Drilling Jar Manual PDF
Drilling Jar Manual PDF
Drilling Jar Manual PDF
Written by
Jim Borthwick
Technical and Simulator Instructor
For
DART
Drilling and Advanced Rig Training
KCA DEUTAG Drilling Limited
Copyright Notice
© KCA DEUTAG Drilling Limited
No part of this document shall be reproduced in any materials, including
photocopying or storing it by electronic means without the prior written permission of
KCA DEUTAG Drilling Ltd, Training and Development department, except as
permitted by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Forward
This manual and the course it accompanies are designed to show the basic
principles of how drilling jars and accelerators work. Drillers seldom get the
opportunity to use jars and often they are in doubt about the mechanisms associated
with what is happening down hole when forces are applied to the string.
Introduction
During the drilling process the possibility of getting the drill string stuck in the hole
exists. Well construction teams do try to design the well with the least possible
chance of this happening.
However drill strings do get stuck despite all the prevention efforts, to allow the Driller
the opportunity to get the string free a drilling jar can be included in the bottom hole
assembly (BHA).
There is a fairly large range of drilling jars available to the industry. Several different
types exist such as mechanical jars, hydraulic jars and hydro-mechanical (hybrid)
jars. The various mechanisms which allow the jar to be operated may differ but the
principle behind how they transmit forces remains the same.
The manual will discuss all the basic jar principles and one particular hydraulic jar,
the operation of most jars is basic, but one particular jar is often thought to have
failed to operate. Often it has simply not been given long enough to complete its
metering stroke.
This manual will give information to clarify and educate, it should never be used in
place of the manufacturers operating manual. Never operate any jar or associated
equipment outside the manufacturers recommended envelope. Always use and
follow manufacturers instructions. As stated previously the manual is designed to
familiarise drilling teams in the use of jars. Do not use the information within as an
operations manual.
Another genre of jar exists in the industry, this is the fishing jar. A fishing jar may be
used for a whole plethora of reasons. This manual will not cover fishing jars.
Jim Borthwick
Contents
Section 1 – The Basic Principle
• What is a jar
• The most basic jar
• Placement programmes
• Stress wave theory
Section 6 –
Section 7 –
Appendices
A Jar is a device which can deliver an impact force to a drill string which is
stuck, if it is operated correctly.
Purposes
Types
Mechanical Jars
Hydraulic Jars
Hydraulic Jars use hydraulic oil to delay the firing mechanism long enough for
the Driller to apply a force to the string. The time delay can vary greatly
between different makes of Jar. One Jar in particular can take up to 7 minutes
to fire in the desired direction.
Hybrid Jars
Hybrid Jars are also called Hydro-mechanical Jars; this is because they use a
combination of both mechanical and hydraulic principles to operate.
Sometimes the Jar is designed to operate hydraulically up but also
mechanically down. Other types use the mechanical latch simply to keep the
Jar in the centre latch position during tripping and drilling operations, this
means that the Jar can be fired up or down immediately without the need to
cock them.
The following discussion will cover the basic principles of how all jars work
and how pressure, tension and compression affect them.
The most basic type of Jar is simply a sliding hammer; this device is used in
warehouses every day to remove nails from wooden packing crates or pallets.
A similar device is used in drilling to remove stubborn float valves from float
sub recesses or bit jets which may be stuck.
Hammer
The sliding hammer slides freely between an upper and lower stop. The claw
at the bottom is hinged in such a way that whenever an upward blow is
delivered it closes gripping what ever it is applied to.
The claw is placed in a position suitable for grabbing the nail head. A
downward blow is applied by sliding the hammer down and striking the lower
stop with a force. This embeds the claw into the wood at a sufficient depth to
put it below the level of the head of the nail.
The hammer is then slid up rapidly and the hammer impacts the upper stop
with a force, this closes the claw and moves the nail up a little. Repeating this
process will eventually move the nail up until it is completely removed.
Although Jars may be much bigger than the device for removing nails, they
still work on the same basic principles. The sliding hammer is comprised of an
inner mandrel attached to the upper portion of the drill string and an outer
barrel attached to the lower portion of the string.
Inner
Mandrel
Outer
Barrel
The inner mandrel is not fixed to the outer barrel; it uses mechanical stops or
shoulders to prevent it sliding all the way out. The distance that the mandrel
can slide relative to the outer barrel is referred to as the stroke.
The total stroke can vary with make and size, it can range from 12 inches to
28 inches, although these values are not absolute, some types of Jar can
have smaller or longer strokes.
Jars are subjected to a variety of forces; the Jar is designed to transmit those
forces from the upper portion of the string to the lower portion of the string.
Not only forces applied to a stuck drill string are expected to be transmitted.
