Abstract:In the last ten years, a new type of modern polymer, known as swelling elastomer, has been used extensively as a sealing element in the oil and gas industry. These elastomers have been instrumental in various new applications such as water shut off, zonal isolation, and sidetracking. Though swell packers can significantly reduce costs and increase productivity, their failure can lead to serious losses. The integrity and reliability of swelling elastomer seals under different field conditions is a major concern. The investigation of changes in material behavior over a specified swelling period is a necessary first step for performance evaluation of elastomer seals. The current study is based on experimental analysis of changes in geometric and mechanical behavior (hardness, tensile, compressive, bulk) of an elastomeric material due to swelling. Tests were carried out before and after various stages of swelling. Specimens were placed in saline water (0.6% and 12% concentrations) at a temperature of 50°C, with the total swelling period being one month. Swelling, hardness, compression, and bulk tests were conducted using disc samples, while ring samples were used for tensile experiments. A small test rig was designed and constructed for determination of bulk modulus. Stress-strain curves under tension and compression, and pressure volumetric-strain curves were obtained for specimens subjected to different swelling periods. Due to the fast-swell nature of the elastomer, there were sharp changes in mechanical properties within the first few days of swelling for both salinities. Elastic modulus derived from tensile and compressive tests showed a 90% decrease in the first few days. Bulk modulus showed fluctuation in its variation with an increasing swelling period. There was a small effect of salinity only during the first 5 or 6 days.
The use of solid expandable tubular technology during the last decade has focused on solving many challenges in well drilling and delivery including zonal isolation, deep drilling, conservation of hole sizes, etc. not only as pioneered solution but also providing cost effective and long lasting solutions. Concurrently, the technology was extended for construction of multilateral in typical wells. The process of horizontal tubular expansion is similar to the vertical expansion of expandable tubular in down-hole environment with the addition of uniformly distributed force due to its weight. The expansion is targeted to increase its diameter such that post expansion characteristics remain within allowable limits. In this study a typical expandable tubular of 57.15 mm outer diameter and 6.35 mm wall thickness was used with two different elastomer seals of 5 and 7 mm thickness placed at equal spacing of 200 mm. The developed stress contours during expansion process clearly showed the high stress areas in the vicinity of expansion region which lies around the mandrel. These high stresses may result in excessive wear of the mandrel. It was also found out that the drawing force increases as the mandrel angle, expansion ratio, and friction coefficient increases. A mandrel angle of 20o requires minimum expansion force and can be considered as an optimum geometrical parameter to lower the power required for expansion.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.