COILED TUBING

A Comprehensive Overview

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 Coiled Tubing (CT)?
• Coiled Tubing (CT) is a continuous length of small-diameter pipe that is
spooled onto a reel in the same way as wire or cable is wrapped on a drum.
• The coiled tubing operation permits the technique of “snubbing” a continuous
length of tubing in and out of a live well through a stripper BOP arrangement.
• The main advantage of CT is that it can be run into producing wells, against
high wellhead pressures (e.g. 345 bar / 34,500 kPa or 5000 psi), and down
past the perforations, without production interruption or killing the well.
• The most common pipe size in use is 1.5″ through to 2.875″, although larger
sizes are available and used.
 CT Principal Equipment Components
• Modern CT
equipment is now
commonly used to
perform a variety of
applications on
wellsites or
locations of widely
varying conditions.
• As a result, no
standard equipment
configuration
applies to all
conditions.
 Coiled Tubing (CT)?
• Coiled tubing is a very long strand of metal pipe made from low carbon alloy
steel.
• The tubing is spooled on a large reel and can be taken inside the borehole to the
depth of 20,000+ feet.
• It is often chosen over conventional straight tubing because conventional tubing
has to be screwed together.
• CT is injected into the existing production string, unwound from the reel and
inserted into the well. Also, it does not require a workover rig.
• Coiled tubing is recognized as a very effective solution for deep wells. It is used
for interventions in oil and gas wells and sometimes as production tubing in
depleted gas wells.
• Additionally, it is used for cleanouts and removing filler materials.
• CT is often used to carry out operations similar to wireline.
• The main benefits over wireline are the ability to pump chemicals through the coil
and the ability to push it into the hole, rather than relying on gravity.
• Pumping can be fairly self-contained, almost a closed system, since the tube is
continuous instead of jointed pipe.
 CT Equipment Design
• There are several CT equipment manufacturers presently marketing various
designs of CT injectors, service tubing reels, and related well-control
equipment in the industry today.
• The injector designs available within the industry include the opposed
counter-rotating, chain drive system, arched-chain roller drive, single-chain
opposed-gripper-drive system, and the sheave drive system.
• At present, the predominant equipment design for CT well-intervention and
drilling services incorporates the vertically mounted, counter-rotating
chaindrive type of injector. For purposes of practical demonstration, the
following descriptions of CT equipment focus on the specific unit components
supporting the vertical, counter-rotating chain drive type of injector.
The CT unit is a portable, hydraulically powered service system that is
designed to inject and retrieve a continuous string of tubing concentric to
larger-ID production tubing or casing strings.
• At the present time, CT manufactured for well intervention and drilling
application is available in sizes ranging from 0.750 to 3.500 in. OD.
 The basic components of a CT unit
• Service reel with CT.
• Power supply/prime
mover.
• Control console.
• Control and
monitoring
equipment.
• Downhole CT
connectors and
bottomhole assembly
(BHA) components.
• Well-control
equipment.
 Tubing Injector
• The CT injector is the equipment component used to grip the continuous-
length tubing and provide the forces needed for deployment and retrieval of
the tube into and out of the wellbore. The injector assembly is designed to
perform three basic functions:
• Provide the thrust required to snub the tubing into the well against surface
pressure and/or to overcome wellbore friction forces.
• Control the rate of lowering the tubing into the well under various well
conditions.
• Support the full weight of the tubing and accelerate it to operating speed
when extracting it from the well.
 Service Reel
• The service reel serves as the
CT storage apparatus during
transport and as the spooling
device during CT well-
intervention and drilling
operations.
• The inboard end of the CT may
be connected either to the
hollow segment of the reel shaft
(spoke and axle design) or to a
high-pressure piping segment
(concave flange plates), both of
which are then connected to a
high-pressure rotating swivel.
• This high-pressure fluid swivel
is secured to a stationary piping
manifold, which provides
connection to the treatment-
fluid pumping system.
 Control Console
• The control-console design for the CT
unit may vary with manufacturers, but
normally, all controls are positioned
on one remote console panel.
• The console assembly is complete
with all controls and gauges required
to operate and monitor all of the
components in use and may be skid-
mounted for offshore use or
permanently mounted as with the land
units.
• The skid-mounted console may be
placed where needed at the wellsite
as desired by the operator. The reel
and injector motors are activated from
the control panel through valves that
determine the direction of tubing
motion and operating speed.
• Also located on the console are the
control systems that regulate the
pressure for the drive chain, stripper
assembly, and various well-control
components.
 Well-Control Stack
• The well-control stack system is a
critical part of the CT unit
pressure containment package
and is composed of a stripper
assembly and hydraulically
operated rams, which perform the
functions described next.
• For typical well-intervention
service, the four ram
compartments are equipped
(from top down) with blind rams,
tubing shear rams, slip rams, and
pipe rams.
