Uni

ver
sit
yOfMosul

Col
l
egeOfPet
rol
eum &Mi
ningEngi
neer
ing

Depar
tmentOfPet
rol
eum &Ref
ini
ngEngi
neer
ing

Casi
ngDesi
gn

Pr
epar
edbyGr
oup-
A-
Mohamme
dRe
fahtToama

Hot
hef
aMi
zbanMohamme
d

Mus
taf
aNumanKhai
ri

Mohamme
dAL-
Muj
ahi
dFar
oukAbdul
lah

Al
ikhal
if
afar
han

-1-
Casi
ngdesi
gn

:
-Todesi
gna 
casi
ngst
ri
ng,
onemusthav
eknowl
edgeof

Pur
poseoft
hewel
l

Geol
ogi
cal
crosssect
ion

Av
ail
abl
ecasi
ngandbi
tsi
zes

Cement
inganddr
il
li
ngpr
act
ices

Ri
gper
for
mance

Saf
etyandenv
ironment
alr
egul
ati
ons.

Toarr
iveattheoptimalsol
ution,
thedesignengi
neermustconsi
dercasingasapar
tof
awholedri
ll
i
ngsy stem.Abr i
efdescr
ipt
ionoftheel
ementsinvol
vedi
nt hedesi
gn
pr
ocessispresentednext.

-2-
Desi
gnobj
ect
ive
Theengi neerr esponsi bl
ef ordev elopingt hewel l
planandcasi ngdesi gni sf acedwi tha
Ensur ethewel l’smechani cal i
ntegr i
tynumberoft askst hatcanbebr ieflychar acteri
zed.
bypr ovidingadesi gnbasi st hataccount sforalltheanticipatedl oadst hatcanbe
Desi gnst r
ingst ominimi zewel lcostsov ertheencount er eddur i
ngt helifeoft hewel l.
Prov idecl eardocument ationoft hedesi gnbasi stooper at i
onall ifeoft hewel l
.
personnel atthewel l sit
e.Thi swillhelppr eventexceedingt hedesi gnenv elopeby
Whi let hei ntentionist oappl icati
onofl oadsnotconsi der edint heor i
ginal design.
prov ider eliabl
ewel lconstructionatami nimum cost ,
att imesf ailuresoccur .Most
document edf ai l
uresoccurbecauset hepi pewasexposedt ol oadsf orwhi chitwasnot
desi gned.Thesef ail
ur esar ecall
ed“ off-design”fail
ures.“ On-desi gn”f ailuresar erather
rare.Thi si mpl i
est hatcasi ng-designpr acticesaremost lyconser vative.Manyf ailures
occuratconnect i
ons.Thi simpl i
est hatei t
herfiel
dmakeuppr act i
cesar enotadequat e,
ort heconnect iondesi gnbasi sisnotconsi stentwiththepi pe- bodydesi gnbasi s.

Desi
gnmet
hod
-
Thedesi
gnpr
ocesscanbedi
vi
dedi
ntot
wodi
sti
nctphases:
-

1-Pr
eli
minar
ydesi
gnmet
hod

Thepur
poseofpr
eli
minar
ydesi
gni
stoest
abl
i
sh:

Casi
ngandcor
respondi
ngdr
il
l-
bitsi
zes

Casi
ngset
ti
ngdept
hs

Thenumberofcasi
ngst
ri
ngs

Casi
ngprogram (
wellpl
an)i
sobtainedasaresul
tofprel
i
minar
ydesi
gn.Casi
ng
pr
ogram desi
gnisaccompli
shedinthreemaj
orsteps:

-
Mudpr
ogr
am

Themosti
mport
antmudprogram par
ameterusedi
ncasi
ngdesi
gni
sthe“
mudwei
ght
.”
Thecompl
etemudpr
ogram i
sdeterminedf
rom:

Por
epr
essur
e

For
mat
ionst
rengt
h(f
ract
ureandbor
ehol
est
abi
l
ity
)

Li
thol
ogy

Hol
ecl
eani
ng 
andcut
ti
ngst
ranspor
tcapabi
l
ity

-3-
Pot
ent
ial
for
mat
iondamage,
 
stabi
l
itypr
obl
ems,
anddr
il
li
ngr
ate

For
mat
ionev
aluat
ionr
equi
rement

Env
ironment
alandr
egul
ator
yrequi
rement
s

Bot
tom-
updesi
gn

Thisisthestandar dmet hodforcasi ngseatselection.From Poi ntAin Fi

g.1 (t
he
hi
ghestmudwei ghtr equir
edatt het otaldept
h),drawav erticallineupwardt oPointB.A
protect
ive7 5/8-in.casingst r
ingmustbesetat12, 000f t
, cor r
espondingtoPoi ntB,to
enablesafedr i
l
lingont hesect i
onAB.Todet erminet heset tingdepthoft henextcasing,
drawahor i
zontal l
ineBCandt henav ert
icall
ineCD.I nsuchamanner ,PointDis
determinedforset tingthe9 5/ 8-
in.casingat9,500f t.Thepr ocedureisrepeatedfor
othercasingstrings, usuall
yunt i
laspeci fi
edsurfacecasi ngdept hisreached.

