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Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 270e274

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Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jngse

Casing design in sour gas well mitigating SSC


Xueyuan Long a, *, Yuan Tian b, Hu Ning b
a
College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
b
College of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSC) is the major failure form for casing string in sour gas wells con-
Received 20 July 2014 tained H2S. The equivalent tri-axial stress of casing string should be controlled below the threshold stress
Received in revised form of SSC occurrence to minimize SSC initiation and improve the integrity and service life of casing. The
17 August 2014
principles and methods regarding anti-SSC casing design are presented and two methods commonly
Accepted 18 August 2014
Available online 7 September 2014
used for anti-SSC casing design are comprehensively discussed. The accurate strength check formulae for
burst and collapse design are derived under tri-axial stress condition. The design method described in
this paper can be used to guide casing design in sour environment contained H2S.
Keywords:
Sour gas well
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
SSC
Threshold stress
Casing design
Strength check

1. Introduction tensile stress. SSC will not occur when external stress s below
critical threshold stress sth. Threshold stress sth is one of the
With the continuous improvement of exploration and pro- quantitative parameters to evaluate the sensitivity of SSC, a smaller
duction technology, more and more sour gas reservoirs were put sth demonstrates that the test coupon is more sensitive to SSC.
into production. The casing string integrity in sour gas wells is a Research on the relationship between tensile stress and SSC in-
challenge due to the particularity of sour gas reservoirs, it re- dicates that different metal material in different sour environment
quires casing material to satisfy reservoir fluid properties. The has various SSC threshold stress. Generally speaking, the threshold
sour gas environment contained H2S can induce casing strength stress of all tested material is less than the specified minimum yield
degradation and SSC will initiate when stress reach a certain stress (SMYS) of this material. For a designated material, its
value. Stress should be reduced to a minimum level and thick threshold stress can be experimentally determined with the
wall casing with low grade should be selected for anti-SSC simulated actual service conditions (Yamamoto et al., 2004; Chu
casing design. Materials that are resistive to SSC should be et al., 1999; Leyer et al., 2002). But the attempt to establish a
selected, there are many references to discuss this topic (Ke and threshold stress value for casing SSC by laboratory testing is not
Boles, 2004; Chandler et al., 2002; IRP, 2004). The purpose of reliable because casing in the hole encounter complex, multi-axial
this paper is to clarify the design method to control or mitigate stresses resulting from down hole environment, whereas labora-
SSC. tory testing is generally uni-axial tension applied by a test machine.
For buried pipelines, some industry codes recommend the pipe-
2. Particularities of casing design for mitigating SSC lines threshold stress can operate to stresses up to 72e80% SMYS
(McLamb et al., 2002). Currently, there are no relating codes for
Sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSC) is the major failure form casing, but the above mentioned codes can be adopted as a
for casing string in sour gas wells contained H2S. Tensile stress and reference.
certain sour corrosive environment can induce SSC. It is a necessary The function of sth must be taken into account for casing design
condition for SSC occurrence that casing body experiences certain mitigating SSC to minimize SSC occurrence and improve the
integrity and service life of casing. Jones (1996) pointed out that the
tensile stress in key component of test specimen should be limited
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 13618351024. to a low value thus giving added assurance of resistance to sulfide
E-mail address: longxycq@163.com (X. Long). stress-cracking. Ikeda (1992) demonstrated that the stress on

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2014.08.015
1875-5100/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
X. Long et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 270e274 271

casing string in sour corrosive environment should keep below a


critical value to mitigate SSC. Crusco (1981) illustrated the fact that
tensile stress has close relationship with SSC occurrence possibility
after field case study and experimental analysis. Stair and McInturff
(1986) presented that the selection of casing size and wall thickness
for sour gas and deep wells should be careful to control the stress in
casing string within a specified value.
This paper will discuss the principles and methods regarding
anti-SSC casing design to minimize SSC initiation and improve the
integrity and service life of casing.

3. Basic principles for mitigating SSC casing design

3.1. Principle for tri-axial stress control

The tri-axial stress level on the casing body and coupling Fig. 1. Tri-axial stress ellipse for casing design.
should be controlled smaller than the threshold stress of casings
under all possible well situations. Casing design must maintain
the stress level below the critical level (threshold stress) to feq ¼ 1, the casing string is defined to be failing, a higher feq value
minimize the possibilities of SSC (Standard TM-01-77 NACE, indicates a higher safety margin.
1977). The threshold stress (sth) of casing preventing SSC is
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
recommended to be about 72e80% SMYS based on relevant in- 1
dustry standards.
seq ¼ pffiffiffi ðsr  st Þ2 þ ðsr  sa Þ2 þ ðsa  st Þ2 (2)
2

