New products

Vol. 228 No. 4

Low-friction, low-drag centralizers

Centek Ltd, together with Protech in the US, has introduced the Centek CT (Close Tolerance) centralizers to operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The centralizer system produces cost savings through its robust and flexible single-piece construction, combined with low friction and low drag design. A characteristic of deepwater wells is reduced tolerances, as operators must run casing through an existing casing, and the centralizer must be flexible enough to compress fully to pass through the close restriction, then expand fully back to gauge with no permanent set occurring. Because of the close tolerances involved, the centralizer does not use conventional steel stop collars on the outside of the liner casing. Instead, the end-bands are notched, allowing low-friction composite limiting-blocks to be inserted, ensuring that the centralizer is pulled into the well rather than pushed, reducing drag. Centralizers are usually manufactured from 4-mm sheet steel, but to reduce clearances with the CT, this can go down to 2.5 mm. A ring gauge on all fitted components also has to pass over the end-band.

Conventional inline centralizers and subs are more expensive to produce due to the cost of threading both pin and box ends. In contrast, the CT centralizer is slipped onto the pipe, and the limiting-blocks are attached. These are made of Protech’s CRB carbon fiber/ceramic composite material, and are moulded directly to the casing to form a permanent stop that will not slip. This allows the centralizer to be placed at the optimum position on the casing joint to accommodate automated pipe-handling systems, and to be installed in the pipe yard before shipping to the rig.

Seismic software suite upgrade

Paradigm announced that the Rock & Fluid Canvas 2007 release is now available on Sun Solaris, 32-bit Linux, and 64-bit Linux platforms. The release synchronizes and upgrades 10 geoscience applications in seismic processing, imaging, interpretation, characterization and subsurface modeling. Infrastructure enhancements and new bridging technologies connect these disciplines to allow geoscientists from various fields to conduct prospecting, field appraisal and development projects on a single platform. New design features include: An infrastructure with supporting applications to better connect the data and disciplines of geophysics and petrophysics; an infrastructure that facilitates localization of disparate data from distributed data repositories; new automated interpretation, modeling, and seismic data analysis tools; new geoscience applications in seismic imaging, characterization and interpretation for complex reservoirs; an enhanced platform to better identify, vet and analyze quality prospects; and a platform that encourages execution of simultaneous and inter-related multi-disciplinary tasks.

Ocean rescue device

A new offshore rescue device has been introduced by Reflex Marine. The Rob Reid Rescue Device can cut vital minutes off a rescue operation and is simple to deploy. Weighing 71 lb (32 kg) for the one/two-man cage and 89 lb (39.5 kg) for the two/three-man version, the device can be deployed in 20 seconds. Once in the water, it floats with the aluminium diamond grill base 300 mm below the surface, providing a safe haven with easy entry. The horizontal recovery position then reduces the risk of a person going into shock while being lifted back on board. The speed of deployment and recovery may eliminate the need to launch a rescue craft. The device is open-ended and compact for storage, and requires little maintenance.

Updated well cementing book

Schlumberger has published a second edition of Well Cementing, a comprehensive reference book originally published in 1990. It describes current cementing technologies, and is supported by full-color illustrations and photographs. Chapters on cement chemistry, cement additives, rheology, mud removal and cement-formation interactions convey theoretical and practical information. Reviews of special cement systems, mechanical properties of cements, annular formation fluid migration and thermal cements lead to discussions about cementing equipment, job designs, primary and remedial cementing, and cement evaluation. Appendices provide a digest of rheological equations, laboratory techniques and cementing calculations. More than 20 industry experts representing operators, service companies, manufacturers, government agencies and academia contributed to the book.

Personnel tracking system

IDCs Simplitrak Personnel Tracking System allows companies to continuously track and maintain contact with personnel working in remote single or multiple locations. The Web-based system comprises ZigBee wireless personnel tracking devices and fixed access points with a variety of options for remote monitoring using web servers. It is designed for a variety of applications on land or offshore. The system uses a license-free, globally available IEEE 802.15.4 2.4 GHz. personal area network standard, and employs a microprocessor in a small pendant with lone-worker call button and internal buzzer. It offers bi-directional message routing between remote access points and centralized IT facilities.

