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Possible Solution?
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:13 am
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:13 am
When I first started working offshore we took a kick and closed the well in with the annular preventer and a TIW valve in the pipe. The pressure still pushed the pipe out jamming the TIW in a derrick girt and looping the drill pipe all over the rig like spaghetti. To fix the problem a company came out with nitrogen and froze the drill pipe into sections that could be cut away using the frozen plugs inside to contain the pressure until it could all be removed.
I wonder if instead of trying to kill the well with conventional means if they could circulate nitrogen through the BOP creating a ice plug inside. Since the temperatures are already near freezing at the wellhead it may be possible? I'm not sure.
I wonder if instead of trying to kill the well with conventional means if they could circulate nitrogen through the BOP creating a ice plug inside. Since the temperatures are already near freezing at the wellhead it may be possible? I'm not sure.
1
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:18 am to redstick13
quote:
I wonder if instead of trying to kill the well with conventional means if they could circulate nitrogen through the BOP creating a ice plug inside. Since the temperatures are already near freezing at the wellhead it may be possible? I'm not sure.
you think that the hydrocarbons coming out of the well aren't boiling fricking hot by the time they get to the bop?
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:25 am to tigerdup07
I doubt they are more than ~150 degrees F. The thermals at depth on a deepwater well are not as high as on land or in shallow water.
This post was edited on 5/30/10 at 9:28 am
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:30 am to redstick13
The problem is the flow. No flow no problem freezing. High flow means it is going to be impossible to freeze. And I doubt that even if you were able to freeze it that it would work. The pressure would probably force it out by just shearing the frozen oil.
Just guessing.
Just guessing.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:33 am to omegaman66
quote:
The problem is the flow. No flow no problem freezing. High flow means it is going to be impossible to freeze. And I doubt that even if you were able to freeze it that it would work. The pressure would probably force it out by just shearing the frozen oil.
Just guessing.
Maybe but we all know offshore pipelines are able to freeze. I've seen an entire choke manifold freeze up including the gas buster line up the derrick leg while circulating out a kick.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 9:46 am to redstick13
Since crude oil has no definite freezing point this idea probably wouldn't completely seal the well off unless there is enough natural gas present to create a plug. It could likely slow the flow though.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 10:07 am to redstick13
5000 + ft. of length insulated piping needed to carry gryogenic liquids would be an engineering marvel in itself. Not to mention the high pressure cryo pumps needed to get it there. Won't work. Good thinking though.
Would be a boon for the company I work for if it did. We liquify air all day long at plants all over the world.
Would be a boon for the company I work for if it did. We liquify air all day long at plants all over the world.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 10:13 am to pochejp
quote:
5000 + ft. of length insulated piping needed to carry gryogenic liquids would be an engineering marvel in itself. Not to mention the high pressure cryo pumps needed to get it there. Won't work. Good thinking though.
Would be a boon for the company I work for if it did. We liquify air all day long at plants all over the world.
I was thinking more along the lines of tying a coil tubing unit into the kill line.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 11:25 am to redstick13
i don't think you'd need cryogenic fluids or anything like that. i think you could do it by inducing hydrates to form throughout the BOP, possibly by circulating freshwater down there.
and in addition to freezing the drillstring that redstick mentioned, freezing wellheads has been a pretty accepted piece of the well control toolkit (like freezing a tree when none of the valves are holding pressure). it's not something anyone likes to do, but it has been effective over time.
and in addition to freezing the drillstring that redstick mentioned, freezing wellheads has been a pretty accepted piece of the well control toolkit (like freezing a tree when none of the valves are holding pressure). it's not something anyone likes to do, but it has been effective over time.
This post was edited on 5/30/10 at 11:34 am
Posted on 5/30/10 at 7:52 pm to oilfieldtiger
The remaining riser is pretty long. I think if you pumped fresh water in the choke and kill lines. you would induce the hydrates to freeze up the riser somewhere along the way out. then keep pumping in fresh water till you freeze up the whole riser. Then you can try top kill with a great chance of success.
Posted on 5/30/10 at 10:00 pm to Oyster
Crystallization of hydrates, is it more likely under fresh or saline conditions?
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