts to form. As the gel strength develops, resistance to flow increases until the entire zone is plugged. Such systems are very effective for solving severe lost circulation to naturally fractured formations. Other Surface- Mixed Systems: Systems that do not contain Portland cement usually involve a gelling agent with an activator. After a given period of time, or due to an increase inn temperature, the components react to form a no flowing mass. The advantage of such systems as the ability to predict when the mixture will change from a liquid to a solid. In general they are most applicable to partial lost-circulation problems in high-permeability sandstones, or for sealing micro fissures. In cases, where the lost circulation zone is also a zone of interest, either for production or injection purposes, it may be necessary to design the plugging material for eventual removal during the completion of the well.

Such systems are generally acid soluble, consisting of bridging agents slurried in a viscous fluid, or cementitious materials. Typical bridging materials include ground calcium carbonate particles with diameters ranging from 0.0003 in. to 0.01 in. they are used at concentrations up to 10 lb/bbl of carrying fluid. Assuming a relatively homogeneous sandstone formation where the sand grains are of similar size, it is possible to predict the required particle size of calcium carbonate to form a bridge in the pore throats of the formation matrix thereby reducing the loss of fluid. Downhole Mixed Systems: Downhole mixed systems consist of two or

more fluids, which, upon making contact in the wellbore or the lost circulation zone, form a viscous plug or a precipitate, which seals the zone. It I common practice to prevent the mixing of the fluids until they are in front of the lost circulation zone, by pumping a spacer or by pumping one fluid down the drillstring while the other fluid is simultaneously pumped down the annulus. For partial losses better success is achieved by Mud-Diesel-Oil-Bentonite (M-DOB) plugs instead of LCMs. M-DOB plugs are a combination of diesel oil and bentonite and are sometimes called gunk plugs. When this mixture contacts water or water base mud, a mass with high gel strength is formed. Soft, controlling the proportions of the indigriends may form

medium, and hard plugs. The DOB slurry is pumped down the drillpipe, and the mud down the annulus. M-DOB plugs suffer from several drawbacks: -They break down with time -They are difficult to apply in long openhole intervals -When losses are severe, it is impossible to achieve a reliable pumping rate down the annulus; therefore, the degree of mixing cannot be controlled. -No compressive strength is developed.

Lost Circulation During Cementing Before initiating a conventional primary cementing operation, the lost circulation problem should be eliminated or significantly reduced by the techniques described above. If this is not possible, or losses are anticipated during primary cementing job, there are two possible options. The first is to maintain the downhole pressures during the job below the maximum equivalent mud circulating density, either by reducing the density of the cement slurry, minimizing the height of the cement column, or limiting the casing and annular friction pressures during the placement of the cement slurry. The second option is to pump a plugging material as a spacer in front of the cement slurry, add lost circulation materials to

the cement slurry itself, or use special additives which impart thixotropic properties to the cement slurry. When trying to prevent cement losses to highly fractured or vugular formations, it is often necessary to use a combination of techniques.

Downhole Pressure Reduction Computer simulators can calculate the estimated downhole

pressures at ant particular depth in the well, and at any time during the cementing operation. This enables the operator to know exactly which cement slurry parameters and job procedures are required to prevent lost circulation and maintain adequate hydrostatic pressure in front of permeable zones. The most relevant parameter is the cement slurry density, which may be reduced by adding one or more cement extenders The rheological properties of cement slurry may also be adjusted to provide lower friction pressure losses during placement. This is especially critical in narrow annuli where viscous slurries can cause very high friction pressures The downhole pressure exerted on lost circulation zones can also be decreased by using mechanical devices such as stage collars or

external casing packers (ECPs). Stage collars permit the casing string to be cemented in two or three stages, lowering the dynamic and hydrostatic pressures. To reduce the risk of cement fallback if losses do occur, a special stage collar with a pack off adaptation can be used which, when expanded, provides a seal between the casing and the formation to prevent downward fluid movement. Cement baskets can be placed just below the stage collar to provide the same effect. A typical application would be a two-stage job with an ECP just above the lost circulation zone, and a stage collar just above the ECP. After the first stage is performed, the ECP is expanded to seal the annulus, preventing the transmission of hydrostatic pressure to lower zones. However, if the size of the hole is larger than anticipated, the ECP may fail to provide a perfect seal because of insufficient lateral expansion.

