Coiled Tubing

Coiled tubing can serve many functions including milling, drilling, injection, production tubing and
intervention/ workover operations. The coiled tubing is continuous length meaning that there are no
joints or connections.

The coiled tubing is usually made from HSLA type steels with the most popular type being a weathering
type of HSLA steel. The strength level of the coiled tubing ranges from about 400 MPa (60 ksi) to about
750 MPa (110 ksi). The weathering type of steel has small intentional additions of chromium, copper
and nickel to improve corrosion resistance.

Other materials have been made and used in coiled tubing including 13% chromium stainless steel, 15%
chromium stainless steel and titanium.

The coiled tubing is susceptible to fatigue and corrosion fatigue, pitting corrosion, general corrosion and
SSC in the high strength grades of coiled tubing. One of the biggest problems with respect to corrosion
and coiled tubing is the pitting corrosion that can occur as a result of acidizing operations.

Thru-Tubing Standard Tools

The coiled tubing connector is used to attach the BHA to the coiled tubing work-string. Available
designs include a ―roll-on‖ design, in which a rolling tool is used to deform the wall of the coiled tubing
onto grooves on the connector outside diameter (OD); a set-screw design, in which screws secure the
connector using preformed indentations on the coiled tubing OD; and a dimple design, in which a
hydraulic tool deforms the wall of the tubing into dimples located in the connector OD. The most widely
used connector is the slip-type design, which has proven superior for fishing applications, as well as for
workover motor operations because of its excellent tensile and torsion properties.

The slip-type connector uses an internal gripping slip to engage the coiled tubing when making up the
connection. The slip is energized using an acme thread, which provides the force required for the slip
teeth to set on the outer wall of the coiled tubing. The slip-and-bowl concept used on this design allows
the slip-setting force to be increased as tensile forces are applied to the joint. As more tension is applied
to the coiled tubing, the joint between the coiled tubing and the connector tightens. In most cases, the
connection between the coiled tubing and connector is stronger than the ultimate tensile strength of the
coiled tubing itself.
The connector is rotationally locked to the coiled tubing by side-mounted set screws in the connector
body. These are tightened against the coiled tubing after the slip has been set.

A pressure seal must be formed between the coiled tubing and the connector. Some tools run in the BHA
are actuated by applying coiled tubing pressure after a ball has landed. These tools will be ineffective if
there are any leaks in the BHA above them. The slip-type connector uses two O-ring pressure seals
for redundancy and provides a positive seal with the end of the coiled tubing after the seal surface has
been dressed.

Marine Petroleum (Gas) Engineering and Equipment

Coiled tubing equipment is hydraulically driven workover equipment, and there are two kinds: truck-
mounted and the skid-mounted. This can replace common workover equipment and the wire rope
workover rig to complete some of the workover operations, including completion and rope work,
and are more and more widely used in offshore fields. Coiled tubing technology involves coiled
tubing twisted on a drum that can be continuously withdrawn or lowered from the well without
connecting thread. The coiled tubing is made of high-strength, low-alloy materials, which first is rolled
straight and then welded together. Its length is designed according to specific needs, generally its inner
and outside diameter respectively are 31.75 mm and 38.1 mm, the general total length is 4500 m, and the
maximum of its outside diameter is up to 88.9 mm. Because coiled tubing technology does not use the
shackle and pipe connection process, it can continuously conduct the cyclical operations of lowering the
coiled tubing. Thus this saves the time of running and pulling tubing, and can effectively reduce the
pollution and damage to the reservoir. The operation is safe and reliable, so it has been widely applied to
drilling, completion, sand control, testing, logging and workover and other assignments. But due to the
limitations of coiled tubing size and weight, it has no ability to operate when the depth is over 5000 m,
the lifting weight of the platform's hanger is less than 18 tons, and the platform's area is small. This
section will mainly introduce the overwater equipment, main downhole tools, and the application of
coiled tubing technology to workover operations.

