Loss of circulation can mean the death of a successful drilling operation. It is very important, therefore, that you have loss circulation materials to ensure you can continue operations at all times. To do this, you must understand the operational procedures that you can undertake to stop loss of circulation materials.
Operational Procedures for Loss Circulation Materials
First of all, you must make sure that hydrocarbons cannot enter into your well bore. This means that you must select the weight of the mud. The specifications of this will depend greatly on where you are working and what sort of well data you are working with. You will notice that if your weight is too high, you will experience sever losses, a reduction in reaction time and more hydrocarbons in your well bore. However, hydrate formation is generally prevented by using saline mud, and this becomes difficult in this situation. This is why you should consider using NaC1, which has a greater salt concentration, which will be better in hydrating the suppression.
Secondly, you must always quickly close a well after it has been opened. This will stop the fluid level that is found within the riser to fall. This would cause you to loose hydrostatic control. A graphical method to make sure the mud never drops below critical level (which is where the hydrocarbons are able to come into the well bore) is a simple way to prevent these problems. If, however, hydrocarbons come into the well, you must make sure they cannot reach the head of the well.
The best way to do this is by making sure you always monitor the influx. If it goes beyond the right levels, you can bull-head it using viscous mud pills to force it back in the actual formation. Indeed, bull-heading is never a real problem, so long as you are sure that the thief zone is high in permeability.
If you notice that the hydrocarbons are getting to high and they reach the BOP and the head of the well, you must make sure that the hydrates are stopped from forming. This is because of hydrate does form, then the BOPS will struggle to form. Glycol is one of the best methods of suppressing hydrate formation.
In most cases, well diggers will keep a mixture of glycol and mud on standby. This should be kept near the surface pits as well as by the kill line. If pumping is stopped, operatives should immediately pump a pill of the mixture into the BOP. Additionally, they should check that the salinity of the mud is still as high as it can be, so that hydrate doesn’t get formed. If they do start to appear, then they must be eliminated as soon as possible.
Clearly, using loss circulation material in drilling is vital to the success of any drilling operation. It will help stop the formation of various problems that could have a significant negative effect on work processes. Always ensure you look into the potential hazards and that you have a suitable solution ready.
