Coiled-Tubing Telemetry Intervention

in Shut-In Conditions

W hen a new horizontal well

in Asia was incapable of
unassisted flow, coiled tubing (CT)
area. Balls up to ⅞ in. in diameter do not
become stuck, and there is a minimal ef-
fect on the CT fluid pressure drop.
compatible mechanical threads for the
electric tools. The adapters also contain
separate burst disks to open circulating
was selected for the perforation and ports. Camera adapters connect one or
stimulation intervention. Mechanical Description two cameras with front and lateral views.
isolation was required to ensure that of the Wire CTT System The camera adapter allows fresh fluid to
the stimulation fluids entered only the The 0.125-in.-wire CTT system has sever- be pumped through to wash the camera
new zones. Accurate depth control al components, such as surface hardware lenses and improve downhole images.
was required for three runs: setting and software; the ⅛-in. insulated electri- Downhole data and images are trans-
two composite bridge plugs (CBPs), cal conductor inside the CT string; and a ferred through the 0.125-in. wire to sur-
deploying CT-conveyed perforating BHA with different sizes, including 2.125, face. The wire exits the CT string through
guns for opening two intervals, and 2.875, and 3.5 in. The 2.875-in. BHA with the bulkhead. A slip collector provides
milling out the two CBPs without taking three subassemblies is shown in Fig. 2. electrical connection through the rotat-
returns to surface. For the first time, a The 2.875-in. sensor assembly has the ing drum to the surface data connection
tension, compression, and torque (TCT) following components: and power system. Finally, the data are
subassembly was used to improve the ◗ Tubing end connector displayed on the monitors at the surface
milling operation. ◗ Head that secures the wire and can be interpreted in real time.
downhole, seals the exterior of
Introduction the wire, and provides downhole Description
CT telemetry (CTT) systems have proved electrical connection of the TCT Subassembly
to be effective in enhancing operations ◗ 0.875-in. ball-operated wire-release The TCT subassembly enables real-time
by providing real-time monitoring of mechanism monitoring of axial forces and torque ex-
downhole data including depth, pres- ◗ Double-flapper check-valve housing erted on the BHA. This subassembly con-
sure, temperature, force, and torque. For ◗ Electronic module with a sists of foil strain gauges that are glued
data transmission from downhole sen- casing collar locator (CCL) and with epoxy resin onto the inside wall of
sors to surface, these telemetry systems pressure/temperature sensors the pressure housing. Five printed cir-
can use either insulated wire or optical (internal/external) cuit boards are mounted on the outside
fiber. With insulated wire, power can be ◗ Motorhead section, where a ¾-in. of the annular ring of the atmospheric
transferred from surface to the down- ball-release mechanism is located chamber. The atmospheric chamber has
hole sensors. With optical fiber, down- followed by a circulating port a central flow passage such that the elec-
hole batteries are required in the bot- activated with 0.625-in. balls tronic component must fit on the annular
tomhole assemblies (BHAs) to power the ◗ Burst-disk section enabling 0.5-in. ring mounted inside the module housing.
downhole sensors. When compared with balls to pass through to activate The TCT electronics module uses pre-
braided systems using the 0.125-in. in- downhole tools defined tables for pressure and tempera-
sulated electrical cable (Fig. 1), the main The logging adapters in all three sizes ture compensation.
advantages of the CTT system are its are designed to connect any logging tools
low weight and the fact that balls can be with the 0.125-in. wire. The adapters Operational Benefits
pumped through the CT. A small wire has are crossovers, providing electrical con- of the TCT Subassembly
a minimal effect on the CT cross-sectional nections to the logging tools, and are ◗ Real-time torque readings help
the CT crew optimize the weight
on bit (WOB) to extend the mill
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
and downhole motor life. In
of paper SPE 189910, “Operational Improvements Using a Coiled-Tubing-Telemetry
addition, torque data can be used
System for a Complex Milling Operation in Shut-In Conditions,” by P. Correa, to differentiate between several
D.  Parra, S. Craig, SPE, S. Livescu, SPE, A. Yeginbayev, and Z. Nadirov, Baker milled materials.
Hughes, a GE Company, prepared for the 2018 SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing and Well ◗ TCT data can be used to confirm
Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 27–28 March. the BHA is latched to a fish. The
The paper has not been peer reviewed. data can also be used to verify

