Casing Design Overview

By George T. Armistead, PE
armisgt@yahoo.com

Link to Notes on Casing Design Overview

Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M_-VI2rGasycnsy6UPtdKaCrLuJNxJX2/view?usp=sharing

YouTube Video Playlist on Casing Design

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKQsiFzev0c2hpobfkGFV-yf0VedDe37F

Topics and Links to YouTube Video Sessions on Page 2

A prerequisite to beginning this Casing Design Overview is to understand the concepts of

Overburden, Pore Pressure and Fracture Pressure.

Link to YouTube Video on Overburden, Pore Pressure and Fracture Pressure

https://youtu.be/QmgFxC6HnZE

Link to Notes on Overburden, Pore Pressure and Fracture Pressure

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kvfi8XOQOPCT5zsBdrHvGRBkEPPMV9Jd

1
 Casing Design Overview
Session One
Link to Casing Design Overview Session 1 YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/USPtmZbZmbY

Hierarchy of Engineering Responsibilities Page 3

Function of Casing Strings Page 4-5
Primary Casing Loads Page 6
Casing Applications Page 6
Production Fluid Gradients and Salt Loads Page 6
Selecting Casing Setting Depths and Sizes Page 7
Wellbore Schematic for Casing Design Page 8
Casing Manufacturing and Properties Page 9-11
Casing Connections Page 12

Session Two
Link to Casing Design Overview Session 2 YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/hbfa8uZt7hw

Casing Design Equations Page 13-17

Casing Design Criteria Page 18-21
Casing Design Factors (Safety Factors) Page 22
Casing Design General Procedure Page 23
Recommended Sequence of Casing Design Activity Page 24

Session Three
Link to Casing Design Overview Session 3 YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/hksJBvSJJlI

Casing Designs Examples Page 24-30

Pressure Testing of Casing During Execution Page 31
Buckling Considerations and Mitigation Measures Page 32-33
2
 Hierarchy of Engineering Responsibilities

Drilling Engineer’s Responsibilities and Priorities in Casing Design

1. Protect People
2. Protect Environment
3. Fulfills Regulatory Requirements
4. Meets Design Requirements and Conditions – Reliable and Robust Design for reasonable uncertainty
5. Should satisfy life of well requirements including intervention and any likely future requirements such as
deepening.

3
 Function of Casing Strings

Structural – Driven, Cemented, Jetted

 First Casing Installed
 Used to Establish Mud Circulation
 Supports Compressional Axial Loads of Entire Well
 Must Withstand Bending Moments Loads at Mud Line
(ML) due to Environmental Forces (Hurricane Waves)
 Requires Design for Buckling Loads from Lack of Lateral
Support (For WD plus casing above MSL Unsupported
During Hurricane Evacuations)
 Must be Design to Include Soil Strength

Conductor – Usually Cemented

 May be the First String of Casing for Onshore Wells
 May be used to mitigate broaching due to higher mud
weight around the structural casing
 May be required due to government regulations or
safety to provide additional time to evacuate
 It may also provide structural support of axial loads when
cemented inside Structural Casing
 May be required to isolate fresh water aquifers

Surface – By definition the surface casing would be

the first string of casing with BOP’s installed on top
for well control. The most important casing string
to protect people and the environment. Requires
the most critical planning and robust casing
cementing for well clusters at the surface.
 Set at a sufficient depth to mitigate broaching of the well
from a well control event for protection of people and
the environment.
 Set a depth to isolate fresh water aquifers
 For shallow wells with lower axial loads it may also be
designed for the compressional structural loads

Intermediate – Designed to isolate upper section of

the well that is normally pressured.
 Set to increase fracture gradient when MW required
exceeds surface casing fracture gradient.
 May be used to mitigate wellbore stability or hole
cleaning.
 May be set to mitigate kick tolerance with increasing
pore pressures Examples: A .5 PPG kick intensity at
10,000’ would stress a shoe at 5,000’ to 1.0 PPG. A .5
PPG kick intensity at 15,000’ would stress the same shoe
at 5,000’ to 1.5 PPG.

4
 Function of Casing Strings

Production Casing – By definition a string of casing

that extends the entire length of the wellbore.
 Set to protect and isolate the entire wellbore
 Used to facilitate completion operations.