Lost Circulation Materials for Cement Slurries When LCMs are used in the cement slurry, care must be taken to ensure that the materials are inert to the cement composition. Also the size and the concentration of the materials should be selected to avoid bridging or plugging of the downhole equipment. The morphologies of the

materials are the same as those used in drilling fluids. The most common LCMs for cement slurries are of the granular type, designed to bridge at the formation face or within the matrix. Gilsonite, a naturally occurring black asphalite hydrocarbon with a particle size between 8 and 60 mesh, is widely used. Crushed coal, with a standard mesh size of 14 to 200 is applied in the same manner as gilstone and can be used in high temperature wells. Cellophane flake with diameters of in. is the most

common flake material. Fibrous materials are seldom used in cement slurries because they can plug cementing equipment. In addition, some organic chemicals may be present that may retard the thickening time of the cement slurry.

Thixotropic Cement Systems The self-supporting property of thixotropic cements is useful across formations with low fracture gradients. When ordinary slurries pass over a weak zone, the increase in hydrostatic pressure can cause formation breakdown. As a result, the top of the cement falls to a point below the desired level of fill-up. Thixotropic slurries do not fall back, because some of the hydrostatic pressure is transmitted to the formation face and casing walls.

Identification of Type of Loss Zone 1-Find the exact depth of the loss zone Loss zones usually are not at the bit depth as reported with the expectation of the point of first loss. In most cases, losses occur at the point of the first loss where the loss zone was sealed but reopened as drilling proceeded. Drilling and mud logs will help to find the point of first loss. Evidence of where the loss zone is can be obtained from how the lost circulation material performed and where they were found in the hole.Temperature survey or gamma-ray log and radioactive material can be used. 2-Find the Type of Lost Zone It is the best determined by litho logy and amount of losses. Depth is the factor that gives an indicator of whether fractures are vertical or horizontal. 3-Severity of Loss Zone It is the best determines by the amount of losses and the static mud column weight.

Lost Circulation Techniques and materials Technique 1: Pull up and Wait This procedure can solve seeping, partial or complete losses due to induced vertical fractures. The fractures could be induced accidentally. If pressure is released, the fracture will close and heal, and will support virtually the same pressure as before being fractured. Technique 2: Plug of Bridging Agents in Mud (Water and Oil Base) Use of bridging materials in mud against seeping and partial losses can be successful in all types of loss zone. Size and concentration of bridging agent must be adjusted to the severity of the losses. Technique 3: High Filter Loss Slurry Squeeze This technique consists in squeezing into the loss zone a thick slurry carrying different kind of lost circulation materials. The kind and size of the lost circulation material depend on the severity of the loss.

Example of slurry: -80 bbl water + 15-20 lb/bbl Attapulgite or Sepiolite or -80 bbl water pretreated with : 25 lb/bbl sodium and 0.25 lb/bbl caustic soda to remove calcium and magnesium ions + 5-20 lb/bbl bentonite. Allow the clay yield. -Add 0.5 lb/bbl lime and 50 lb/bbl diatomaceous earth material.

-Add lost circulation material. Technique 3A: High Water Loss, High Solids Squeeze with Cements The addition of cement into the high water loss, high solids slurry might convert the temporary plug to a permanent one. The dehydration of the slurry will leave the fracture packed with solids and further setting of cement will plug the loss permanently. Technique 4: Cements (Neat, Extended, Thixotropic) The facility of changing cement slurry properties makes it a very useful tool for lost circulation. They can be used against complete losses to gravels, horizontal natural or induced fractures and natural vertical fractures. -Neat Portland Cement -Bentonite or Attapulgite Cement -Portland Cement with Lost Circulation Materials Gilsonite or Kolite can be added to cement slurries that are being used to regain cements. They will act as bridging agent preventing the slurry to go further into the fractures. Portland Cement with frac sand Frac sand will provide bridging properties required to start the bridge against which dehydration starts. Light weight cement systems

