WorldWide Drilling Resource

33 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2016 Running Foam from the Get-Go by John Christ, J.C.’s Drilling Consultant If you are go ng to dr w th a r, you shou d rea y cons der runn ng foam from start to f n sh. It w keep you from gett ng nto troub e. Is sav ng money n your overa dr ng costs go ng to hurt your fee ngs? We a know fue s a b g part of dr ng costs. Most of the t me, foam has on y been used to he p get us unstuck. I have a ways sa d dr ng f u ds, f run correct y, are ke nsur- ance. Foam s your dr ng f u d for a r dr ng, but why dr w th a r? F rst and foremost, t s the fastest method of dr ng a vert ca boreho e. You w have the poss b ty of runn ng a hammer. It w g ve you nstantaneous format on eva uat on. When the format on changes, you w know r ght away. If you encounter a zone wh ch takes your c rcu at on away, foam may just be your sav or. It s a so a very f ex b e med um to dr w th. Let s ta k about th s. If you are n rock from the start, stra ght a r w th an upho d ve oc ty of 3500 to 7000 feet per m nute may be just what the doctor ordered. How often does th s happen? If dust s an ssue, nject ng water may be the answer. Carefu , t may cause your cut- t ngs to ba up; or f there are c ay str ngers, they may want to start swe ng and get st cky. The next step wou d be to start runn ng foam. Advantage s cost sav ngs by reduc ng fue costs. Every tme you th cken your a r steam, you have to reduce your voume of a r. Remember, there are three phases to your f u d: a r, foam, and cutt ngs! They a have to come up at the same t me. Th s does take some pract ce to perfect. You w not ce you have ncreased carry ng capac ty and better boreho e stab ty. The next step wou d be st ff foam. The format on s changng and somust our f ud, wh ch s foamgong froma d sh soap cons stency to a shav ng cream-type foam. Remember we have th ckened the a r co umn and w have to reduce the a r vo ume, aga n. There w be another ncrease of carry ng capac ty and boreho e stab ty. The next step s ge foam. The format on s te ng us a f ter cake wou d be benef c a . The need for a f ter cake means the format on s gett ng more unconso dated. A f ter cake s need- ed for stab ty to he p keep the boreho e from fa ng n and ncreas ng the carry ng capac ty. The b ggest prob em I have seen n the f e d s ncorrect concentrat on and cons stency. By cons stency, I mean mak ng sure concentrat on be ng pumped s the same. You have your 55-ga on drum. I prefer p ast c - t s ghter and doesn t dent. You made a ne at the 50-ga on mark. You f up w th freshwater to th s po nt and grab your foam . . . STOP! D d you forget a step? Pretreat your makeup water. Just ke sa t makes food taste better, soda ash he ps make better dr ng f u ds. How much? There s a formu a, 0.0095 x tota hard- ness n ppm (parts per m on) equa s pounds of soda ash per 100 ga ons. Norma y, ½ to 2 pounds per 100 ga ons s what I see. Okay, now grab the foam and add t. Just b end t n w th a boat padd e or shove . You want t to foam down ho e, not on the surface. We run 1 to 4 quarts per 100 ga ons. Remember, we are 50-ga on batches, so cut t n ha f. For a st ff foam; pretreat make- up water, then m x the po ymer, and b end n the foam. Wh ch po ymer? I a ways use a po ymer wh ch w he p contro format on, so I be eve PHPA (part a y-hydro yzed po yacry am de) po ymer for c ay format ons and PAC (po yan on c ce u ose) po ymer for uncon- so dated format ons. As for ge foam, pretreat makeup water, m x benton te, po ymer of cho ce, and b end n foam. Back to cons stency, when a drum s a most empty, what do you do? Stop dr ng and m x more? Not that I have seen. Operator s dr ng, he per adds water, puts n a coup e g ugs of foam. Th s changes everyth ng! Answer = get a second drum. It can be m xed and ready to go, sav ng t me and prov d ng a cons stent m x down ho e. Now you are dr ng much better ho es and creat ng a heck of a ot of foam. How do you dea w th t? Hay ba s and defoamer s a good start. Make a d verter w th a defoamer njector, but the prob em s you can t see how your three phases are comng up. Never, ever et foam get nto a waterway! Th s w g ve you more probems than youwant. Nowgo out and dr wth a r effect vey n a knds of format ons! The statements and comments in this article are based on information and refer- ences believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments please forward them to me in care of WWDR . John michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com &% ! "" * "(%$ ))) (" $( ' & $ %# # " (" $( $ ( " !" !! ! &% ! % ! (" $( & $ $ $ " ! $ $ ! ! $ ! $ # $ $ $