Exothermic Cast-In-Place Well Plugging for Reliable P&A Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plug and abandonment (P&A) operations face challenges such as contamination from drilling fluid channels and the need for large blowout preventers, which increase costs and complexity, especially in ensuring effective sealing across hydrocarbon-bearing formations and freshwater aquifers.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a downhole tool to remove casing, deploy a blocking device, and use an exothermic fluid to liquefy and solidify a plugging material, forming a cast-in-place plug that expands to create a tight seal without mixing with drilling fluids, thus avoiding channeling and reducing the need for large blowout preventers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cementing procedures are used with spacers to prevent contamination, then drilling fluid channels are avoided, but the process complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the problematic drilling fluid from the annulus before placing the cement plug, eliminating the source of contamination rather than relying on spacer materials to prevent it. This simplifies the overall cementing procedure by removing the need for complex spacer formulations and pumping sequences.
Solution Approach 2:
The method performs preliminary washing and removal of drilling fluid from the annulus before cement plug placement. By cleaning the annulus in advance, the invention ensures a clean interface for cement setting without requiring complex spacer systems during the actual cementing operation.
2Reliability
If large blowout preventers are used to ensure effective sealing, then sealing reliability improves, but installation cost and offshore complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the need for large mechanical blowout preventers with a chemically-activated expanding plug system. The plug expands in-situ through chemical reaction to create the seal, eliminating the need for complex surface-mounted preventer equipment and reducing offshore installation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The plug material undergoes parameter changes by expanding from a compact state to a large-volume sealed state through chemical activation. This allows a small deployable device to achieve the sealing function of a much larger mechanical system, reducing installation complexity while maintaining reliability.
3Reliability
If conventional P&A operations are performed sequentially, then operational safety is maintained, but productivity and time efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines multiple plugging operations into a single integrated process where plugs can be deployed and activated simultaneously or in rapid succession. The modular nature of the expanding plugs allows multiple wells to be plugged in one operation, significantly improving productivity while maintaining safety through controlled chemical activation.
Solution Approach 2:
The plugs are activated in a controlled periodic manner, allowing sequential deployment and activation that maintains safety while improving overall efficiency. Each plug can be activated on demand through chemical triggers, enabling flexible scheduling that balances safety protocols with productivity goals.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for efficient and cost-effective P&A operations with permanent plugs that provide a gas/liquid tight seal, reducing the need for expensive offshore installations and enabling simultaneous plugging of multiple wells, while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements by forming a stable, non-contaminating seal.
Implementation Method 1
deploying an exothermic fluid downhole, wherein activation of the exothermic material liquefies the plugging material
Implementation Method 2
activation of the exothermic material liquefies the plugging material
Implementation Method 3
allowing the plugging material and the exothermic fluid to solidify form a cast-in-place plug
Data Source
AI summary
A method of plugging a hydrocarbon well includes deploying a downhole tool to remove at least a portion of a casing at a section of well to be plugged. Deploying a blocking device downhole to block a bottom of the section of well to be plugged. Deploying a plugging material downhole onto the blocking device to fill an area to be plugged. Deploying an exothermic fluid downhole, wherein activation of the exothermic material liquefies the plugging material. Allowing the plugging material and the exothermic fluid to solidify form a cast-in-place plug that fills the section of well to be plugged.