The primary function of a drill string is to drill a hole, it is those forces which
are most often required to be transmitted.
• Tension
• Compression
• Torque
There is also another force which has to be taken into account, it is,
• Pressure
Spline Drive
The spline allows the mandrel and barrel to move independently up and down
while still being capable of transmitting torque.
Shoulders
Knocker
Spline
The inner mandrel can slide in and out of the outer barrel and still be able to
transmit rotational forces.
When the BHA is made up the Driller should record the weight below the Jar
as recorded on his weight indicator, this is used as a general guideline to
establish what the weight indicator should read at various points in the Jar
cycle.
There is also the Jar friction to take into account; this is the friction that all the
seals and mechanical parts inside the Jar have to overcome to start opening
or closing. The example below shows how the calculations are performed to
establish surface weight readings for the different phases of the Jar cycle.
Pressure
There is also pressure to be taken into account, because pumping forces and
trapped pressure in the string act to force the Jar to open. This will be
discussed in detail later in this section of the manual.
Example
Up weight = 350,000 lbs
Dn weight = 250,000 lbs
WBJ = 30,000 lbs
Jar Friction = 10,000 lbs
POF = 32,000 lbs
Calculations for all the phases are in the Appendix section of the manual.
Several types of drilling jars exist, too many to discuss in one manual. The
types of Jars we will discuss in any detail are,
• Mechanical Jar
• Hydraulic Jar
• Hybrid Jar
The only specific make of Jars we will discuss is the Hydrajar™ and the
Dailey® Hydraulic Drilling Jar.
Dual Acting
Dual acting means that they are capable of jarring up and down.
The Blow
The blow or hit comes from shoulders or knockers striking each other when
the Jar becomes fully open or fully closed. These parts are often referred to
as the hammer and the anvil. The discussions on specific makes of Jar will
highlight how the blow is transmitted on that particular Jar
When the pumps are on the pressure losses between the Jar and bit nozzles
act on the Jar. This force pushes the Jar open. The name for this force can
vary; they are usually called “pump open force” or “Jar extension force”.
Seals
All Jars have seals, this is to,
Ports
Some Jars have ports in the outer barrel to allow pressure equalisation
between fluid in the Jar and the well bore as the Jar is run deeper in the hole.
The pumping forces act differently on different makes of Jar, however it acts
on all Jars to some degree. Trapped pressure also acts in a similar manner to
the pressure losses between the Jar and the bit nozzles; this pressure is the
pressure as read on the stand pipe pressure gauge.
The following pages describe how pressure acts on two types of popular Jars
made by two different manufacturers.
The first is the Smith Services HE Group Hydrajar™ and the second is the
Dailey® Hydraulic Drilling Jar. These Jars are discussed in particular because
of their popularity, reliability and ease of use. The author and the company
make no marketing comparisons or express a preference of any particular
make of Jar.
Pumping Forces
Each manufacturer of Jars provides tables to determine what the pump open
force is. These tables should come with the other Jar paperwork, if not contact
the vendor; they will usually make reference to their website which sometimes
allows free downloading of the tables in PDF format.
These are only 2 examples, the other makes of Jar will have different pump
open areas because of the difference in design, it is important that you use
the correct table for the Jar in use.
For instance when the Driller needs to Jar up or down he needs time to apply
a force before the Jar trips or fires.
Mechanical Jar
Inner mandrel
Outer barrel
Jar up and down trip settings are usually different, the up trip setting is usually
higher than the down trip setting. Ensure that the value for the Jar in use is
known.
The Hydrajar™
• A piston which slides freely up and down between two stop shoulders.
• A detent area which acts as a cylinder for the piston, it forms a seal that
will not allow hydraulic oil to pass.
• A metering port, this is a small communication port which will allow oil to
pass from one chamber to the other very slowly
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The seven illustrations above show how the hydraulic up-latch in the
Hydrajar™ works.
The Haydrajar™ has two of these mechanisms. One is for jarring up; and the
other is for jarring down. One is simply a mirror image of the other.
The lower latch would have tripped and the Jar will have fired down in the
long stroke.
Below is a series of illustrations which show both latches going through the
long stroke to fire down.
1
2
3
4
5
The Hydrajar™ may take up to 7 minutes to fire when it moves from fully open
to fully closed, this is because the piston needs to travel all the way through
the detent.
1. The Jar is fully open, both pistons are on the lower stops.
2. The Jar starts to close and the pistons make contact with the detents.
3. The pistons slide up towards the upper stops.
4. The pistons are now on the upper stops, the top latch has opened the by-
pass allowing oil to pass freely from the lower chamber to the upper
chamber. The lower piston has closed the by-pass and the oil can now
only meter through the metering port slowly.
