EXPLORATION • DRILLING • FIELD SERVICES
Isolating and reparing leaks is a challenging area that was ripe for technical innovation
DHSV is operated, acting as a back-up to reseal in the unlikely event that the leak reappears.”
A SECOND SOLUTION Isolation Gel – Heavy (IG-H) is the second, newly reformulated solution from KCI. IG-H is designed to isolate leaks in deep-set production packers where integrity has been lost and well pressure or fluids are building in the A-annulus, or where the completion fluid in the A-annulus is being lost past the packer. A production packer is a standard component of the completion string of oil and gas wells, used to anchor the bottom of the tubing string and provide a seal or barrier between the outside of the production tubing and the inside of the casing, liner or wellbore wall. Leaking packers typically create well integrity issues, and the well may have to be plugged if the issue cannot be managed. Once cured, IG-H will remain in position until any major well work is
required, such as re-completion, re-drill or abandonment. Until recently, there have been few options available to isolate production packers, but IG-H has been developed as an effective and easy way to deploy sealant. It offers a very high chance of success and low risk of creating any damage or operational issue to the well. IG-H is mixed and deployed as a
weighted liquid gel that is heavier than the completion or annulus fluid. When pumped into a fluid-filled annulus the IG-H simply sinks to the bottom of the annulus, where it lands on top of the packer element. Te liquid gel drops down through the completion/annular fluid then settles on and around the packer.
Te short column of IG-H bonds together to form a ring of sealant above and around the packer in the annular space, blocking any well fluids from passing either upwards or downwards. Te IG-H remains soft and flexible to
move with the metalwork in the well and, when the packer is retrieved, the IG-H simply breaks up and falls to the bottom of the well.
KCI specialist at a well site working on a job for an oil & gas operator
Graham Steele is engineering director at KCI Engineering
www.kciltd.co.uk
www.engineerlive.com 15
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