SPE 149693

Drilling Intervention - Milling and Fishing of High Strength Aluminum Drill

Pipe
Adrian Nicolescu, SPE, Jerry Fisher, SPE, Mohammed A. Haq, SPE, Tom Bailey, SPE, and Alexander Lazarev,
SPE, Weatherford International Ltd

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Cairo, Egypt, 20–22 February 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract

Superior dependability of the drill string plays an important role in drilling deep and especially ultra-deep, highly inclined
and long departure horizontal wells, where it is often exposed to extreme loading conditions in a high pressure and high
temperature environment. This need has resulted in the technological development of high strength Aluminum Drill Pipe
(ADP) for use in deep and ultra-deep wells, where its’ properties and the advantages that it offers can make a significant
contribution to reaching the most challenging of drilling targets. Drilling intervention operations such as milling and fishing
are also a major challenge in such extreme environments and have led to the development of new tools and techniques to
address them.
This paper will review the use of ADP in comparison to steel drill pipe and discuss the milling scenarios of cemented and
un-cemented drill pipe as well as fishing operations using external and internal engagements. The intent of this paper is to
disseminate technical knowledge in this new area of drilling technology.

Introduction

As the industry continues to drill ever deeper and lengthier departure wells in its’ continuing quest for oil and gas reserves, so
the technological advancement and development is becoming ever more important in order to keep up with the demands on
equipment and techniques that this quest demands. Some of the more recent wells that have been drilled have reached targets
which have undoubtedly reached the very limits of available drilling technology. Such wells as Maersk BD-04A, which was
drilled offshore Qatar in 2008 and had a measured depth of 40,320ft and a departure from the vertical of 37,956ft, are fast
becoming the norm and others in Russia (Sakhalin Island), UK (Wytch Farm), Argentina and offshore Norway have reached
similar extremes (Ref. 1). The increases in torque and drag that such long horizontal sections can create present a major
challenge to reaching targets and as further increases in the length of such well sections are attempted so the current drilling
technology and in particular the performance of the drill string needs to be addressed in order to reduce friction and diminish
the gravitational loads involved. The process of selecting material for drill pipe manufacture has to consider many
requirement; low weight, corrosion resistance, high strength, flexibility, resistance to buckling and price, to name a few (Ref.
2).
One of the approaches that presents great promise, and may be capable of providing a quantum leap in the possible, is the
use of lighter weight drill pipe which can be achieved in two ways:
• Thinner wall drill pipe manufactured from newly developed high strength steel alloys.
• Manufacturing drill pipe from alternative materials which are lighter and have higher strength to weight ratio than
steel, such as aluminum alloys.

Aluminum Drill Pipe (ADP)

This alternative has been in existence for a considerable length of time but to date has not seen worldwide use. It was
developed in Russia in the late 1950s and has been in use there since, notably being used to drill a well in the 1970s which
created a long standing world record with a total vertical depth of 40,230ft., which was reached with a drill string consisting
2 SPE 149693

of 92% ADP at total depth. Since that time the design of ADP has been further developed and it is now manufactured under
an international standard ISO 15546. The basic design of a joint of ADP is illustrated in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1 Aluminum Alloy Drill Pipe (ADP)

A joint consists of an aluminum alloy pipe section with steel tool joint box and pin connections – steel being preferred in
order to provide the maximum connection make and breaks. Each jjoint oint is assembled by heating the steel tool joint to 320 -
340°C and threading them onto the pipe ends without force. Upon cooling the contraction of the tool joint results in
mechanical interference with the pipe ends with uniform strength resulting. As illustrated the aluminum pipe section can be
extruded with an increased outside diameter (OD) and thickness in the middle which acts as a “wear pad” and greatly assists
in preventing wear when drag forces are high. The manufacturing technology used for aluminum pipe allows the possibility
of extruding a spiral shape OD without any machining. The spiral ribs which result can help to eliminate differential
sticking, improve the transportation of cuttings in the horizontal sections and, being more rigid than standard ADP, can be
used where buckling is most likely to occur (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Spiral ribs on Aluminum Alloy Drill Pipe (ADP)

The most important property of aluminum alloys is their weight compared to steel which results in an exceptional strength
to weight ratio. This allows much longer drill strings to be safely deployed for any given rig capacity. Table 1 below
illustrates the properties of aluminum alloys as stated in ISO 15546:

