Title: Polymer Composite Materials Development for a Large Bore and Thin Wall Full Composite Plug for High Temperature Oil and Gas Industry Applications

Authors: Jiaxiang Ren, Jianpeng Yue, Peixiang Xing, Jeff Maynard, Peng Cheng, Yu Liu, Huailiang Liu

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/s.22.0803

Abstract: Polymer composite materials have been used in oil and gas industry for more than three decades. One application is in fracturing plugs. Comparing to the dissolvable metal plugs, the cost of the polymer composite plugs is low, and it is flexible for different environments. In the work, we developed several polymer composites materials for critical components, including lower slip and mandrel, for a large bore (> 44.45 mm or 1.75 in) and thin wall (12.7 mm or 0.5 inch) composite plug for high temperature fracturing applications.

A series of polymer composite materials were developed, using various base polymers, fibers, manufacturing methods. A customized shear testing method was developed. The shear strength of the polymer composite materials has been tested at ambient temperature and 150 °C. The shear strength of these materials before and after aging in 3% KCl at 150 C for 24 hours has been studied. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements have been performed on these materials before and after aging. The lower slip and mandrel were designed based on the selected materials. The functional testing of the lower slip and mandrel have been performed at 150 °C, water environment.

In order for the polymer composites to be used for lower slip and mandrel, the material need to possess strong shear, tensile, and hoop strength in the hot and wet conditions. The study results show some materials possess higher shear strength at elevated temperature and after aging in brine. These materials were selected to be used as mandrel material. A special winding method was designed to increase the tensile strength at mandrel shoulder. In addition, a composite material with customized fiber alignment and compression molding method was also developed and tested for the mandrel. The mandrel made of the materials displayed pressure holding of 50 Mpa at 150C. The loading test of lower slip made of a phenolic material and a bismaleimide material with customized compression molding method were performed. The loading force is high enough for the slip to bite the casing. A large bore composite plug passed the pressure holding test at 55 Mpa at ambient temperature. The composite plug was milled to small pieces in 13 mins. The materials development results and the relationship of composite materials structure with the properties are discussed in the paper. The evaluation results of the lower slip and mandrel are also described in the paper.

It was very challenging to design a composite material for the lower slip in a thin wall plug. The mandrel with such thin wall was tuning to collapse under high pressure differential at high temperature. The composite material design for the lower slip with customized fiber alignment, base resin, compression molding method was novel. As far as we know, this is the first time in the industry that a composite lower slip and mandrel were developed for the large bore and thin wall composite plug used for the casing size of 139.7 mm outer diameter (OD), 114.3 mm internal diameter (ID). The improvement of the slip materials and design are still in progress.

References: [1] Walton, Z., Michael F., Jesse P., and Greg V. “Evolution of Frac Plug Technologies”. SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference. Manama, Bahrain, 2019 March 18-21. SPE-194802-MS. [2] Meza, G. G., Alarcon, X. B., and Loundy, R. “A Detailed Evaluation of Coiled Tubing Drillouts of Composites and Dissolvable Plugs in Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Fields”. SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, 2020 March 16. SPE-199790-MS. [3]Deshpande, K. M., Mirasdar, S. P., Mhaskar, N. A., and Joshi, R. P., “Composite Frac Plug Design Optimization for Efficient Hydraulic Fracturing Operations”, SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, Charleston, West Virginia, 2019 October 15-17. SPE-196606-MS [4]Skufca, J. M., “A Force to be Reckoned with: The Effects of Extended Reach Tools on Plug Mill-Out Operations”. SPE SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, 2020 March 16. SPE-199829-MS. [5] Yang, X., Liu, H., Zhou, P., Ren, J., Xing, P., Dunne, T., Yang, X., Yue, J. “Polymer Composite Materials Development and Evaluation for Oil and Gas Applications”, CAMX-The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo., Dallas, Texas, 2018 October 15-18.

Conference: SAMPE 2022

Publication Date: 2022/05/23

SKU: TP22-0000000803

Pages: 15

Price: $30.00