5/10/2015

JournalofPetroleumTechnologyRemotelyOperatedValveEliminatesInterventioninWellBarrierPlacement

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Home / 5187-technology-update-18

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE 1

Remotely Operated Valve

Eliminates Intervention in
Well Barrier Placement
AndrewCooper,Halliburton

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Inoffshoredeepwaterandextended
reachwells,placingandremoving
deepsetbarriersisoftenchallenging
largelybecauseofthedistancesand
depthsinvolved.Withoperations
morecomplicatedindeviatedand
lateralwells,thechallengesmultiply.
Often,coiledtubingortractorsystems
areneededtosetandretrievedeep
setbarriers,increasingtheexpense,
thetimetocompletetheoperation,
andtheinherentenvironmentaland
personnelrisks.

Althoughplacingthesecond,shallow
setbarriermaybeeasier,itstillinvolveselementsofriskand
significantexpensebecauseoftherigtimeneeded.Insome
cases,upto15interventionsarerequiredduringthe
completionphaseofawellsconstruction,thusresultingin
considerablecostsandincreasedsafetyrisks.
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JournalofPetroleumTechnologyRemotelyOperatedValveEliminatesInterventioninWellBarrierPlacement

However,ifthebarriersweredeployedasanintegralpartof
thecompletionstring,andthewellcouldbepluggedor
unpluggedremotely,asoftenasrequired,nowellintervention
wouldbeneeded.Thepotentialsavingsinrigtimeandthe
reducedriskwouldbesignificant,andhavingthiscapability
couldchangethewaythatwellsarecompleted.

A New Way to Complete Wells

Amajorsteptowardachievingthiswastakenin2008when
HalliburtonRedSpidersuccessfullydeployedtheeREDvalve,
aremotelyoperatedballvalvethatcouldbedeployedona
lockorbridgeplugtoreplacetraditionalplugand
prongbarriers.
Thevalvesprimaryadvantagewasitsremoteoperabilitythat
enabledittobeopenedandclosedasoftenasneeded,each
timeeliminatinganintervention.Whenthewellcompletionis
finished,theassemblyisretrievedbeforethewellisbrought
online.Thevalvehasbeenusedinabout200jobswithmore
than400remoteactuationssuccessfullyperformed.
Itsoonbecameclearthatatubingmounted,fullboreversion
ofthevalvewouldprovidegreaterbenefitsbecauseitwould
notrequireretrieval.Thus,theeREDLVvalve(Fig.1)was
developed,whichenablesoperatorstosetorremovewell
barriersatanytimewithoutinterventionortheuseofsurface
controllines.Withretrievalunnecessary,additionalsavingsin
rigtimeareachieved.

Valve Operation
ThefullborevalveusesthedevelopersRemoteOpenClose
Technology,whichenablestheoperatortoactivatethevalve
remotelywithoutsurfacecontrollines.Communicationis
achievedbyapplyingapredefinedpressureatsurfacefora
predefinedtime.Integratedelectronicsareprogrammedto
recognizethisuniquepressure/timewindowasacommand
triggertoeitheropenorclosethevalve.
Pressureappliedoutsidethedefinedvaluesisignoredbythe
valve.Thismeansthatpressurecanbeappliedrepeatedlyto
thetubing,forexample,forintegritytestsorpackersetting,
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JournalofPetroleumTechnologyRemotelyOperatedValveEliminatesInterventioninWellBarrierPlacement

withouttheriskofinadvertentlyactivatingit.
Thesystemishighlyflexiblethereisnofixedoperational
procedureforitsoperation.Eachwelloperationisplannedon
paperandthevalveisprogrammedsubsequentlytosuit
theapplication.
Shouldthevalvefail,theballismechanicallyshiftedtothe
openorclosedpositionbyuseofawirelinedeployedshifting
tool.Thefullyopenpositionoftheballisconfirmedby
observingapressuredropatsurfaceandbydriftingthe
shiftingassemblythroughthevalve.

