This was a Mud Pump Pulsation Dampener. Any idea what happened?
Sometimes we need a lot of interview questions to be always ready for the interview
This exam was in one of the personal interviews of one of the oil companies,and we collected many responses that you can read now
and benefit from.
The First Contestant:
" Not drained properly in the cold? Froze and the expansion blew it? "
The second Contestant:
"Wrong type of gas in colder climates. Probably froze and expanded. Usually when you don't use Nitrogen"
The Third Contestant:
"That is cast. Must have been damaged during handling or quality issue and that led to the parting when under pressure"
The Fourth Contestant:
"The pop off valve didn't work properly or a plug bit may do it "
Fifth Contestant:
"If it was filled with oxygen? The bladder would be in outer space. Likely frozen or a valve shut a pop valve not working"
Sixth Contestant:
"My guess would be they probably didn't drain it when they left for a few days and it froze and cracked and then when they came back and fired the rig up and when the bladder expanded it finished blowing it out"
The seventh Contestant:
"Bag leaked and they were running high pressure cavitation likely gave it away"
Eighth Contestant:
"Someone charged the dampener with oxygen instead of nitrogen"
Ninth Contestant:
"Maybe Nitrogen cylinder use in filling the pulsation dampener contain some % of Oxygen or the reset gauge not working and over pressure burst the pulsation dampener"
Tenth Contestant:
"To much pressure. Pressure hammer. Liquid and air causes pressure hammer.!!"
Eleventh Contestant:
"There was no pressure relief valve installed in the line coming from the pump."
Twelveth Contestant:
"Water froze and expanded causing the dampener to fracture.".
Sometimes we need a lot of interview questions to be always ready for the interview
This exam was in one of the personal interviews of one of the oil companies, and we collected many responses that you can read now
and benefit from.
What is this? How can we prevent this from happening again?
The First Contestant:
Adjacent wells or field experience should clearly dictate the change of some of the mud properties, specially from water base to oil base mud to prevent the clay balling of your bottom hole assembly and bit !!
The second Contestant:
0.75 saw dust sacks a connection add TKPP "is a highly soluble, more environmentally friendly, low sodium" over circulation until 100 m from TD when rope starts to slow down smoke the bit on bottom with fresh water and saw bust sweet work pipe a couple times after sinking it drill around 80 m/hr
The Third Contestant:
Normally why touching such formation, we change the drilling fluids properties like adding oil to drill fluids.
The Fourth Contestant:
This happened because they drilled into a formation containing clay with water-base mud instead of oil-base mud.
Fifth Contestant:
Lots of pump and well coated drill string with proper lubricants to keep it from binding to the assembly is all you can hope for.
Sixth Contestant:
Not much you can do to prevent this from happening on your trip out of the hole through clay sections. Normal in many parts of the world.
The seventh Contestant:
Turn your fresh water off in the mud tanks, raise your PH as high as you can get it and pump a lot of PHPA"A class of water muds that use partially-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) as a functional additive" sweeps, run low gallons per minute and as much rate of penetration as you can get!
Eighth Contestant:
Soap sticks on connection and PHPA"A class of water muds that use partially-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) as a functional additive" sweeps. Kick up the RPM and hope that you can keep those junk slots clean or you’ll be pulling for low ate of penetration when in reality you’ve got a green bit.
Ninth Contestant:
Soap/sap helps in the beginning but it will overtake. With aggressive drilling programs these days the faster you drill the lesser the whole cleaning. Before you know it it’s swabbing out of the hole with sticky drag.
Tenth Contestant:
Soap SAPP "Abbreviation for sodium acid pyrophosphate, a sequestering agent used to treat cement contamination and a deflocculant "Deflocculants are substances which prevent flocculation by increasing zeta potential and therefore the repulsive forces between particles" for low-temperature water muds" polymers if it’s sticking to the shaker screen it’s sticking to the bit the pipe and you are taking a chance of plugging the flow line soap lots of soap
Eleventh Contestant:
Bit balling: treat with additions of soap to help prevent sticking and concentrated sweeps of walnut hulls, various sized calcium carbonate, and sometimes lignite.
Twelveth Contestant:
Pump lots of saw dust helps prevent mud rings and balled up bits.
- Run two (2) nozzles to create cross flow at the bit for better cleaning. The high velocity cross flow will erode the swelled clay and promote better cleaning at the bit.
This is compounded by clay swelling and many of these problems can be solved chemically.
- Make sure them pumps are flat out before moving the string down to bottom...ease into it with just a couple daN before stacking on more weight in gumbo formations...start plugging nozzles and this is what you will eventually have.If possible besr to drill known balling formations with water/or at least a very low visc mud.
- Good pump rate. Add a clay stabiliser to your mud, slow bit penetration rate or reduce weight on bit. Definitely ream after each connection and maybe during depending on stiffness of strata.
- Stage in weight following connections, reduce ROP, flow up, depending on bit type adjust TFA. If all else fails pump a sac of walnut pull off bottom and spin the hell out of it. If you have motor slide a foot to unball and the list goes on.
Some Abbreviation and Definition From This Sites
TKPP "is a highly soluble, more environmentally friendly, low sodium"
PHPA"A class of water muds that use partially-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) as a functional additive"
SAPP "Abbreviation for sodium acid pyrophosphate, a sequestering agent used to treat cement contamination and a deflocculant"
Deflocculants"are substances which prevent flocculation by increasing zeta potential and therefore the repulsive forces between particles" for low-temperature water muds"