Table 1: Aluminum alloys properties as stated in ISO 15546

I group II group III group IV group

Alloy Parameters (20ºC)
16T 1953T1 AK4 - 1T1 1980T1
Minimum Yield Stress, ksi 47 70 49 51
(MPa) (325) (480) (340) (350)
Minimum Ultimate Stress, ksi 67 77 59 58
(MPa) (460) (530) (410) (400)
Elongation, % 12 7 8 9
Max. Operating Temperature,
160 120 220 160
ºC

Some of the advantages that the use of ADP can bring to the drilling process are:
• Aluminum alloys are typically one third of the weight of most steels so that even with the added weight of the steel
tool joint connections, the weight in air of the typical joint of ADP drill pipe is less than half that of the equivalent
steel joint.
• ADP has a better buoyancy factor so that when it is placed in a mud environment it loses more of its’ weight than
steel pipe. For example a joint of 5-7/8” drill pipe loses 15% of its’ weight when immersed in 10 pounds per gallon
(ppg) mud whereas a joint of ADP loses 35%.
SPE 149693 3

• The reduced weight of the drill string can result in a 20-25% decrease in trip time which can substantially impact
both rig time and energy usage and their associated costs.
• The use of ADP in the horizontal section can reduce torque and drag forces to as much as half that of steel pipe.

All these factors can lead to a major improvement in the application of the torque and load capacities of any given drilling
rig which in turn can enhance its’ depth and reach capabilities while decreasing the wear and tear on the rig equipment and
reducing the overall energy consumption costs of the drilling process. They can also impact the costs of drilling in remote
areas or offshore where there is no developed infrastructure by allowing a well to be drilled with a smaller capacity rig than
steel pipe would require. Finally and arguably most significantly, they can have a substantial impact on the extent to which
high departure horizontal wells can reach, increasing the envelope of the possible as drilling and exploration attempts to reach
towards new extremes. It is believed that the use of ADP can significantly extend horizontal reach to where the “dream” of a
50,000 ft target can become a reality.
It should be noted that ADP alone is not necessarily a magic potion, the best results to date have all been achieved using a
combination of ADP and steel drill pipe in the string. Careful attention to the overall design of the complete drill string is of
paramount importance in order to achieve the optimum strength balance.

When ADP parts in a well

The technology of milling and fishing procedures after parting of ADP in the well, while having much in common with
fishing conventional steel drill pipe, has some distinctive features which depend both on causes and consequences of such
events:
• If drill the string separates at the tool joint or upset part of the tube, a standard fishing equipment set is normally
utilized (spears, tapered taps, overshots, basket grapples, etc.).
• If the drill string separates at the tube body, due to exceeding allowable tensile load or moving beyond the yield
point of the material, the cross sectional area of fish “head” is fairly straight, with perhaps certain diameter
narrowing due to yielding. In this case it is also possible to employ standard fishing equipment.
If the drill string separation occurs because maximum allowable torque was exceeded, the cross sectional area of fish
“head” becomes jagged and uneven with deep and extensive longitudinal cracks of the tube body. In that case, the “head” is
milled out or drilled out to the tool joint or upset part of the tube body and standard fishing equipment can be used thereafter.

These are situations where typical fishing activities with ADP are most often encountered however; there exist other types
of incidents which necessitate fishing procedures where it is necessary to have an understanding of aluminum alloy properties
and utilization of specialized equipment. Taking into consideration specific mechanical properties of aluminum alloys, if an
ADP string separation is caused by exceeding allowable tensile load or torque, it frees up a significant amount of potential
energy. Such an event impacts borehole walls and may result in their collapse and in most cases, both the ID (inside
diameter) of the drill string and the annulus become full of sand, cuttings and formation debris. These situations may require
specialized equipment for simultaneous cleaning and milling of the “head” and connecting with the fished string.

Certain specialized equipment may be necessary when the lower part of the drill string becomes stuck. In that case,
milling of outside pipe surface may be performed. In order to verify the equipment and techniques that are most suitable for
milling and fishing ADP in both cemented and uncommented situations a series of tests were performed.

Milling and Fishing of ADP

In order to investigate whether or not ADP presented any major problems with the use of standard fishing and milling tools, a
series of tests were set up in a test laboratory environment. The objectives of these tests, which were all performed on 5-7/8”
ADP having a load capacity equivalent to 590,000 lbs at its’ minimum yield strength of 69,615 psi, inside 9-5/8” 53.50 lbs/ft.
casing were as follows:

Milling tests for both uncemented and cemented pipe were performed with the following objectives:
• To determine the revolutions per minute (RPM) and weight on bit (WOB) required to achieve the optimum ROP
(rate of penetration, measured in ft/hr (feet per hour)).
• To verify whether or not the milling of ADP using standard equipment presents any unexpected problems.

