Well Completion Equipment & Fluids Dr.

Mortatha Al-Yasiri

Well Completion Equipment

There are many types and designs of completion equipment in common use in oil
and gas wells. In addition to the tubing string and packer found in almost all wells,
there are several other key completion components that may be required and a
number of optional completion accessories to add functionality to the completion.

Tubing
The tubing is a smaller diameter pipe installed inside the casing to carry the reservoir
fluids to the surface. Wear from erosion (flow related) and corrosion (chemical
attack) is confined within the tubing string to protect the casing. If necessary, the
production tubing can be replaced during a workover operation when required.

Packers
Available in a wide range of sizes and types, packers are designed to isolate
production zones and the casing annulus from well pressure. The main types
available are:
• Inflatable - typically used in open hole, low-pressure completions or in well
intervention operations.
• Mechanical set - set by tubing string rotation, not common in completion
applications.
• Hydraulic set - set with the application of hydraulic pressure, available in
single or dual string configurations.
• Wireline set - permanent packers can by set on electric line, with a seal
assembly attached to the tubing and are configured to enable the tubing string
to be inserted or stabbed into a polished bore.

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Nipples
Nipple profiles are installed at various intervals in the completion string to permit
the installation of lock mandrels and flow-control devices during slickline
interventions.

Circulation Devices
Circulation devices allow communication between the tubing and annulus or the
formation and tubing. They are also known as sliding side doors (SSD) or sliding
sleeves and generally contain a nipple profile at the upper end for contingency
purposes.

Side Pocket Mandrels

Side pocket mandrels (SPM) are positioned in a completion to provide an injection
point for lift gas or chemical inhibitors or provide a circulation facility for well kill
purposes. A SPM allows communication between the tubing and annulus.

Blast Joints
Blast joints are externally hardened; heavy walled sections of tubing that are placed
across the perforations of the upper zones to protect the tubing from abrasive wear.

Flow Couplings
Similar in appearance to blast joints but available in shorter lengths, flow couplings
are installed above and below areas of reduced internal diameter, such as safety
valves, to protect the tubing from internal erosion resulting from turbulence. Flow
couplings are essential in high-rate gas wells.

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Telescoping Travel Joint

Telescoping travel joints are installed in dual completions to assist in spacing out the
second string and allow for thermal expansion of the tubing string.

Surface Controlled Subsurface Safety Valves

Surface Controlled Subsurface Safety Valves are available as tubing retrievable
(TRSSV) or slickline retrievable (SLSSV) models and are installed on all offshore
wells and some land wells. They are designed to secure the well in an emergency
and are “failsafe” in operation, being normally held open by hydraulic pressure and
closing automatically if the operating system pressure is released.

Completion Fluids
When completion or workover operations are conducted on a well, the fluid present
in the wellbore must minimize the impact on the near-wellbore permeability. Several
decades ago, engineers realized that the use of drilling fluids during completions was
inappropriate because fluids caused severe damage to the productive zone. A wide
variety of fluids are now available as completion or workover fluids.
A completion fluid is a liquid used by the oil and gas industry during completion of
an oil or gas well. It is a low solid mud or salt solution (brine) used for well testing
and upon a well's completion. It is intended to minimize formation damage and to
control formation pressure. Brine is preferred over mud due to salt's ability to go into
the solution rather than having suspended solids that may settle after a prolonged
time.
Completion fluids are used by drilling operators when they are about to complete
the production of an oil or gas well and while performing well testing. Completion
fluid is placed inside the well to facilitate the final operations prior to starting
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hydrocarbon production. The fluid reduces the friction in the wellbore's equipment
when the well goes live. Also, this fluid helps setting down the screen production
liners, downhole valves, packers and other equipment in the producing zone.

Types of completion and workover fluids

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Reduction in permeability
Water based fluids usually consist primarily of clear brines. The only problem with
clear brines is that they are not ever really clear. They always contain some solids,
including:

• Corrosion products
• Bacteria
• Debris from the wellbore and surface tanks
The density of the brine is maintained large enough so that the bottomhole pressure
exceeds the reservoir pressure by a safe margin (typically 300 to 600 psi). Substantial
amounts of solids can be pushed into the formation, resulting in a loss of
permeability in the near-wellbore region. Rapid reductions in permeability are
observed even with relatively clean fluids. Surface filtration facilities are often used
to clarify and filter completion brines, which can help to reduce the permeability
impairment substantially. Most of the high-density brines used can be quite
expensive. Large volumes of fluid loss can add substantially to the cost of a
completion operation. An important fact to keep in mind with completion and
workover fluids is that, unlike drilling fluids, they do not contain drill solids. This
means that there is no effective bridging material available to reduce fluid leak off.
When fluid-leak-off rates are very high, fluid-leak-off, control additives may be used
to minimize leak-off and formation damage. Use of acid-soluble granular additives
such as calcium carbonate is the most common strategy. If this method proves to be
ineffective, viscosifying polymers are used to reduce the amount of fluid loss.
Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) is commonly used because it is soluble in
hydrochloric acid. HEC is a poor viscosifier at higher (> 250°F) temperatures, and
unbroken and unhydrated HEC in the form of fisheyes can be damaging.

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Polymer fluids suffer from similar drawbacks. Severe formation damage can occur
if large amounts of polymer are lost to the formation. This problem is particularly
acute if the polymer is not completely hydrolyzed in the brine.

If the density requirements of the completion fluid are relatively modest, emulsions
can be used as completion fluids. In these instances, the droplets that form the
dispersed phase act as a filtration-control agent. Both water and oil external
emulsions have been used when reservoir pressures are low.

Oil based fluids such as crude oil and invert-emulsion muds can be used as
completion fluids. It is important to ensure that the crude oil does not
contain asphaltenes or paraffins that might precipitate under changes in pressure and
temperature as the fluid is circulated into the well. In addition, crude oil is flammable
and messy to handle.

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