Drilling Liner – By definition a liner is a string of

casing that only isolated an open hole section and
does not extend to the surface.
 Set to increase fracture gradient with the MW required
exceeds to intermediate casing fracture pressure.
 Used to mitigate wellbore stability.
 Can be used to mitigate hole cleaning issues on long
reach wells.
 May be set to mitigate kick tolerance with increasing
pore pressures
 Liners are used to mitigate annular pressure losses and
increase cost efficiency of well drilling operation.

Production Liner – A section of casing run in the

lower portion of a well in open hole to facilitate
completion operations.
 Set to isolate the open hole and facilitate completion
operations.
 May be utilized to increase cost efficiency of the well
drilling/completion operations.
 Used often to retain larger ID of production casing above
it for larger OD completion equipment.

Tieback Casing – A string of casing that extends

from a liner top down in the wellbore up to the
surface.
 Used to increase the well pressure ratings when the
intermediate casing can not withstand the production
load cases for either burst/collapse.

Production Tubing – Serves as a conduit of

production fluids from some depth in the well up
to the surface.

5
 Primary Casing Loads
Burst – Pressure on inside of casing is larger than the pressure on the outside.
Collapse – Pressure on the outside of the casing is larger than the pressure on the inside.
Axial (Tension or Compression) – Longitudinal tensile or compressional load.

Casing Applications
Drilling – The casing design loads will be calculated based on the conditions of only drilling the well utilizing
Drilling Design Criteria.
Production – The casing/tubing loads will be calculated based on the conditions of a completed well exposed
to production fluids and utilizing the Production Design Criteria.

Production Fluids Gradients and Salt Loads

.
Oil ≈ 7 PPG SG of 7 PPG oil equals or .84 SGoil =
. . °
. . ∗
API Gravity = = 37° API

Gas If MW < 13 PPG use .1 psi/ft or 2 PPG If MW > 13 PPG use .12 psi/ft or 2.4 PPG
Assume gas is methane (CH4) with a molecular weight of 16

Derived from maximum pressures and ideal gas law equation: PV = nRT
where P – Pressure (psi) V – Volume (ft3) n – moles = m/M R – universal gas constant (10.73)
T – temperature °Rankin m – mass (lbs.) M – molecular weight (16 for CH 4) Methane

PV = RT Density = =

Salt Salt behaves as a liquid at fairly low temperatures thereby exerting pressure in all directions. Casing
through salt therefore has an external pressure on it equal to overburden.

6
 Selecting Casing Setting Depths and Sizes
Casing setting depths and sizes are done with the aid of a borehole fracture gradient model presented in
Overburden, Pore Pressure and Fracture Pressure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmgFxC6HnZE&t=380s

 Setting Depths are chosen to mitigate loss of returns based on the lowest fracture gradient in open hole.
 Casing Design is based on maximum fracture gradients of strongest rock. Sand intervals may be faulted
out or simply not existing in a particular geological section.
 Casing Setting Depths are chosen from Top – Down method starting at the top for the surface casing and
then setting the number of strings as necessary to reach TD. Once the casing setting depths are selected
then the Sand FG Curve is not required for the Casing Design Load Calculations.
 Casing sizes are selected based on a Bottom - Up determination. The bottom casing size is chosen based
on completion or drilling size requirements and then the sizes above must be larger to accommodate
drilling and casing requirements.

7
Wellbore Schematic for Casing Design

8
 Casing Manufacturing
Common Manufacturing Grades and Yield Strength Ranges

Yield Strength – Ranges listed in Manufacturing Table above

Casing which is composed primarily of iron is a crystalline structure. It gets its properties from a combination
of the materials and the heat treatment process. It is very much an art and experienced based process.
Heat Treatment Processes – Creates the crystalline structure which give steel its strength and properties
 Normalized Heated to 1600 °F and air cooled
 Quenched Heated to 1600 °F, hold temperature for a period of time and rapidly cooled to 200 °F in
water or oil
 Tempered Heated to 1050 °F and air cooled to ambient temperature
SAFETY – Never allow welding or external heat to be applied to pressure or structural members
without proper design. Stop Work Authority should be utilized immediately.
The yield strength of the material can be altered causing catastrophic failure in the future.