3.2. Tri-axial equivalent design factor value Substituting Equation (1) into (2), the tri-axial equivalent stress
factor at the inside pipe wall becomes:
Canada Industry Recommended Practice (IRP) suggests the 8 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi91
< 1      
safety factor of burst pressure and collapse pressure in high sour st sr 2 sr sa 2 sa st 2 =
environment should increase from the standard 1.0 to 1.25, and feq ¼ pffiffiffi   þ  þ 
: 2 sth sth sth sth sth sth ;
the tensile strength safety factor should more than 1.60 (IRP,
2004). (3)
The axial tension (sa) in the feq expression includes axial stress
4. Casing design method for mitigating SSC in the initial hanging status, axial stress change due to fluid density
change, pressure change, temperature change etc.
Of the many approaches to casing design that have been
developed over the years, most are based on the concept of
maximum load. The internal pressure design method and tension
stress design method used for mitigating SSC casing design both 4.2. The characteristic of tri-axial equivalent stress ellipse
belong to the maximum load method. There is a great difference
between the conventional casing design procedure and mitigating For cased hole, the external and internal pressure can cause axial
SSC casing design procedure. In the conventional casing design, overload stress. The effect of axial stress on radial stress and
casing is selected according to required internal pressure, and then circumferential stress can be expressed as follow:
conduct casing strength design based on effective collapse stress qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1
and tensile stress to meet the prescribed design factors. However, in sth ¼ pffiffiffi ðsr  st Þ2 þ ðsr  sa Þ2 þ ðsa  st Þ2
mitigating SSC casing design, the allowable maximum tension in 2
casing string should be checked for the specific casing determined
by the internal pressure requirement first of all. Then conduct the Above equation can be rewritten as:
following steps with the conventional casing design method. It
means one more extra precondition added in mitigating SSC casing ðst  sr Þ2  ðsa  sr Þðst  sr Þ þ ðsa  sr Þ2 ¼ s2th (4)
design method.
With external pressure po and internal pressure pi, the radial stress
and circumferential stress are
4.1. The definition of tri-axial equivalent factor
ri2 ro2 po  pi ri2 pi  ro2 po
As the basic principle for mitigating SSC casing design required, sr ¼ þ (5)
tri-axial equivalent factor method is taken to control the stress in ro2  ri2 r2 ro2  ri2
casing string below the threshold stress for preventing SSC. The tri-
axial equivalent factor defines as: r 2 r 2 po  pi ri2 pi  ro2 po
st ¼  2 i o 2 þ (6)
sth ro  ri r2 ro2  ri2
feq ¼ (1)
seq
With the combined action of external pressure and internal
feq represents the ratio of allowable stress to the actual working pressure, the stress at the inside pipe wall will reach to the
stress. The allowable stress is taken as threshold stress of the pipe, maximum level. If r ¼ ri, then sr ¼ pi, substituting it into equa-
while the actual working stress is the equivalent stress seq. When tion (4), yields:
272 X. Long et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 270e274

 2      external and internal pressure or temperature change. All these


st þ pi sa þ pi st þ pi sa þ pi 2
 þ 1¼0 (7) overload additional stresses should be taken into account when
sth sth sth sth
calculate the actual axial load of casing.
Solving equation (7) and reducing yields:
4.3.2.1. Axial stress caused by internal and external pressure e ðsa Þp .
  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi    
st þ pi sa þ pi 2 1 sa þ pi Pressure inside and outside of the tubular gives rise to axial stress
¼ ± 134 =
þ (8) and it cannot be neglected. According to Lame equations (5) and (6),
sth sth 2 sth
the following expression can be derived
According to Lame formula, radial stress and circumferential
stress are functions only of pressure, and axial stress is a function of po ro2  pi ri2
st þ sr ¼ 2 (12)
only axial load. If set the external pressure and internal pressure as ro2  ri2
a constant, the solution of equation (7) can be illustrated in a bi-
axial ellipse as shown in Fig. 1. The axial strain induced by axial stress can be calculated on the base
The ellipse is the locus of all solutions of the Von Mises equations of three dimensional Hook law.
for all combinations of pressure and axial load which is suitable for
load requirement. Likewise, all combinations of pressure and axial ðsa Þp m
εa ¼  ðst þ sr Þ (13)
load outside the ellipse result in a tri-axial equivalent stress greater E E
than the allowable stress thus not suitable for load conditions. A
burst condition (with po ¼ 0) is shown to the above of horizontal axis Substituting equation (12) into (13) and reducing yields:
and a collapse condition (with pi ¼ 0) is shown to the below.
ðsa Þp 2m po ro2  pi ri2
εa ¼ þ (14)
4.3. Internal pressure design E E ro2  ri2

