PETE 411

Well Drilling

Lesson 37
Coiled Tubing

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 1

 Coiled Tubing

• What is Coiled Tubing?

• Uses of Coiled Tubing
• Properties of Coiled Tubing
• Drilling with Coiled Tubing
• Buckling

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 2

 Coiled Tubing - cont’d

• Buckling Modes
• Sinusoidal and Helical Buckling
• Buckling in Horizontal or Inclined Sections
• Buckling in Vertical Section
• Buckling in Curved Wellbores
• Prediction of Buckling Loads
• “Lockup” of Tubulars

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 3

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Some Applications of Coiled Tubing
• Cementing
• Plug Cementing (e.g. P&A)
• Squeeze Cementing
• Logging
• Drilling
• Producing
• Fishing
• Scale Removal
Ref: SPE Reprint Series NO. 38 “Coiled Tubing Technology”
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 14
 Advantages

• No rig required
• No connections - fast tripping

Disadvantages

• Fatigue life limit (cycles)

• Pressure and tension
• Diameter and ovality
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 15
 Reference:

“Coiled Tubing Buckling Implication in

Drilling and Completing Horizontal Wells”
by Jiang Wu and H.C. Juvkam-Wold, SPE
Drilling and Completion, March, 1995.

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 16

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PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 18
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 19
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 20
Sinusoidal Buckling in a Horizontal Wellbore

When the axial compressive load along the coiled

tubing reaches the following sinusoidal buckling
load Fcr, the intial (sinusoidal or critical) buckling
of the coiled tube will occur in the horizontal
wellbore.
0.5
Fcr  2(EIWe / r )

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 21

 Consider:

Fcr  2(EIWe / r ) 0.5

2" OD, 1.688" ID; 8.6 # mud
gal

 2 2 12 * 65.45 lb
W  (2  1.688 )  3.07
4 231 ft

 8.6  lb lb
We  3.07 
* 1    2.67  0.2225
 65.45  ft ftin

E  30,000,000 psi (steel)

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 22

 Consider:
Fcr  2(EIWe / r ) 0.5
 4 4  4 4 4
I  (OD  ID )  (2  1.688 )  0.3869 in
64 64

D HOLE  OD 3.875  2
r    0.9375 in
2 2
0.5
 30 *10 * 0.3869 * 0.2225 
6
Then, Fcr  2 
  3,.317 lbf
 0 .9375 

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 23

 Sinusoidal Buckling Load

A more general Sinusoidal Buckling Load

equation for highly inclined wellbores (including
the horizontal wellbore) is:

Fcr  2(EIWeSin / r ) 0.5

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 24

 Sinusoidal Buckling Load

For the same 2” OD coiled tubing, at I  45 : 

0.5
 30 *10 * 0.2225 * sin 45
6 

Fcr  2 
  2,789 psi
 0.9375 

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 25

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 26
Helical Buckling in a Horizontal Wellbore

When the axial compressive load reaches the

following helical buckling load Fhel in the horizontal
wellbore, the helical buckling of coiled tubing then
occurs:
Fhel  2(2 * 2 0.5  1)(EIWe / r ) 0.5

0.5
 30 *10 * 0.3869 * 0.2225 
6
Fhel  2(2 2  1) 

 0 . 9375 
 6,065 lbf
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 27
 General Equation

A more general helical buckling load equation for

highly inclined wellbores (including the horizontal
wellbore) is: 3

Fhel  2( 2 * 2 0.5
 1)(EIWe sin  / r ) 0.5

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 28

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 29
 Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

In a vertical wellbore, the buckling of coiled

tubing will occur if the coiled tubing becomes
axially compressed and the axial compressive
load exceeds the buckling load in the vertical
section. This could happen when we “slack-off”
weight at the surface to apply bit weight for
drilling and push the coiled tubing through the
build section and into the horizontal section.

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 30

 Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

Lubinski derived in the 1950’s the following

buckling load equation for the initial buckling
of tubulars in vertical wellbores:
2 1/ 3
Fcr , b  1.94(EIWe )

Fcr , b  1.94(30 *106 * 0.3869 * 0.22252 )1/ 3

Fcr , b  161 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 31
 Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

Another intitial buckling load equation for

tubulars in vertical wellbores was also
derived recently through an energy analysis:
2 1/ 3
Fcr ,b  2.55(EIWe )

6 2 1/ 3
Fcr ,b  2.55(30 *10 * 0.3869 * 0.2225 )

Alternate Fcr, b  212 lbf (Table 1)

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 32
 Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

A helical buckling load for weighty tubulars in

vertical wellbores was also derived recently through
an energy analysis to predict the occurrence of the
helical buckling:
2 1/ 3
Fhel, b  5.55( EIWe )

 461 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 33

Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

This helical buckling load predicts the first

occurrence of helical buckling of the weighty
tubulars in the vertical wellbore. The first
occurrence of helical buckling in the vertical
wellbore will be a one-pitch helical buckle at
the bottom portion of the tubular.

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 34

Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

The upper portion of the tubular in the vertical

wellbore will be in tension and remain straight.
When more tubular weight is slacked-off at the
surface, and the helical buckling becomes more
than one helical pitch, the above helical buckling
load equation may be used for the top helical
pitch of the helically buckled tubular

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 35

Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

The top helical buckling load Fhel,t is calculated by

simply subtracting the tubular weight of the initial
one-pitch of helically buckled pipe from the
helical buckling load Fhel,b, which is defined at the
bottom of the one-pitch helically buckled tubular:
2 1/ 3
Fhel, t  5.55(EIWe )  We L hel

2 1/ 3
 0.14(EIWe )
PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 36
Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

Where the length of the initial one-pitch of

helical buckling or the first order helical
buckling is:

L hel  (16 2 EI / We )1/ 3 (10)

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 37

 Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

From Table 1, it is also amazing to find out that

the top helical buckling load, Fhel,t, is very close to
zero. This indicates that the “neutral point”, which
is defined as the place of zero axial load (effective
axial load exclusive from the hydrostatic pressure
force), could be approximately used to define the
top of the helical buckling for these coiled tubings.

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 38

Helical Buckling in Vertical Wellbores:

2 1/ 3
Fhel, t  0.14(EIWe )

6 2 1/ 2
 0.14(30 *10 * 0.3869 * 0.2225 )

Fhel, t  12 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 39

 Buckling of 2” x 1.688” CT

Horizontal
sinusoidal:
 EIWe 
Fcr  2    3,317 lbf
 r 
helical:

 
Fhel  2 2  1 Fcr  6,065 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 40

 Buckling of 2” x 1.688” CT

Vertical
sinusoidal, bottom:

Fcr , b  1.94 EIWe 

2 1/ 3
 161 lbf
or

Fcr, b  2.55 EIWe  

2 1/ 3
 212 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 41

 Buckling of 2” x 1.688” CT

Vertical
helical, bottom:

Fhel,b  5.55 EIWe 
2 1/ 3
 461 lbf

helical, top:

Fhel,t  0.14 EIWe 
2 1/ 3
 12 lbf

PETE 411 - Well Drilling Slide 42