Loss zones which do not have fluids flowing through can be sealed with special light weight slurries, balancing squeezing and letting the slurry to set. Thixotropic cements Developing of high gel strength once stopped help the cement to remain close to the well bore. Technique 5: Downhole Mixed Soft Plugs Best application against induced fractures and to hold cement slurries at or near the well bore until they set. Mud Diesel Oil Bentonite DOB is mixed and displaced through the pipe. Mud is pumped to the annulus when the slurry reaches the sub. This will form a soft plug M + DOB into the fracture. Zonelock S It is a solution of D 75 in water which when in contact with a calcium or heavy sodium brine will form a permanent gel D 75 solution and calcium chloride solution are pumped through pipe, separated by a spacer (fresh water). Components will mix while being squeezed into the loss zone, forming a gelatine type gel.

Polymer plug DOWELL polymer plug is a 10:90 blend of a polymer bentonite slurries in diesel oil or other light oil. Polymer plug is mixed with fresh or salt water base mud results in the hydration of the polymer and bentonite giving a nearly permanent plug in loss zones.

Technique 6: Downhole Mixed Soft-Hard Plugs Diesel Oil Bentonite-2-Cement This technique is similar to the DOB plug but cement once in contact with formation water will set leaving a permanent hard seal. It is not applicable where oil muds are in use. Zonelock 5C It consists in a zonelock S system followed by a cement slurry. Cement and slurry are separated by a solution of M8 in fresh water. The cement will as soon it contracts the D 75 solution, sealing the loss zone. Oil Mud-Water-Oleophilic Bentonite WOB is placed in the same manner as DOB except that water (not diesel oil) is run ahead and behind it and it is mixed downhole by adding oil base mud to it.

Lost Circulation Materials There are three basic ways that circulation may be lost during a cementing job. Part of the slurry may be lost to a porous formation. Second, some zones are highly fractured, and here the loss of circulation may be partial or complete. Third, the most prevalent type of lost circulations during cementing operations is to a weak formation. Here, a small over-balanced of the formation pressure is sufficient to cause the formation to part and to take fluid into the induced fracture. Usually, the operator will have some idea of where fluid loss may occur during cementing operations from his experience in drilling the well. When slurry loss to the formation is anticipated, then one of the many commonly used lost-circulation materials can be added to the cement. These materials are made to block or bridge excessive permeability or fractures, and thus to stop the loss of slurry. Another method of combating lost-circulation is to lighten the slurry density so that a lesser load will be imposed on the formation and there will be less tendency to induce fractures. Slurries may be lightened by use of extenders. When the slurry weight is thus made less, the hydrostatic head is correspondingly lowered, and the pressure against the formation may be lowered enough to keep the formation from opening up and taking the slurry. Actually, the two methods of lost-circulation

control may be used either singularly or together. If cement is lost primarily because an over-balance of formation pressure is large enough to fracture the formation, a low-density cement may be used. On the other hand, if the formation already contains existing fractures, various bridging materials are incorporated into the cement slurry. The two methods (lightening the slurry and adding bridging materials) may also be used simultaneously. In the case of a weak formation, containing natural fractures, it would be desirable to have this combination of low density cement containing a bridging material.

Lost Circulation material for Drilling Fluid and Cement J15 is a granular and sized lost circulation material that has been used for a number of years in mud and cement slurries. J15 is made by crushing and screening a set phenol-formaldehyde plastic. In lost circulation and cementing problems, J15 is a replacement for walnut shells, particularly in high temperature wells where eliminating the undesirable chemical effects of tannic acid released by the walnut shells offsets the additional cost of J15. Tannic acid thins muds and is a strong retarder for cement slurries. J15 is non-reactive at high temperatures more than 180 F. It is physical properties reddish-brown color, its size is granular and specific gravity is 1.2. J15 is a special material and is used

under conditions of high temperature and chemical inertness to offset cost. It performs the same function as walnut shells at a much higher temperature and has application under certain conditions.