Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DISCLAIMER
Most of the materials covered in this presentation is from my OWN collection. I have completed various projects involving Packer tests up to 1000 feet deep boreholes. I have used some of the information from Packer Manuals from different manufacturers. Please contact me at admin@coalgeology.com if you need help with a hydrologic investigation project. In coal fields, most commonly Packer Tests are conducted before shaft/slope construction and crossing a creek for mining needs. If you have any questions, please let me know. Ankan Basu, P.G Geologist / Hydrogeologist Marshall Miller and Associates Bluefield, VA, 24605. 304-809-0544
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 2
Calculate Inflation Packer Pressure: This is an online tool written by Ankan Basu that would calculate required inflation pressure. http://coalgeology.com/utility/packerpressure.html
Common Problems!
The air line can only stand up to 333 PSI pressure! When you are 500 feet Down how much inflation pressure Do you usually use?
TAM packers busted as geologists use 700 PSI Inflation Pressure. Drillers gave misleading information about the packer type.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, P.G, Geologist/Hydrogeologist , MMA 8
This is an example of Badger Flowmeter rated for 150 PSI. With this type of Flowmeter you can only packer test shallow holes upto 300-400 feet.
This is a PSI digital flow-meter rated for 1000 PSI injection pressure.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 10
Goal
Isolate specific section of the bedrock in a borehole (usually 10 feet) Perform Packer test and collect samples (if required) from a particular zone. A series of such tests will provide information about vertical distribution of water quality and hydraulic conductivity Determine PERMEABILITY OF BEDS
T=Transmissivity; K=Conductivityby Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA Prepared
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Basic Method
Measure water table. Determine pneumatic pressure required to inflate the packers. Lower Packer Assembly to desired test zone inflate packers. Monitor Pressure at flow gauge to ensure equilibrium/stable flow conditions. Remove 3 well volumes of water before running each test; also removes air bubbles. Monitor and record flow from the flow meter at desired interval of time (usually 5 minutes).
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 12
General Configuration
Inflation Tube (Air line) Inflatable Packer Top Packer Inflatable Packer
End Plug
Bottom Packer
Drill Pipe
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Sliding End
Sliding End
In this set up, we dont need any slack in the air line between the packers as the thickness of test zone z1 remains constant. We only need about 1 feet slack at the top of the packer assembly.
During inflation Top Packer- retracts DOWN Bottom Packer-retracts UP by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA Prepared
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BIMBAR Accesories
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Other Accessories
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Flow meter
Flow Gauge
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Safety Tips
Packer Inflation: Water is favored over N2 gas (or neutral gas). Other fluids are prohibited such as O2. While inflating with gas for longer period of time, GAS POCKETS may appear at the outer cover of the packers (run water for 3 well volumes to remove any air bubbles before each tests. Inflation Pressure: Must be always greater than the injection pressure for proper seal. Deflation of Packer: Do not move packers before complete deflation.
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Phase 1: Drilling
Geologic and geotech log Fracture Log Photograph core Look for fractures, slickensides, broken zone, coal seams, iron staining, soft rock such as clay and clay-stone etc.
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Geophysical Logging
OPEN hole logging recommended if borehole condition is stable. Density log Gamma Log Temperature Log Resistivity log (watch for change in resistivity-indicates flow) Caliper log (Very useful identifying fractures in the hole) Acoustic Televiewer log (Most important in visual and accurate identification of fractures and their orientation)
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Acoustic Televiewer Log showing the coal seam, thin bedding plane fractures and highly broken zone
Note: Multiple scattered fractures at zone 2 showed equal amount flow as highly fractured section zone 3. Few bedding plane fractures 1 Highly fractured zone 2 Coal seam 3
Flow=0.04 GPM
Flow=23 GPM
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Identify zone of no intake great to check if Packers are inflating and sealing properly.
Coal seam
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Check water table elevation needed parameter for calculation of inflation pressure for the packer. Record inner and outer diameter of AQ rods/ 1 pine Needed parameter to calculate friction loss. Decide Packer interval and set up Packer Assembly. Measure all units within the packer assembly (see picture). Measure stick up of the pipelines above ground.
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PUMP
Discharge Line
AQ Rods
1 inch adapter is used to connect the HIGH PRESSURE line to the AQ rods. Valves at the ELBOW are used to control Back Pressure if required.
