Institute Of Petroleum & Natural Gas

Engineering
Mehran University Of Engineering &
Technology
Jamshoro, Sindh, PAKISTAN

WIRE LINE OPERATIONS

Rao Mubarak Ali
mubarik.ali43@yahoo.com
international member of
SPE 4353073
PRESENTATION CONTENTS
 What is wireline?
 Types of wireline
 Slick line
 Braided line

 Wireline Logs
 Wireline Tools

 How Pressure control during wireline operation

 Tools used to control Pressure during wireline

operation
WHAT IS WIRELINE ???
 In the oil and gas
industry, the term
wireline usually refers to
a cabling technology used
by operators of oil and gas
wells to lower equipment
or measurement devices
into the well for the
purposes of well
intervention, reservoir
evaluation, and pipe
recovery.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF WIRELINE

Slick line
 A slickline is a thin cable introduced into a well to
deliver and retrieve tools downhole.
 Used to place and recover wellbore equipment,
such as plugs, gauges and valves, slicklines are
single-strand non-electric cables lowered into oil
and gas wells from the surface.
 Slicklines can also be used to adjust valves and
sleeves located downhole, as well as repair tubing
within the wellbore.
BRAIDED LINE

 Braided line can contain an inner core of insulated

wires which provide power to equipment located at
the end of the cable, normally referred to as electric
line.

 Provides a pathway for electrical telemetry for

communication between the surface and equipment
at the end of the cable.
WIRE LINE LOGS
 First developed by Conrad and Marcel
Schlumberger in 1927.
 Wireline logs measure formation properties in a well
through electrical lines of wire.
 Wireline logs are constant downhole measurements
sent through the electrical wireline used to help
geologists, drillers and engineers make real-time
decisions about drilling operations.
 Wireline logs can measure resistivity, conductivity
and formation pressure, as well as sonic properties
and wellbore dimensions.
WIRELINE TOOLS
 Wireline tools are specially designed instruments lowered into
a well bore on the end of the wireline cable.
 They are individually designed to provide any number of
particular services, such as evaluation of the rock properties,
the location of casing collars, formation pressures, information
regarding the pore size or fluid identification and sample
recovery.
 Some wireline tools are:
 Nuclear tools , Resistivity Tools
 Sonic and Ultrasonic Tools , Magnetic Resonance Tools
 Borehole Seismic Tools , Cased Hole Electric Line

 Additional Equipment
 Cable Head
 Tractors
 Measuring Head
PRESSURE CONTROL DURING WIRELINE
OPERATION
 The pressure control employed during wireline
operations is intended to contain pressure originating
from the well bore.

 During open hole electric line operations, the pressure

might be the result from a well kicking. During cased
hole electric line, this is most likely the result of a well
producing at high pressures.

 Pressure equipment must be rated to well over the

expected well pressures. Normal ratings for wireline
pressure equipment is 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000
pounds per square inch. Some wells are contained with
20,000 psi and 30,000 psi equipment is in development
also.
TOOLS ARE USED TO CONTROL THE
PRESSURE DURING WIRELINE OPERATION

 Flange
 Wireline Valve
 Lubricator
 Pump-In Sub
 Grease Injector Head
 Pack-Off
 Line Wiper
 Quick Test Sub
 Ball-Check Valve
 Head Catcher
 Tool Trap
1. Flange
A flange attaches to the top of the Christmas tree, usually with some sort of adapter for
the rest of the pressure control. A metal gasket is placed between the top of the
Christmas tree and the flange to keep in well pressures.

1. Wireline Valve
A wireline control valve, also called a wireline blow out preventer(BOP), is an enclosed
device with one or more rams capable of closing over the wireline in an emergency. A
dual wireline valve has two sets of rams and some have the capability of pumping
grease in the space between the rams to counterbalance the well pressure.

1. Lubricator
Lubricator is the term used for sections of pressure tested pipe that act to seal in
wireline tools during pressurization. As stated it is a series of pipes that connect and it is
what holds the tool string so operators can make runs in and out of the well. It has
valves to bleed off pressure so that you can disconnect it from the well and work on
tools, etc.

1. Pump-In Sub
Pump-in subs (also known as a flow T) allow for the injection of fluid into the pressure
control string. Normally these are used for wellsite pressure testing, which is typically
performed between every run into the well. They can also be used to bleed off pressure
from the string after a run in the well, or to pump in kill fluids to control a wild well.
5. Grease Injector Head

The grease injector head is the main apparatus for controlling well pressure while
running into the hole. The grease head uses a series of very small pipes, called flow
tubes, to decrease the pressure head of the well. Grease is injected at high pressure
into the bottom portion of the grease head to counteract the remaining well pressure.

5. Pack-Off
Pack-off subs utilize hydraulic pressure on a two brass fittings which compress a rubber
sealing element to create a seal around the wireline. Pack-offs can be hand pumped or
compressed through a motorized pumping unit.

5. Line Wiper
A line wiper operates in much the same way as a pack-off sub, except that the rubber
element is much softer. Hydraulic pumps exert force on the rubber element until a light
pressure is exerted on the wireline, cleaning grease and well fluid off the line in the
process.

5. Quick Test Sub

A Quick Test Sub (QTS) is used when pressure testing the pressure control equipment
(PCE) for repetitive operations. The PCE is pressure tested and then broke at the QTS
afterwards to avoid having to retest the entire string. The PCE is then reconnected at
the QTS. The QTS has two O-rings where it was disconnected that can be tested with
hydraulic pressure to confirm the PCE can still hold the pressure it was tested to.