9
Wall Thickness (WT) – 12.5 % tolerance for API

Wall Thickness - Minimum .875 API standard based on very old manufacturing capability +50 years ago
without computer controls and for thin walled casing. One of the most common casing sizes and weights of
casing ever run in the past was 8-5/8” casing with a .264” WT. 12.5% of .264 = .033” (a fairly small
tolerance).

It is common today to have casing sizes and weights with a WT of .625”. The % variation based on a .033”
range for casing with a WT of .625 would be .033/.625 = .0528 or 5.3%. Lower tolerances can be easily
manufactured.
Ranges of 90-95 % WT & 95-100% WT are commonly manufactured and qualified through inspection.

Outside Diameter (OD) - Maximum + 1% Over ≥ 4.5” and .031” ˂ 4.5”

Example: 11.875 X 1.01 = 11.99” Acceptable
Note: Ensure casing slips are compatible with actual casing manufactured OD

Chemical Composition Carbon limitations improve the steel quality.

Length Ranges (Length of Joints)
Drift - (Ability to pass a fairly long gauge which is close to the ID of the tubular)
Ovality - Roundness

Eccentricity – Equal Wall Thickness

High Strength Casing – When the casing is manufactured to a more stringent specifications than the API
tolerances.
10
11
 Casing Connections
There are many different types of connections which I won’t cover in detail for this overview. I do want to
share the improvement in manufacturing capability that occurred in my career.
Connections have to be robust in order to handle the tension or compression loads, high pressures, bending
moments, buckling loads and retain good mechanical integrity. The earliest oilfield connections were only a
tortuous path of helical threads containing pipe dope that prevented leakage up to a degree.
Now with ultra-high pressures we need premium connections rated up to 20,000 psi. Computer controlled
precise manufacturing has enabled this capability during my career. Connections can now be cut such that
the stress load on the metal to metal sealing surface is very predictable and reliable based on the torque that
the connection is made up to without damaging the connection by exceeding the yield strength. The metal-
to-metal surface is stressed to a high value significantly greater than the operating pressure but less than the
yield stress thereby not damaging the connection.
Note: It is the general industry convention that non premium threads are utilized ≤ 5,000 psi and premium
connections with metal to metal seals are utilized > 5,000 psi.

Flange Premium Connection

It is recommended that square shouldered or wedge type connections be utilized for the compressive loads in
the upper wellbore structural casing strings.

12
 Casing Design Equations
Burst Design Formula – Pressure on inside of casing is greater than pressure on outside.
Po

Pi
t Ωh t Ωh
D
D = Outer Diameter
t = wall thickness
Ωh = hoop stress
Pi = Internal pressure

For thinned walled vessel and calculating hoop stress D o ≈ Di

( P i * Di ) – ( Po * D o ) = 2 * t * Ω h Force Balance Equation for Hoop Stress
If we assume the outside pressure to be 0 then we can calculate the differential pressure (P) that will result in the
yield stress (Y) of the material we get:

𝑃=

Adjusting for an assumed .875 manufacturing capability on control of wall thickness we get the following:

API Burst Formula = 𝑃 = .875

 This formula is very conservative:

o it utilizes the minimum stress of the manufacturing range
o the minimum wall thickness (t) that passes API inspection based on very old manufacturing
capability
o It also only calculates the stress at the ID of the casing wall in which may be relatively thick for
today’s wells. The pipe will actually only burst by getting the stress level required to fail the pipe
to the OD of the pipe.
Aluminum Can

WT = .1 mm or .004”
Aluminum YS = 40,000 psi
D = 2”
P = (2*YS*t) / D

P = ( 2*40,000*.004 ) / 2 = 160 psi

13
Von Mises Triaxial Stress Pressure API Burst Equation
Burst Equation which includes hoop, radial
and tensile stresses.

𝑃 = .875 1− 1− = VME
√

T
OD ID
Stress vector based
on both horizontal
and vertical
stresses.

Some tensile stress on

the casing changes the
vector direction of the API Burst Formula = 𝑃 = .875
combined stresses
thereby increasing the
pressure required to
burst the pipe.

14
Collapse Strength – Pressure on outside of casing is greater than the pressure on the inside of casing.
Collapse values utilized for casing design are empirical values based on test data and not solely on mechanical
equations. Manufacturing ovality, eccentricity, wall thickness, yield strength affects collapse resistance.

15
Axial – Tension or Compression

Stress = Force / Area The stress can be based on either compression or tension load.

