Saudi Arabian Oil Company

John Timothy Allen

Brett Bouldin

Md Amanullah

Abdulaziz Salah Bubshait

Mohammed H Kilani

Darrell W Foreman

Clayton L Miller

A layer of permeable material is positioned on an area of lost circulation lithology in a wellbore. An example of the permeable material includes a planar member with perforations that is rolled into and retained in an annular configuration. The permeable material is lowered into the wellbore adjacent the area of lost circulation and allowed to unroll and expand radially outward against walls of the wellbore. The wellbore wall along the area of lost circulation lithology can be reamed out so the layer of permeable material is out of the way of a drill bit. Applying a bridging agent on the interface where the permeable material contacts the wellbore wall forms a flow barrier.

Permeable lost circulation drilling liner

A layer of permeable material is positioned on an area of lost circulation lithology in a wellbore. An example of the permeable material includes a planar member with perforations that is rolled into and retained in an annular configuration. The permeable material is lowered into the wellbore adjacent the area of lost circulation and allowed to unroll and expand radially outward against walls of the wellbore. The wellbore wall along the area of lost circulation lithology can be reamed out so the layer of permeable material is out of the way of a drill bit. A bridging agent can be applied on the interface where the permeable material contacts the wellbore wall.

A method for quality control and quality assurance of sized bridging materials rotates a control sample having a fluid portion and a solids portion of sized bridging materials in a tubular container for a predetermined period of time. The control sample is then analyzed in a laser particle size analyzer to determine a particle size distribution for the control sample. A wet grinding sample having a fluid portion and a solids portion of the sized bridging materials is then rotated in the tubular container with a loose cylinder rod for a predetermined time to simulate borehole conditions. The wet grinding sample is then analyzed in the laser particle size analyzer to determine a particle size distribution for the wet grinding sample. The two particle size distributions are used to define a shift factor that represents the relative strength of the sized bridging materials.

Automated method for quality control and quality assurance of sized bridging material

Methods and apparatuses are provided for testing and quantifying structural durability characteristics of bridging materials. Embodiments include sieving bridging materials to create uniform batches having particles within a predefined range. Embodiments further include selecting a batch and drying the batch, separating the dried batch into dry samples, and selecting a test sample having an initial mass. Embodiments include sealing the test sample, a volume of liquid, and a rod in a cylindrical testing cell and rotating the cylindrical testing cell containing the rod such that the rod rolls in relation to an inner wall of the cylindrical testing cell and applies force partially crushing the test sample. Embodiments further include sieving a resulting sample to create a durable sample having particles within the predefined range and drying the durable sample. Embodiments of methods further include measuring a mass of the dried durable sample to define a durable mass and comparing the durable mass to the initial mass.

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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

John Timothy Allen