Target Applications of theValve

Thetechnologycanbeusedinanyapplicationinwhich
wirelineplugsarenormallyused.Itisabletoachievethe
sameresultsaswirelineplugswithoutrequiringrepeated
interventionsortheuseofsurfacecontrollines.Itisalso
particularlysuitedtocompletiondeploymentforsetting
productionpackersandestablishingbarrierstosecurethe
wellwhileriggingdownblowoutpreventersandinstalling
Christmastrees.
Multipletoolscanbedeployedinasinglewell,withaunique
signatureestablishedforeachtool.Thiscapabilityallowsthe
operatortocommunicatewithandoperateeachvalve
independently,thusconsiderablyincreasingtheusefulnessof
thevalvetechnology.

Testing and Commercialization

Thedevelopmentprojectofthefullborevalvebeganwith
testingatacomponentandsubassemblyleveltoprovethat
thetechnologywouldworkandcouldbeintegratedintothe
maincompletiondesign.Potentialfailuremodeswere
considered,tested,anddocumentedtoensurearobustfinal
design.Whereapplicable,industrystandardswereadopted
forexample,thebarriermodulewasqualifiedtothenewly
introducedISO28781:2010.
Oncefullyqualified,thetechnologywasintroducedtooilfield
operations,withitsfirstsuccessfuljobcompletedinAugust
2012offshoreEquatorialGuinea.Thetechnologyhassince
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JournalofPetroleumTechnologyRemotelyOperatedValveEliminatesInterventioninWellBarrierPlacement

beendeployedsuccessfullyintheNorthSea.

Case Study: Equatorial Guinea

Deployedasanintegralpartofthecompletionbelowthe
productionpacker,thefullborevalvewasrunintotheholein
theopenpositiontoapproximately9,100ftmeasureddepth
atadeviationgreaterthan80.
Withthetubinghangerlanded,locked,andtested,thevalve
wascommandedtocloseusingapreprogrammed
pressure/timetriggerof1,000psifor25minutes.This
pressurewasappliedagainsttheclosedflappertypefluidloss
deviceinthelowercompletion.Thepackerwasset
hydraulicallyagainsttheclosedvalveandthetubingwas
pressuretested.Thesubsurfacesafetyvalvewasthenclosed,
inflowtested,equalized,andreopened.
Theprogrammedfullborevalvewasreopenedusinga
differentpressure/timetriggerof2,250psifor25minutes.To
preventapressuresurgeonthelowercompletion,a
programmeddelayof10minutesallowedthetubingpressure
tobebleddownto600psibeforetheballopening(Fig.2).
Openingofthevalvewasverifiedbyadownhole
pressure/temperaturegaugereading.
Theinstallationeliminatedtheneedtodeployaconventional
deepsetbarrierandmaintainedthemaximumproduction
flowarea.Arigtimesavingof1dayswasachievedwith
commensuratecostsaving.Inaddition,allrisksassociated
withtheinterventioninahighlydeviatedsubseawell
wereeliminated.

Technology Evolution Continues

Theremotelyoperatedballvalvetechnologyhasevolvedfrom
thethroughtubingversionthatisretrievedbywirelineatthe
endofthecompletionprocesstothetubingmounted,full
boreversionthatneednotberetrieved.Thetechnologyhas
provedthatitcaneliminateinterventionsduringcompletion
deployment,therebysavingtimeandexpense,andremoving
operationalrisktotheenvironmentandpersonnel.
Thisyear,thetechnologydevelopmenthascontinuedwiththe
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JournalofPetroleumTechnologyRemotelyOperatedValveEliminatesInterventioninWellBarrierPlacement

additionofaremotelyactivated,tubingmountedcirculation
sleevevalvethatwilleliminatewellinterventionsthatrequire
fluiddisplacementafterthepackerisset.Thenewcirculation
valveisslatedtobedeployedinNorwaybyyearend.

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