C HAPTER

14
 14 -1

S UBSURFACE
E QUIPMENT
T
here are many specialized tools designed
to perform a variety of downhole tasks
during workover and completion. Some
tools stay in the hole throughout the produc-
tive life of the well or until recompletion.
Downhole jewelry Others are functional only during workover.
Tools can be run in the hole as part of the
can be the original string’s equipment or run in later by
tubing, wireline or hydraulic pressure.
cause of many
well control CHRISTMAS TREE
Although not part of subsurface equipment,
complications. the Christmas tree is usually the first component
encountered by a workover/completion crew.
The Christmas tree is a series of valves, flanges,
choke body and connectors that allow the
controlled flow of produced fluids.

14-2
Applications usually dictate what type of
Christmas tree will be needed. There are
many different designs and complexities of
Christmas trees. Simple units, such as a pump
Trees should be jack setup, may consist of a stuffing box with
lubricated no valves. Complex trees may have numerous
regularly; good master and wing valves. Factors taken into
maintenance account in tree design include pressure, surface
minimizes environment and temperatures, other types
complications of produced fluids, down hole environment,
during fluid temperatures and economics.
production. The tree should be lubricated on a
regular schedule. Good maintenance minimizes
complications during production. It also leads
to smoother repair and removal.
The basic components of the Christmas
tree include the following:
w Pressure gauge – Pressure gauges allow
well pressures to be monitored. Tubing
pressure and casing or annular pressures
are monitored with these gauges.
w Gauge flange (cap) – Provides a seal for
the top of the tree and has provisions
for a pressure gauge. When this flange is
removed, it provides access to the tubing.
Left: a
surface tree
Right: Christmas
tree
components
C HAPTER 14
w Crown valve (swab valve) – The crown
valve is used to shut off pressure and allow
access to the well for wireline, coil tubing,
workover, etc. units to be rigged up.
w Flow tee (cross, tee) – The flow tee is used
so that tools may be run into the hole
while allowing production to the flow line.
w Wing valve – A wing valve is used to shut
off the well for most routine operations.
These are the easiest to replace in case of
damage or cutting out of the valve.
w Choke – The choke controls the amount
of flow desired from the well.
w Master valves – Master valves are the main
shut off valves. They are open most of the
well’s life and are used as little as possible,
especially the lower master valve.
w Tubing hanger – A tubing hanger suspends
or supports the tubing string, seals off the
casing annulus, and allows flow to the
Christmas tree.
w Casing valve – The casing valve gives access
to the annulus between tubing and casing.
w Casing Hanger – A slip and seal
arrangement that suspends, and seals off,
the casing in the casing bowl.
 S UBSURFACE E QUIPMENT
14-3

CHRISTMAS TREE REMOVAL

Preplanning is important at this point and
Loc k certain items should be defined, worked out
S c r ew
and understood by all company, rig and service
Tubing
Hanger people, including the following:
Tubing w Is the tree to be removed prior to, or after,
S pool
rig or unit move in?
w Will the tree be sent to a shop or serviced
at the location, if necessary?
B us ing
w Is the tree’s manufacturer service
representative present and are there all the
Casing parts that may require replacement?
Hanger
w Is the rig BOP equipment ready for
C as ing
Head immediate installation?
S pool
w Is the well to be killed or will it be worked
on under pressure?
Be sure that all of the exposed tree flanges
are protected and that all of the BOP flanges
S eal
are inspected and cleaned. New rings should
C as ing
Head
be available. Once a metal ring has been used it
Housing
has been permanently distorted. Always check
C as ing
Hanger the tubing and casing pressure with gauges
which are known to be working properly.
If the well is to be killed, be sure that
the casing is full. Check for communication
between the tubing and casing. Pump into
the tubing with kill fluid and bullhead
(this procedure is explained in Well Control
Methods) until you are sure that produced
fluid in the tubing has been displaced into the
formation. This can be done by calculating the
volume of the tubing and pumping sufficient
The base of the tree consists of previously run volume of a kill fluid into the tubing. It should
wellhead equipment.
be noted that clear fluids may fall faster than
they are pumped, and gas migrates faster than
w Casing – Casing is a pipe string that it is bullheaded. If too much fluid is pumped,
supports the wellbore to prevent it from formation damage may occur. Any increase in Always check
caving in and prevents communication pump pressure should be taken as a sign that tubing and
from one zone to another. the kill fluid might have reached bottom. casing pressure
w Tubing – A pipe string that contains and Record volumes pumped and pressures. with gauges
allows the flow of fluid produced by the Set wireline plug in tubing. Shut wing valve known to work
formation. and check pressure buildup for approximately properly.
During a rig move in and rig up, extreme one hour. Set check valve in tubing hanger.
care must be taken not to damage the tree. Again, check for pressure buildup. If there is
Carelessness at this point could prove fatal to no pressure build up, remove tree and install
the rig and/or personnel. BOPs.
 C HAPTER 14
14-4

