PETE 625
Well Control
Lesson 12
Kick Detection and Control
Assignments
HW # 7: Ch 3, Problems 11- 20
due Tuesday, October 21
HW # 8: Ch 4, Problems 1- 10
due Tuesday, October 28
Read: All of Chapter 3 and
first 15 pages of Chapter 4
Kick Detection and Control
™The focus of well control theory is to
contain and manage formation pressure.
™Primary well control involves efforts at
preventing formation fluid influx into the
wellbore (avoiding kicks).
™Secondary well control involves
detecting and bringing an influx to the
surface.
Kick Detection and Control
™ Primary and Secondary Well Control
™ What Constitutes a Kick
™ Why Kicks Occur
™ Kick Detection Methods
™ Shut-in Procedures
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Quiz A
™ QUIZ A - Thursday, Oct. 23
™ 6 - 8 p.m. in Rich. 407M
™ Covers Chapters 1-3, Lessons 1-11
™ Open Book – closed notes
™ One Equation sheet, 8 ½ * 11,
front and back
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Kicks
™A kick may be defined as an
unscheduled influx of formation fluids.
™Fluids produced during underbalanced
drilling are not considered kicks
™Fluids produced during a DST are not
considered kicks
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 Kicks
Kicks
™ Kicks may occur while:
™ For a kick to occur, we need: ™ Drilling

™ Wellbore pressure < pore pressure ™ Tripping

™ Making a connection
™ A reasonable level of permeability
™ Logging
™ A fluid that can flow
™ Running Casing
™ Cementing
p = 0.052 * MW * Depth + po
™ N/U or N/D BOP, etc.
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Causes of Kicks Causes of Kicks

™ Insufficient wellbore fluid density ™ Reduction of height of mud column
™ Low drilling or completion fluid density ™ Lost circulation because of excess static
or dynamic wellbore pressure
™ Reducing MW too much

™ Drilling into abnormally pressured formations ™ Fluid removal because of swabbing

™ Temperature expansion of fluid ™ Tripping pipe without filling the hole

™ Excessive gas cutting

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Kick indicators
Causes of Kicks
Indicator Significance
™ Excessive swab friction pressure while
™ Drilling break ™ Medium
moving pipe
™ Increase in mud ™ High
™ Wellbore collision between a drilling return rate
and producing well ™ Pit gain ™ High

™ Cement hydration
™ Flow w/ pumps off ™ Definitive

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2
 Kick indicators Kick Influx Rate
kh( pe − pw )
q=
Indicator Significance µ ln(re rw ) ™This equation would
where rarely be strictly
™ Pump pressure ™ Low
q = influx flow rate, applicable in the
decrease and
k = formation permeability event of a kick since
rate increase
h = formation thickness, fluid compressibility
™ Increase in ™ Low p e = pore pressure at the drainage radius is not considered
drillstring weight p w = pore pressure at the wellbore and transient
µ = influx viscosity relationships better
™ Gas cutting or ™ Low re = drainage radius describe influx flow
salinity change
rw = wellbore radius behavior.
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Circulation As drilling
Kick Influx Rate path for
proceeds,
Drilling Fluid
mud level in
pit drops
™ Extremely important to detect a kick slowly.
early, to minimize its size. What goes in
Must come
out
Why?
™ If a kick is suspected,
unless a kick
occurs

run a flow check!!!

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Set alarm for high

or low flow rate Pit Volume Totalizer,
PVT shows pit gain
or loss.
Pit level is a good
kick indicator

If a kick occurs, flow

rate from the well
increases - an early
indicator
System should
detect a 10 bbl kick
under most
conditions onshore
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3
 Kick size Mud pulse telemetry - pressure
pulses detected at the surface
™ Under most conditions a 10 bbl kick
can be handled safely.

™ An exception is slimhole drilling, where

even a small kick occupies a large
height in the annulus.

™ In floating drilling, where the vessel

moves, small kicks are more difficult
to detect
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Acoustic kick detection Minimum kick size that can be

detected by an acoustic system

Gas in the annulus will attenuate a pressure signal,

and will reduce the velocity of sound in the mud 21 22

Delta flow indicator

Delta flow = qout - qin

Delta flow
indicator

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4
 BOP
Delta flow indicator
stack

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BOP stack

DP
TJ
DC
OH

Press

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Annular Blowout Preventer 28

SHEAR / BLIND
RAM ASSEMBLY

Ram Blowout Preventer Ram Blowout Preventer - cont’d

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 Choke Manifold
BOP
Control
Panel

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Choke panel
Choke
Manifold

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Choke If a kick is suspected

panel ™ Lift the drillstring until a tool joint is just
above the rotary table

™ Shut down the mud pumps

™ Check for flow

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 If a kick is suspected
Kick Detection and Control
™ If flowing - shut the annular, open the
HCR valve, and close the choke ™ Shut-in Procedures

™ Record SIDPP and SICP ™ Soft Shut-in

™ Record pit gain and depth ™ Hard Shut-in

(MD and TVD)
™ Water Hammer
™ Note the time

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Hard Shut-In Hard Shut-In

Water hammer?

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Water Hammer Soft Shut-In

™ Water hammer is an increase in
pressure caused by “rapid” change in
the fluid’s kinetic energy which, in a
shut-in procedure, results from closing a
preventer or choke on the flowing mud.
™ The shock wave created by the closed
valve propagates to the bottom of the
hole at the speed of sound, and then
returns to the surface at the same
speed.
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 Soft Shut-In
Example 4.1

Example 4.1

Larger Kick

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Example 4.1 - Solution

Example 4.1
ρ v a ∆v
∆p c = Eq. 4.2:
gc

4.2

Eq. 4.2:

ρ v a ∆v
∆p c =
gc

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Water Hammer Water Hammer

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 Water Differential Sticking
Hammer

ρ v a ∆v
∆p c =
gc

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Shut-in Data

The final step in this phase of the operation is to

measure accurately the pit gain.
Precise pit-volume measurements are hard to come by,
even under ideal conditions.
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