Application Exercise 1
A string of 9-5/8”, 47#/ft, P110 casing was run and cemented at 10,000’. A 7”, 29#/ft P110 liner was run
and cemented at 12,000’ with an 8.25” OD X 7.25” ID tieback sleeve made from 110,000 yield material and
then tied back to the surface with the same 7” casing utilizing a 7.125 OD X 6.125”ID tieback stem also made
from 110,000 yield strength material. Calculate the burst and collapse of both the tieback sleeve and
tieback stem using the API equations.

Pause video and calculate these values.

9-5/8” Casing Specifications

7” Casing Specifications

16
Tieback Sleeve OD = 8.25” ID = 7.25” WT = .50” D/t = 8.25/.5 = 16.5
∗ ∗.
Burst = Piy = = = 13,333 psi > Casing Value
.

Collapse – Since D/t = 16.5 Plastic Collapse Equation Applies

.
Pp = Y [ − 𝐹2] − 𝐹3 = 110000 * [ − .0819] − 2852 = 9,345 psi ˂ Casing Value
/ .

Tieback Stem OD = 7.125” ID = 6.125” WT = .50” D/t = 7.125/.5 = 14.25

∗ ∗.
Burst = Piy = = = 15,438 psi > Casing Value
.

Collapse – Since D/t = 14.5 Plastic Collapse Equation Applies

.
Pp = Y [ − 𝐹2] − 𝐹3 = 110000 * [ − .0819] − 2852 = 12,694 psi > Casing Value
/ .

NOTE: It would be important to FULLY land the tieback stem in the tieback sleeve to mitigate collapse since
the unsupported collapse value is lower than the casing value.

17
 Casing Design Criteria

 When calculating burst loads utilize pore pressure on the outside of the casing for determining
pressures. NOTE: MW may be used on a trapped annulus containing mud such as a tieback string.

 When calculating collapse loads on the casing utilize the mud weight gradient on the outside of the
casing for determining pressures.

Casing design criteria may come from any of the list below:
 Common industry standards
 Business unit or field specific standard
 Regulatory requirement
The most severe design criteria based on the area of operation or regulatory requirement would dictate the
specific criteria to utilize for a specific casing design project.

Typical Industry Accepted Design Criteria

Drilling Note: The drilling criteria cannot be derived but are risked based conditions based on experience.
Burst
External – Pore Pressure unless annulus is trapped
Internal – The highest pressure from the list of considerations below determines the maximum
internal casing load pressure.

1. Pressures calculated from the Drilling Depth of Casing in Use

< 5,000’ 100% production fluids in Wellbore

5,000’ – 15,000’ Interpolated % of production fluids in wellbore between 100%
𝐷−5000
At 5,000’ and 50% at 15,000’ % = 100* ((.5 - ( ) ∗ .5) + .50 )
10000
D = TVD depth
> 15,000’ 50% production fluids Above Mud in Wellbore

Note: Worst case production fluids (gas/oil) in the geological area are utilized for calculation.
Limitation: Pressure at casing shoe limited to maximum of fracture pressure.

2. Fracture pressure of the deepest casing shoe with a water or seawater gradient to the
surface. (Bullheading Condition of Well Control)
3. Casing test pressures limited to 70% burst rating of casing. (Note: Not a design condition but
an execution limitation.)
4. Annular pressure buildup (APB) pressures from trapped annuli when applicable such as
subsea production operations must be considered in all cases (not covered in this overview).

18
Production
Burst
External – Pore Pressure unless annulus is trapped
Internal – The highest pressure from the list below determines the maximum internal casing
load pressure.

1. Based on tubing leak containing 100% production fluids. Note: Can be affected by completion fluid
weight utilized on well.
2. Well treatment pressure during screenout or stimulation pressure. (See examples below)

Stimulation Load Case Illustrations

19
Drilling
Collapse
External – The greater of the loads listed below:
1. Mud Weight gradient of the mud on the outside of the casing.
2. The overburden pressure for the intervals of casing through salt. Salt acts
as a liquid distributing the overburden pressure to the outside of the casing.
3. Use cement slurry weight outside of casing prior to cement set up. (Not
likely an issue but should be verified.)