Fishing tests for external engagement fishing tools with the following objectives:
• To demonstrate the ability to fish ADP with standard overshots.
• To apply loads equal to 80% of the material yield strength (YS) of ADP, amounting to 472,000 lbs, with standard
overshots to verify whether or not slippage might occur.
4 SPE 149693

Fishing tests for internal engagement fishing tools:

• To demonstrate the ability to fish ADP using standard spears.
• To apply loads equal to 80% of spear connection YS using a standard spear (equal to 73% of ADP YS) to verify
whether or not slippage might occur.

The results of these tests which were performed on alloy 1953 T1 ADP material led to the following conclusions:
• ADP can be successfully milled using standard tools; using a standard junk mill for uncemented pipe and the newly
developed 2-pod mill for cemented pipe which counters any tendency towards “coring”, a common problem with
standard mills due to the cemented pipe being inevitably eccentric to the well bore, which can result in premature
cessation of the milling process (Ref. 3).
• The typical ROP for steel pipe is 4-6 ft/hour, the rates recorded in these tests for ADP were much greater as shown
in the following table:

Table 2: Summary of ADP Milling Test Results

ADP Average ROP Recommended WOB Mill

Recommended
RPM
ft/hr m/hr lbs kg Used

Test 1 : Cemented 10 3.1 105-125 20,000-27,000 9,000-12,000 2-pod Mill

Test 2 : Un-cemented 11.28 3.4 90-110 17,000-23,000 7,700-10,500 Junk Mill

The results of the external engagement fishing tool tests using an overshot bowl and basket grapple lead to the following
conclusions:
• ADP can be readily fished by external engagement using standard fishing tools with no issues.
• The pipe will not slip from the tool at 80% of ADP material yield strength.

The results of these tests are illustrated in the following table:

Table 3: Summary of Overshot Fishing Test Results on ADP

Test # Overshot OD ADP Alloy Over-pull, lbs Over-pull, kg Slip

1 8-3/8" 1953T1 (147x13P) 484,000 220,000 No

2 8-3/8" 1953T1 (147x13P) 100,000 45,000 No

3 8-3/8" 1953T1 (147x13P) 150,000 68,000 No

4 8-3/8" 1953T1 (147x13P) 200,000 91,000 No

The results of the internal engagement fishing tool tests with spears lead to the following conclusions:
• ADP can be readily fished using standard tools with no issues.
• In ultra deep applications ADP can be fished without pipe slipping from the tool, only limited by 80% of spear load
rating (73% of ADP material yield strength).

The results of these tests are illustrated in the following table:

SPE 149693 5

Table 4: Summary of Spear Fishing Test Results on ADP

Test # ADP Catch ID Spear Grapple Over-pull Over-pull Slip

1953T1 (147x13P) Nom Catch Size lbs kg

1 4.13" 4.179" 327,000 148,000 No
2 4.75" 4.805" 357,000 162,000 No
3 4.75" 4.805" 201,000 91,000 No
4 4.75" 4.805" 151,000 68,000 No

Conclusions:

The use of ADP can have a significant positive effect on the ability of a given capacity drilling rig to reach hitherto
unattainable extended reach targets, with positive impact on the costs of the project. The result can be that the envelope of
the possible in extended reach drilling can be expanded with little or no impact on overall expenditure. In addition, the tests
that were performed and have since been verified in actual field operations, showed that ADP can be used and treated in
much the same way as steel pipe when it comes to adverse conditions which entail milling and fishing operations.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their thanks to Weatherford International Ltd. for their permission to submit this paper and their
encouragement to do so.

References

1. “Aluminum Pipes – a Viable Solution to Boost Drilling and Completion Technology”, by M.Y. Gelfgat, A.V., Vakhrushev, D.V.
Basovich and V.S Tikhonov, Aquatic Company; A.C Odell and D.J. Brunnert, Weatherford International Ltd., presented at the
International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Doha, Qatar 7-9 December 2009.

2. “Comprehensive Studies of Aluminum Drillpipe” by V.S Tikhonov SPE, Aquatic (a Weatherford Company); M. Y Gelfgat SPE,
Weatherford Holdings (Russia); Curtis Cheatham SPE, Weatherford International Ltd.; Alex Adelman SPE Consultant, presented at
the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana USA 2-4 February 2010.

3. “Case Histories of Recent Field Results for Advancement in Milling of Cemented Tubulars, by Mohammed Haq SPE, Jerry Fisher and
Tom Bailey SPE, Weatherford International Ltd., presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands, 1-3 March 2011.