Innovative Concepts

in Wireline Continuous Coring

C oring in unconventional reservoirs

with typical unconsolidated
formations has introduced additional
challenges requiring more-innovative
concepts to be developed. These
requirements have recently led to
widespread attention to wireline
continuous coring (WCC), which was
modified from the mining industry
for petroleum-industry applications.
This paper is aimed at identifying and
addressing complications experienced
in the use of WCC. In addition to the
challenges and solutions discussed in
this summary, others are covered in the
complete paper.
Basic Bottom-Coring Methods
These methods, in the context of petro-
leum exploration, comprise convention-
al and WCC methods. Conventional cor-
ing is a method of rotary coring by which
the inner tube containing the core is re-
trieved along with the outer-tube assem-
bly to the surface following a convention-
al drillstring trip.
WCC is a method of coring or drill-
ing by which the same outer assembly is
used as the bottomhole assembly and the
same core bit is applied for both drilling
and coring modes; however, changing the
inner assembly can be performed easily
by wireline in order to switch to the de-
sired mode. WCC has been identified re-
cently as a less-time-consuming coring
method to replace conventional coring in
certain circumstances.
WCC Challenges and Solutions
Flushed Inner Tube While Run in Hole.
Problem. As a common practice in con-
ventional coring, approximately 90 ft be-
fore reaching the bottom (off-bottom),
mud circulation is started, still without
string rotation. This is because the mud
circulation that passes within inner tubes
contributes to conditioning and flushing
the inner tubes to ensure that the inner
tube is free of debris/fill. The most prob-
lematic issue with debris/fill is the high
risk of jamming off in the core bit, core
catcher, or inner tube. Following tagging
of the formation to be cored, immediately
before beginning the coring, the ball is ei-
ther dropped from surface or hydraulical-
ly actuated by virtue of a drop-ball sub in
order to change the mud path from with-
in the inner tube to the annulus between
inner and outer tubes so that mud does
not flush the core while entering the inner
tube. After cutting enough cores or reach-
ing coring termination, the drop ball en-
ables any gas and trapped pressure to be
released through the top of the inner as-
sembly. It is noted that, for coring systems
with closed inner-tube systems, there is
no possibility for drop balls to be used; in-
stead, an enclosed ball and seat are used.
In WCC, an enclosed ball in place is also
commonly used in the inner coring as-
sembly (above the inner tubes) instead of
dropping a ball from surface or hydraulic
actuation using a drop-ball sub. There-
fore, before beginning the coring, the
mud never passes through the inner tube
and thus never flushes the inner tube.
Solution (Hydraulic Inner-Tube
Ball and Seat). A hydraulically actuat-
ed internal drop-ball sub to be devel-
oped as part of the inner-tube assembly
is highly recommended (Figs. 1a and
2). This ensures that debris is flushed

(a) (b)
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 180017, “Innovative Concepts in Wireline Continuous Coring,” by Fig. 1—WCC with hydraulically
Rahman Ashena, Walter Vortisch, Michael Prohaska, and Gerhard Thonhauser, activated internal drop-ball sub
University of Leoben, prepared for the 2016 SPE Bergen One Day Seminar, Bergen, (a) and an already-enclosed ball
in place (b).
Norway, 20 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.