Internal – It is common to use a normal pressure at the bottom of the casing wellbore section
as though the well drilled into a normally pressured cave. Normal pressure may
be 9.0 PPG for an offshore environment and close to 8.3 PPG for land operations
without the presence of salt.

Example mud height in the bottom of the wellbore that is equal to normal pressure
at the bottom of the wellbore section. Example: A well drilling to 12,000’ with
12.0 PPG mud. The bottom hole pressure at 12,000’ based on 9.0 pore pressure
would be 5,616 psi. The hydrostatic height of 12.0 PPG mud required to provide
5,616 psi of hydrostatic pressure would be 5,616 / (.052 * 12) = 9,000’. Therefore
the top of the fluid level in the well based on this criteria would be 12,000’ – 9,000’
= 3,000’ Mud Drop = (MW – 9.0) / MW * D

Production
Collapse
External – The greater of the two loads listed below:
1. Mud Weight gradient of the mud on the outside of the casing.
2. The overburden pressure for the intervals of casing through salt. Salt acts as a
liquid distributing the overburden pressure to the outside of the casing
3. Use cement slurry weight outside of casing prior to cement set up. (Not likely an
issue but should be verified.)

Internal – Zero pressure on the inside of the casing. Possible ways for the internal pressure to
approach zero are the following:
1. The zone depletes to a very low pressure or is extremely tight with a low
permeability
2. The well sands up near the bottom of the completion and the surface pressure
then equalizes with the surface separator pressures
3. During well intervention fluids within the wellbore are removed from the well
with coiled tubing or a snubbing string

20
Drilling and Production
Axial Compression The entire weight of all the well tubular strings and plus intervention or service
loads (Operating weight of coiled tubing or snubbing unit) supported by the
structural pipe.
Tension The tension load shall be the combined load from the weight of casing plus any
additional service loads.
1. Weight of Casing - Multiply the tubular weight per foot times the TVD depth
to get the air weight of the casing as run. Note: The air weight will be
based on TVD length of the casing rather than the actual length. The
normal force of the earth acting upon the casing is holds up the remaining
casing weight.
2. Service Load - Add a business unit specific operational overpull to the
calculated air weight from No. 1 based on the maximum of the two
considerations below.
a. An operational overpull of 100,000 – 150,000 lbs. to prevent an
accidental over tensioning of the casing during the running process or
the drag amount from a torque/drag model on a directional well. If
the casing string is extremely long and close to the casing tensile
strength then it may be adjusted for buoyancy if desired but seldom
necessary. BF = (65.5 – MW) / 65.5
b. A suspended load in the unsupported portion of the casing sting
along with any pressure test load applied to it. Application: Drill pipe
is often hung off near the top of a casing stings on storm packers
during evacuation. A load could possibly be 400,000 lbs. of drill pipe
weight suspended plus a test pressure applied above the storm
packer. If 2,500 psi were to be applied above a storm packer in 13-
5/8” casing with a 12.375” ID the equivalent load would be 300,000
lbs. The additional load would be 700,000 for this example. Casing
design software does not calculate this value unless the user inputs
this load as an additional load.

21
 Casing Design Factors (DF) or Safety Factors

Casing design factors may come from any of the sources below:
 Common industry standards
 Business unit or field specific standard
 Regulatory requirement
The maximum design factor required for an area of operation or regulatory requirement would dictate the
specific DF for a specific casing design project.
Common Industry Standard DF’s
Burst – 1.1 for sweet operating environment without H 2S
1.2 for production fluids or geological interval possibly containing H 2S

Note: The highest drilling related burst loads will generally be at the top of the well close to people and the
environment thereby requiring a higher DF to mitigate potential problems from burst.

Collapse – 1.0
Note: From a practical perspective it is difficult to get close to the criteria design collapse loads in the real
world other than human error is following procedures. The highest collapse loads will also be near the
bottom of the wellbore away from people and the surface environment thereby not exposing this risk to
people or to the surface.

Tension – 1.3 – 1.6

Note: The value of the extra tension above actual weight must be sufficient to mitigate any potential
unexpected overpull during execution.

Example:
Running 7” 26 #/ft casing to 10,000’ Casing air weight equals 260,000 lbs.
If 150,000 lbs. for margin of error of overpull is acceptable then DF could be 150,000/260,000 + 1.0 = 1.6

Running 11-3/4” 65 #/ft casing to 14,000’ Casing air weight equals 910,000 lbs.
If 250,000 lbs. for margin of error of overpull is acceptable then DF could be 250,000/910,000 + 1.0 = 1.3

Compression – 2.0 A typical safety factor to utilize for the upper structural pipe compression load which
supports the entire weight of the well.

