CASING

DESIGN
 At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
State the functions of casing
Define the terms: conductor, surface, intermediate and
production casing
List and describe the loads which must be considered in
the casing design
Design casing setting depths and select casing sizes
Calculate burst and collapse loads on a production casing
Select casing weight, grade and connection
 Introduction
Casing Configuration & Functions
Casing Properties
Casing Design
Casing Setting Depths
Casing Sizes Selection
Casing Loads
 Casing costs is one of the largest cost items of a
drilling project
Represent up to 30% of the total cost of the well
Therefore proper planning of casing setting
depths and casing selection is important
Size and setting depths depends almost
entirely on the geological and pore pressure
conditions
Casing must be designed to withstand the
anticipated load during installation, drilling
another hole and production
 Casings are pipes that is
run in a wellbore after
drilling a hole.

They have various sizes to

suit different hole sizes for
each section of drilling
operations.

Normally, casing will be

cemented in a wellbore.
WHY RUN CASING ?
Reasons for running casing :
Consolidate unstable formations
prevent cave-ins
Separate different pressure or
fluid regimes
Control the pressure encountered
avoid fracturing weaker zones
Protect the formation from any
contamination
Provide production and operation
conduit support for the
wellhead & BOP
Casing string
consists of individual joints of steel pipe which are
connected together by a threaded connections
Guide / casing shoe
attached to the bottom of the casing string
Casing hanger
Allows casing to be suspended from the wellhead,
attached to the top of casing
Others:
float collar, centralizers, scratchers
 Conductor (20 30 OD)

Surface Casing
(13- 3/8 20 OD)
Intermediate Casing
(9-5/8 16 OD)
Production Casing
(4-1/2 9-5/8 OD)
Liner
(4-1/2 13-3/8 OD)
HOLE SIZE CASING SIZE DESCRIPTION
36 30 Conductor
26 20 or 18-5/8 Surface Casing
17 13-3/8 Intermediate
Casing
12 9-5/8 Production
Casing
8 7 Liner
 Casing Type Functions Setting Depths
(from seabed)

Conductor To seal off unconsolidated 150 600 ft

formations to prevent erosion
Enables circulation of drilling
fluid

Surface Casing Seal off any fresh water sands 1000 5000 ft
Support the wellhead and BOP
equipment
Prevent lost circulation
 TYPICAL CASING FUNCTIONS & SETTING
DEPTH RANGES
Casing Type Functions Setting Depths
(from seabed)
Intermediate Isolate troublesome formations 1,000 10,000 ft
Casing between surface and production
casing
Normally set in the transition
between normal and abnormal
zone
Depends on the number of
problems encountered
Production Casing Separate producing zones from Set across or
other formations above pay zone
Conduit for production and
testing tubing
 TYPICAL CASING FUNCTIONS & SETTING
DEPTH RANGES
Casing Type Functions Setting
Depths
(from
seabed)
Liner Replace intermediate As required
(less than 5000 casing for deeper
ft casing string drilling economic
which is
Separate producing
suspended
from a liner zones
hanger (200
400ft)
Casing is generally classified according to:

Sizes (OD)
Vary from 4.5 to 36
If less than 4.5, it is called tubing

Length of Joint
Range 1, 2, 3

Casing Weight per ft

Casing Grade (H-40, J-55, L-80, N-80, C-90 and etc)
Connections
Short Thread (STC), LTC, buttress, IF, EF
 Involves three distinct operations
Casing Setting Depths Selection
Casing Sizes Selection
Selection of Casing Weight, Grade and Coupling
Casing must be able to withstand maximum load
anticipated during landing, drilling and
production.
Design must be based on the worst anticipated
loading conditions.
Minimal cost can be achieved by using lowest
possible wt/ft and lowest coupling grades
combination string.
 Main factors that govern the setting depths are:
Formation pressures (normally, abnormally)
Fracture Pressures
Government Legislation or Company Policy
Casing setting depths are selected for the deepest string to
be run and then successively from the base of the well to
surface
The first selection criteria for selecting deeper setting depths
is to permit the mud weight to control formation pressures
without fracturing any overlying formations
Plot pressure (pore, fracture and mud weight) against depth
profile
Surface casing is set here
to prevent fracturing
Required mud density to
drill to c

