Casing Centralizers (Rigid Type)

A casing centralizer is a mechanical device around the casing at carious locations in order to
avoid contact between the casing and wellbore wall. The reason behind the casing centralization
is to provide continuous 360-degree annular space around the casing so that the cement is able to
seal the casing completely to the borehole wall because effectiveness of the seal between the
casing and wellbore is determined by uniformity of a cement sheath around the pipe.
We can say that quality of a cementing job is determined by the casing centralization as it
prevents poor zonal isolation and mud channeling. Centralizers seem to be of great help in
prevention of differential sticking and running of the casing. There are various types of
centralizers in order to match hole sizes and well specifications. The most common of them are
bow-spring design centralizers. The other type is rigid casing centralizers.
Talking about the later one, it is made up of rigid steel bar or cast iron, having a flexible blade
height and they are sized according to the specific casing or hole size. Rigid type centralizers are
commonly used for horizontal well bores as they have positive standoff. They enable the casing
to run easily because of their stream lined shape. With high yield and tensile strength, they
provide a certain positive centering in deviated and horizontal blades. With their availability in
straight or spiral blades, they come with a great shock, impact and corrosion resistance. These
type of centralizers are rugged and they work very well in case of deviated well bores. The only
thing which make their use scarce in case of vertical wells is that they are smaller in size than the
wellbores and thus they are not able to provide good centralization as that of bow-spring type
centralizers. They are quite expensive when it comes to price and they are mostly the cause of
trouble downhole when the wellbore is not in perfect condition. Installation of the rigid
centralizers on casing is done with the help of stop collars and integral set screws. Normally
those type of installations are preferred that have the ability of casing rotation and reciprocation
as they appear to have improved efficiency.