OTC 7066

Downhole Packers for Use With ESP Completions

GeorgeTeifer,
NodecoLtd.

Copyright 1992, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was presented at the 24th Annual OTC in Houston, Texas, May 4-7, 1992.

This paper was selected far presentation by the OTC Program Committee following review of information contained In an abstrect aubmi!ted by the author(s). Contente of the peper,
aa presented,” have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are eubject to corractlon by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect
~Y WSitlon of the Offshore Technology Conference or Its officers. Permission to copy Is rastrlcted to an abatract of not more than 300 worde. Illustrations may not be mpled. The abstract
should contain coneplcuoue acknowledgment of whare and by whom the papar la presented,

ABSTRACT

This paper will describe how a the larger fields mature and
resettable pump packer was and new fields come on stream.
designed and tested for use in The packers used in ESP
the North Sea. A fully re- completions are essentially
settable packer where the dual packers with the long
setting forces are locked in string commonly 4.1/2” tubing
can save the operator the cost and the short string 2.3/8”
of a workover in a situation tubing which is used to allow
where only minor wellhead passage of the heavy duty
repairs are required. power cable. They are
hydraulical~y set and released
The RESETTABLE PUMP PACKER by straight pull on the
was designed specifically to tubing. They have, however,
overcome this problem. It is suffered from the major
unset by straight pull drawback that once unset they
release and automatically cannot be reset and must be
“re-cocks” itself to allow for pulled from the well for
a further setting. It will replacement. On many
also totally relax and allow occasions, immediately after
safe manipulation of the string installation, there have
between settings as there is a occurred minor mechanical or
device to prevent premature electrical problems at or near
resetting- the wellhead. This neces-
sitates raising the tubing
INTRODUCTION string to gain access which,
of course, unsets the packer.
Since the early 1980’s ESP’s The operator now has a costly
have been run in the North Sea and time consuming trip to
and their-use and application perform.
will increase significantly as

