Simulation and Experimental Study on the Safe Application Condition of Expandable Profile Liner in Slim Holes

Abstract

Although the expandable profile liner technology has been successfully applied to sealing collapsed coal seams and mudstones in inclined sections of slim holes and provides a new means to solve the formation collapse problem,the uncertainty of applicable working condition limits the widespread use of the technology.To determine the safe working conditions of expandable profile liner in slim holes and secure the application,the finite element method was used to simulate and analyze the influence factors for application of φ149.2 mm expandable profile liner in inclined sections.An expansion test of expandable profile liner was made in wellbore hole simulator to analyze the influence of borehole curvature and hole diameter on the application.Under same conditions,the greater the hole diameter was, the larger the diameter of the expanded liner wouldbe;the larger the borehole curvature was,the greater the Mises stress and the higher the ellipticity wouldbe.The results of the test and numerical analysis were consistent.The safe working conditions for the φ149.2 mm expandable profile liner were defined through analysis,thus the safe application could be guaranteed.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #130001© Petroleum Drilling Techniques, Issue 2, 2018