Tubing String and Installation: Assoc. Prof. Issham Ismail

TUBING STRING AND
INSTALLATION
Assoc. Prof. Issham Ismail

School of Chemical & Energy Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
.
SINGLE COMPLETION
MULTIPLE COMPLETIONS
WHAT IS TUBING?
 Is a steel pipe installed in an oilwell.
 Each tubing is 28 - 32 ft long and available in
many sizes. The most commonly used is 3.5”.
 Shorter than 28 ft…called pup joint.
 Few hundreds to few thousands tubing are
required for a well, depending on the type of
completion.
 Is hung to tubing head via a tubing hanger. Can
you figure out the equipment?
 When many tubing are making up
together…called tubing string, may comprise
other subsurface equipment.
TYPES OF TUBING
 Standard weight (SW) and heavy weight (HW).
 HW is also called thick walled tubing and used in extreme condition.
 SW is for normal well and shallow to moderate depth. Used widely in Malaysia.
 One single size but has many weights. Refer to tubing table.
 2.875” tubing, normally used 6.5#/ft.
 with EUE connection!
 ID: 2.441”.
 Drift diameter: 2.347”.
 Grade N-80.
 3.5” tubing, normally used 9.2 #/ft.
 with premium connection!
 ID: 2.992”.
 Drift diameter: 2.867”.
 Grade N-80.
TUBING SIZE SELECTION
 Optimum tubing size is important
 undersized will restrict flow/well potential.
 Oversized may not produce due to insufficient pressure.
 Use IPR curve and TP curve in the same plot.
 Use Vogel equation to plot IPR curve…assumptions used!
 Use pressure traverse curves to plot TP curve.
 Flowrate can be obtained from the intersection of IPR and TP
curves.
 Plot many TP curves representing many tubing sizes…select the
highest yield but with region of instability away from IPR curve.
 Oilfields in Malaysia use 3.5” tubing strings in 9.625” casing.
TUBING CONNECTION
 Two types: Coupling and Integral.
 Two types of thread: Standard API and Premium.
 Standard API: i.e. EUE and NU. Tubing can be threaded easily.
 Premium: Use special insert and higher cost. Has many advantages.
 Use tubing hydraulic tong to make-up.
 Has their respective torque values.
 Standard API thread/connection
 EUE is normally used especially for 2.875” tubing.
 EUE for 3.5 is seldom…use special clearance type for dual completions.
 Premium thread/connection
 i.e. VAM, Hydril A-95, TKC 40/40, NK2SC, etc.
 Flushed ID.
 Commands some premium…more expensive than API thread.
 Shoulder-to-shoulder seal. Very delicate.
 Many advantages.
TUBING DESIGN
 Similar to casing design. Must consider:
 Collapse load.
 Burst load.
 Tension load.
 Safety factor.
 Tubing elongation
 Expand in oil producer…tubing may buckle!
 Contraction in water injector…tubing shorten! Equivalent to 30k pull.
 May unseat a hydraulic-set packer!
 Refer to Tubing Elongation table.
 The tubing elongation can be calculated.
TUBING INSPECTION, HANDLING, AND
MAKE-UP
 Prior to running the tubing into a well:
 Arrange the required number of tubing.
 Uncap both ends of each tubing.
 Inspect the physical shape and thread at both ends (after cleaning).
 Drift ID of every tubing.
 Reject defect tubing.
 Assign a number to each tubing.
 Measure the length of each tubing. Write down the length beside its number.
 Apply tubing dope at both ends. Recap both connections.
 At the rig floor:
 Uncap both ends of the tubing.
 Inspect the condition of the thread and physical condition of the tubing.
 Make-up tubing using a hydraulic tubing tong. Normally done by torque-turning crew.
 The make-up torque is predetermined using computer.
 Has output (hard copy) for verification.
 Run the tubing into well slowly and carefully. Done by driller.
SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT
WHAT IS SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT?
 A production/injection is equipped with many
surface and subsurface equipment.
 The surface equipment are x-mas tree, wellhead,

surface safety valve, etc.
 There are many subsurface equipment installed

in a tubing string in order to perform their
respective functions.
TYPES OF SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT
 Can be categorized as follows:
Subsurface safety equipment.
Flow control equipment.
Communication equipment.
Auxiliary equipment.
SUBSURFACE SAFETY EQUIPMENT
 Surface control subsurface safety valve

 Safety valve landing nipple
 Production packer.
WIRELINE RETRIEVABLE SAFETY VALVE
WELL COMPLETION &
SAFETY VALVE
• Safety Valves
SUBSURFACE SAFETY VALVE SYSTEMS
 Primary Purpose
 Emergency well flow control device
 Prevents losses
– Personnel, environment,
reserves, image
 Secondary Purpose
 Downhole Flow Control
– Allows for wellhead problem
corrections
– Serves as a secondary barrier
SUBSURFACE SAFETY VALVE SYSTEMS
 Regulations
 API 14 A, Specification for SSSVs
 API 14 B, Install, operate SSSVs
 ISO 10432, Standard for SSSV products
 ISO 10417, Installation et al for SSSVs
 MMS, Department of the Interior
 CFR 250, USA federal laws
 International standard bodies

