A Liquid Well Barrier Element for Temporary Plug and Abandonment Operations: A Breakthrough Approach
2024
Waleska Rodrigues Pontes da Costa | Karine Castro Nóbrega | Anna Carolina Amorim Costa | Renalle Cristina Alves de Medeiros Nascimento | Elessandre Alves de Souza | Tiago Almeida de Oliveira | Michelli Barros | Luciana Viana Amorim
Plug and abandonment (P&:A) operations demand valuable time and resources for operational procedures and materials to establish the well barrier element. This study aims to investigate the application of a water-based fluid as a liquid well barrier element for temporary abandonment, based on estimates of its lifespan and the survival probabilities of downhole temperatures acquired through accelerated life tests. To achieve this, the water-based formulation was tested and exposed to 95, 110, 140, and 150 °:C temperatures for time intervals ranging from 1 to 10 days. After the temperature exposure, the fluid properties were verified, and failure was detected by accounting for any deterioration in rheological parameters and/or a substantial increase in filtrate volume. A statistical analysis of the failure data was performed in RStudio 4.1.3 software using the Weibull Model, and the fluid average lifespans and survival probabilities were estimated for the P&:A temperatures. The results obtained demonstrate that the degradation of the fluid was only observed for 140 and 150 °:C temperatures. According to the results, the fluid is a promising alternative for temporary abandonment until 80 °:C, with no need for monitoring once its lifetime expectation exceeds three years at this temperature. For downhole temperatures above 80 °:C, the fluid is a possible alternative, however, the operation&rsquo:s maximum time and monitoring requirements should consider reliability metrics for each temperature.
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