CASING
Casing is normally steel pipe
that runs from surface to various
depths in the well. It is hung from
the surface, cemented in place and
remains until the well is plugged.
This is the well’s first line of
defense against caving, loss of the
hole, blowouts, lost circulation,
commingling of well fluids from
one formation to another and is the
foundation for wellhead equipment.
Casing comes in many different
diameters. Each size usually has
various grades and weights. Different
casing sizes are necessary to insure
the proper internal working room
downhole. The various grades and
weights give pipe adequate collapse,
burst and tensile strengths, and
other properties necessary to resist
well pressure and formation fluid.
To couple casing together there
are many types of connections.
Extreme care should be taken to
inspect casing, and in handling
casing while unloading and preparing
for use in the well. Casing thread
protectors should be left on until
casing is loaded onto the pipe
racks. While on the rack, thread
protectors must be removed, threads
and protectors should be cleaned, inspected, LINER
doped and the protectors replaced. Protectors A liner is casing that does not extend back
should be in place when lifting casing up to to the surface and is suspended and supported
the floor through the V-door. A stabbing guide from a tool called a liner hanger. The liner
should be used to make up connections to is usually run into the well on the workstring
Casing is the prevent cross threading. to the desired depth, set and cemented in
well’s first line of A casing crew with the necessary equipment place.
defense against to run a casing string (casing tongs, a torque Liners are run for various reasons. Economics
caving, hole gauge, necessary safety equipment and crossovers) may dictate not to run another casing string
loss, blowouts, will normally be on hand to do the job. Still, from surface to bottom, but from the last casing
lost circulation it is normally the rig crew’s job to see that shoe to bottom.
or commingling all casing equipment is safely and properly General handling procedures for liners are
of well fluids. handled. Excellent handbooks on proper casing the same as for casing. Care should be taken
handling are available from casing suppliers. to slow down when running tools in and out
of the liner top.
S UBSURFACE E QUIPMENT
LINER HANGER
The liner hanger suspends the liner to
prevent bowing or buckling. The hanger
contains a set of slips that may be either
mechanically or hydraulically set. They grip
outward against the last casing string. A
hanger may be set in place by several different
methods. Some mechanically-set hangers are
set by turning the string to disengage a jay-slot
mechanism, permitting slips to wedge out
from cone to casing. A hydraulically-set hanger
There are many types of equipment that
can be installed in the well.
14-5
is set by creating sufficient hydraulic pressure
inside the hanger mechanism to move slips up
against the cone to the casing. Certain types of
packers may be used as a liner hanger.
Tubing is the
conduit for
TUBING produced fluids
and protects
This is the major conduit for the well’s casing from
produced fluids. It also protects the casing pressure and
from pressure and corrosion. Its size may run corrosion.
from several inches to a fraction of an inch. The
most common sizes are 2-7/8” OD (73.02 mm)
and 2-3/8” OD (60.32 mm). Tubing normally
runs from the wellhead to the production
zone. Tubing is classified by size (OD, ID, tool
joint OD, ID), weight (lbs/ft), and grades such
as J-55 and N-80. Tubing may be constructed
of exotic materials to withstand the pressures,
velocities and corrosivity of the well’s produced
fluid and environment. Internal coating may
be applied for corrosion protection. There are
many types of connections to couple or screw
joints of tubing together. Care and handling
of tubing is similar to that of casing.
WORKSTRING
The string of pipe used during workover is
called the workstring. It is often the production
tubing pulled from the well. Unless economics
dictate otherwise, the production tubing string
is laid down and a string with drillpipe type
connections picked up for the job. This is to
prevent wear and damage to the production
tubing and the tubing threads. Depending on
the type of work to be done, the tubing string
is sometimes used instead of a workstring.
The workstring may consist of anything
from 2-3/8” (60.32 mm) tubing (or smaller)
with drillpipe connections, to larger sizes of
drillpipe. The OD of a workstring and its tool
joints are of concern. The string must be small
enough not to stick or hang up in the well.
 C HAPTER 14
14-6

