Debris Capture Distribution in Deepwater Wells with Riser Filter Tool

Abstract

In deepwater and ultra-deepwater wells, hydraulic debris removal, or the circulating of debris to surface, serves as the primary method of removing debris from the wellbore during the displacement of drilling fluid to completion fluid. In a standard cased hole completion, this operation typically takes place after the last liner has been set and before the completion is run. The likelihood of successful hydraulic debris removal is dependent on many factors such as debris particle size and density, flow rates and the resulting average annular velocity in the annulus, pipe movement, and the properties of the fluids circulated in the well. Mechanical debris extraction tools such as downhole filters and magnets are used to capture significant amounts of debris that are unable to be hydraulically removed from the wellbore. Versions of downhole filters and magnets that are run inside of casing and magnets run inside of the riser are common across the industry, however downhole filter tools run in the riser are less common and their use in these operations is not an industry standard. This paper examines a data set generated over two years containing more than 30 runs that include the use of a downhole filter tool run in the riser during wellbore clean out operations.