Annular Pressure Build-up Analysis and Methodology with Examples from Multifrac Horizontal Wells and HPHT Reservoirs

Bellarby, Jonathan; Kofoed, Sara Sparre; Marketz, Franz

doi:10.2118/163557-ms

Cited by 21 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The primary annulus between tubing and production casing is called "A" annulus and the outer annuli are called "B", "C", etc. annuli in sequence (Toni et al 2003;Jonathan et al 2013). Fig.…”

Section: Modeling Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Calculation of Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildup in Subsea HPHT Wells

Yin

Gao

2014

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In subsea HPHT wells, annular pressure buildup caused by thermal expansion of fluid endangers well integrity. The conventional well design is not secure for subsea HPHT wells. It is significant to assess the risk from annular pressure buildup and provide solutions. Considering the interactions and pressure changes of different annuli, the calculation model of annular pressure buildup in multiple casing annuli is established. This model expands the scope of application of existing models. In view of temperaturedependent coefficient of thermal expansion and compressibility, the calculation method based on temperature increment is adopted to improve the calculation precision of annular pressure buildup. Research results show that the annular pressure buildups are various under the condition of different temperature ranges and same temperature change, and the annular pressure buildup in high temperature range is greater than that in low temperature range. The casing load arising from annular pressure buildup reaches or even exceeds the casing load according to conventional design. The research methodology is applied to a subsea HPHT well. The potential risk is discovered in the conventional casing design when annular pressure buildup occurs, and the casings are optimized design to deal with the issue. Furthermore, the mitigation measures for annular pressure buildup are recommended to ensure the well integrity of subsea HPHT wells. The research in this paper provides the reasonable calculation approach and mitigation measures of annular pressure buildup.

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Section: Modeling Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Calculation of Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildup in Subsea HPHT Wells

Yin

Gao

2014

All Days

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“…Wang et al claim that their model improves the APB prediction. Bellary et al (2013), emphasized in their paper that the annular pressure buildup (APB) remains an important consideration for many wells, not just subsea wells. The work of Bellarby et al proposes a methodology for analyzing APB issues applicable to both subsea and surface oil and gas wells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical prediction of structural damage due to pressure buildup in subsea oil and gas equipment

Somassoundirame

Nithiyananthan

2021

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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Pressure buildup/annular pressure buildup in subsea oil and gas equipment occurs primarily due to the thermal expansion of trapped liquids. With the advent of modern computers, it has become increasingly possible to numerically analyze such problems with commercial codes available in the market. The objective of the present study is to propose a methodology for numerical prediction of structural damage in subsea oil and gas equipment due to pressure buildup. A judicious combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with structural finite element analysis code has been used to perform a sample numerical analysis that is truly representative of a wide class of problems encountered in subsea oil and gas applications. The mitigation of trapped pressure is one among the prime areas of concern in the subsea oil and gas industry. In the present study, CFD analysis is used to determine the maximum pressure buildup due to the thermal expansion of trapped liquids in small leak tight enclosed volumes with rigid walls and the pressure obtained is used as a boundary condition for the structural analysis. In a nutshell, the analysis has been split into three steps (1) a steady-state CFD analysis to determine the temperature distribution within the oil and gas equipment under consideration, (2) the temperature contours obtained from the steady-state analysis are imposed as a boundary condition for the transient analysis to calculate the trapped pressure in the small volumes of interest and finally and (3) a structural analysis is used to determine the damage to the oil and gas equipment. The methodology adapted is similar to a one-way coupled fluid structure interaction analysis, but provides the added advantage of a significant reduction in computational cost. In the present study, the proposed methodology has been extended to a subsea Christmas tree (XT) and the pressure buildup in the hydraulic lines has been calculated. The results obtained using the present technique has been compared with analytical solution. The proposed numerical technique can be applied to any subsea or surface oil and gas equipment where pressure buildup due to trapped volume is a major issue. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of pressure buildup in trapped volumes within subsea/surface oil and gas equipment. This study can be applied to predict the thermal expansion of trapped volumes in subsea XTs, manifolds, pipe line end manifolds (PLEM) and pipe line end termination (PLET) units.

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“…Recently, scholars have mainly focused on the increase in annular increase induced by pressure/temperature changes, while the induced decrease in annular pressure has been poorly investigated (Bellarby et al, 2013). In recent years, with gradual depletion of conventional gas/oil resources, more and more low-permeability and ultra-lowpermeability oil/gas reservoirs have been exploited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient prediction of annular pressure between packers in high-pressure low-permeability wells during high-rate, staged acid jobs

Lee

Rao

Xia

2020

Oil Gas Sci. Technol. – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles

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For high-pressure low-permeability wells, wellbore temperature drops drastically in high-rate and multistage acid fracturing process. Under the combined action of the swelling of tubing string and the contraction of annular fluid between packers, annular pressure between packers undergoes violent transient change in staged acid jobs, thereby deteriorating loading on the tubing string and packers. Based on the principle of energy conservation and wellbore heat conduction, the transient prediction of two-dimensional (2D) wellbore temperature field under pumping injection condition was established by considering the effects of heat generated by friction and convection heat exchange. Moreover, the effects of wellbore temperature/pressure changes on the annular volume between packers were analyzed. Furthermore, in combination with the transient prediction model of wellbore temperature, PVT state equation of annular fluid, the calculation model of tubing string radial deformation and the transient seepage equation of the formation, the transient prediction model of annular pressure between packers in high-pressure low-permeability wells was established. Finally, by taking a high-pressure low-permeability well as an example, annular pressure between packers was calculated and the forces on the packers and tubing string were analyzed. According to the prediction results, the tubing string, which was regarded to be safe using conventional design method, exhibited an extremely high risk of failure after taking into account the decrease in annular pressure between packers. Therefore, the decrease in annular pressure should be fully considered in the design of tubing string for high-pressure low-permeability wells in multistage acid fracturing process. In combination with sensitivity analysis results, it can be concluded that formation permeability, injection rate and formation pressure all affected the change in annular pressure between packers.

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Annular Pressure Build-up Analysis and Methodology with Examples from Multifrac Horizontal Wells and HPHT Reservoirs

Cited by 21 publications

References 11 publications

Improved Calculation of Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildup in Subsea HPHT Wells

Improved Calculation of Multiple Annuli Pressure Buildup in Subsea HPHT Wells

Numerical prediction of structural damage due to pressure buildup in subsea oil and gas equipment

Transient prediction of annular pressure between packers in high-pressure low-permeability wells during high-rate, staged acid jobs

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