What Can I Do To Reduce Water Usage During My Completion Operation?

Water Use

Pumping fluid drives the plug & perforating guns down the horizontal section of a well. The pump down is not 100% effective, meaning water is bypassing the tools. The Outside Diameter (OD) of the plug & setting kit is the largest part of the plug & perf BHA. The plug determines how efficiently the BHA will pump down. There are two ways to increase this efficiency:

• Choose a larger OD Plug
• Add a feature to the plug to increase the OD, such as a pump-down ring

Larger Plug

A larger OD plug will increase the efficiency of the pump-down by catching more of the fluid during the pump-down and restricting the amount of bypass. The challenge with larger OD plugs is that they are more susceptible to failing during pump down and causing an issue. This risk outweighs the benefit of water savings.

Pump Down Rings

Many plugs have a groove in the composite that allows for adding a rubber pump down a ring that increases the OD of the plug. The material's flexibility reduces/eliminates the risk of issues during pump down and increases the water efficiency of the operation. The challenge with simply increasing the OD of the plug is that it will fall slower in the vertical, typically requiring pumping, and could cause swabbing if POOH is necessary.

HeliSeal

The Boss Hog plugs have a built-in pump-down feature that provides the best of both worlds. The HeliSeal maintains the plug OD in the vertical section and then deploys on pump down to provide the most efficient pump down of any plug on the market. The flow-actuated HeliSeal expands to increase the speed of the BHA closer to that of the fluid, saving significant time and water during pump down.

With over 500,000 runs, the HeliSeal has proven to be a "game changer" for operators concerned with water and time savings. During pump-down operations, an operator in the Northeast saved up to 100 bbls/plug when using the HeliSeal Technology.