SUBSURFACE SAFETY VALVE
SYSTEMS
 Types of SSSVs
 Surface Controlled
• Tubing retrievable
• Slickline retrievable
• Others, pump-in-place: coiled
tubing
 Subsurface Controlled
• Velocity
• Injection
FLOW CONTROL EQUIPMENT
 Flow couplings.
 Blast joint.
 Selective landing nipple
 No-go landing nipple
 Tubing plug
 Seal units
FLOW CONTROL EQUIPMENT
(CONT’D)
 Check valves - installed in the tubing
string to prevent the back flow of
injection well.
 Bottomhole chokes/beans and regulators
- to reduce the wellhead flowing
pressure and prevent the freezing of
surface controls and lines by taking a
pressure drop down hole.
COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
 Sliding sleeve
 Side-pocket gas lift mandrel
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
 Double pin sub

 Rigid blade tubing centralizer
 Straight-slot or J-slot body
 Mule/guide shoe.
PRODUCTION PACKER AND
TUBING SEAL ASSEMBLIES
WHAT IS PRODUCTION PACKER?
 Is a subsurface equipment used to seal the
annulus between the tubing string and production
casing.
 Is also known as secondary subsurface safety

valve.
 All production and injection wells in Malaysia

are equipped with production packer.
APPLICATIONS
 To guide fluid flow into tubing string -
subsurface safety control.
 Used as an isolation packer - to isolate
non-productive zone and also equipment
above the topmost packer from reservoir
fluid and pressure.
 Assists artificial lift - Gas lift.
 Elimination of surging or heading.
 To separate multiple zones.
BASIC MECHANICS
 The two most important basic components of a
packer construction are the slips and the
sealing/packing elements.
 Slips - designed to resist force for either direction.
 Sealing elements - must be compressed to affect a
seal against the casing wall.
TYPES OF PRODUCTION PACKER
 Three types:
 Permanent packers.
 Hydraulically-set packers
 Mechanically-set packers
 Weight-set packers
 Tension-set packers
 Rotational-set packers
 Permanent packers are widely used as the only packer in a
well or as the bottom-most packer.
 Hydraulically-set packers are normally used as intermediate
packer or top-most packer. See handouts for calculations.
 Mechanically-set packers are hardly used in production well.
 Can cement packers be considered as one of the production
packers?
PACKER SELECTION
 Purchase price.
 Availability of the packer.
 Packer mechanics.
 Sealing element.
 Corrosive well fluids.
 Retrievability.
 Fishing characteristics.
 Through-tubing operations.
 Surface equipment-downhole correlation.
 Company policy/strategy.
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND
PRESSURE ON PACKER
 Must consider the temperature and pressure ratings of the

respective packer.
 The steel body of the packer may expand or contract when
there is a change in temperature.
 Production well may not give serious problems.
 Serious consideration must be given to the retrievable packers
(i.e. hydraulically-set packers) when installed in a water
injection well.
 Contraction is equivalent to 15K pull. May unseat packer.
 Pressure differential across a packer must be kept as minimum
as possible. Balanced pressure is the ideal condition.
TUBING SEAL ASSEMBLIES
 Is installed at the end of a tubing string. Long string for
the case of dual completion.
 Comprises a straight-slot or J-slot body, seal units, and a
mule shoe.
 Rigid blade tubing centralizer is encouraged to be part of
the tubing seal assemblies.
 Installed mule shoe only on the short string.
 Well spaceout starts from the straight slot or J-slot body.
SLICKLINE OPERATIONS
…manipulation of downhole
tools from the surface using
wire line. No need to pull out
tubing string.
Wireline Equipment
SURFACE EQUIPMENT: wireline unit, power
supply unit, accumulator, wireline BOP, and
lubricators.
SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT: standard wireline

tool string (consists of rope socket, wireline stem,
wireline jar, and knuckle joint) and special tools
Wireline Unit
Wire line
Weight Indicator
Power Supply Unit
Slickline Service Equipment
Wireline BOP & Lubricators
Accumulator
Stuffing Box
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
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TUBING STRING AND

Assoc. Prof. Issham Ismail

 The surface equipment are x-mas tree, wellhead,

 There are many subsurface equipment installed

 Surface control subsurface safety valve

 API 14 B, Install, operate SSSVs

 ISO 10432, Standard for SSSV products

 ISO 10417, Installation et al for SSSVs

 MMS, Department of the Interior

 CFR 250, USA federal laws

 International standard bodies

 Double pin sub

 Is also known as secondary subsurface safety

 All production and injection wells in Malaysia

 Must consider the temperature and pressure ratings of the

SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT: standard wireline

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