22
 Casing Design General Procedure

1. Casing loads are based on Criteria Calculations.

2. Multiply casing load times design factor (DF) to get casing design load required.
3. Choose a casing specification that has the required casing strength or verify the DF for all load
criteria of the previously chosen casing.

Burst and Collapse

1. Begin with a wellbore diagram showing casing depths (TVD), pore pressure, MW and shale FG.
2. Draw a diagram of wellbore based on design criteria showing fluid level (FL) and gradients in wellbore.
3. (Burst) Start at the deepest depth for a casing string to be utilized calculate the wellbore pressure at
that depth, the hydrostatic and wellbore pressures at each major node on the diagram going up on
both the outside and inside of the casing string based on criteria. (Collapse) Calculate pressures on
the inside from the surface down on the inside. In both cases we are starting at a point in the well in
which the pressure is identified based on criteria.
4. Calculate the differential pressure at each node to determine casing load.
5. Multiply Design Factor (DF) times casing load to get design load. Verify most stringent criteria is met.
6. Choose a casing strength (size, weight, grade, connection specifications) that meets or exceeds design
load.
7. Verify all three loads are satisfied (burst, collapse, tension).

Tension

1. Weight of Casing - Multiply the tubular weight per foot times the TVD depth to get the air weight of the
casing as run. Note: The air weight will be based on TVD length of the casing rather than the actual
length. The normal force of the earth acting upon the casing is holding up the remaining casing weight.

Service Load - Add a business unit specific operational overpull to the calculated air weight from No. 1
based on the maximum of the two considerations below.
a. An operational overpull of 100,000 – 150,000 lbs. to prevent an accidental over tensioning of the
casing during the running process. If the casing string is extremely long and close to the casing
tensile strengths then it may be adjusted for buoyancy if desired but seldom necessary. BF = (65.5
– MW) / 65.5
b. A suspended load in the unsupported portion of the casing sting along with any pressure test load
applied to it. Example Application: Drill pipe is often hung off near the top of casing stings on
storm packers during evacuation. A load could possibly be 400,000 lbs. of drill pipe weight
suspended plus a test pressure applied above the storm packer. If 2,500 psi were to be applied
above a storm packer in 13-5/8” casing with a 12.375” ID the equivalent load would be 300,000 lbs.
This additional load summed together would be 700,000 for this example. Casing design software
does not calculate this value unless the user inputs this load as an additional load.
2. Multiply Design Factor (DF) times the maximum tension load calculated in Step 1 to determine casing
design load.
3. Choose a casing strength (size, weight, grade, connection specifications) that meets or exceeds design
load. The weaker of the pipe body or connection is utilized as the casing strength in tension.
Note: It is strongly suggested to consider utilizing casing slips that have the same tensile rating as the
casing strength to avoid operational overloads during execution.
4. Verify all three loads are satisfied (burst, collapse, tension).

23
 Recommended Sequence or Order of Doing Casing Design Work Activity
Drilling Load Case
1. Burst Load Case
2. Collapse Load Case
3. Axial Load Case
Rational: The highest drilling loads are the burst loads at the top of the well from the drilling
environment. The collapse rating for a particular casing string that meets the burst condition
will be close to the burst value even though the collapse at the top of the well is very low.
Note: Only likely exception would be an ultradeep normally pressured well in which both burst
and collapse loads are low such that the tension load case may become a driver.
Applicable casing strings would be conductor, surface, and intermediate casing strings.
Production Load Case
1. Collapse Load Case
2. Burst Load Case
3. Axial Load Case
The highest load case for production casing is generally collapse since it is designed for zero
pressure on the inside for the production load.
Note: The same exception for the drilling load case in that the only likely exception would be an
ultradeep normally pressured well in which both burst and collapse loads are low such that the
tension load case may become a driver.
Applicable casing strings would be production casing or production liners.

Casing Design Examples

24
 Pressure Testing of Casing During Execution
Application Exercise No. 2
Given Intermediate Casing at 14,000’ is Rated to 10,000 psi.