707
2. DOWNHOLE PACKERS FOR USE WITH ESP COMPLETIONS
Many ESP completions do not
include a packer which means
that the fluid in the annulus
is allowed to find its own
level. This practice is not
acceptable in the North Sea
and so a packer is used to
anchor the tubing ‘and seal off
the annulus. High GOR wells
will normally locate the packer
near the surface to allow for
gas venting. Resettability is
not such a strong requirement
in gas vented wells as the time
taken to pull and re-run a
packer to say, 600’ is minimal.
However, with deep set non-gas
vented packers the argument for
using a resettable packer is
strong as the cost of a work-
over on an offshore well can
exceed one million U.S. dollars.
Fig 1 shows a cross section of a
typical pump packer. The main
string (1) is usually maximised
in size and would normally be
4.1/2” OD for a packer set in
9.5/8” casing, 3.1/2” if set in
7.5/8” and 2.7/8” set in 7“.
The electrical cable string (2)
is used to house the electrical
penetrator which is normally
fed through from the lower end
of the packer and sealed off at
the top end. A third string
is often included and used to
attach a pressure/temperature
gauge or used for gas venting.
Fig 2 illustrates other features
such as a chemical injection
or instrument line but as
packers become multi-stringed
there is more potential for
“things going wrong” and hence
resettability becomes more
attractive.
708
OTC 7066
HOW DOES THE RESETTABLE PACKER
=K~ —
Figs. 4 to 7 have been highly
stylised for this paper in
order to easily demonstrate
the setting and unsetting
action of the packer. A close
study of them is recommended
before reading further.
SETTXNG THE PACKER
Fig. 4 shows the packer in the
unset position. To set the
packer a wireline plug is run
and located in a nipple profile
below the packer. Pressure is
applied to the tubing string
which enters through the
pressure ports (8) This
pressure acts to push the
upper piston (7) upwards once
some retaining shear screws
(not shown) have been sheared
at approximately 1,100 PSI.
The upward movement of the
upper piston pushes the
lower cone (6) under the slips
(5) and forces them outwards to
anchor into the casing wall (1)
Once the packer is anchored in
this way, continued increase in
applied, pressure to 3,000 PSI
will now force the lower piston
(9) which is fixed to the main
& secondary strings (2) & (17)
in a downward direction. This
downward movement of the lower
piston and the two strings acts
to compress the packing
elements (3) and hence seal off
the annulus. The setting
forces are locked into the
packer by means of the ratchet
lock (15) which prevents the
packer from relaxing after the
setting pressure is bled off.
The first shear release wire
(10) which requires a pull on
OTC 7066 GEORGE TELFER
the packer of 50,000 LBS to
shear also acts to keep the
setting forces locked in.
Fig 5 shows the completed
setting action. Note that the
release springs (13) are now
compressed as the upper and
lower cones are now closer
together.
UNSETTING THE PACKER
A straight pull of 50,000 LBS
(or as desired) is required on
the tubing string to unset the
packer. A~ the first shear
release wire (10) is sheared,
the reset springs (12) which
were maintained in a compressed
state now act to pull the
cylinder (16) downwards and
anchor it to the second shear
release wire position (11).
Simultaneously the sudden
upward movement of the main
and secondary strings acts to
pull away the upper cone (4)
from underneath the slips. This
in turn allows the release
springs (13) to eject the lower
cone (6). The packing elements
relax into their original
space and the packer is now
completely released but primed
for a second setting if
necessary (see fig. 6) The
device to prevent premature
resetting is not shown but
consists of a set of shear
screws located through the
ratchet lock (15) into the
upper piston (7). Only now will
they be in a position to be
sheared if sufficient internal
pkessure is applied. Preventing
setting the packer at this
stage is beneficial as any
circulating pressures during
well killing operations would
709
3
act to partially set the packer
and hence restrict the annulus.
If the packer was unset in
order to gain access to the
wellhead equipment it can now
be safely raised the necessary
distance then lowered to the
original position and reset
once the repair is completed.
RESETTING THE PACKER
A wireline plug is again run to
the same nipple profile below
the packer and pressure
applied. The setting action is
the same as before (see fig. 7)
with the setting forces
similarly locked in. Again,
straight pull of 50,000 LBS
will unset the packer and it
will relax as before. Note
that the reset springs (12) do
not perform any function now.
It would be possible to build
the packer with a second and
third reset device but this is
deemed unnecessary as it
would needlessly increase the
complexity of the tool. If the
probability of using the reset
feature is say 1 in 20 due to
wellhead electrical or
mechanical problems then the
probability of needing a second
reset due to the same kind of
problem in the same well is 1
in 400.
TESTING PROCEDURE
The test fixture was essen-
tially a piece of 9.5/8”
47 lbs/ft P11O casing with a
flange at one end (see Fig.3).
At the other end was a piston
arrangement which had a
restricted travel of about 12”
This piston would be
pressurised with nitrogen to
4. DOWNHOLE PACKERS FOR USE WITH ESP COMPLETIONS
create the necessary 5C),0001bs
of force to unset the packer as
violently as possible. This
was designed to simulate the
downhole unsetting action as
closely as possible. The test
medium was cold water and the
procedure can be described
as follows:-
1. Set packer inside 9.5/8”
casing nipple through line
(1) in horizontal position.
2. Pressure test upper annulus
through line (2). N.B. Air
outlet (5) was plugged and
air outlet (6) left open to
observe for leaks.
3. Pressure test lower annulus
through line (3). N.B. Air
outlet (6) was plugged and
air outlet (5) left open to
observe for leaks.
4. Unset packer using nitrogen
gas pressured piston at
approximately 1,200 PSI
through line (4)-
!5. Remove packer from test
fixture to verify reset
mechanism has functioned
properly and that packer
is in relaxed state.
6. Put packer back inside
test fixture and reset
through line (1)
7. Pressure test upper
annulus through line (2).
8. Pressure test lower
annulus through line (3).
9. Unset packer through line
(4) wi;h nitrogen ;nd
remove from test fixture
for examination.
710
OTC 7066
COMMENTS ON TEST RESULTS
AND SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATIONS
Steps 1 to 3 were relatively
easily achievable but getting
the packer to unset cleanly
and totally relax proved much
more difficult. It was
realised at this stage that
there was no point in having a
resettable packer unless it
could be totally relaxed after
unsetting and prevented from
prematurely resetting.
Some critical modifications
had to be made which
fortunately could be incor-
porated in the prototype
without major redesign. For
commercial reasons of
confidentiality and patent
considerations the full
details of these ,modifications
cannot be revealed here.
However, one of the major
problems which had to be over-
come was the full retraction
of the slips. Since all the
testing was done in the
horizontal qosition to
simulate the worst possible
conditions it was found that
the slips would not retract
fully.. This was because the
cones would remain in a
partially set state. The
solution was to incorporate 2
powerful release springs (see
Fig 7) which would compress
when the packer was set and
then push the cones out of the
way when the packer was unset
This action created the
original space for the slips
to retract into. This
modification was tested
repeatedly and performed
exceptionally well. Subsequent
field runs have proved the
packer retrieves cleanly.
OTC 7066 GEORGE TELFER
The special device to prevent
premature resetting of the
packer once it has been unset
for the first time was also
deemed to be a necessary
feature.
Tn a situation where a packer
has been unset and the tubing
string raised to gain access
to the wellhead/surface equip-
ment any attempt to circulate
while in this position act to
reset the packer. This could
prevent the tubing string from
being lowered to its original
position. Similarly, friction
forces from contact with the
I.D. of the outside casing
could effect a premature set
while lowering the tubing.
Therefore this feature was
recognised as an essential
part of the reset mechanism
from the early planning stages.
One final problem to overcome
was to be the use of 13% chrome
steel for all parts exposed to
produced well fluids. High
chrome content steels are
notorious for galling and so
some innovative assembly
techniques had to be employed
to eliminate this potential
problem. The entire testing
program, including modific-
ations, took place in
Aberdeen during Jan/Feb 1990.
Steps 1 to 9 of the testing
procedure above were success-
fully carried out repeatedly
and final testing witnessed by
a major North Sea operator.
FIELb RUNS/EXPERIENCE
At the time of writing (1/2/92)
there have been 7 installations
of the packer in the S.E.
FORTIES FIELD.
711
5
All packers had 13% chrome
flow wetted parts and 4 have
subsequently been pulled and
redressed. There has been
no reported problems with any
of the installations and they
all retrieved easily as per
design.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Substantial savings can be
made by using resettable
pump packers. The time
taken to effect wellhead
electrical or mechanical
repairs is greatly reduced
because the operator
does not need to perform a
complete workover to
replace an unset downhole
packer.
2. The reset mechanism has
been tested successfully in
a surface test fixture.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The foll?wing people were
of great help to the author
on the project and deserve
special mention here :-
1. Les Thomson and Mike
Hannan of B.P. Les for
his encouragement and
recognition of the need
for resettable pump
packers and Mike for
his technical input”.
2. Bob Brooks for his
tireless help in
producing and modifying
drawings and his
technical input.
6. DOWNHOLE PACKERS FOR USE WITH ESP COMPLETIONS OTC 7066