Intermediate casing is set

here to prevent fracturing

Required mud density to

drill to a

Prod casing is set here

 Casing sizes and string configuration are dictated
by the size of the smallest casing string to be run
Once it is known, all subsequent casing and hole
sizes are selected
Selection of the smallest casing string is based on
operational considerations
Drilling engineer will collate this information from
geology, reservoir engineering and production
engineering
The objective of the drilling engineer is to use the
smallest casing sizes possible
 CASING SIZES SELECTION
(contd)
The bit size to drill a certain interval must be slightly larger
than the casing OD (Table 7.7)
To drill the lower interval, the bit size must fit inside the
casing. in turns it determines the min size of the second
deepest casing string (Table 7.8)
Same process continues
CASING SIZES SELECTION
(contd)
 Each casing string has to be designed for burst,
collapse and tension
Thus, its grade and coupling must be able to
withstand the loads
Design load conditions vary from one casing string
to another
Should consider the design loads for collapse and
burst first
Then evaluate the tension load and upgrade the
pipe section if necessary
Finally check for biaxial effect
Collapse Load, Pc Pe Pi
External pressure may be caused by:
Pore pressure
Mud weight
Column of cement

Burst Load, Pb Pi Pe
Internal pressure may be caused by:
Full evacuation
Hydrocarbon influx
Tubing leak
Tension Load,

Total Tensile Load = Cumulative Wet Weight carried by top

joint + Shock load
Calculate SafetyYp Factor, SF (it should exceed the specified
SF):
SF
Total Tensile Load Where
Shock load = 3200 x Wn
Yp = Joint yield strength
Collapse Load assume that:
well is in the last phase of production
Casing is empty
Fluid SG outside pipe is the mud SG
Beneficial effect of cement is ignored
Design Factor of 1.0
 Collapse Load at Surface:
Pe 0.052 17.95 0 0 psi
Pi 0 psi
Pc Pe Pi 0 psi

Collapse Load at Casing Shoe:

Pe 0.052 17.95 19000 17735 psi

Pi 0 psi
Pc Pe Pi 17735 psi
From Table 3.3, all grade satisfy the requirement.
Burst Load assume that:
well has a BHP equal to the formation pore
pressure and the producing fluid is gas
Production tubing leaks gas (0.1 psi/ft)
Fluid SG inside casing/tubing annulus is the mud
SG
Fluid SG outside casing is the saturated salt water
SG (gradient 0.465 psi/ft)
Design Factor of 1.0
Burst Load at Surface:
Pe 0.052 8.94 0 0 psi
Pi = Shut in BHP Pressure due to Gas Column

Pi 17.45 0.052 19000 0.1 19000

15341 psi
Pb Pi Pe 15341 psi

Burst Load at Casing Shoe:

Pe 0.052 8.94 19000 8835 psi
Pi = Pressure due to Fluid Column + Surface Pressure
due to gas leak

Pi 17.95 0.052 19000 15341 33076 psi

Pc Pi Pe 24241 psi
From Table 3.3, only grade SOO meet the burst requirement.

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000

0

2000

4000
Pc
6000
Pb
8000 V-150 38#
V-150 41#
10000
V-150 46#
12000 MW-155
SOO-140
14000
SOO-155
16000

18000

20000
Check for tensile loading (SF=1.8):

Depth (ft) Wet Weight Total Wet Shock Total

Grade Length Yp (1000 lb) Wn (lb/ft) SF
From To (BF=0.726) Weight Load Tensile
0 6000 V-150 38# 6000 1430 38 165528 564828 121600 686428 2.083248
6000 12000 MW-155 6000 1592 38 165528 399300 121600 520900 3.056249
12000 19000 V-150 46# 7000 1344 46 233772 233772 147200 380972 3.527818

Since calculated SF exceed minimum SF of 1.8, all sections satisfy

tensile load requirement.
Need to check for pressure testing, biaxial effect and costs.