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

56 JPT • JUNE 2018


Fig. 1—0.125-in. insulated wire.
that a downhole jar has been
successfully activated.
◗ Receiving the TCT feedback in
real time can help monitor the
static and dynamic coefficients of
friction, understand how well a
specific extended-reach technology
is working, and optimize its
effectiveness.
◗ Real-time torque and compression
data enable more-effective
identification of the top of
sand in deviated wellbores and
differentiation between friction
lockup and wellbore obstructions,
reducing operational time and
stuck-pipe risk.
◗ Real-time tension and compression
data enable application of
the specific WOB required for
inflatable devices. Personnel can
also ensure that WOB is neutral
when setting casing patches and
can see if downhole sliding sleeves
were properly closed while pulling
out of hole (POOH).
Case History
Milling in shut-in conditions has become
a conventional CT operation in this field,
mainly because of operator limitations
in handling water-based sour fluids at
surface. After the arrival of the TCT sub-
assembly on location, a CBP milling op-
eration was performed using the CTT
system and the TCT subassembly. To de-
scribe the benefits of adding a TCT sen-
sor into the milling BHA, a case history
is offered here; another is discussed in
detail in the complete paper.
Well A. This well was stimulated with
the multistage selective acid-stimulation
technique. Because of the unexpect-
ed high viscosity of the formation oil,
58
Protection Adapter
Sensor Assembly
Head Logging Adapter
Camera Adapter
Fig. 2—2.875-in. BHA with subassemblies.
the well could not flow without assis-
tance (i.e., nitrogen lifting). A CBP was
placed at 5293 m measured depth (MD)
at the heel of the horizontal section
in 4.5-in. tubing (3.826-in. inner di-
ameter) to perforate and acid-stimulate
the upper zones to increase the gas/
oil ratio and lower the formation-fluid
equivalent density.
Perforations were discharged electri-
cally with the CTT logging adapter. The
2-m-long 2.875-in. guns were deployed
to perforate the interval between 5285
and 5287 m. This interval of interest was
confirmed by comparing the depth data
acquired in real time with a previous log.
After performing all the previous op-
erations above the CBP, the milling op-
eration was performed with the shut-in
wellhead pressure. For this operation,
the CTT system was run above the down-
hole motor (DHM) to perform real-time
monitoring of the downhole pressure
(inside and outside the BHA), the tem-
perature (inside and outside the BHA),
and the depth-correlation data from
the CCL.
Six milling attempts were performed
with several flow rates ranging from 1.5
to 1.75 bbl/min. Because the differential
pressure between the DHM (internal)
and the annulus (external) was moni-
tored in real time, the CT crew at surface
knew when the motor was milling the
CBP; up to 530 psi of differential pres-
sure was recorded. Taking advantage of
the actual differential pressure across
the DHM, the total milling time for all
six attempts was 187 minutes. After the
sixth milling attempt, one trip was com-
pleted without pumping for dry-tag pur-
poses to measure progress. Then, in the
next trip, while pumping at 1.5 bbl/min,
the CBP was milled out and the milling
BHA went down with normal run-in-
hole (RIH) weight. The total time since
the CBP was dry-tagged until the time
it was milled out was 4 hours. A total of
380 bbl of working fluid was used after
the CBP was dry-tagged. When the CBP
was milled out, its remaining debris was
pushed down on top of a deeper CBP set
at 5535 m MD and the CT was POOH.
Conclusions
◗ Use of CTT systems improves
CT operations significantly by
providing real-time downhole
information, including pressure,
temperature, and CCL data as well
as axial forces and torque on BHA,
with the addition of a 2.875-in. TCT
sensor. The last two parameters
are extremely useful during milling
operations.
◗ The challenges of performing CBP
milling in shut-in conditions have
been encountered in this field.
Under the shut-in scenario, as the
job progresses, part of the debris
becomes packed between the mill
and the CBP and other debris is
found behind or around the BHA,
increasing the complication of the
operation. Use of the CCT real-time
downhole data with the TCT sensor
has proved helpful in performing
these operations safely without
compromising well integrity and in
avoiding stuck-pipe events.
◗ CT software output used to predict
tubing RIH and POOH weight
during the design stage can be
verified with recorded data from
the TCT sensor to create a more-
accurate scenario for future
CBP-milling operations. This is
extremely important when dealing
with CBP-milling depth in the toe
section of the well. JPT
JPT • JUNE 2018