Top-
downdesi
gn

From theset ti
ngdept hofthe16- i
n.surfacecasi ng(hereassumedt obeat2, 000ft),
drawav erti
calli
nefrom thefractur
egr adientdot t
edline,PointA,tothepor epressure
dashedl ine,PointB.Thi
sest abli
shest hesetti
ngpoi ntoft he11¾-in.casingatabout
9,800ft.Dr awahor i
zontalli
nef r
om Poi ntBtot heintersecti
onwi t
ht hedottedfrac
gradientlineatPointC;then,drawav er ti
call
inet oPointDatt hepor epressurecurve
i
nt er
section.Thisestabli
shest he9 5/8-i
n.casingset ti
ngdept h.Thisprocessis
repeatedunt il
bottom holeisreached.

Therearesev eral t
hingstoobser veabouttheset womet hods.First,theydonot
necessari
lygivet hesameset ti
ngdepths.Second, theydonotnecessar i
l
ygi vethe
holepressureismi ssedbysamenumberofst r
ings.Inthetop-downdesi gn,thebot t
om
aslightamountt hatr equi
resashor t7-i
n.l
inersection.Thissli
ghter rorcanbef i
xedby
resett
ingthesur facecasingdept h.Thetop-downmet hodismor elikeact uall
ydr i
l
li
nga
well,i
nwhi chthecasi ngissetwhennecessar ytopr ot
ecttheprev i
ouscasi ngshoe.
Thisanalysiscanhel pant
icipat
et heneedforaddi t
ionalst
rings,givent hatthepor e
pressureandf racturegradientcurveshavesomeuncer tai
ntyassoci atedwi ththem.

I
npract
ice,
anumberofr egul
ator
yrequi
rement
scanaf
fectshoedept
hdesi
gn.These
f
act
orsarediscussednext
.

-4-
Thepr oblem ofchoosingthecasi ngsetti
ngdepthsismor ecompli
catedi nexpl or
ator
y
wellsbecauseofshor tageofi nf
ormat i
onongeology ,porepressur
es, andf r
act ur
e
pressur es.Insuchasituation,anumberofassumpt ionsmustbemade.Commonl y,t
he
format ionpr essur
egradientistakenas0. 54psi
/ftforholedepthslesst hen8, 000ft
andt akenas0. 65psi
/ftfordept hsgreatert
han8,000f t.Over
burdengr adientsare
gener all
yt akenas0.8psi/ftatshallowdepthandas1. 0psi/f
tforgreaterdept hs.

2-Det
ail
eddesi
gnmet
hod
Loadcases

I
nor dertoselectappropri
atewei ght
s,grades,
andconnect ionsduri
ngthedetai
led
designphaseusi ngsoundengi neeri
ngjudgment,designcriteri
amustbeestabl
ished.
Thesecriter
ianor mal
lyconsistofloadcasesandt heircor
respondingdesi
gnfactors
thatarecompar edtopiperatings.Loadcasesaret y
picall
ypl acedi
ntocat
egori
esthat
i
nclude:

Axi
all
oads,
Col
l
apsel
oads,
Dri
l
li
ngl
oads,
Product
ionl
oads,Bur
stl
oads

,
Ser
vicel
oadsRunni
ngandcement
ingl
oads,

-5-
Desi
gnf
act
ors(
DF)
………………………….
(1)

Wher
e

DF=desi
gnf
act
or(
themi
nimum accept
abl
esaf
etyf
act
or)
,and

SF=saf
etyf
act
or.

I
tfol
l
owst
hat

Hence,bymult
ipl
yingtheloadbytheDF, adi
rectcompari
soncanbemadewi
tht
hepi
pe
rat
ing.Asl
ongast herat
ingisgr
eaterthanorequaltothemodif
iedl
oad(
whi
chwewi
ll
cal
l t
hedesi
gnload),t
hedesigncri
ter
iahavebeensat i
sfi
ed.

Ot
herconsi
der
ati
ons
Aft
erper f
ormi ngadesignbasedonbur st,col l
apseandaxi al considerat
ions,anini
tial
desi
gni sachieved.Beforeaf i
naldesignisr eached, designissues( connecti
on
sel
ecti
on, wear ,andcorr
osi
on)mustbeaddr essed.Inaddition,otherconsiderat
ionscan
al
sobei ncludedi nthedesi
gn.Theseconsi derat i
onsaret r
iaxialstr
essesbecauseof
combinedl oading(e.g.
,bal
looningandt hermal eff
ects)—thisisoftencalled“ser
v i
celi
fe
anal
ysis”;othertemperatur
eef f
ects;andbuckl i
ng.

-6-