Low-cost water desalination

 Altela, Inc., has introduced the AltelaRain water-desalination system. The system removes 100% of the dissolved salts and other contaminants from industrial wastewaters, including oilfield-produced water. With a relatively small 6-ft-tall by 20-in.-wide footprint, the AltelaRain uses low-cost waste heat to evaporate and then condense water from dissolved salts and other industrial contaminants. The produced water is separated into two output water streams�a clean distillate water stream representing 80% of the original produced water and a second containing the salt and other contaminants. This concentrated stream is then disposed of through traditional water-hauling, down-hole injection or evaporation ponds.

PCD bit protection

Varel International has expanded their offering of enhanced diamond protection for their roller cone products. Diamond protection involves using polycrystalline diamond capped inserts along the gage, back row and/or the leading edge of the bit shirttails to provide added protection in abrasive formations. This is recommended on motor, directional and rotary steerable applications, particularly those drilling through sandstone, siltstone, granite and limestone. Varel offers several options: enhanced back row protection increases gage holding in abrasive applications and is available in varying percentages; enhanced gage row protection maximizes 100% of gage rows and provides longer gage hold in abrasive and directional applications; and enhanced shirttail protection provides maximum wear resistance in the most extreme drilling environments. Diamond protection packages are available on the company's Challenger tungsten carbide insert (TCI) bits and steel tooth bits.

Seismic acquisition system 

 Geometrics Inc. has introduced the Geode DZ, a 24-bit, portable 3D distributed seismic-acquisition system that brings ease-of-use, economy, and GPS synchronized continuous monitoring to high-resolution petroleum surveys. Featuring 20-kHz, 24-bit bandwidth (which allows surveys in hard rock), and an intuitive software interface, the system uses rugged, lightweight A/D & line tap modules that are connected by ethernet to a standard Windows computer, resulting in faster, lower-cost high-resolution 3D surveys. Linked modules include wizard-based OMNI Tools for planning, modeling and simulating all aspects of a survey; and the Geometrics Seismic Acquisition Suite of tools for efficient data collection, QC testing (including line and geophone testing), and graphically monitoring and controlling the features and operation of the hardware. The architecture is backwards-compatible with existing Geode hardware, which can be incorporated into a new 3D system. A variety of sources can be used, including weight-drops, vibrators and pseudo-random (Mini-Sosie) sources, as well as explosives.

Hydraulic fishing tools

  The Logan Superior Hydraulic Fishing Jar from Logan Oil Tools is a straight-pull, up-only, jarring tool that utilizes a special valve section to meter oil from one chamber of the piston to the other chamber to allow controlled jarring action during a stuck fish recovery. The operating chambers are sealed and isolated from each other to prevent contamination of the metering section and the well. During downhole jarring operation, the jarring blow is infinitely adjustable without any required rig floor adjustments prior to the run. The straight pull load applied by the operator controls the intensity of the jarring blow�a light pull load delivers a light blow, while a heavier pull load delivers a heavier blow. Since oil is not metered during re-cocking, only a very light load (enough to overcome friction) is required. The light re-cocking load allows the operator to hit a rapid series of blows, if needed, to free a stuck fish. The fishing jars are hydrostatically pressure-balanced, and maximum IDs permit passage of wireline tools. The large mandrel design makes it well suited for fishing, milling, and washover operations. When maximum jarring impact and impulse are needed, particularly in shallow, deviated, or directional holes, a Logan Superior Energizer is run in conjunction with the fishing jar of corresponding size. The Energizer is essentially a fluid spring that stores energy when strain is applied to the fishing string. It offsets the loss of stretch or drag on the running string and provides a means to store energy immediately above the drill collars and the fishing jar to increase the amount of impact energy. This allows the use of fewer drill collars than would otherwise be possible�especially when operating in shallow depths. .