Thru-Tubing Fishing

When coiled tubing parts under tension, it necks down over several inches at the point where it parted. It
is possible for overshots to engage the top of the parted section, but engaging parted coiled tubing can be
difficult because of residual helix and spring in the coil itself.
When coiled tubing parts under compression, it typically buckles and bends over to form the shape of a
shepherd’s hook. A compression failure normally requires dressing the coiled tubing using
a washover shoe before running tools such as snippers or continuous overshots.

A snipper overshot is used to remove the damaged top section of parted coiled tubing remaining in the
hole. The snipper overshot contains a catch-and-cutting mechanism that washes over the top of the
coiled tubing. Once the required amount of coiled tubing (typically 5–10 ft.) is swallowed, overpull is
applied, which forces the catch grapple to bite into the coiled tubing. This overpull may be enough to
free the fish. If not, it is increased to activate the lower cutting grapple, which cuts the coiled tubing. It is
advisable to bench-test the snipper overshot on a sample section of the coiled tubing to be fished. This
indicates the overpull that will be required during the actual fishing operation. Once the snipper has been
run, a round fishneck with an unrestricted ID remains, which allows passage of a chemical cutter should
it be required later in the fishing operation.

The continuous tubing overshot (CTO) and high-pressure packoff (HPP) are used to catch coiled
tubing that has parted in the hole. The CTO uses a grapple that is sized to the coiled tubing being fished.
The grapple segments are arranged in a circle to provide a nearly complete slip bite. They are spring-
loaded against the coiled tubing, so long sections of tubing can be washed over without dragging the
grapple teeth against the tubing, which causes tooth damage. The CTO moves freely downward over the
coiled tubing. The grapple segments engage with any upward movement of the tool. Unlike the
hydraulic-release overshot discussed previously, the CTO cannot be released once engaged. However, it
can be run with either threaded-tubing or coiled tubing work-strings when fishing coiled tubing.The
HPP is run above the CTO and provides a high-pressure seal between the coiled tubing being fished and
the work-string. This is done to circulate out around the coiled tubing being fished, which can help to
free it. The HPP can also allow drop balls to be circulated to seat in circulation subs and hydraulic
disconnect tools in the original BHA. Actuation of these tools can also help to free the stuck tubing.

Drilling muds

Coiled tubing applications include drilling operations, hydraulic fracturing, well completions, removing
sand or fill from wellbore, and other applications that involve pumping fluids at high temperatures and
high salinity. Because of curvature effects in coiled tubing, huge pressure losses occur, limiting the
maximum flow rate achieved. By adding specific chemicals known as friction reducers or drag
reducers to the fluids, these pressure losses can be minimized to a great extent.
Only a few number of studies have been reported that relate to temperature and salinity effects on drag
reduction in fluids flowing through coiled tubing .

An experimental study of two commonly used drag reducers (ASP-700 and ASP-820) flowing through
coiled tubing with different salinities and temperatures has been presented. Both small-scale and large-
scale flow loops have been used. The small-scale flow loop includes a 0.5 in. outside-diameter smooth
coiled tubing, while the large-scale flow loop includes 2 3/8 in. rough coiled tubings. Elevated
temperature tests and salinity tests were conducted using optimum concentrations of drag reducers in
fresh water, 2% KCl, and synthetic seawater.

Correlations were developed that can predict the drag reduction at different salinities and temperatures.
The developed correlations show a reasonable agreement with the experimental data .

Sidetracking Methods

Coiled tubing drilling can be used when it is not economically feasible to utilize the main platform rig or
mobilize a drilling rig. Advances in seismic and reservoir modeling are also helping to target smaller
pockets of oil, further enhancing the economics of coiled tubing use. One of the operations essential for
a successful and cost-effective coiled tubing sidetrack is the casing exit, discussed next.

Casing Exits

Coiled tubing casing exits do not require the well to be killed and can be conducted in underbalanced
conditions. The operation uses the existing completion to produce the well, including safety valves. In
addition, smaller volumes of drilling fluids are required, and little formation damage is caused.

Currently, two coiled tubing casing-exit methods exist, which depend on the completion configuration;
through unrestricted monobore completions and thru-tubing casing exits.

