Wellhead isolation: Three common failures and how to resolve them
Ageing, corroded and eroded equipment can cause wellhead seals to harden, crack and fail. Here we discuss the three common failures that are encountered while carrying out isolation tasks and how our solutions can restore well integrity.
1. Annuli communication through wellhead seals
Let’s start with one of the most common well integrity failures faced by well operators, which are those released to annuli communication through wellhead seals. Through a combination of ageing equipment, harsh environments and corrosive fluids, these seals lose integrity and fail.
What’s our solution? Mac-Seal and MS-Sealant.
Unlike some other sealant options, both Mac-Seal and MS-Sealant are time-activated and deployed in a liquid state to avoid unnecessary stress or damage to the already compromised wellhead.
These sealants are self-bonding, pressure-energised, flexible materials when they reach the appropriate area of the wellhead and then cure. This results in the creation of robust, static isolations to re-establish well integrity.
2. Pumping solid plastic filler into pack-offs
Other basic methods for repairing Wellheads include pumping solid plastic filler into the pack-off in an attempt to re-establish integrity. However, this can create an unreliable, brittle seal that blocks the flow path without repairing the issue. This could lead to costly workovers to replace components.
Using innovative time-activated leak sealing technology, deploying Mac-Seal or MS-Sealant into wellhead pack-offs and voids offers a quick, safe, reliable, robust and cost-effective solution for rigless, onsite Wellhead Integrity repairs.
3. Failure to maintain wellhead integrity in mature fields
If you have a large stock of wells in mature fields this can mean that equipment comes closer to failure more regularly, especially in extreme climate conditions experienced in the Middle East. Often, solutions proposed to restore and maintain well integrity involve invasive workovers. However, we offer a more cost-effective and quicker option for the market which makes maintaining integrity of the wellhead on a regular basis more attainable.
Mac-Seal vs MS-Sealant
Let’s discuss our two products. We developed these products which have numerous similarities in their application methodology and they way they are used, however the situations in which they should be used are different. Let me break it down:
Both are time activated; they are deployed in their liquid state into the wellhead voids.
The sealants can be deployed under very low pressures to protect already fragile wellhead components.
They are two-part products, changing from a liquid to a solid, flexible, robust, self-bonding material once cured.
The two sealants can be supplied in various viscosities depending on the specific situation and the size of the leak path.
MS-Sealant has been formulated for use in hotter environments where it provides a longer working time.
The main difference is MS-Sealant can work in hotter temperatures. But there you go, the three common mistakes we often see when it comes to wellhead failure, but our solutions offers a more cost-effective robust, static isolation to re-establish well integrity.