The document describes cement retainers and bridge plugs that can be quickly converted in the field between functions and between mechanical and wireline setting. It provides specifications on sizes and applications for cement retainers used for cement jobs and bridge plugs used for zone isolation. It discusses features like locking designs for safety, simple field conversions, and fast drill-out. Forces acting on cement retainers during cementing and pressure testing are also summarized. Removal is generally best done by drilling rather than milling due to faster removal times.
The document describes cement retainers and bridge plugs that can be quickly converted in the field between functions and between mechanical and wireline setting. It provides specifications on sizes and applications for cement retainers used for cement jobs and bridge plugs used for zone isolation. It discusses features like locking designs for safety, simple field conversions, and fast drill-out. Forces acting on cement retainers during cementing and pressure testing are also summarized. Removal is generally best done by drilling rather than milling due to faster removal times.
The document describes cement retainers and bridge plugs that can be quickly converted in the field between functions and between mechanical and wireline setting. It provides specifications on sizes and applications for cement retainers used for cement jobs and bridge plugs used for zone isolation. It discusses features like locking designs for safety, simple field conversions, and fast drill-out. Forces acting on cement retainers during cementing and pressure testing are also summarized. Removal is generally best done by drilling rather than milling due to faster removal times.
The document describes cement retainers and bridge plugs that can be quickly converted in the field between functions and between mechanical and wireline setting. It provides specifications on sizes and applications for cement retainers used for cement jobs and bridge plugs used for zone isolation. It discusses features like locking designs for safety, simple field conversions, and fast drill-out. Forces acting on cement retainers during cementing and pressure testing are also summarized. Removal is generally best done by drilling rather than milling due to faster removal times.
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CEMENT RETAINERS TECHNICAL UNIT
DESCRIPTION: The CR is a modular designed tool package that can quickly be field converted from Cement Retainer to Bridge Plug or from mechanical to wireline set with minimal changes to the basic assembly. This versatile package provides the user with reliable high pressure plugging devices that can be drilled quickly using rotary or cable tools. APPLICATIONS: Cement Retainer for deep, hot, high risk, prolonged or complicated squeeze Cement jobs. Bridge Plug for temporary or permanent zone isolation or to abandon a well. FEATURES: Wireline or Mechanical set - Can be set with electrical pressure setting tool or mechanically on tubing. Speed and safety - Locked together design and extra clearance safely speeds run-in. Quick field change - Simple conversion to Bridge Plug or Cement Retainer or mechanical to wireline. Fast drill up - Drills out quickly with rotary or cable tools.
Cement Retainer Simple control - Slide valve is controlled from surface. Pick up work string to close, set down to open. Allows pressure test of tubing - Pick up to close valve and test tubing before squeezing. Locked in squeeze pressure - The valve automatically closes when the stinger is removed locking in squeeze pressure while excess cement is circulated out. Isolates hydrostatic pressure - The valve protects sensitive zones in low fluid level wells. AVAILABILITY: Mechanical Set Cement Retainer
CEMENT RETAINER/BRIDGE PLUG PRODUCTS The cast iron Cement Retainers and Bridge Plugs provide the end user with tools that will consistently contain well pressures at elevated temperatures and pressures. The Cement Retainers or Bridge Plugs permit faster removal from the well with either rotary or cable tool methods due to their compact size and the selection of high quality construction material. The outside diameter of these products has been held to a minimum to provide maximum tool-to-casing clearance for safe running and maximum fluid bypass area during displacement procedures even in heavy mud systems. Any Cement Retainer product can be converted to perform as a Slide Valve Cement Retainer, a Flapper Valve Cement Retainer or a Bridge Plug. In addition, these tools may be converted for electric line setting or mechanical setting by selection of the proper upper slip and the appropriate running tools. Slide Valve Cement Retainer The Slide Valve Cement Retainer utilizes a slide valve which is pressure balanced in the closed position to reliably contain high fluid pressures. The bonded mono-seal design eliminates seal damage during opening at high pressure differentials. Flapper Valve Cement Retainer The Flapper Valve Cement Retainer is utilized in those applications where sustained pumping of large volumes of highly abrasive fluids are anticipated. The standard Stinger Sub on the MST Mechanical Setting Tool and SSA Stinger Seal Assembly should be replaced with a Flapper Valve Stinger Sub when running Flapper Valve Cement Retainers. The Flapper Valve Stinger Sub does not have side ports. This helps protect the flapper valve and valve seat seal from fluid washing during pumping operations. The Cement Retainer and Bridge Plug product line consists of the following:
Wireline Set Cement Retainer Mechanical Set Cement Retainer Wireline Set Bridge Plug Mechanical Set Bridge Plug Flapper Valve Wireline Set Cement Retainer Flapper Valve Mechanical Set Cement Retainer
The following service tools are used for setting and service with the Cement Retainers or Bridge Plugs:
Wireline Adapter Kit Stinger Seal Assembly Tubing Centralizer Mechanical Setting Tool Wireline Adapter Kit for Flapper Bottom Hydraulic Setting Tool
CONVERSION OF CEMENT RETAINER TO BRIDGE PLUG UTILIZING THE BRIDGING PLUG Sizes 4-1/2 through 8-5/8: 1. Carefully clamp the Cement Retainer in a vise and loosen set screw from the guide. Unscrew the guide (right-hand thread) from the inner mandrel. Using a bar, inserted from the top end of the Cement Retainer, tap the slide valve so it will exit the lower end of the body. Avoid contact of the bar with the sealing surface of the body. Install oring into groove of bridging plug. Grease the bore of the Cement Retainer guide and the lower end of the bridging plug. Install the bridging plug into the bore of the guide. Align the drive pin in the side of the Bridge Plug with one of the fluid bypass holes in the guide and press it into the bore of the guide. Note: The thread in the bridging plug MUST be visible from the top of the plug. Turn the guide on its side and see if the Bridging Plug falls out of the guide. If the Bridging Plug moves or drops out, re-grease the back of the Bridging Plug and bore of the guide and reseat the Bridging Plug in the guide. With the Bridging Plug properly stuck in place, make up the guide to the Cement Retainer mandrel. Snug the guide with a wrench and re-install the set screw in the guide.
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Bridge Plug The short, compact, interlocked construction assures the user that the Bridge Plug will provide faster, safer run-in, dependable set and pack-off and hold pressure that is safe for the casing weight and grade. The interlock construction and compact size requires minimal material removal during drill out.
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CEMENT RETAINERS TECHNICAL UNIT
Sizes 9-5/8 through 13-3/8:
1. Carefully clamp the Cement Retainer in a vise and loosen two (2) set screws from the flange of the outer mandrel. Unscrew the guide, from the inner mandrel. Note: Size 1338 does not have set screws. 2. Using a bar, inserted from the top end of the Cement Retainer, tap the slide valve so it will exit the lower end of the body. Avoid contact of the bar with the sealing surface of the body. Install oring into groove of bridging plug. Grease the bore of the guide and the lower end of the bridging plug. Install the bridging plug into the bore of the guide. Align the drive pin in the side of the Bridging Plug with one of the fluid bypass holes in the guide and press it into the bore of the guide. Note: The thread in the bridging plug MUST be visible from the top of the plug. 5. Turn the guide on its side and see if the plug falls out of the guide. If the Bridging Plug moves or drops out, re-grease the back of the Bridging Plug and bore of the guide and reseat the Bridging Plug in the guide. With the Bridging Plug properly stuck in place, make up the guide to the retainer mandrel. Snug the guide with a wrench and install the two (2) set screws through the flange of the outer mandrel.
An increase in casing pressure at the Cement Retainer tends to lift the tubing which can cause the slide valve to close. The force generated by a casing pressure increase is calculated by multiplying the casing pressure increase by the outside area of the tubing minus the seal bore area of the tool. A pressure increase in the tubing exerts a lifting force at the top of the string which will reduce the effective hook load. A pressure increase in the tubing at the Cement Retainer will tend to hold the stinger sub in the tool and keep the slide valve open. The net of these two forces is upward and is equal to the increase in tubing pressure multiplied by the area of the seal bore in the cement retainer. When this force is equal to the tubing weight, any additional pressure will lift the tubing and allow the slide valve to close. Therefore, the minimum setting depth will depend on the applied pressure changes in the tubing and casing acting to lift the available tubing weight. The amount of tubing and annulus pressure that can be applied are limited for any size and length of tubing. When the total of the forces is equal to the weight of the tubing in fluid, an increase in either tubing or casing pressure will raise the tubing and close the slide valve. However, the cementing pressure may be increased if the casing pressure is decreased and vice versa. The snap latch feature of the stinger sub has no effect on either opening or closing the slide valve. The stinger sub will remain in the Cement Retainer as long as the snap-out force is not exceeded. If excess tension is pulled on tubing while pressure testing the snap-out force may be overcome and the stinger sub will be pumped out.
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HYDRAULIC FORCES ACTING ON CEMENT RETAINERS Forces created by applied pressure to the casing and tubing act upon the stinger sub and tubing during cementing and pressure testing operations. These forces are variable and are affected by the area of the cement retainer seal bore, casing and tubing pressure changes at the Cement Retainer, tubing size and weight and fluid weight.
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CEMENT RETAINERS TECH UNIT
REMOVAL TECHNIQUES FOR MODEL CR CEMENT RETAINERS AND BRIDGE PLUGS General Drilling is the preferred method of removing Cement Retainers and Bridge Plugs since drilling can usually be accomplished in less than 10 percent of the time it takes to millout the same tool. This high removal time for the milling technique is explained by the mechanics of the two methods. Drilling causes a chiseling effect, and milling has a shaving effect of the target. Further, milling yields more debris of the type that causes penetration stoppage. Drilling with a short tooth, medium hard formation rock bit is usually the best combination for cement retainer or bridge plug removal. Suggested Drilling Technique Though the best drilling technique will vary with available equipment, a typical combination of a short tooth, medium hard formation rock bit (ADC Codes 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, and 3-1), 75 to 120 RPM rotary speed and such drill collars as necessary for weight and bit stabilization will provide desirable results. To drill the Cement Retainer or Bridge Plug: Apply 5,000-7,000 lbs. until top end of the mandrel is drilled (4 to 5 inches). junk basket above the bit. If reverse circulation is planned, the casing scraper or other equipment in the tubing string should have an inside fluid passage as large as the passage through the bit so cuttings will not bridge. Variations in bit speed and bit weight should be made to help break up debris to re-establish penetration should it cease while drilling. Penetration may be stopped by bit tracking which is usually caused by insufficient weight on the bit. Bit tracking occurs when bit teeth travel in the same indentation of track made previously by another tooth. Successive tooth impact to the same location will sometimes deepen the track until indentations equal bit tooth length, reducing the impact of teeth to the point that they will not penetrate. Drilling penetration may be reestablished by raising the bit off of the tool and then lowering the bit while maintaining rotation and making rapid bit contact with extra weight. NOTE: Drilling times are directly related to tool size, bit stability, drilling weight, pump rate, bit RPM, type of bit, drilling fluid, etc. The same considerations should be used when drilling Cement Retainers and Bridge Plugs as would be used when drilling medium hard formations. Suggested Milling Technique If equipment availability or other considerations dictate that the Cement Retainer or Bridge Plug be milled, the recommended combination is a junk type mill tool rotated at 60-150 RPM with 5,0008,000 lbs. on the mill. Use a mud viscosity of 60 CPS and a minimum annular velocity of 120 ft/min to assure cutting removal. When ready to begin milling operations, start rotating the mill above the target and lower it slowly onto the target. Do not apply weight in excess of recommended amount. Excessive weight can tear out chunks of the Cement Retainer/Bridge Plug and make a bailer trip necessary to remove the chunks to allow further penetration.. Maintain a constant milling rate by adding weight as the tool is milled away.
Increase weight to 2,500-3,000 lbs. per inch of bit diameter to drill out remainder. Example: Use 12,000-14,500 lbs. for a 4-3/4 OD bit. Drill collars should be used as required for weight and bit stabilization. A rotary speed of 75-125 RPM is recommended. A Junk Basket should be used. The mud viscosity and gel strength should be sufficient to remove and support the cuttings. A minimum annular velocity of 120 FT/MIN is recommended.
