How do downhole packers work

Meet your requirements for noncomplex applications with low to medium pressure demands—with technical flexibility to match the way you work.

Install this economical packer for isolation in production or water injection wells to manage up to 5,psi pressure differentials. Isolate fluids and pressures up to 7, psi with an economical hydraulically set, straight-pull shear-release retrievable packer. Save rig time by running the QL packer as a production packer, gravel-pack packer, or sump packer in standard or H2S service. Enable passage of a second completion string, power for an ESP, or additional parallel ports for injection lines, gas vents, and ESP accessories.

Enable passage of multiple feedthroughs for chemical injection, gas vents, or ESP accessories at pressures up to 5, psi [ Isolate fluids and pressure in wells with intelligent completions using hydraulic and electric lines for data transmission or control. Enable passage of chemical injection or electrical lines, gas vents, or ESP accessories for cost-sensitive applications.

Isolate single- or multizone intelligent completion with tubing-conveyed, retrievable hydraulic-set production and isolation packers. Remediate a damaged well or casing, or isolate the openhole annulus with high integrity to ensure zonal isolation. Minimize costs and NPT with robust, high-pressure expandable steel annular packers that rapidly isolate zones, even in oval boreholes.

Seal reliably even in high pressures and extreme temperatures with robust technology validated for dependable performance under challenging conditions. Reduce rig time with a permanent packer with no mandrel displacement, so multiple packers can be set in one string. Isolate fluids and pressures in high-rate production or water injection wells, and release with field-configurable options.

Maximize production and improve performance parameters in HPHT gravel and frac packing, production testing, and drillstem testing. Optimize multistage fracturing and ICD or sand screen completions with elements that seal the annulus even in high-pressure conditions. Enhance flexibility in single-string production or injection wells from low to ultrahigh temperatures and pressures. Save rig time in high-rate deepwater and subsea production and injection wells with single-trip completions up to HPHT conditions.

Ensure zonal isolation for gravel and frac packing applications in conventional and extended-reach wellbores through unconsolidated sands. Save time on Alternate Path gravel-pack services with instantaneous packer setting, and enable future water and gas shutoff. Enable efficient performance in high-rate production wells, dual-bore completions, and gravel pack completions. Simplify onsite feed-through and connection of electric and hydraulic conduits for intelligent completions with gravel packs.

Facilitate packer installation and inventory for ICD completions, gravel-packing, and acidizing in openhole and cased hole wells.

Optimize production, injection, or cleanup treatments with mechanically set, retrievable packers. Run in rapidly on wireline and hold pressure from above and below for treating, remediation, and testing operations in cased hole wells. Manage the most challenging thermal applications with robust, reliable technology designed for wells undergoing extreme temperatures and temperature cycling. Simplify installation with rotation and improve reliability in thermal applications with nonelastomer elements.

Maximize isolation and flexibility with liner hangers in conditions that exceed temperature and pressure limits for elastomers. Deliver the force required to set packers, plugs, and cement retainers at the ideal depth, even in horizontal and deviated wells. Run and set packers, bridge plugs, and cement retainers on a workstring, production tubing, or coiled tubing.

One of the main assets The MPS is a handy portable air driven mini pump that can be easily carried, even on stairs, because of its weight Production Packer.

Production Packer Production packers are an integral part of the completion process of an oil or a gas well. There are various types of production packers available out of which prominent ones are: Permanent Packers Retrievable Packers Hydraulic Set Packers also called as Mechanical Set Packers Other uses of production packer apart from providing sealing between tubing and casing are: Prevent downhole movement of the tubing string.

Supports tubing weight. Helps in improving production and well flow rate. Prevents the metal annular casing from corrosion. Limit well control to the tubing at the surface for safety purposes Hold packer fluids in the casing annulus which can be used during well servicing and maintenance operations.

The one common feature found in this style of packer is that, once the element is sealed off and the packoff force is mechanically locked in place, the tubing string may be landed in compression, tension, or neutral. Slips located above and below the packing element or a single set of bidirectional slips are designed to hold axial tubing loads from either direction to keep the packer anchored in place. An internal lock system mechanically traps the packoff force and keeps the elements energized until the packer is released.

A bypass valve is present to aid in equalization and the release of the packer. It is locked from accidentally opening until the packer-releasing sequence has been initiated.

Because the packer does not rely on constant tubing forces to maintain its packoff, this tool is much more versatile in application. It can be used in production or injection applications, as well as in completions for which well stimulation is planned, and it is almost universal in application.

The only constraint is in deep deviated wells, where tubing manipulation or getting packoff force to the tool may present a problem.

Extreme shallow depth setting is achievable in models that allow the elements to be energized with tension. Care must be taken to ensure that tubing movement during production or injection operations does not exceed the tensile or compression limitations of either the packer or the tubing string. The hydraulic-set packer Fig. To achieve a pressure differential at the packer and set it, a temporary plugging device must be run in the tailpipe below the packer.

The applied hydraulic pressure acts against a piston chamber in the packer. The force created by this action sets the slips and packs the element off.

Some models have an atmospheric setting chamber and use the hydrostatic pressure of the well to boost the packoff force. Regardless of design, all of the force generated during the setting process is mechanically locked in place until the packer is later released. Once the packer is set, the tubing may be landed in tension limited by the shear-release value of the packer , compression, or neutral.

Because no tubing manipulation is required to set a hydraulic packer, it can be set easily after the wellhead has been flanged up and the tubing has been displaced.