5. The Jar is being lowered further and string weight is being applied to fire
the Jar down.
6. The Pistons exit the detents and the drill collars and heavy weight drill pipe
accelerate, the shoulders on the mandrel and outer barrel collide providing
an impact to the string.
Below a series of illustrations show the Jar going through the long stroke up,
the Jar is going from the fully closed position to the fully open position.
1
2 3
4 5 6
Again the Jar may take up to 7 minutes to fire in the long stroke.
After the Jar has been fired up, the Jar need only be cocked to fire up again.
To cock it the pistons simply need to be slid back into the detents. The Driller
lowers the string until he sees 10,000 to 15,000 below his down weight minus
his weight below the Jar.
1
2
3
5
4
A full description of the calculations for cocking and firing the Jar is in the
appendix section of the manual.
The long stroke is only used to fire the Jar up when it is fully closed. It is only
used to fire the Jar down when the Jar is fully open.
If the Jar is already open it can be cocked and fired up in the short stroke. If it
is closed it can be cocked and fired down in the short stroke.
Below is a table which shows the expected delay time in seconds in both the
long and the short stroke.
Detent Limit
The Hydrajar™ has a maximum limit of force which can be applied to it when
it has been cocked; this limit is determined by the amount of hydraulic
pressure the mechanical parts, seals etc can withstand. This limit is called the
detent limit.
This is the same for all hydraulic Jars not just the Hydrajar™. The limits are
clearly stated in the manufacturer’s tables of operating limits. Below is an
example of the Hydrajar™ limits.
Exceeding the limits of the detent will damage or even destroy the Jar. Tong
and slip die notches in the detent area can cause the Jar to fail at a value
under the stated detent limit. Do not use slips or tongs on the Jar outer barrel.
The manufacturer will simply charge the user for any damage caused by
misuse.
When the Jar is fully open the limit is determined by the tensile limit of the
material, this may be steel or other materials such as vanadium.
Since Jars are in the BHA they are under less tension than the drill pipe. The
drill pipe which will be under most tension will be the joint immediately under
the top drive or Kelly. The detent limit should be compared to the margin of
over-pull (MOP). If the detent limit is greater than the MOP, the limit is the drill
pipe strength. If the detent limit is less than the MOP the limit of tension is
determined by the Jar detent limitations.
Because Jars are manufactured from high tensile materials it can make the
prone to certain types of failure. One of these is fatigue; this is because
fatigue cracks propagate more quickly in hard materials. This is the reason
why we record the rotating hours for the Jar and limit its rotating hours.
Notice that the rotating limit for milling is 50 hours in all cases. Milling
produces particularly high rotational vibrations; this accelerates fatigue in high
strength materials. Jars should only be included in a string for milling after
very careful consideration.
Contact the Manufacturer of the Jar for information and advice when milling
with Jars. Never exceed the recommended rotating hours. If the Jars have
been used to mill for a period prior to drilling, contact the manufacturer for
advice on the limit for drilling rotating hours, they will have to be reduced due
to the time spent milling.
The Hydrajar oil can get hot when jarring for long periods, this is due to
friction. The Jar may fire before sufficient tension has been applied; in this
case the Jars have to be left to cool down.
The Dailey® hydraulic drilling jar works on the same principle for using
hydraulic oil metering through valves or ports to delay the firing. However the
Dailey® Jar delay mechanism itself is vastly different to the Hydrajar™, the
differences are,
• The Jar will fire down if the driller continues to go down after it is cocked.
• They are subject to Jar extension forces.
• They have detent limits.
• They have rotating hour limits.
• They are prone to the same failure mechanisms as any other high strength
material.
The trigger mechanism on the Dailey Jar consists of two pistons on the inner
mandrel which seal on the outer barrel; there is a hydraulic valve between the
two pistons. When the Jar is cocked and in the centre latch position the valve
is closed. When the mandrel is pulled through further a shoulder on the outer
barrel prevents the lower half of the valve from moving any more with the
inner mandrel. The Jar is now metering, When a enough force is applied the
two halves of the valve are forced apart which allows the oil to by-pass the
metering ports and the Jar opens rapidly causing the hammer to strike the
anvil.
ing
ton
The energy for jarring up is the stretch in the drill string and the energy for
jarring down is the weight of the drill string above the Jar pushing down. It is
usually easier to get en impact up than it is to get an impact down, especially
in a deviated well bore. In a horizontal well it may be impossible to get an
impct down because of the drag.
The position of the Jar in the string will determine how effective they are. A
combination of impact and impulse is required. The proportions of impact and
impulse depends on many variables.