Additionally, they feature a nipple profile

SLIDING SLEEVE above the inner sliding sleeve and a polished
(SLIDING SIDE-DOOR) pack-off area below as an integral part of the
assembly. This provides locations for additional
Sliding sleeves landing nipples for a variety of flow control
Sometimes it is convenient to have the
are useful for tools. Equalizing ports in the inner sleeve
ability to circulate the annulus between the
upper zones
tubing and the casing without unseating the are designed to allow the pressure differential
that may be
packer or pulling the stinger or seal nipple between the tubing and the casing annulus
produced or
from the packer. A sliding sleeve is a port that to equalize before shifting into the open or
shut off in the
future without can be opened and closed by wireline or other closed position. Three-stage collet locks help
moving in a rig. means. It can be used to circulate and kill a keep the sleeve in a full-open or a full-closed
well without removing the Christmas tree. The position.
sliding sleeves may fail or become stuck open Besides wireline-operated designs, types of
or closed in wells with sand-laden, or highly sliding sleeves may be shifted by jarring up
corrosive fluids. or down. These come in designs that can be
Sliding sleeves are useful for upper zones opened upward and close downward, or open
that may be produced or shut off in the future downward and close upward. They can be
without moving in a rig. This is accomplished by placed opposite a gravel pack section where the
perforating the zone and spotting a completion sleeve packing element is retained in a nipple
fluid opposite the formation. A packer is set and does not move as the sleeve shifts.
(in some instances an upper dual packer),
and the sliding sleeve is run as
part of the tubing string to a
point opposite the zone to be
produced later. The sleeve may
be opened by wireline when
production from the interval
is desired. The zone also may
be closed off again in the same
manner. Sliding sleeves are also
used for treating or acidizing a
zone or for treating tubing.
Any number of sliding
sleeves may be run in a single
tubing string and may all be
opened or closed on a single
trip. Also, individual sleeves
may be opened or closed
selectively.

Left: a sliding sleeve

Right: a selective
sliding sleeve
S UBSURFACE E QUIPMENT
14-7

If packer fails or well is to be worked over,

packer is unseated and pulled (retrievable) or
milled (permanent). Most retrievable packers
can be redressed with seals and slips at job
site.
There are also specially designed packers
used for a specific job or circumstance.
w Whipstock packer – for casing sidetracking.
Can directionally orient from rig floor.
w Inflatable test packer – run in hole
and inflated/deflated from surface through
external tubing, normally 1/4” (6.35 mm).
Dual assemblies often run for drillstem test.
There are many ways of setting packers.
The most common packer setting mechanisms
include the following.
w Hydraulically set – A pumpout ball seat
near the bottom of the tubing provides a
means of applying setting pressure. After
the packer is set and the ball and seat
pumped out, a seal assembly is then run as
part of the tubing string.
w Mechanically set – The packer, plus the
seal assembly, is run in to the setting depth
on tubing. The upper slips are released by
rotation (usually right hand) of the tubing.
An up strain will set the packing element
and lower slips. An equal set down weight
Example of a wireline set packer will check the set of the lower slips.
w Electric wireline set – A small charge of
electrical current, transmitted through the
PACKER wireline, ignites a powder charge in the
setting assembly, gradually building up
A packer is a device used to seal the gas pressure. This pressure provides the
area between casing and tubing. It isolates the necessary force to set the packer. When
casing from high production or stimulation the prescribed setting force is applied
to the packer, the release stud in the
pressures and corrosive fluids. For that reason,
wireline adapter parts and frees the setting
it is usually set slightly above formation to
equipment from the packer, allowing it to
be produced. Multiple packers are used to be pulled from the hole. Packers isolate
isolate multiple completions so that they may be
w Sand line or slick line set – A pressure casing from
produced without commingling. There are also
setting assembly is installed in the packer high production
special packers that enable us to do particular and run to desired setting depth on line. or stimulation
jobs, such as squeeze cementing, acidizing and A Go-Devil (a type of tool used to deliver pressure and
fracturing. impact) is installed on the slick or sand corrosive fluids.
Before running packer into well a bit, line and dropped into the well. The
casing scraper and junk basket run should be Go-Devil firing head mechanically activates
made followed by a gauge run on the string or the setting assembly by firing a blank
with wireline. This will help to ensure that the cartridge, detonating the secondary igniter
packer can be run and it will not stick or set and the powder charge of the setting
prematurely in a tight spot. assembly.