Current Materials and Devices for Control of Fluid Loss

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide the oil industry completion engineers with a workable method for selecting the appropriate fluid loss control systems for their completions. Fluid loss has long been recognized as a major concern when determining completion costs and assessing well management. For this reason, much research has been dedicated to investigating various methods and equipment to address the scenarios from which fluid loss results. Numerous papers have been written over the years on fluid loss control during well completion and workover. Many of these papers describe a specific method that has been used to address the problem, and a number of innovative devices and fluids have been developed. Most of these devices or systems have been addressed individually in the literature or as comparisons between products that are similar in design and function. Little has been provided on evaluating the merits of a variety of systems in an effort to provide a means of selecting an appropriate solution on a well-by-well or situation basis. This paper provides an in-depth discussion on the benefits, limitations, methods of operation, and possible applications for each of the methods and equipment currently in use.

Laboratory Investigation to Use Lost Circulation Material in Water Base Drilling Fluid as Lost Circulation Pills

“…Spurt lossTotal filtration and static filtration parameters are calculated by using theequations below: Spurt Loss, ml = 2 × [EV7.5 -(EV30 -EV7. 5…”

Solids-Free Fluid Loss Pill for High Temperature Reservoirs

“…Gels are employed extensively during drilling and completions operations in specialized applications such as profile modification (Vossoughi 2000), fluid loss (Evans 2009;Dewprashad 1998;Ross et al 1999;Cole et al 1995), water diversion (Moradi-Araghi 2000; Kohler et al 1991), water shut-off (Prada 2000;Moradi-Araghi et al 2000;Kabir 2001), hydraulic fracturing (Weaver et al 2002), insulating packers Wang et al 2006), perforations (Behrmann et al 2007), and well kills (Levitt and Pope 2008) among others. Gels may be derived from inorganics, resins, monomers, highly viscous fluids, and crosslinkable bio-or synthetic polymers.…”

Successful Field Implementation of a Novel Solids-Free System to Control Fluid Loss During Overbalanced Workover Operations in Southern Argentina

“…The discrete devices are usually downhole valves or some type of plug that can be removed later during the life of the wellbore. The multicomponent installations are completion systems designed to eliminate, or at least minimize, fluid loss into the formation (Ross et al 1999). The chemical methods can be further classified as linear gels, crosslinked gels, and bridging particulate systems.…”

“…Linear gels do not completely stop fluid loss, but reduce the rates to an acceptable level. In addition, linear gels require removal by either an internal breaker (a chemical that breaks down the polymer chain) or by an external wash (i.e., acid treatment) (Ross et al 1999). Crosslinked gels are generally HEC derivative (Chang et al 1998) or CMHEC-based systems (Cole et al 1995).…”

“…However, in some cases, there is some degree of permeability damage (depending on factors, such as polymer type and concentration, overbalance pressure, permeability, and temperature, etc.) (Ross et al 1999;Hardy 1997).…”