Slickline – Wireline – Well Services www.slk-connect.

com

SLICKLINE CONNECT
Slickline Wire
Introduction

The wire is one of the primary elements of the Slickline equipment set and it provides the means of deploying
tools and equipment into a well bore. Slickline wire must meet certain physical and chemical characteristics
required for an operation. Strength to support the weight of the tools and the operational requirements,
sufficient length to reach the depth required, chemical composition to match the well fluids and be in a
condition to ensure that the wire will meet those requirements and not fail prematurely

Wire Management is one of the fundamental elements of Slickline Service Delivery. Wire integrity is critical to
our clients’ operation and the consequences of a wire failure may cause personnel injury, equipment damage
and have a significant negative impact on the well. It is of paramount importance that Wire Management is
carried out in a systematic and auditable fashion.

A complete Slickline Wire Management program has to consider the complete life cycle of the wire, as
follows: -

Section A ………….. Introduction

Selection
Section B ………….. Reception, Handling & Storage
History Card
Section C …………… Pre-Job Planning Tools
Well Site Operations
Jarring Procedure
Hints & Tips
Section D …………… Testing
Maintenance

Safety
Wire handling is an extremely important aspect of the day to day Slickline operation. A loose end of wire must
be handled carefully as it is razor sharp and will cause injury if it is not under control at all times.

Consider the following points as a starting point for safe wire handling: -
Safety glasses must be worn at all times
Always use gloves when handling wire
When cutting wire both ends must be secure to avoid the wire springing up and causing injury
Make a ‘handle’ with the end of the wire which provides protection and a means of handling the
wire during rigging up and rigging down
The end(s) of the wire must be handled carefully and always pointed away from personnel
Correct body placement at all times and avoid standing within loops of wire
Always install barriers around the immediate working area
Unauthorised personnel should be kept clear of the immediate work area

Doc # slkc-0001 & 0009 Page 1 of 4 ©slk-c2019 - www.slk-connect.com

 Slickline – Wireline – Well Services www.slk-connect.com

Operational Precautions
All equipment, unit, powerpack PCE and DH tools have been correctly maintained
Pre-job wire test has been performed and the wire is considered fit for purpose
Slow down when passing through restrictions in the well bore
Never exceed the recommended running speeds

Always lubricate the wire running in the well

The unit must be under the full control of the winch operator whenever tools are being run or
recovered from the well bore

Documentation
Work permit in place and signed-off
Approved work program on site
Well schematic adjacent to the winch operating position
Wire history card up to date

Slickline Wire Failure Modes

The following are the most common causes of operational wire failures and indicate that in a successful well
intervention the complete operation has to be taken into account.

The following list of wire failure modes are top five in order of percentage number of failures: -
1) Differential pressure resulting in tools being blown up the well during recovery of flow control
devices
2) Faulty tension devices, flat bellows due to the loss of hydraulic fluid from the system allowing the
bellows to close up and the resulting over pull on the line not being recognised. This can be the
result of poor maintenance, air in the system, un-calibrated or un-checked systems prior to the
start of the operation.
3) Wire fatigue
4) Christmas tree valve closure
5) Crowning out when pulling out of the well

The five failure modes above can be judged as avoidable if the correct processes and procedures had been
applied and the Wire Management system had been fully implemented, through proper planning, preparation
and execution of the operation.
The Wire Management System requires all personnel involved in the operation to be committed to providing
the best in class service and the importance of understanding and having a complete awareness of the
requirements of the operation.

Doc # slkc-0001 & 0009 Page 2 of 4 ©slk-c2019 - www.slk-connect.com

 Slickline – Wireline – Well Services www.slk-connect.com

SLICKLINE CONNECT
Slickline Wire
Selection

Selecting the correct wire to perform according to the job design and objectives whilst managing the
chemistry, temperatures and pressures of the well and well fluids is the primary criteria of wire selection.

Other factors that have a critical bearing on wire selection are: -

 Well geometry, dog legs, deviation, tubing ID
 Job objectives, depths, tool size
 Calculated line tensions based upon pre-planning tools
 Cost, whilst not being the critical factor will have a bearing on supply of the most suitable wire for
the operation

Slickline wires are ranked according to their resistance to H2S, Co2 and chlorides.

Improved Plough Steel (IPS) or Carbon Steel wires, are the least resistance to H2S and should only be
employed in wells that are considered sweet.

Note: Some manufacturer’s state that IPS wires can be used in low concentrations of H2S with suitable
inhibitors, in practice this is not advised and a suitable alloy or stainless steel wire is the best choice.

Austenitic Stainless Steels can be use in high H2S concentrations, but their use in chlorides is not advised.

Duplex Stainless Steels offer very good corrosion resistance in high concentrations of Chlorides & Co2 but are
only suitable for low H2S concentrations (max 3psi partial pressure)

Super Austenitic Stainless Steels and 6% Molybdenum Stainless Steels can be used in any concentration of
H2S. Well temperatures and chloride percentages must be known before a selection is made.

Slicklines containing Cobalt are useable in any combination of H2S and chlorides.

Sour Well Conditions

There are industry definitions of sour well conditions based upon the partial pressure of H2S. Partial Pressure
is a calculation of the well pressure and the concentration of H2S expressed in PPM (parts per million). This
selection calculation is used for determining if sour service equipment such as PCE
is required for an operation and we believe should not be used for determining a wire’s suitability for certain
well conditions. Wells should be considered as having sweet or sour well conditions. If sour well conditions
exist then an alloy wire should be selected based upon the concentration of H2S and Chlorides. As a rule of
thumb and in all cases select highest resistant wire available.
Wire selection can be optimised through the use of Material Selection Software. CWI (Central Wire Industries)
for instance, offer a web based Material Selection Service which with the input of some basic well and
operational data will deliver a recommendation on suitable wire grades to meet those conditions.

Doc # slkc-0001 & 0009 Page 3 of 4 ©slk-c2019 - www.slk-connect.com

 Slickline – Wireline – Well Services www.slk-connect.com

Mechanical Properties
Current Slickline wires are a balance between strength and the chemistry required to meet certain well
conditions. UHT API 9A wire provides the highest strength but the lowest resistance to H2S, whereas wires
such as MP35N® / Sanicro 56Mo / GD50 offer medium to high strength and excellent corrosion resistance but
at a very high cost.

The mechanical strength of a wire and size must be considered in terms of the depth of operation, the type of
operation, the size (weight) of the equipment to be deployed or recovered from the well bore, jarring
requirements and contingency planning.

When considering the strength of a wire the reference breaking strains are available within the
manufacturer’s data sheets. The Minimum Breaking Load (MBL) is the absolute limit of a wire and in practice
well intervention operations limit the maximum tension applied to either 50% or 60% of the MBL, depending
on client, location, operation or other factors.

Wire Sizes
Larger OD (0.140” & 0.160”) Slicklines are coming into common use.
This is being driven by large well bores and the flow control equipment
associated with them and the need for a greater factor of safety when
considering the applied wire tensions.

It should be noted that the deeper an operation is conducted in a well

the factor of safety advantage of the larger OD wires diminishes as the
operating envelope is reduced by the increasing weight of the wire
deployed in the well. These factors must be determined in pre-job
planning to select the most suitable wire size for particular 0.160 Alloy Wire Spooled on a Winch Drum
requirements.

Common wire sizes: 0.092”, 0.108”, 0.125”, 0.140”, 0.150” and 0.160”. Appendix A, Slickline Wire Basic Data
details the Slickline wires currently available on the market

Doc # slkc-0001 & 0009 Page 4 of 4 ©slk-c2019 - www.slk-connect.com