4.3.1. Principles of internal pressure design pi ri2  po ro2


The internal pressure design method requires selecting casing
ðsa Þp ¼ 2m þ Eεa (15)
ro2  ri2
and well configuration on the base of internal pressure requirement,
especially the casing setting depth and setting tension of the string, For a cemented well, both casing ends are fixed and 3 a ¼ 0, the
so that the desired design safety factor is obtained. The tension stress casing is only subjected to internal and external pressure. Equation
design method requires determining the safety factor based on the (15) can be rewritten as:
maximum tension stress and internal pressure requirements.
pi ri2  po ro2
To apply the internal pressure method, the maximum internal ðsa Þp ¼ 2m (16)
pressure that can be applied to a specific casing with zero axial ro2  ri2
stress is established for prescribed design factor. Then the setting
condition of casing is determined to keep this prescribed design If po ¼ 0, then
factor. The maximum internal pressure for this design factor is
pi ri2
shown as point A in Fig. 1. Let po ¼ 0 in equations (5) and (6), sa ¼ 0 ðsa Þpi ¼ 2m (17)
in equation (7), solving pi combined with equation (1) yield ro2  ri2

sth
ðpi Þmax ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (9)
feq a2 þ a þ 1 4.3.2.2. Axial stress caused by temperature change e ðsa ÞT .
After casing installation, the temperature of casing may change due
where to the continuous drilling operation or production operation. The
free hanging casing will expand or contract with the change of
ro2 þ ðri Þ2 temperature. For ends fixed well, especially in steam injection pro-
a¼ (10) duction well, the axial tension stress or compression stress will vary
ro2  ðri Þ2
due to dramatic temperature variation (Maruyama et al., 1990).
According to Hook law, the axial stress ðsa ÞT induced by tem-
After the maximum internal pressure for a particular casing is
perature change can be presented as:
gained, the maximum tension with that maximum internal pres-
sure which will satisfy the prescribed safety factor must be deter- ðsa ÞT ¼ Eε (18)
mined. This tension was represented as Point B in Fig. 1. The
maximum tension can be expressed by the following l  ðl þ lgDTÞ
ε¼ (19)
l þ lgDT
ðsa Þmax ¼ ðpi Þmax ða  1Þ (11)
lgDT can be ignored as it is a minor amount compared with l, thus
Equation (11) is derived by setting pi ¼ ðpi Þmax , po ¼ 0 in Lame
equation (19) becomes:
equation and solving the von Mises equation for sa.
After the allowable maximum axial stress is determined, com- ε ¼ gDT (20)
bined the axial stress change due to pressure change, bending
stress, temperature change, the maximum allowable axial load is or
found and then the allowable setting depth for specified casing can
ðsa ÞT ¼ EgDt (21)
be obtained.

4.3.2. Axial stress in casing string 4.3.2.3. Bending stress. Casing string will subject to bending stress
The actual loads loaded on down hole casing string include axial in the severe dogleg section or deflecting section after the casing
stress, bending stress, the axial stress caused by the change of having been installed. Generally, bending stress is tension stress
X. Long et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 270e274 273

and has important influence in casing design for anti-SSC. The 5. Accurate check for tri-axial equivalent design parameters
bending stress in the crooked hole is given as (Drilling Manual,
1990): By determining tri-axial equivalent design factor, casing grade,
wall thickness and setting depth can be established to control the
p$E$do $K$L$C maximum stress in pipe body below the critical value and meet the
ðsa Þb ¼  (22)
4320  106  tanhð0:3937KLÞ casing design requirements in sour gas wells. To simplify the design
procedure and calculation, the Lame equations and von Mises
equation are solved for (1) zero burst pressure inside pipe for
4.3.3. Determination of allowable casing axial load
collapse and (2) zero outside collapse pressure for burst. The design
The allowable casing axial stress can be expressed as follow after
result is obtained by adding the inside or outside pressure
taking all possible axial stress into account while casing in hole.
respectively, but actually the internal or external pressure and axial
ðsa Þallowable ¼ ðsa Þmax  ðsa Þp  ðsa ÞT  ðsa Þb (23) stress have close relationship with burst and collapse properties.
Generally, this relationship can be formulated as (Aasen and
The casing allowable tensile load can be calculated as: Aadnoy, 2007):

ðsa Þallowable pcollapse ¼ pi þ gðp; sa ; b; sth Þ (25)