The monobore whipstock, also referred to as an in-tubing whipstock, can be set inside the tubing or in a
monobore liner and the sidetrack performed by milling a window in the liner or through the tubing and
outer casing. This method uses a traditional combination of packer and oriented-whipstock ramp. By
contrast, the thru-tubing whipstock is run through the tubing, and the whipstock is set in the larger
casing or liner below it. It has no packer, allowing it to be set in a single trip.

The sidetrack is usually performed in a single milling run using a tungsten carbide or diamond window-
milling assembly.
Both systems have been used successfully in a range of applications, with the whipstock deployed on
either coiled tubing or electric line.

How Hydrate Plugs Are Remediated

Coiled tubing has been used effectively where access is possible. This is especially true for dry tree
facilities. The well can be entered using standard lubricator designs with coiled tubing. The tubing is
extended down the well until the plug is tagged. Pressure balance is maintained on either side of the
plug, preventing sudden movement. Either methanol or hot water is jetted against the plug face, eroding
and dissociating the plug.

Hot water has been found to be very effective where heat transfer considerations prevent reforming of
hydrates until the well fluids can be stabilized following removal of the plug and solids. The advantage
of hot water is safety concerns in handling fluids via temporary hoses on the facility. Methanol is highly
volatile and requires special handling, procedures, personal protective equipment, and so on.

Other devices, usually attached to the end of a coiled tubing assembly, have been proposed, but no
successful operations using such a device have been documented. These include tractor pig designs or
cup-shaped designs that help pull the coiled tubing farther into the system than it can be pushed. Drag
forces limit the capability of this system. The more turns the tubing must navigate, the more limited the
reach. Currently, the record distance achieved is about 5 to 7 mi. Clearly, a mechanical auger could
speed up the process of clearing the plug and dissociating the hydrate solid phase.

A mechanism that extends the reach of coiled tubing for clearing wax plugs has been successfully
deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. This system uses fluids pressure in the annulus between the coiled
tubing and the production pipe to pull the coiled tubing into the pipe. At some time in the future it is
anticipated that this system will be used to clear hydrate blockages.

Note that although workover drilling rigs have been used routinely for access to wells
for remediation, drill ships have been used and proposed for pipeline/flowline and equipment
intervention. This option requires extensive engineering and preparation time to execute. Clearly, this is
an exceedingly expensive option for deepwater intervention but ultimately may be the only rational
choice.
Coiled Tubing and Underbalanced Drilling

Coiled tubing drilling in Alaska is a fully mature technology. The personnel/rigs on the north slope have
pioneered, refined, and perfected CTD techniques over the last 20+ years. Lateral learning from the
Alaska CTD wells has resulted in project success in several projects outside of Alaska as well. More
than 600 wells have been re-entered using CTD technology, and the continuous improvement,
technology breakthroughs, and improved equipment designs have allowed the teams to continue to push
further, deeper, and into more challenging applications. The majority of the references listed for this
module deal with Alaska CTD wells.

Well-Bore Construction (Drilling and Completions)

Coiled tubing comes in a long, continuous length wound on a spool. It is straightened prior to pushing it
into the well-bore. If it is removed, it can be coiled back onto the spool. This pipe is bendable, yet stiff,
and can be pushed into the lateral on a horizontal well. It is increasingly used for drilling, stimulations,
logging, perforating, and fishing (i.e., retrieving dropped tools and pipe in well-bores). It is also used in
production operations.

Spool sizes typically run from 2000 to 15,000 ft (610–4570 m) with diameters from ¾ to 4½ in (19–212
DN) and can be made of various grades of carbon or stainless steel.

Pressure Drop Calculations

Coiled tubing (CT) drilling, a niche market for many years, is marked by lower flow rates (due to
smaller inside diameter ―drill string‖ of the continuous coiled pipe) and constant drill string losses with
increasing depth.

In conventional jointed pipe drilling, the pressure losses through the inside of the drill string increase
with depth, as do the annular losses. In CT drilling, since the full coil is used from top to bottom,
regardless of how much of the coil is actually utilized in the wellbore, only the annular losses increase
with depth—the drill string losses of the coil are constant with all depths.

While this is very inefficient from the use of hydraulic power and energy, it does offer interesting
opportunities for some researcher to further study annular pressure losses without employing relatively
expensive downhole measuring equipment.