60 JPT • AUGUST 2016


Spring
Spring
Drop Ball
Wall
Fig. 2—Drop-ball sub. This includes
a ball kept in place in front of a
restored spring behind a wall
that can be removed by pressure
surge.
out of the inner tube before the initia-
tion of core cutting. Thus, the risk of de-
bris entering the inner tube while cor-
ing (and its corresponding jamming in
the bit throat, catcher, or inner tube) is
greatly diminished.
Alleviating Pressure-Coring Hazards.
Problem. When pressure coring (or it
might be better to refer to it as “pseudo-
pressure/in-situ coring”) is applied, the
inner-tube assembly containing the core
may be raised to the rig floor with pres-
sure as great as 1,000 psi. Main functions
of pseudopressure coring include the pos-
sibility of obtaining initial gas volume in
place, gas/fluid composition, gas deliver-
ability, and fluid samples. In addition, a
semipressured core is provided, which is
suitable for some geomechanical studies.
One of the advantages of this system
is improved safety compared with tra-
ditional pressure-coring tools; how­ever,
some safety concerns still exist (e.g.,
pressure up to 1,000 psi). There is a com-
plex pressure sealing used in the system
wherein there may be some possibility
of pressure-seal failure. Pressure coring
requires special core-handling and rig-
site techniques and laboratory-­analysis
techniques, along with skilled person-
nel. Still, information about individual
fluid phases (gas and oil at downhole
conditions) cannot be provided. In other
words, the exact volume and composi-
tion of fluids released from the core at a
particular depth cannot be discriminat-
ed from those at other depths. Finally,
JPT • AUGUST 2016
pseudo­pressure coring is currently one
of the most costly coring techniques.
Solution. Downhole measurement of
core rock and fluid properties is pro-
posed. Several properties can be mea-
sured in real time. A time-based log also
can be provided. This provides a better
idea of how the fluids inside the core are
being extracted because of pressure de-
pletion while being retrieved to surface
compared with having only normal can-
isters on top of the core barrel. The mea-
suring sensors and meters between the
core barrel and canisters can be a com-
plementary concept to the pressure cor-
ing. If only metering is used without the
canisters, the coring can be performed
with no pressure-safety concerns. Also,
downhole fluid samplers deployed while
drilling can be used to obtain fluid-­
property analysis instead of using fluids
obtained by pressure coring. As for ma-
trix properties, the core obtained from a
nonpressure coring method can be suffi-
cient to obtain formation rock and geo-
mechanical properties.
Core-Point Detection and Timely Deci-
sion Making. Problem. One major prob-
lem in coring operations is failure to
identify the core point accurately in time,
and thus the core point may be drilled
past by several meters. Logging while
coring has not yet been practiced in the
field seriously, although it was developed
years ago and was subsequently modified
further and even field tested. Logging
while coring has been shown to great-
ly enhance decision-making capability
concerning whether to proceed to taking
core or not. The main drawback of log-
ging while coring is extra costs incurred.
Modification of logging while coring for
slimholes faces the challenge of limited
space for downhole electronics. Because
no downhole dynamic drilling param-
eters are recorded in normal practice,
undesirable vibration and rather low
core-cutting and drilling speed result,
and these factors have influence on core
quality (mechanical- or mud-­invasion-
related) and on jamming.
Solution (Logging While Drilling/
Seismic While Drilling). In the hole sec-
tion in which proceeding to coring might
take place, use of data telemetry to sur-
face is recommended for core-point de-
tection. Therefore, for proper core-point
detection, two options are suggested: log-
ging while drilling or seismic while drill-
ing. Moreover, detailed cuttings analysis
and surface gas chromatography can be
replaced, although this may result in a
lag-time negative effect on swift decision
making. For this hole section, it is also a
good idea to apply microcoring (which
is indeed a drilling method) in place of
using a normal drilling bit, to obtain mi-
crocores of, for instance, 1-in. diameter
while maintaining proper cuttings and
microcore analysis to track the geolo-
gy. If the core point is missed because of
the lag-time issue, with microcoring it
should be pointed out that at least some
microcores, though contaminated with
mud, have already been obtained that
possess some basic core-analysis value.
In the case of complex critical geology, it
is recommended to use only basic resis-
tivity gamma ray sensors with the core
barrel in order to log the formation along
with the core in real time.
Optimized Coring/Drilling. Problem.
Coring optimization is considered to be
one of three basic elements of success-
ful coring. While core cutting, or coring
and drilling by virtue of the WCC system,
vibrations incurred because of, for in-
stance, excessive weight on bit and rate
of penetration (ROP) can cause induced
fractures ahead of the core bit, leading
to the core jamming off and to low and
nonoptimized coring ROP. Core jamming
is the most critical issue, causing pre-
mature termination of coring jobs and
low coring efficiency. At the same time,
coring ROP should not be too low, be-
cause the lower the core-cutting ROP, the
greater the mud invasion. The greater the
magnitude of the mud invasion and resul-
tant core damage, the slower the possible
tripping speed.
Solution (Coring Optimization).
It is recommended that downhole dy-
namic drilling sensors be installed in the
WCC system to record downhole drill-
ing parameters so that coring can be
optimized in a real-time manner, par-
ticularly in order to reduce vibrations
incurred and to maximize the possible
ROP. Installing downhole sensors con-
tributes to enhanced coring optimiza-
tion. Coring optimization is of great im-
portance in ensuring coring efficiency
and core ­quality. JPT
61