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CHECK FLOWMETER
Always start with checking the accuracy of the flow meter. Calibration check: Use bucket with 1-5 gallons mark to check calibration, fill up the bucket up to 5 gallons and check the reading at the flow meter. Very rarely 5 gallons at the difference in reading at the flow meter would equal to 5 gallons in the bucket. Usually the flow meter reads less flow. Use calculator to get conversion factor. Example: 4 gallon at flow meter=5 gallons at the bucket Calibration factor=1.25 X flow meter reading. Accuracy Check 1: Some flow meter respond to pressure and record flow when there is no actual flow. Close the valve to the HIGH PRESSURE LINE so that no flow is going to the packer assembly, apply pressure at the water gauge between 0-150 PSI. In ideal situation, there should not be any flow. But some flow meter show higher flow with higher pressure when there is NO FLOW at all. Change flow meter. Accuracy Check 2: Some flow meter works great at higher flow but could not detect low flow. Let the water run under very low pressure and collect the water with a bucket. Test it as low as 0.1 GPM (10 minutes to fill up 1 gallon at the bucket). Trial and Error to get required flow.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 34
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Inflation Pressure
Never use below 350 PSI inflation pressure even when close to the surface.
Source: http://www.qsppackers.com/
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Tip 1: Use 0-200 flow gauge if working in a 400 feet deep hole
Tip 2: Increase inflation pressure by closing the BYPASS valve very SLOWLY. Pressure may build up quickly and break flow meter. Tip 3: Record flow only when the pressure stabilizes
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 45
Troubleshooting
Water gushing out of the hole1. Air line blew off 2. Packers busted Commonly the airline blow off due to lack of slack. Packers can rupture if set at a fracture zone.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 46
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Note: I had 1.5 -2.0 gpm of flow in a 200 feet strata composed of tight shale and sandstone (seen from core, verified by Acoustic Televiewer log). Bad data due to flow meter responding to PRESSURE.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 47
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More Tips
No Back Pressure at Maximum Pump Capacity reduce the length of the pressure test till you get any back pressure. However, the test section should NOT be shortened below A/D< 5. A= Length of test section D=Diameter of Hole Never use >20 feet of Test Section. For Most Pumps Maximum capacity ~ 25 GPM
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Tip: Use TAPE Reel instead of counting rods Use tape measure to keep track of depth. Set the bottom of the top packer as 0 feet. Tape the tape measure along with the airline while going down the hole.
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Tape
Airline
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Use enough pneumatic pressure to inflate the packers at certain depths properly. But if too much of pressure applied to inflate the packersPacker may rupture Rock strata may fracture Too high back pressure may cause other accidents too.
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BIMBAR PACKERS
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Packer Set Up
Bottom Packer
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Sandstone immediately below the Coal Seam ~7.0 GPM; About 0.9 Feet/Day
Example Test: Coal Seam at ~ 90 Feet Inflation Pressure: 400-425 Water Pressure: 45 PSI (max) Could NOT raise the pressure at the flow gauge above 15 PSI even when pumping Water at the maximum capacity of the pump. Result: 23 GPM Note: Not all coal seams take a lot by Ankan Basu, This particular coal seam is broken 61 the of water. Geologist, MMA at Prepared bottom half along with some coreless possibly due to fracture.
Depth of Zone: 125-135 Pneumatic Pressure needed- 400-425 psi Test Conducted at 20 PSI water pressure at max pump capacity. Test result: about 22 GPM, 6.2 Feet per day Note: The water intake is very close to the pumping capacity of the PUMP itself.
Prepared by Ankan Basu, Geologist, MMA 62
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The coal seam here is broken at the bottom and has a middle Soft shale unit. Took 23 gpm at maximum pump capacity.
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Read the pressure gage at the N2 Tank BEFORE, AFTER and DURING test. Drop in pressure indicates leak in the airline. Packers may not seal if the pressure drops below the required inflation pressure.
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Example Application
Packer Test in two nearby boreholes to indentify path of Water flow/fracture.
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Recording Data
Always run for at least 5 minutes before starting to take any readings. Make sure the injection pressure is stable over the period of test. At low flow allow more time to equilibrate the system and to get any measurable flow.
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Calculations
Need Inside Diameter of Type of rod used for packer testing for calculation of head loss per 100 feet from chart (Hydraulics Field manual page 6.32) Contact Ankan Basu, P.G for details of calculations at admin@coalgeology.com
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