Determining damage to a casing string in a wellbore

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10428639-B2
Application number	US-201615266444-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2016
Priority date	Sep 15, 2016
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

Damage to a casing string in a wellbore resulting from a wellbore operation can be predicted. For example, a stiff string model can be used to determine a contact point between the casing string and a well tool positionable within the casing string for performing the wellbore operation. The stiff string model can be used to determine a force of the well tool against the casing string at the contact point. The force can be used to determine a volume of damage to the casing string proximate to the contact point. A depth of a groove formed in the casing string proximate to the contact point can be determined based on the volume of damage.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processing device; and
a memory device including instructions that are executable by the processing device for causing the processing device to:
determine, using a stiff string model, a contact point between a casing string and a well tool positionable within the casing string for performing a wellbore operation;
determine, using the stiff string model, a force of the well tool against the casing string at the contact point;
determine, based on the force and the wellbore operation, a volume of damage to the casing string proximate to the contact point; and
determine, based on the volume of damage, a first depth of a first groove formed in the casing string proximate to the contact point; and
cause a graphical user interface to be output on a display device, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:
a virtual representation of the casing string;
a first virtual object positioned proximate to the virtual representation of the casing string to indicate a first location of the first groove within an area of interest;
a virtual indicator of the first depth of the first groove; and
a second virtual object indicating a second location of a second groove within the area of interest, the second virtual object having a visual characteristic indicating that the second groove has a second depth that is different than the first depth.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions for causing the processing device to determine the contact point by:
determining, using the stiff string model, a movement of the well tool within the casing string for performing the wellbore operation;
determining, based on the movement, a position of the well tool in a cross-section of the casing string; and
determining, based on the position of the well tool, that an outer diameter of the well tool is contacting an inner diameter of the casing string at the contact point.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions for causing the processing device to:
determine the volume of damage based on the movement of the well tool in the casing string;
divide the cross-section of the casing string into a plurality of slices; and
associate the volume of damage with a particular slice that includes the contact point.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions for causing the processing device to:
associate the first groove with the particular slice of the plurality of slices based on the particular slice being associated with the volume of damage;
determine a width of the first groove based on the volume of damage associated with the particular slice of the plurality of slices; and
determine the first depth of the first groove based on the width of the first groove.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein memory device further includes instructions for causing the processing device to:
determine a second volume of damage, resulting from a subsequent wellbore operation, proximate to a second contact point between the well tool and the casing string;
determine a combined distribution of damage by combining the volume of damage with the second volume of damage;
determine the second depth of the second groove resulting from the subsequent wellbore operation; and
determine a combined distribution of grooves by combining the first depth and the first location of the first groove with the second depth and the second location of the second groove.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the virtual representation of the casing string is a cross-sectional view of the casing string;
the first virtual object indicates the first location of the first groove within the area of interest in the cross-sectional view; and
the virtual indicator depicts the first depth of the first groove in relation to a thickness of the casing string within the area of interest.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a pie shaped object spanning a portion of the virtual representation of the casing string and indicating the area of interest.

8. A method comprising:
determining, by a processing device and using a stiff string model, a contact point between a casing string and a well tool positioned within the casing string resulting from the well tool performing a wellbore operation within the casing string;
determining, by the processing device and using the stiff string model, a force of the well tool against the casing string at the contact point;
determining, by the processing device and based on the force and the wellbore operation, a volume of damage to the casing string proximate to the contact point;
determining, by the processing device and based on the volume of damage, a first depth of a first groove formed in the casing string proximate to the contact point; and
outputting, by the processing device, a graphical user interface on a display device, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:
a virtual representation of the casing string;
a first virtual object positioned proximate to the virtual representation of the casing string to indicate a first location of the first groove within an area of interest;
a virtual indicator of the first depth of the first groove; and
a second virtual object indicating a second location of a second groove within the area of interest, the second virtual object having a visual characteristic indicating that the second groove has a second depth that is different than the first depth.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining the contact point by:
determining, using the stiff string model, a movement of the well tool within the casing string for performing the wellbore operation;
determining, based on the movement, a position of the well tool in a cross-section of the casing string; and
determining, based on the position of the well tool, that an outer diameter of the well tool is contacting an inner diameter of the casing string at the contact point.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining the volume of damage based on the movement of the well tool in the casing string;
dividing the cross-section of the casing string into a plurality of slices; and
associating the volume of damage with a particular slice that includes the contact point.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
associating the first groove with the particular slice of the plurality of slices based on the particular slice being associated with the volume of damage;
determining a width of the first groove based on the volume of damage associated with the particular slice of the plurality of slices; and
determining the first depth of the first groove based on the width of the first groove.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a second volume of damage, resulting from a subsequent wellbore operation, proximate to a second contact point between the well tool and the casing string;
determining a combined distribution of damage by combining the volume of damage with the second volume of damage;
determining the second depth of the second groove resulting from the subsequent wellbore operation; and
determining a combined distribution of grooves by combining the first depth and the first location of the first groove with the second depth and the second location of the second groove.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the virtual representation of the casing string is a cross-sectional view of the casing string;
the first virtual object indicates the first location of the first groov

Assignees

• Landmark Graphics Corp

Inventors

• Aniket
• Gonzales Adolfo
• Samuel Robello
• Gilcrist Robert D

Classifications

• E21B47/007 Primary

  Measuring stresses in a pipe string or casing (for locating blocked portions of pipes E21B47/09) · CPC title

• G06F30/23

  using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM] · CPC title

• E21B17/00

  Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill strings; Kellies; Drill collars; Sucker rods; {Cables;} Casings; Tubings · CPC title

• G06F17/5018

  Physics · mapped topic

• E21B47/0006 Primary

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic