Formation Integrity Test, Leak Off Test, Equivalent Circulating Density

Some of the question that seems to be asking frequently in drilling operation is: what differences between Formation Integrity Test (FIT), and Leak Off Test (LOT), and it application, I hope this sharing can give little information for you all In the drilling, Formation Integrity Test (FIT) and Leak Off Test (LOT), are two methods to determine: 1. Strength of cement around the casing shoe after setting. 2. Approximate the fracture gradient, later will be use to create mud programs. 3. To determine the current Maximum Allowable Annular Surface Pressure (MAASP) well control event. LOT and FIT in principle the same, by pumping mud without circulation to the surface. (BOP closed, the choke closed). LOT is usually done on exploration wells, and FIT is usually done on the well development (because the value of fracture pressure be expected from well data neighbors who've done a LOT). But for several person which need more time to read I write down the lecturer definition for it, as shown below. Leak Off Test Leak Off Test is conducted in order to find the fracture gradient of certain formation. The results of the leak off test also dictate the maximum equivalent mud weight that should be applied to the well during drilling operations. Leak Off Test (LOT) guide line procedures are as follows (note: this is just only guide line. You may need to follow your standard procedure in order to perform leak off test): 1. 2. 3. Drill out new formation few feet, circulate bottom up and collect sample to confirm that new formation is drilled to and then pull string into the casing. Close annular preventer or pipe rams, line up a pump, normally a cement pump, and circulate through an open choke line to ensure that surface line is fully filled with drilling fluid. Gradually pump small amount of drilling fluid into well with constant pump stroke. Record total pump strokes, drill pipe pressure and casing pressure. Drill pipe pressure and casing pressure will increase continually while pumping mud in hole. When plot a graph between strokes pumped and pressure, if formation is not broken, a graph will demonstrate straight line relationship. When pressure exceeds formation strength, formation will be broken and let drilling fluid permeate into formation, therefore a trend of drill pipe/casing pressure will deviate from straight line that mean formation is broken and is injected by drilling fluid. We may call pressure when deviated from straight line as leak off test pressure. Note: the way people call leak off test pressure depends on each company standard practices. Leak off test pressure can be calculated into equivalent mud weight in ppg as formula below:

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Leak off test in equivalent mud weight (ppg) = (Leak off test pressure in psi) 0.052 (Casing Shoe TVD in ft) + (current mud weight in ppg) Pressure gradient in psi/ft = (Leak off test pressure in psi) (Casing Shoe TVD in ft) Example: Leak off test pressure= 1600 psi Casing shoe TVD = 4000 ft Mud weight = 9.2 ppg Leak off test in equivalent mud weight (ppg) = 1600 psi 0.052 4000 ft + 9.2ppg ppg = 16.9 ppg Pressure gradient = 1600 4000 = 0.4 psi/ft 4. Bleed off pressure and open up the well. Then proceed drilling operation.

Formation Integrity Test

Formation Integrity Test is the method to test strength of formation and shoe by increasing Bottom Hole Pressure (BHP) to designed pressure. FIT is normally conducted to ensure that formation below show will not be broken while drilling the next section with higher BHP. Normally, engineers in town will design how much formation integrity test pressure required mostly in ppg. Before forming formation integrity test, you should know pressure required for Formation Integrity Test. The formula showed below demonstrates you how to calculate required FIT pressure. Pressure required for FIT (psi) = (Required FIT in ppg Current Mud Weight in ppg) x 0.052 x True Vertical Depth of shoe in ft Example: Required FIT (ppg) = 14.5 Current mud weight (ppg) = 9.2 Shoe depth TVD (ft) = 4000 TVD Pressure required for FIT= (14.5-9.2) x 0.052 x 4000 = 1102 psi Formation Integrity Test (FIT) as guide line as follows: (note: this is just only guide line. You may need to follow your standard procedure in order to perform formation integrity test):

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1. 2. 3.