3. Graeme Laws, Andy Elrick

and Dick Anderson of Nodeco
Ltd. for their hard work
and patience in seeing the
prototype testing program
through from start to finish
in record time (approx. 8
weeks) -
 g5/8° &LSkJ ‘ II I

3 1
Fig.1 Triple string pum packer /
/
( cross section Y // -/ /
/
1 Main string — Oil production Set Packer ‘ . /
2 Electrical cable to pump
3 Pressure access orgas vent line

5 AMP / _
/ 2
1 t

/
Piston ‘

Gas Chamber 4

J)

Fig.3 Packer test fixture

3
Fig.2 Multi-string pump packer
( cross section)
1 Main string — Oil production
2 Electrical cable to pump
3 Chemical injection line
4 Gas vent line
5 Instrument line
1 Waterline — Used to set packer
2 Waterline — Used to test upper annulus
3 Waterline — Used to test lower annulus
4 Nitrogen gas live — Used to unset
the packer
5 Upper annulus air outlet
6 Lower annulus air outlet

713
 14

13 13

12 12

17

Fig 4 Resettable Pump Packer Fig 5 Resettable Pump Packer

Unset Position Set Position
1 Casing 11 2nd. Shear Note the following differences with Fig.4.
2 Main String Release Wire A) Lower cone (6) and upper piston (7) have
3 Packing Elements 12 Reset Springs moved upwards due to hydraulic pressure
4 Upper Cone 13 Release Springs through pressure ports (8),
5 Slips 14 Electrical B) Slips (5) are set in the casing (1) and packing
6 Lower Cone Penetrator elements (3) are compressed and sealing off
7 Upper Piston 15 Ratchet Lock the annulus.
8 Pressure Ports 16 Cylinder C) Setting forces are locked in by ratchet lock
9 Lower Piston 17 Secondary String (15) and held by 1st. shear release wire (10).
10 1st, Shear D) Release springs (13) are compressed but
Release Wire reset springs (12) are unchanged.

714
 13
12
Fig 6 Resettable pump packer
released position
Note the following differences compared
with Fig.5
A) 1st. shear release wire (1O) is sheared due
to pull of 50,000 Ibs on main string (2).
B) Slips (5) are retracted, packing elements
(3) are relaxed and release springs (13)
have ejected lower cone (6).
C) Upper piston (7) has returned to its orignal
position.
D) Cylinder(16) is now anchored to 2nd, shear
release wire (11) because of reset springs
(12)nowin partiallyextendedposition,
715
15
11
Fig 7 Resettable pump packer
reset position
Note the following differences compared
with Fig,5.
A) The packer is reset as per Fig.5 but the
setting forces are now locked in by the
ratchet lock (15) in a new position and
held by 2nd. shear release wire (11).
N.B. Straight pull on the main string (2) of
50,000 Ibs will release the packer.