Calculate casing test pressures as each casing string is run

from intermediate casing to TD.

Pressure test limit of 70% = 7,000 psi

Pause video and calculate test pressures:

1. Initial test when run at 14,000’.

Static Differential
PP Outside = 11.5
MW Inside = 12.0
Static Differential P = .052 * 14,000 * .5 PPG = 364 psi
TEST PRESSURE LIMIT = 7,000 – 364 = 6,636 psi (70 %)

2. Test after running liner at 18,000’.

Static Differential
PP Outside = 11.5 (Doesn’t change)
MW Inside = 15
Static Differential P = .052 * 14,000 * 3.5 PPG = 2,548 psi
TEST PRESSURE LIMIT = 7,000 – 2,548 = 4,452 psi (70 %)

3. Test at well TD of 20,000’ before completion.

Static Differential
PP Outside = 11.5 (Doesn’t change)
MW Inside = 17
Static Differential P = .052 * 14,000 * 5.5 PPG = 4,004 psi
TEST PRESSURE LIMIT = 7,000 – 4,004 = 2,996 psi (70 %)

31
 Buckling Considerations and Mitigation Measures
There are two types of bucking that can occur, Sinusoidal or Helical. Both of these buckling conditions can be
predicted by equations that I will not cover in this overview. I will review the consequences and mitigation
measures that can help prevent these consequences.

Buckling is a design condition based on the effective tension of the casing. Changes to effective tension caused
by changing pressures or temperatures can cause the tube to become unstable and buckle. The effective tension
equation that governs the buckling condition in the casing is following:

Effective tension equation:

Fe = Fz - PiAi + PoAo

Fe – effective tension
Fz – actual tension
PiAi – pressure inside casing multiplied by area based on casing ID
PoAo - pressure outside casing multiplied by area based on casing OD

Effective tension in the equation Fe = Fz - PiAi + PoAo must exceed the buckling load limit (Fc) predicted by
sinusoidal or helical bucking equations. It can be seen in reviewing the equation that increasing actual tension
by overpulling casing after it is run increases the effective tension which helps to mitigate bucking effects.

If Fe > Fc Tube is stable, No buckling

If Fe < Fc Tube is unstable, buckling likely
Fc = Buckling Load

Effective tension equation

Fe = Fz - PiAi + PoAo

Increasing the MW on the inside of the

casing reduces the effective tension.

As the Temperature increases on the inside

of the casing from the deeper and hotter
temperatures it results in a compression
force which also reduces the effective
tension.

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The Consequences of Not Managing Buckling can be SEVERE:

 Higher torque and drag from drill string

 Excessive Casing Wear or Potential Holes in Casing
 Drilling inefficiency due to inability to get effective weight on bit
 Difficulty doing sliding with directional assemblies due to drag

Bucking Mitigation Considerations:

1. After running a long intermediate casing string which is likely to experience buckling overpull the
casing an amount greater than the force that will be created by the mud weight or temperature
effects.
a. If conventional casing slips are utilized overpull casing 60,000 – 80,000 lbs. above hook load
after cementing during the process of landing casing on slips.
b. If a mandrel hanger is utilized with the casing off bottom then bump plug with an excessive
pressure to create the desired overpull at the bottom from the pressure utilized and hold
pressure until the casing is stuck at the bottom with the overpull force trapped in the casing.
Example: For 9-5/8” 53.5 #/ft casing with an ID of 8.535” (Area of 57.2 in 2) and utilizing a
pressure of 2,500 psi to bump the plug an overpull force of the following can be obtained:
F = A * P = 57.2 * 2500 = 143,000 lbs. If the casing is landed and then cemented with the
mandrel hanger just off seat the hook load can be observed increasing.
An overpull on intermediate casing strings should generally not be an issue since the landing load is
far below the tensile load rating of the casing.
2. Reduce the length of unsupported casing by utilizing a longer cement column.
3. For doing thru tubing well interventions it is common for many pressures and fluids to change inside
the tubing from the initial completed state. If you experience difficulty in get through the lower packer
assembly with a wireline tool string then you can see from the Effective Tension equation that
increasing the pressure on the outside of the tubing should increase the effective tension on it.
Pressuring up on the tubing-casing annulus should aid in increasing effective tension to aid in getting
wireline tools through a buckled interval of the tubing.

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