Drill out new formation few feet, circulate bottom up and collect sample to confirm that new formation is drilled to and then pull string into the casing. Close annular preventer or pipe rams, line up a pump, normally a cement pump, and circulate through an open choke line to ensure that surface line is fully filled with drilling fluid. Gradually pump small amount of drilling fluid into well with constant pump stroke. Record total pump strokes, drill pipe pressure and casing pressure. Pump until casing pressure reaches the pressure required for formation integrity test. Hold pressure for few minutes to confirm pressure.

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Bleed off pressure and open up the well. Then proceed drilling operation.

Creating mud program Basic principles in making mud program are as follows: 1. Determine the pore pressure and fracture pressure along the depth that we will drill. Some also stressed the need for a data field minimum stress and overburden. Such data can be obtained from measurements at the nearest drill wells that we will drill. The data can be obtained directly from measurements (PWDpressure while drilling) or of the processed D-exponent correction (a function of ROP, RPM, WOB, bit diameter). If the well is the first well to be drilled / exploration (no data from nearby wells), the data can be estimated by converting sonic travel time of the seismic survey. 2. Once we have a pore pressure vs. depth plot and frac pressure, we can determine casing setting depth and mud weight (density). In normal drilling (overbalance), we design the best possible mud weight greater than the pore pressure (so as not to kick) but smaller than the fracture pressure (so that no formation fracturing). 3. Determine what type of mud that will be based on lithologic formations penetrated. There are three general categories of types of mud, the water-based mud (for wells with simple trajectories, no reactive shale), oil-based mud (for wells with more complex trajectorie, many reactive shale zone), synthetic based mud (OBM has similar properties but more environmental friendly). 4. Designing Rheology (viscosity, yield point, gel strength) and mud additive required under circumstances that will be penetrated lithologic, avoid formation damage while drilling the reservoir zone, reducing the thickness of the mud cake, or other specific purposes. It can be consulted with mud representative company. 5. After step 2, 3, and 4 then need to count how much pressure loss when the mud that we design circulated during drilling. Then we calculate the ECD as mud hydrostatic pressure + pressure loss. ECD (equivalent circulating density), we compare it to the plot in step 2. ECD must live between pore pressure and fracture pressure. Often added to the calculation / density margin to avoid differential pipe sticking, surge effects, swab effect, etc. 6. 7. Optimization of hydraulic mud. Using data from a mud drilling program to determine other parameters (pump rate, pump pressure, bit nozzle area, etc.) to get that optimum drilling performance. Iterations of the above steps until all criteria is reached with the optimum.

From my own experiences sharing the formula to obtain equivalent mud weight which is write down as:

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EMW (ppg) = (Pressure in psi) 0.052 (Casing Shoe TVD in ft) + (current mud weight in ppg)

Taking too long to calculate in fields itself and so I modify the formula as below: EMW (ppg) = ((Pressure in psi) 19.25 (Casing Shoe TVD in ft)) + (current mud weight in ppg)

Dont worry EMW will result the same answer, some say that formula I use is thumbs rules for EMW but I dont know whether its true or not.

Equivalent Circulating Density Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) is the effective density that combines current mud density and annular pressure drop. ECD is critical for drilling operations because it can caused losses due to high pressure loss in annulus. Moreover, ECD is very critical in both well control and losses aspects in the areas where have narrow room between pore pressure and fracture gradient. For Equivalent Circulating Density formula itself: Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) in ppg = (annular pressure loss in psi) 0.052 true vertical depth (TVD) in ft + (current mud weight in ppg) Or it can be writing like this: Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) in ppg = ((annular pressure loss in psi) 19.25 true vertical depth (TVD) in ft) + (current mud weight in ppg) Dont be confused why all the formula seems to use single formula for Pressure Hydrostatic one, cause in drilling operation itself we only maintenance formation pressure to the hydrostatic one, not to exceed formation pressure so the formation is not leak, or below formation pressure which can make kick to well itself. compiling from several pages, you can simply open it using link below. This article is

Source:

http://drillingclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wellcontrol&action=display&thread=4913 http://www.migas-indonesia.com/2012/06/mud-program.html

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