ðFa Þallowable ¼ (24)
Ao  Ai
The buoyancy of casing should be taken into account when re- pburst ¼ po þ hðp; sa ; b; sth Þ (26)
check the setting depth and axial load which are determined
with equation (24). Equations (25) and (26) are non linear, and can be solved by su-
If the allowable tension load is not qualified the requirements of perposition method when the casing is regarded as a thin wall pipe.
stress control, some operation technology such as casing tie back, liner By using dimensional analysis, those non linear equation can be
hanger system or tubing with packer can be utilized to control the solved without considering torque.
maximum tension in the casing and tubing strings below critical level. Introduce the following geometry factor:
When internal pressure method is applied for casing design,
some procedure needs to be followed. First the maximum wellhead 2ro2
pressure, internal or external fluid density change, temperature b¼ (27)
ro2 ri2
change, desired tri-axial equivalent design factor, casing diameter
and grade, possible wall-thickness tolerance are determined, then Based on Lame equation, the radial and circumferential stress at
establish the inner diameter di and wall-thickness by a trial-and- the inside pipe wall become:
error procedure. Calculating the maximum burst pressure ðpi Þmax
under the prescribed conditions and comparing it with the
sr ¼ pi (28)
maximum wellhead pressure until the calculated ðpi Þmax equal or
just exceed this pressure. All possible additional axial stresses are
calculated once the inner diameter di and wall-thickness are st ¼ bðpi  po Þ  pi (29)
determined, then the allowable axial tensile load and final setting
Including all additional axial stress, the axial stress is calculated
depth can be determined. After the design has been completed, the
as:
design factor of casing key component at the wellhead or bottom
considered some extreme cases should be final checked to ensure
the design factor equaling or exceeding the prescribed safety factor, sa ¼ ðsa Þw þ ðsa Þp þ ðsa ÞT þ ðsa Þb (30)
otherwise should re-design or adjust the safety factor.
let
4.4. The tension stress method
x ¼ ðpi þ sa Þ=sth (31)
The tension stress method is mainly utilized to determine the
setting depth when the required setting depth exceeds the
y ¼ bðpi  po Þ=sth (32)
maximum depth of string as calculated with the internal pressure
method. By this method, casing wall thickness in excess of that Substituting those equations into Eq. (1), the design factor is
required to maintain maximum internal pressure is provided to expressed as:
carry the additional weight of the string necessary for this deeper
setting depth. This method requires combining the internal pres-
sth 1
sure and tension stress. feq ¼ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (33)
seq x  xy þ y2
2
The tension method is a trial-and-error process. First, the setting
depth, maximum wellhead pressure, internal or external fluid
density change, temperature change, desired tri-axial equivalent Solving for y in Eq. (33):
design factor, casing diameter and grade, possible wall-thickness sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
tolerance are determined, then a certain wall thickness is selected x 1 3
y¼ ±  x2 (34)
and the maximum allowable tension load is calculated for this wall 2 f2 4
eq
thickness. Under the determined maximum allowable tension and
maximum internal pressure, the design safety factor is calculated The plus sign defines tensile circumferential stress for burst
and compared it with the prescribed design factor until it equals or calculations, while the negative sign defines compressive circum-
just exceeds the prescribed design factor. After the design has been ferential stress for collapse pressure calculations. Consider DF ¼ 1
completed, all whole design and all factors should have a final and substitute Eqs. (31) and (32) for x and y in this equation and
check to meet all design requirements. obtain the collapse pressure:
274 X. Long et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 270e274

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
3 strain of a pipe body, m/m
pi ð2b  1Þ  sa þ 4s2th  3ðpi þ sa Þ2
pcollapse ¼ (35) lgDT change of casing length
2b g thermal expansion factor
DT temperature difference,  C
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
  do casing outer diameter, m
bpo ð2b1Þþsa ðb2Þþ 4s2th b2 bþ1 3b2 ðpo þsa Þ2 L half p
length between casing couplings, cm,
pburst ¼   ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
K ¼ 64:5158T=ðEIÞ
2 b2 bþ1
T casing weight below crooked hole, N
I inertia moment of casing, cm4, I ¼ 64 p ðd4  d4 Þ
(36) o i
C borehole curvature,  /30.48 m
The theory presented so far for burst and collapse is based on
ðsa Þallowable allowable casing axial stress, MPa
the assumption that the pipe fails by yielding at the inner wall. The
Ao outer cross section area of casing, m2
equations can be utilized for final check to guarantee burst pressure
Ai inner cross section area of casing, m2
and collapse pressure satisfying predetermined design
ðFa Þallowable casing allowable tensile load
requirements.
pcollapse collapse pressure, MPa
pburst burst pressure, MPa
6. Conclusions
b geometry factor (Eq. (27))
x dimensionless parameter (Eq. (31))
(1) Controlling the tri-axial equivalent stress in casing below the
y dimensionless parameter (Eq. (32))
threshold stress for SSC occurrence is the basic principle and
requirement for anti-SSC casing design.
(2) Additional axial stress must be considered for determining References
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