Impact force
Impact force is defined as “A high force or shock applied over a short period
ot time” High impacts are achieved by light weights moving very fast. For
example a squash ball can travel at fairly high velocitey, however th impact
force when it strikes the wall is not enough to deform or break the wall. This is
because the ball is made of rubber and air, it has a small mass. If the rubber
and air ball was replaced by a solid lead ball travelling at the same velocity it
would deform or break the wall easily. This is because we have increased its
mass. However the energy required to accelerate it to the same velocity as
the rubber ball would also have to be greatly increased. If we simply hit it with
the squash racquet it would not travel fast enogh to reach the wall, and may in
fact burst the racquet.
Impulse
Once generated stress waves will travel along the string at the speed of
sound through steel, this is approximately 5000 metres per second. The
waves do not conveniently travel to the stuck point. They travel all along the
string, the waves have to pass through many different cross sectional
changes in the string, this is due to the geometry of the components, tools,
connections and cross overs. As they encounter these changes in geometry
the waves can be transmitted or reflected. Transmitted waves continue on
their journey, reflected waves are disipated into the mud, formation and well
bore.
Neutral point
The neutral point is the transition point in the string where it changes from
being in tension to being in compression, placing the Jar at this point may
cause them to inadvertantly cock or fire due to bouyancy effects. Jars should
be placed with consideration to the neutral point when drilling with maximum
weight on bit. The Jar should be placed above this point because the buckling
neatral point is always below this point.
In vertical wells the Jar should be placed above the buckling neutral point
when maximum weight on bit is being applied and 2 drill collars should be
placed above the Jar as a minimum.
In horizontal wells the force of gravity pulls the string into the curve of the low
side of the hole. This force resists the string bending sideways sinusoidally.
This means that there is little chance of the Jars ever becoming buckled.
The neutral point in a vertical drill string cam be calculated using this principle,
the exaples are in the appendix section.
What if the stretch in the available drill pipe is not enough to overcome the
stroke of the Jar? What if the drag in the well bore is preventing string
contraction or impeding the mass above the Jar in some way due to friction?
How can we increase the force provided by the Jar without exceeding our
limitations?
Accelerators
Accelerators also have an inner mandrel sliding in and out of an outer barrel,
however there is no trigger or latch mechanism. The device is kept in mid-
stroke by a spring or pressure vessal and pistons. The energy from the
tension applied at surface forces the accelerator open and the energy is
stored in the spring.
The spring can be made from a solid material,a fluid or a gas. Fluid spring
types are usually called intensifiers. Regardless of the name they do the same
thing.
Short String
If the Driller was drilling top hole and there was HWDP to surface, there would
be insufficient stretch in the string to overcome the stroke of the Jar. The Jar
would not fire regardless of how much over-pull was applied.
When the Jar fires the whole length of stretched drill pipe needs to contract to
deliver the blow. If high drag conditions exist the string may be restricted in
movement and contraction may be slowed. An accelerator stores the stretch
in the spring eliminating the need for the whole string to contract.
Absorbing Shock
The impact force from the Jar blow tries to travel all the way up the drill string.
In some cases this has damaged top drive units. By seperating the string
above the accelerator from the shock it acts as a shock absorber. This has
the effect of transmitting more of the impact force to the stuck point. The force
can easily be double the original blow.
Calculate the neutral point of 3 stands of 6 inch DC’s in a vertical well with
12.2 ppg mud in the hole.
⎛ MGR × L × XArea ⎞
NP = L − ⎜ ⎟
⎝ SWT ⎠
Where,
Example
⎛ 0.6344 × 279 × 28.274328 ⎞
NP = 279 − ⎜ ⎟
⎝ 96 ⎠
⎛ 5004.5 ⎞
NP = 279 − ⎜ ⎟
⎝ 96 ⎠
NP = 279 − (52.13)
NP = 226.87
The neutral point can only be calculated this way for a vertical well, deviated
wells require the use of software to accurately determine the neutral point
Where
Example
UW = 350,000lbs
DW = 250,000lbs
WBJ = 40,000lbs
JF = 10,000lbs
POF = 20,000lbs
X = Desired firing force
To fire up
To fire down
The Jarring Worksheet on the next page keeps a good record of Jarring
operations.
735294 × W × e
L = ft
dP
Where
L = ?
e = 30 inches
W = 19.5 lb/ft
dp = 50,000lbs
Constant is 735294
735294 × 19 . 5 × 30
L = ft = 8602 . 9 ft
50000
L = 8602.9 ft
TA – WL
Where
620604
TA = = 539655⋅ lbs
1.15
If the detent limit of the Jar is 300,000lbs the MOP is the observed limit.
If the MOP was 320,000lbs with the same Jar the detent limit would be the
observable limit