PETE 625

Well Control

Lesson 12
Kick Detection and Control
 Kick Detection and Control
 Primary and Secondary Well Control

 What Constitutes a Kick

 Why Kicks Occur

 Kick Detection Methods

 Shut-in Procedures
2
 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
 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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 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.
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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

6
 Kicks
 For a kick to occur, we need:
 Wellbore pressure < pore pressure

 A reasonable level of permeability

 A fluid that can flow

p = 0.052 * MW * Depth + po

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 Kicks
 Kicks may occur while:
 Drilling
 Tripping
 Making a connection
 Logging
 Running Casing
 Cementing
 N/U or N/D BOP, etc.
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 Causes of Kicks
 Insufficient wellbore fluid density
 Low drilling or completion fluid density
 Reducing MW too much

 Drilling into abnormally pressured formations

 Temperature expansion of fluid

 Excessive gas cutting

9
 Causes of Kicks
 Reduction of height of mud column
 Lost circulation because of excess static
or dynamic wellbore pressure

 Fluid removal because of swabbing

 Tripping pipe without filling the hole

10
 Causes of Kicks
 Excessive swab friction pressure while
moving pipe

 Wellbore collision between a drilling

and producing well

 Cement hydration

11
 Kick indicators
Indicator Significance
 Drilling break  Medium
 Increase in mud  High
return rate
 High
 Pit gain

 Definitive
 Flow w/ pumps off

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 Kick indicators
Indicator Significance
 Pump pressure  Low
decrease and
rate increase
 Increase in  Low
drillstring weight
 Gas cutting or  Low
salinity change
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 Kick Influx Rate
kh pe  pw 
q
 lnre rw   This equation would
where rarely be strictly
q  influx flow rate, applicable in the
k  formation permeability event of a kick since
h  formation thickness, fluid compressibility
p e  pore pressure at the drainage radius is not considered
p w  pore pressure at the wellbore and transient
  influx viscosity relationships better
re  drainage radius describe influx flow
rw  wellbore radius behavior.
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 Kick Influx Rate
 Extremely important to detect a kick
early, to minimize its size.

 If a kick is suspected,

run a flow check!!!

15
 Circulation
As drilling
path for
proceeds,
Drilling Fluid
mud level in
pit drops
slowly.
What goes in
Must come
out
Why?

unless a kick
occurs

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Set alarm for high
or low flow rate

If a kick occurs, flow

rate from the well
increases - an early
indicator

17
Pit Volume Totalizer,
PVT shows pit gain
or loss.
Pit level is a good
kick indicator

System should
detect a 10 bbl kick
under most
conditions onshore
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 Kick size
 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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Mud pulse telemetry - pressure
pulses detected at the surface

20
 Acoustic kick detection

Gas in the annulus will attenuate a pressure signal,

and will reduce the velocity of sound in the mud 21
 Minimum kick size that can be
detected by an acoustic system

22
Delta flow
indicator

23
Delta flow indicator
Delta flow = qout - qin

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Delta flow indicator

25
BOP
stack

26
BOP stack

27
DP
TJ
DC
OH

Press

Annular Blowout Preventer 28

Ram Blowout Preventer
29
 SHEAR / BLIND
RAM ASSEMBLY

Ram Blowout Preventer - cont’d 30

 BOP
Control
Panel

31
Choke Manifold

32
 Choke
Manifold

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Choke panel

34
Choke
panel

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 If a kick is suspected
 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
 If flowing - shut the annular, open the
HCR valve, and close the choke

 Record SIDPP and SICP

 Record pit gain and depth

(MD and TVD)

 Note the time

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Kick Detection and Control

 Shut-in Procedures

 Soft Shut-in

 Hard Shut-in

 Water Hammer

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Hard Shut-In

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 Hard Shut-In

Water hammer?

40
 Water Hammer
 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

42
 Soft Shut-In

Larger Kick

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 Example 4.1

Example 4.1

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 Example 4.1
 v a v
pc  Eq. 4.2:
gc

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Example 4.1 - Solution

4.2

Eq. 4.2:

 v a v
pc 
gc

46
Water Hammer

47
Water Hammer

48
 Water
Hammer

 v a v
pc 
gc

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Differential Sticking

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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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