How Do You Pump Your Sweeps & Pills?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by EC.GUMAY on February 8, 2011 at 6:18am

You don't need use 2 Pumps for sweep or pump slug. As per my experience I never use 2 pumps for pump sweep and Slug . Ask to your co man How a long he have experiend on Drilling operation.


Thanks

Ec.Gumay

Permalink Reply by Michael Gomora on February 8, 2011 at 6:19am

im a toolpusher in kuwait using you can use 2 pumps to push the sweep but not nessesary ive worked all over the world it depends on drilling engineer but some do some dont but rarley ever use 2 pumps

Permalink Reply by Horizon3 on February 8, 2011 at 6:29am

The number of pumps, ie. pump rate, would be dependent on the volume and rheology of the mud and slug/sweep.
The purpose of the sweep/slug would also determine the pump rate, if it's an LCM slug a high pump rate would not be very advantageous, as all the LCM material would bypass the zone you're working on.
If it's a cuttings sweep with a high vis slug, sure bust it open, as long as the annular pressure doesn't get close to the leak-off point (probably the same rate that was used during drilling).
Another consideration is what kind of tools you have in your BHA, if it's an LCM slug your tool reps will tell you what rate is permissible or if they would allow it at all, some tools will bridge off and plug your string.


In the North Sea and other places where polyhalites (Swelling Salt) is a problem we used to pump sea water sweeps at regular intervals to keep the hole from bridging off. These were usually done on the fly during drilling by just swapping pits for 100bbls or so.

That said if it's a small slug say 50-100bbls I would use 1 pump to get it in the pipe, then 2 or even 3 if that's what they were using during drilling to circulate it in and out, unless it was an LCM slug.

Permalink Reply by Tony Rodriguez on February 8, 2011 at 8:14am

I agree with Horizon 3 it is all about the rate you want to pump your sweeps in.....The faster is not alway better...

Permalink Reply by Angel Saul Jimenez Fuentes on February 8, 2011 at 7:50am

Maybe I´m wrong or not, but I think we all pump sweeps and slug with one pump because when the rigs was mechanical, when you turn on the pump start at 80 spm (How I know, because I worked in a Wilson 75 a mechanical rig) and you need to pump a small volume sometimes when you made the changes of valves to displace the sweep or slug and you have a small level from the suction line the pump sucks air and come the mess. But now with electrical pumps you can turn off fastly the pump and avoid that.

Thanks

AJI

Permalink Reply by Big Rob Jagodzinski on February 8, 2011 at 7:59am

I work for one of the leading service companies that specializes in LCM and Wellbore Stability products. If using two pumps you run a risk of small contamination, but if you compensate by mixing more bbls than you need for required exposure time, you should be ok.

The next question you may ask is , How do you determine the amount of bbls for a effective exposure. You can use the formula below to for sweeping the hole. The amount of contact time the product has with the wellbore or area of losses is the most important factor.

BPM X 2 Minutes = Bbls for Sweep (round up to next closest multiple of 5)

Example: 12 BPM X 2 minutes (120 sec) = 24 Bbls = 25 Bbls rounded up
So this would be a 25 bbls sweep every 120’ft regardless of hole size.
This accounts for higher pump rates used in hole cleaning of horizontal sections.

If normal vertical rate is 12 BPM but Horizontal rate is 15 BPM then using the formula above?
15 BPM X 2 minutes = 30 Bbls.
So the higher pump rate requires a 30 Bbl sweep for the same exposure time.

I hope this answers your question.

Sincerely,

Big Rob

Permalink Reply by Big Rob Jagodzinski on February 8, 2011 at 7:14pm

You Have a lot of variables on this. First and most important is what is the well situation? If it can allow you to pump at a slow rate while mixing, then fine do so. If not keep pumping the pill until it returns. You need to clean the hole and keep those cutting moving to surface. Otherwise all your hard work and effort is pointless. Patience and allowing time to cure the problem is essential. But when do you get this luxury. Most co-man want to get back turning to the right and be done with it. It’s like catching a cold, we all want the doc to just give us a shot and we feel better, but sometimes it requires antibiotics and rest to cure the cold/flu.

I gather pit space is small and limited that your mixing in. So again, if you can isolate one pit for large volume of LCM or get a pre-mix tank. This can be a hard decision pending your location. Like others have said “This is not the GOM or Pan Handel”. I have worked those places and now I’m based in S.E. Asia and have this area, Middle East and Australia. Sometimes the operator is lucky just to get good product or running equipment.


Big Rob

Permalink Reply by Kim Bufton on February 8, 2011 at 8:32am

What Karl and Horizon3 are saying is correct. LCM's aside, there are other factors involved as well. A lot of you guys are working land rigs in the US, and if most are like the one I was on when I was sent to the States and was out Curtis's way, then one would be sufficient mostly due to volumes and pit configuration.

The type of pill will also come into it and the situation you’re in. There is no law, oil field or other, that says you can only use one, or that you must use two.

Come out my way and try to just use one in top hole and you would have better luck trying to sandpaper a wild cats a** in a phone box, we have 3 on the hole all the time and one on the riser no matter what we are pumping, and in 8000ft of water pumping 200bbl sweeps every half a stand in 42in hole we need every barrel they put out.

When we get into the horizontal section we will pump with one only as the flow rate is low, we have very low kick margins, managing ECD’s are a problem etc etc etc.

Just be adaptable and don’t try to take the ‘well in the gulf we did this’, or ‘in the panhandle we did that’ mentality with you when you go to a new bit of patch, listen to what local knowledge says..

Permalink Reply by Horizon3 on February 8, 2011 at 10:46am

I agree with Karl,

But watches & stroke counters still have a place though, combined with visually watching the shakers. I have always used sweeps to get a feeling for what the hole is doing, you can run your bottoms up calculation based on gauge hole, then compare it to what the time and strokes are in actuality to see your sweep at the shakers, if you're consistent in doing it, you can spot washouts or tight spots, sloughing shale, loose sands etc.

And everyone is right about going onto a new rig, listen to the folks that have worked it, they know it's quirks. And if it's a rig that has been drilling the same area for while, they have a pretty good idea on what to expect from the hole. They should be considered a gold mine of information, not an itch that needs scratched. If something is blatantly wrong in your eyes bring it up nicely, and see what if any reason they have for doing it, you might learn something, and or they might learn something.

Permalink Reply by Loren Alford on February 8, 2011 at 9:08pm

thanks for the reply's. im just trying to prove to the company man. That if you pump with 1 pump on the sweep or slug and the other still on active mud. Then you have dillute your sweep or slug before it can work. and thats why you dont see your sweeps across the shakers

Permalink Reply by David Harry on February 8, 2011 at 9:19am

We regularly pump hi-density sweeps on the run while drilling. We have 3 pumps that pull off of a common header suction line. Pumping 800 gpm, open slug pit suction, close active pit suction, watch the sweep go down to the established markers, switch the valves back. When we pump a slug we generally only use 2 pumps but switch back to active pit to chase the slug on the run.

Permalink Reply by William J Meano on February 8, 2011 at 10:28am

Easy my friends, I used to have a Boss who told me Drillers never use Partial Differential Eqts. I told my boss you are wrong. One pump is not enough to reach energy to remove cuttingsout of the wellbore. One pump is used if we have the potential risk to loose circulation. We grew up with constraints which we should be removing as long we participate in a Operational problem analysis
(OPERA).

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