Wellstrøm’s unique well plugging tool concept uses electrical heating that enables close control and monitoring of the alloy barrier setting process. Furthermore, the bespoke-designed high power deployment cable incorporates fibre-optic and CCL technology, facilitating depth control and close monitoring and verification of barrier installation.
The heater can be recovered from the newly-set alloy barrier, allowing the plug to be internally verified by ultrasonic logging technology.
This ensures precision alloy wellbore sealing unlike any other solution curently on the market, and delivers a comprehensive barrier solution demanded by clients operating in the most stringently-regulated regions of the world.
Permanent P&A, Decommissioning & Slot recovery services
The unique Wellstrøm alloy plugging technology has been designed to exacting specifications to deliver extreme longevity seals for permanent plug & abandonment and slot recovery operations.
Extensive testing for this application reported in SPE-216616-MS demonstrated that the technology can reliably set competent high differential-pressure resistant seals across a full wellbore cross-section including a perforated and cemented annulus, in both drilling fluid and flowing gas.
The first field deployment of the Wellstrøm‘s T-1000 9-5/8” x 13-3/8” big bore alloy plugging solution is expected to be executed in the North Sea together with key industrial partner TotalEnergies in Q2 2024. Tooling for similar size ranges of 7” and above can be made available upon request.
In response to industry requirements driven by TotalEnergies, Harbour Energy, Repsol, Petrobras, Equinor and supported by the UK Net Zero Technology Centre, Wellstrøm has launched a further project to develop a through-tubing service, the ‘T-3000’ design for 4-1/2” x 9-5/8” configuration.
Tubing seal
The Wellstrøm alloy plugging technology can be applied to through-tubing applications, the most basic of which being a high-expansion bridge plug. Due to the ability of the alloy to flow and swage itself into complex geometries, a slim ID tool can be run through tubing for plug setting in significantly larger diameters to form a gas-tight seal.
Environmental plugs
Wellstrøm has designed environmental plug solutions capable of installing a permanent seal in flowing gas from shallow gas seeps. Furthermore, the solution avoids costs section milling or casing recovery and can be deployed from a vessel, further reducing the cost and environmental impact of such and operations.
Annular and Sustained Casing Pressure Remediation
The T-1000 enhanced remedial concept has been designed and extensively tested to remediate failed annular barriers and cure Sustained Casing Pressure in a dynamic flowing gas environment using the engineered M3 (c) alloy material certified for extreme longevity.
By utilising a newly-designed selective perforation system capable of ‘rubbelising’ the annular cement without damaging the outer casing, the molten alloy is formed using a specially-developed electrical heater. The precise control of this heating method enables effective alloy displacement without compromising the integrity of the outer well barrier elements such as the casing, outer cement and formation, ensuring reliable and effective annular SCP remediation with high differential pressure performance and extreme longevity.
Zonal isolation, Water shut-off and Wellbore conformance applications
Based on several years of experience in developing the T-1000 technology, Wellstrøm is developing slimhole concepts to provide effective through-tubing solutions for water shut-off, zonal conformance and sand control applications.
Pipework system integrity
Our engineered alloy technology and knowledge of placement and displacement mechanisms ensures that our solutions are able to readily seal a variety of leaks typically encountered in challenging downhole environments and configurations, such as tubular threads, packer leaks, sand face completions, and a variety of other applications.
Our advanced electrical heating system enables close real-time control, measurement and feedback of the alloy placement process, ensuring the alloy is reliably delivered to provide durable, high-performance sealing.
Through-tubing sealing and packer repair
Wellstrøm’s industry-sponsored T-3000 through-tubing tool is currently under development for both packer repair and through-tubing P&A applications.
Completion & Wellbore construction
Wellstrøm’s bespoke engineered alloys can be incorporated into completion and wellbore construction components to provide extreme longevity sealing, thereby enabling them to be considered as ‘permanent’ well barrier elements. This can facilitate leaner and ‘P&A-friendly’ well designs that can dramatically improve wellbore construction efficiency and dramatically reduce the overall well lifecycle cost.
One such concept is to enhance production packers, external casing packer or open hole packers by incorporating Wellstrøm’s M3 alloy technologies such that they can be set via the use of a Wellstrøm electrical heating to form a permanent downhole barrier. This can be done either during the well construction phase, or at later point in the well’s lifecycle, such as the abandonment phase.
“Listen and understand that the
T-1000 is out there! It can’t be bargained with, it can’t be reasoned with, it doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until your well is successfully plugged!’
– adapted from Kyle Reese, from the movie ‘Terminator’