This promotes safety and allows better control of the well while displacing tubing and annulus fluids. The hydraulic-set packer can be run in a single-packer installation, and because no packer body movement occurs during the setting process, it can be run in tandem as an isolation packer in single-string multiple-zone production wells. The hydraulic-set single-string packer is ideal for highly deviated wells in which conditions are not suitable for mechanical-set packers.

Retrieval of the hydraulic-set single-string packer is accomplished by pulling tension with the tubing string to shear a shear ring, or shear pins, located within the packer. Most models also have a built-in bypass system that allows the pressures in the tubing and annulus to equalize, or balance, as the packer is released.

The tension load required to release the packer must be considered carefully in the initial completion design and in the selection of the shear-ring value. The shear-release value must not be set too high so that it will not be beyond the tensile capabilities of the tubing string, yet it must be high enough so that the packer will not release prematurely during any of the planned operational modes over the life of the completion.

A variation of the hydraulic-set single-string retrievable packer, which can be furnished without the shear-release feature, is available for the larger-size casing and tubing combinations commonly used in big monobore completions.

The running and the hydraulic setting procedure remain the same, but to remove the packer from the wellbore, the inner mandrel of the packer must be cut. This is done either with a chemical cutter on electric wireline or by a mechanical cutter on drillpipe or coiled tubing. Once the mandrel is cut, retrieval is accomplished by picking up on the tubing string or the top of the packer. The packer is also designed to be millable should the cut-to-release feature fail.

The elimination of the shear ring enables the packer to achieve higher tensile and differential-pressure ratings. This permits well-treating and well-injection operations to occur that were not possible with the conventional shear-release hydraulic-set packer.

The dual packer allows the simultaneous production of two zones while keeping them isolated. Standard configurations have bidirectional slips to prevent movement and maintain packoff with the tubing landed in the neutral condition. For the most part, multiple-string retrievable packers are set hydraulically because the tubing manipulation required to set a mechanical packer is not desirable or often not feasible in a dual-string application.

However, mechanical-set models do exist, and in applications in which the tubing strings are run independently, the mechanical-set dual packer can be set with applied slackoff force by the upper tubing string. The dual-string hydraulic-set packer is set much the same as the hydraulic-set single-string packer.

The setting pressure typically is applied to the upper tubing short string , but some models are designed to be set with pressure applied to the lower tubing long string. A temporary plugging device is required to be run below the dual packer on the appropriate string to allow the actuating pressure to be applied.

The hydraulic-set dual packers are released by applying tubing tension to shear an internal shear ring. The same considerations in shear-value selection that apply to the single-string hydraulic-set packer also apply to the dual packer.

Too high of a value can overstress the tubing during retrieval, and too low a value can lead to a premature packer release during one of the various operational modes to which the packer will be exposed. Other uses for multiple-string packers include electrical submersible pump applications in which both the electrical cable and the production tubing must pass through the packer.

Multiple-string packers are also used in tandem to isolate damaged casing. The permanent Fig. Wireline setting affords speed and accuracy; however, the one-trip hydraulic-set versions offer the advantage of single-trip installations and allow the packer to be set with the wellhead flanged up. Sealbore packers have a honed and polished internal sealbore. A tubing seal assembly with elastomeric packing forms the seal between the production tubing and the packer bore.

Well isolation is accomplished by the fit of the elastomeric seals in the polished packer bore. To accommodate longer seal lengths, a sealbore extension may be added to the packer. In the case of the one-trip hydraulic-set sealbore packer system, the production tubing, tubing seal assembly, and packer are made up together and run as a unit. However, if the packer is to be installed on electric wireline or set on a work string, the seal assembly is run on the production tubing after the packer is installed and stabbed into the packer bore downhole.

The seal assembly may be a locator type Fig. The decision about the best seal assembly to run depends on tubing movement and hydraulic calculations based on:. The removable seal assembly allows tubing to be retrieved for workover without the need of pulling and replacing the packer. Generally, the permanent sealbore packers, both wireline and hydraulic set, afford much higher performance in both temperature and pressure ratings than do any of the retrievable packers. The one disadvantage is that the permanent packer must be milled over to remove the packer from the wellbore.

For the most part, milling is not prohibitive and, in many cases, may never be required. However, removal may be necessary if subsequent workover operations require full-bore access to the casing below the packer or if a packer failure should occur. Because of the complexity of their design, retrievable sealbore packers usually have a higher cost associated with them as well as lower pressure and temperature ratings than do the permanent versions.

However, they are in most cases easily removable from the wellbore without milling. Normally, removal is accomplished in two trips: the first to retrieve the seal assembly, and the second with a releasing tool to retrieve the packer. Like the permanent sealbore packer, the retrievable models are available in both wireline and one-trip hydraulic-set versions. When making the determination of which type of packer to use, careful consideration must be given to the completion design, wellbore geometry, and packer-performance requirements.

The contingency plans for packer removal must be developed and reviewed. While many technical advances in milling techniques have been achieved, it ultimately may prove more cost-effective to use a retrievable sealbore packer in horizontal applications in which packer milling is not desirable, or in low-fluid wells in which circulating cuttings to the surface is not possible. In applications in which it is known that the packer must be removed at some point in the life of the well and packer milling may be prohibitive, the retrievable sealbore may be recommended.

For the most part, both permanent and retrievable packers can be run and set on the production tubing string, requiring no additional trips for installation.

This one-trip system is both cost-effective and efficient. However, at times it may be necessary or desirable to install the packer in the wellbore first and then run the production tubing. In these instances, a packer is selected that can be run and set either on a workstring or on electric wireline.

Once the packer is installed, a sealing device is attached to the end of the production tubing and connected to the packer downhole to form a seal. Electric wireline setting of the packer affords several benefits.

First, it offers fast installation and accurate placement of the packer.