• The blind rams are used to seal
the wellbore off at the surface
when well control is lost. Sealing
of the blind rams occurs when the
elastomer elements in the rams
are compressed against each
other.
• For the blind rams to work
properly, the tubing or other
obstructions across the ram
bonnets must be removed.
 Well Control Stack for CT Operations
• A complete stackup of well control
equipment for CT operations at WHP
up to 15,000 psi.
Typical CT BOP Configurations
 CT Performance
• CT well intervention and
drilling operations require that
the continuous-length tube be
subjected to repeated
deployment and retrieval
cycles during its working life.
• The tubing stored on a service
reel is deployed into the
wellbore to the designated
depth and then retrieved back
onto the service reel.
• The working life of the CT may
be defined as the duration of
service for the continuous-
tubing string when subjected
to the following conditions:
bend-cycle fatigue, internal
pressure loading, applied axial
loading, corrosion, and
mechanical damage.
 CT Performance
• The fatigue imparted to the
CT material during normal
service operations is the
result of bending the
continuous-length tubing
beyond its elastic limit and
forcing the material into
plastic deformation.
• Fig. illustrates the typical
operating sequence whereby
bend cycles are imposed on
the CT during deployment
and retrieval.
• For this illustration, the initial
state of the tubing will be in
the "as wrapped" condition
on the service reel.
 CT Applications
• Coiled tubing is used in long, horizontal wells, or instead of cable if drilling or
completion fluid is to be circulated in the well.
• Coiled tubing can be used for both well workover and well drilling.
• Acid stimulation of limestone formations,
• Maintenance and washing of the wellbore
• Perforation
• Start-up of the well with light liquid
• Installation of completion equipment
• Gravel packing
• Fishing in drilling operations.
 CT Applications
Specialized large diameter: 2-3/8 in. • Wellbore cleaning
to 3-1/2 in. • Drilling/milling
• Directional drilling
• Fishing
• Fracturing • E-line logging
• Underbalanced drilling • Sand jetting
• Production ESP
• Thru-tubing packers
Conventional small diameter: 1-1/4 • Underbalanced vertical
in. to 2 in.
deepening
• Cleanouts
• Gas lifts
• Acidizing
• Velocity strings
• Well kill
 1. Circulation
• Coiled tubing is a beneficial
tool for circulation in well
interventions due to its
continuous length ability to
navigate complex wellbores.
• In some cases, the flow of
formation fluids in a well may
be impeded by the weight of a
hydrostatic head.
• To restore the flow, coiled
tubing can be inserted into the
wellbore allowing production
to resume.
 2. Pumping
• Another common application of coiled tubing is for pumping operations in oil
and gas wells to deliver various fluids and treatments.
• It is employed in applications such as
• Hydraulic fracturing,
• Well stimulation,
• Cementing,
• Acidizing, and
• Nitrogen purging.
• To initiate pumping, the coiled tubing is connected to a surface pumping unit
or a dedicated pumping system.
• Fluids are then pumped down the coiled tubing string, which is inserted into
the well. The continuous length of coiled tubing enables uninterrupted
pumping, ensuring a consistent and controlled flow rate.
 3. Coiled Tubing Drilling
• As the name conveys, coiled
tubing can be employed for
Coiled Tubing Drilling (CTD)
operations that involve
utilizing a coiled tubing string
as a drill pipe to carry out
drilling tasks in oil and gas
wells.
• In Coiled Tubing Drilling, the
coiled tubing is inserted into
the well and equipped with a
bottom hole assembly that
comprises a drill bit.
• The coiled tubing is then
rotated and pushed into the
rock formation, enabling the
drill bit to cut through the rock
and establish a wellbore.
 4. Logging and Perforating
• Coiled tubing is specifically
employed in logging
operations to lower
specialized tools and
instruments into the wellbore,
enabling the collection of data
for evaluating subsurface
formations.
• These tools, including logging
tools and sensors, are
connected to the coiled tubing
string and utilized to measure
formation pressure,
temperature, fluid
composition, and rock
properties.
• The acquired data aids in
assessing reservoir
characteristics and making
informed decisions regarding
production strategies.
 5. Production
• Coiled tubing can be
employed in production
operations to support a range
of activities to maximize well
productivity.
• One prevalent application
involves well stimulation,
where fluids, chemicals, or
proppants are injected
through the coiled tubing
string into the well.
• This process enhances the
performance of the reservoir,
leading to an increase in
hydrocarbon production.
Typical Foam Equipment Configuration for Fill
Removal
Typical Squeeze Cementing Equipment
Configuration
 References
• https://petrowiki.spe.org/PEH:Coiled-
Tubing_Well_Intervention_and_Drilling_Operations
• Coiled Tubing Manual, NOV, 2007