Casing Design

1.8-1

1.8-2 Casing Design

Why Run Casing? Types of Casing Strings Classification of Casing Burst, Collapse and Tension Effect of Axial Tension on Collapse Strength

1.8-3 Casing Design

What is casing? Why run casing? Casing Cement

1. To prevent the hole from caving in 2. Onshore - to prevent contamination of fresh water sands 3. To prevent water migration to producing formation
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1.8-4 Casing Design

4. To confine production to the wellbore 5. To control pressures during drilling 6. To provide an acceptable environment for subsurface equipment in producing wells 7. To enhance the probability of drilling to total depth (TD)
e.g., you need 14 ppg mud to control a lower zone, but an upper zone will fracture at 12 lb/gal. What do you do?
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1.8-5 Types of Strings of Casing

Diameter Example 1. Drive pipe or structural pile
{Gulf Coast and offshore only} 150-300 below mudline.

16-60

30

2. Conductor string. 100 - 1,600

(BML)

16-48

20

3. Surface pipe. 2,000 - 4,000

(BML)

8 5/8-20

13 3/8
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1.8-6 Types of Strings of Casing

Diameter Example

4. Intermediate String 5. Production String (Csg.) 6. Liner(s) 7. Tubing String(s)

7 5/8-13 3/8 4 1/2-9 5/8

9 5/8 7

1.8-7 Example Hole and String Sizes (in)

Hole Size
36 26 17 1/2 12 1/4 8 3/4
Structural casing Conductor string

Pipe Size
30 20

Surface pipe

13 3/8 9 5/8 7
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IntermediateString Production Liner

1.8-8 Classification of CSG.

1. Outside diameter of pipe 2. Wall thickness 3. Grade of material
(e.g. 9 5/8) (e.g. 1/2)

(e.g. N-80)
LCSG)

4. Type to threads and couplings (e.g. API 6. Nominal weight

5. Length of each joint (RANGE) (e.g. Range 3)

(Avg. wt/ft incl. Wt. Coupling) (e.g. 47 lb/ft)
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1.8-9

1.8-10 Casing Threads and Couplings

API round threads - short API round thread - long Buttress Extreme line Other See Halliburton Book...
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{ CSG } { LCSG } { BCSG } { XCSG }

Burst, Collapse, and Tension

1.9-1

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1.9-2 API Design Factors (typical)

Required 10,000 psi 100,000 lbf 10,000 psi Collapse 1.125 Tension Burst 1.8 1.1 Design 11,250 psi 180,000 lbf 11,000 psi
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1.9-3

Abnormal

Normal Pore Pressure 0.433 - 0.465 psi/ft

Abnormal Pore Pressure gp > normal

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1.9-4 Casing Design

Tension Depth Tension Burst Collapse Collapse
Burst: Burst Collapse: Tension:

STRESS
Assume full reservoir pressure all along the wellbore. Hydrostatic pressure increases with depth Tensile stress due to weight of string is highest at top
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1.9-5 Casing Design

Unless otherwise specified in a particular problem, we shall also assume the following: Worst Possible Conditions 1. For Collapse design, assume that the casing is empty on the inside (p = 0 psig) 2. For Burst design, assume no backup fluid on the outside of the casing (p = 0 psig)
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1.9-6 Casing Design

Worst Possible Conditions, contd
3. For Tension design, assume no buoyancy effect 4. For Collapse design, assume no buoyancy effect The casing string must be designed to stand up to the expected conditions in burst, collapse and tension. Above conditions are quite conservative. They are also simplified for easier understanding of the basic concepts.
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1.9-7 Casing Design - Solution

Burst Requirements (based on the expected pore
pressure)

= 6,000 psi *1.1 PB = 6,600 psi

Depth
Pressure

PB = pore pressure * Design Factor

The whole casing string must be capable of withstanding this internal pressure without failing in burst.
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1.9-8 Casing Design - Solution

Collapse Requirements For collapse design, we start at the bottom of the string and work our way up.

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1.9-9 Tension Check

The weight on the top joint of casing would be (6,369 ft * 47.0# / ft ) + (1,631 ft * 53.5# / ft )
= 386,602 lbs actual weight

With a design factor of 1.8 for tension, a pipe strength of

1.8 * 386,602 = 695,080 lbf is required
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