Overview of CBM & It’s Workover

Operations
 What is coal bed methane ?

 Standard Natural Gas CH4

 Generated either through chemical reaction or bacterial action
 Chemical reaction can occur time as heat and pressure are applied to coal in
sedimentary basin, referred to as thermogenic methane
 Bacteria obtain nutrition from these organic matter and produce methane as by
product, is referred to as biogenic methane
 Methane is held in the cleats with the coal
 Substantial water pressure is need to keep the methane in coal
Formation of methane during Coalification process
 Methane storage in coal
Methane in coal is:
 Adsorbed on the surface of the coal
 Stored as free gas in the cleats and
open pores
 Conventional Gas Coal Bed Methane

• Inorganic reservoir rock • Organic reservoir rock

• Reservoir and source rock independent • Reservoir and source rock are same
• Gas storage in macropores, Real gas law • Gas storage by adsorption on micropore surfaces

• Macropore Size • Micropore size

• Darcy’s flow of gas to wellbore • Diffusion through micropores by Fick’s law and
Darcy’s flow through fractures

• Gas content from logs • Gas content from cores and cannot obtain from
logs
• Gas to water ratio decreases with time • Gas to water ratio increases with time in stages

• Permeability not stress dependent • Permeability highly stress dependent

• Well interference detrimental to production • Well interference increases production
• Production Schedule according to set decline curves • Initial negative decline
 Stages of Development (CBM)

 Coring
 Drilling & Open hole logging
 Casing & Cementation
 Perforation
 Well Testing
 Hydraulic Fracturing
 Well Completion
 Production
 Coring

CORE ANALYSIS
 Gas volume
 Gas composition
 Coal description
 Adsorption isotherm
 Proximate analysis
 Ultimate analysis
 Vitrinite reflectance
 Bulk density determination

TECHNIQUES
 Conventional Coring
 Wireline Coring
 Pressure Coring
 Drilling

Drilling:
 Hammer bits
 Air Drilling

Hole Type Hole Size Reason Shoe

Depth
Conductor 17 ½” To prevent washing away of loose ~18 m
unconsolidated formation
Surface 10 5/8” To support BOP & Well Head, To 200 m
isolate fresh water zones

Production 7 7/ 8 ” To isolate troublesome zones. Set at TD

 Open hole Logging

Logging Analyses
 low density, coals are identified most
easily from a density log
 High apparent neutron and sonic
porosities
 High resistivities
 Low gamma ray values
 Casing & Cementing

Type Hole Size Casing Size Details Shoe Casing:

Depth 
Conductor 17 ½” 14” ERW pipe ~18 m

Surface 10 5/8” 8 5 /8 ” 24 ppf, K55, 200 m

STC
Production 7 7/8” 5 ½” 15.5 ppf, Set at TD
K55, BTC

Cementing:
 Class G Cement
 Fluid loss additive
 Deformers
 Splenosphere
 Flyash
Casing:
Conductor Casing
Suface Casing
Production Casing
Well after Casing and Cementing
 Perforation
 Communication
 Irreversible process, SO an advance
planning is required which is based on :
4) Perforation
Communication
Irreversible process, SO an advance planning is required which is based on :
 Type of environment in which perforation is to taken place
 The constraints and advantages of available perforating systems.
Perforations must penetrate the casing beyond cement, into the hydrocarbon bearing formation. The perforations
should be clean and of uniform size and depth. The perforating operation should not damage casing or the cement
bond.
 
Elements of shape
charge :
 
(1) A conical metallic liner
(2) Primer
(3) Main high explosive
charge
( 4) Container
5) Well Testing
CBM PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
 Methane
CBM is produced by removing water pressure that holdsDesorption
the CBM in place.
Methane that was held in place by water pressure.
 Progressive cavity pump
• PCP is a positive displacement pump, where produced fluid is displaced axially at a constant rate.
• PCP’S are comprised of two helicoidal gears, where the rotor is positioned inside the stator.
• Combination of rotational movement and geometry of the rotor inside the stator results in the formation of cavities
that move axially from pump suction to pump discharge.

Bottom Hole Equipment:

• Stator
• Rotor
• No Turn Tool
• Rotor bushing
• Necessary X-overs & Gas anchors
Surface Equipment:
• Flow Tee
• Hollow Shaft drive head
• Intrinsically safe electric
motor/hydraulic motor driven by duel
fuel engines
• Polished rod
• Polished rod clamp
 Production Problems & NEED FOR WORKOVER
Parameter Causes Workover type
  Low water head Downsize The Pump
Workover refers to any kind of well
  in the Annulus
intervention involving invasive   Sand Production Sand Cleaning
techniques
High Torque Increases
It can also be described as the process
Gas Influx In Lower the PID
of performing major maintenance or Tubing
remedial treatment on a oil or gas well. Elastomer Downsizing Rotor
In all the operations, pump is required
Swelling (Slim Hole Rotor)
to stop and in some of the operations   Pump Fishing
downhole pump is to be retrieved.   Unscrewed
 Most common workover operations   Sucker Rod Fishing
includes Sand cleaning & Flushing, Low Torque Unscrew
Downsizing the pump, Fishing, etc.., (Mostly Means Fishing)  
Tubing / Sucker Fishing
Rod Shear
NTT Fail Change NTT – Fishing
Low Production Tubing Puncture Replace Tubing
 Constraints of CBM and their possible
solutons
 Failure in Attainment of Continuous Dewatering (Due to sand production, scaling, sucker rod unscrew, tubing
puncture, high torque etc..,)
SOLUTION: Eliminating workover is an impossible target but it can definitely be reduced.
I. if a high percentage of sand is pumped out continuously, it may lead to abrasive wear of the rotor and stator. So running a pump
with larger displacement per RPM and lower pump speed reduces velocity of the particles within the pump preventing abrasive
wear.
II. The well must be properly swabbed after acid job till the pH of the fluid is back to its original level to avoid acid attack on the
rotor and stator.
III. Proper space-out is mandatory keeping in mind every small factor to avoid the pump locking up and other torsional stresses.
IV.  To avoid elastomer swell, dry run and burning of the elastomer due to friction, the selection of pump model, elastomer-fluid
compatibility check and PID selection must be appropriate so that it does not require frequent changes.
V. If dry run is the result of high percentages of free gas, lowering the pump setting depth or running a gas anchor will limit the gas
entry.
VI. There are some mechanical failures like tubing punctures and sucker rods being worn out, and to reduce this, centralizers should
be used for each sucker rod and the pump should be operated at an optimum RPM which will decrease the vibrations.
 Continued…
LOW
 PERMEABILITY- (permeability of CBM is extremely low i.e. below 0.1 mD)
SOLUTION- H F
SAND PRODUCTION
SOLUTION- If the permeability even after the HF job is low, therefore gravel packing cannot
be used. The only changes which we can make is increasing the total depth of the well i.e. the
sump.
SCALE FORMATION
SOLUTION: Injection of biodegradable scale inhibitors in the formation to reduce frequent
acid jobs.
WATER INFLUX DURING DRILLING
SOLUTION: Shift from air drilling to mud drilling.
SURFACE WATER DISCHARGE
SOLUTION: Before disposal it has to be treated, as it contains Trace metals and organics
which are carcinogenic.
THANK YOU