Flow Tubes

and Pressure Work

ByTERRY MOFFATT and TERRY MADDEN
_________________________________________
Quality Wireline and Cable Inc.

Figure
Figure11

Figure
Figure22

he intent of this article is

to look at best practices
on pressure work for
longer cable life, from a cable
manufacturers perspective. Many
wireline operations are performed
when the well is live or when
the wellbore pressure exceeds
the atmospheric pressure. Live
operations are performed for
several reasons including: to
lower cost of operations, to reduce
formation damage, to minimize lost
production due to downtime, and
30 Well Servicing July/August 2012

Figure
Figure33

Figure
Figure44

to perform pump-down operations.

Armored lines (wireline) by design
have interstices between armor
wires and armor layers that cannot
be packed off in a direct manner.
In order to maintain well control
during live operations a grease
head and lubricator are employed
(Figure 1). The wireline is passed
through several closely fitting
flow tubes (Figure 2) prior to
the rope socket being attached.
Viscous grease is injected into the
assembly at pressures exceeding

Figure
Figure55 pressure and fills
wellbore
the space between the
wireline and the inner
diameter of the flow
tubes. The grease packed
in the tight annular space
provides significant
resistance to wellbore
135135- adhering
150
- 150
pressure by
to
the surfaces of the cable
and the flow tubes; while
permitting the wireline
cable to travel into and
out of the wellbore. Each
subsequent flow tube
creates compounding
pressure drop so there
is no residual pressure
drop as the wireline exits
the flow tubes. Pressure
is maintained higher than
wellbore pressure with
a grease pump. The tighter the
annular space the higher the force
(pressure) required to displace
the grease. This principle is the
same for both braided wireline
and slickline.
A pack off is mounted at the top
of the lubricator to seal the well
in the event of loosing pressure
control through the grease head.
This should not be used as a line
wiper because the packing rubbers
are a harder compound and can
cause damage to the wireline.

These devices also prevent the

wireline from rotating which causes
the armor to loosen and may result
in a birdcage below the pack off.
In addition, wear on the pack off
rubbers can limit their ability to
seal the wireline effectively in
the event the flow tubes are not
able to hold back the wellbore
pressure. In reality, many operators
do use the pack off to wipe the line,
particularly when the flow tubes
are oversized and pressure control
with grease is difficult to maintain.
The argument for wiping the line is
that the wireline equipment stays
cleaner as well as the wellsite,
which provides both a better
work area and more responsible
environmental stewardship. In fact
more and more operators working
offshore and in environmentallysensitive areas are requiring line
wipers. If a line wiper is required,
or going to be used, it is highly
suggested that a line wiper is used
in addition to the pack off. In
other words do not use the pack
off for this purpose. Supplemental
line wipers are available and can
be purchased with softer rubber.
A proper set up will allow the
pressure on the line wiper to have
more sensitive control than a pack
off to minimize the force on the
wireline. The line wiper should
never be used to control pressure
only to clean the line. However the
user should always be aware that
there is the possibility of damaging
the wireline whenever a line wiper
is being employed.
New cables
New cables are particularly
risky for pressure work. During
manufacture a cable is subjected
to only a few hundred pounds of
tension, so there is essentially no
torque in a new cable as delivered.
When installed on a truck the
spooling tensions are significantly
higher than during manufacturing,
and the cable is not free to rotate
so the cable will develop significant
torque. When making the first field
operations this new cable will try
to rotate to equalize this built
up torque, as well as to support
the weight of the tool string. To
illustrate the magnitude of this
problem consider a new 7/32"
cable deployed in a straight 20,000

Figure 1 at right.
Courtesy of Lee
Specialties

Figure 2

is used for grease injection a

substantial amount of extra grease
will likely be required to fill the
interstices between the armors.
New flow tubes should always
be used on new cables. Used flow
tubes may have wear and it is
not necessarily even around the
diameter of the flow tube. This
non-uniform wear can cause a high
friction spot in the flow tubes and
a non-uniform annulus between
the flow tube and cable. These
circumstances are not ideal and
not worth risking cable damage,
particularly on a newer cable when
you should anticipate additional
spin and changes in diameter.

foot well. The total

rotations that a new
cable end would need
Sizing flow tubes
to rotate to equalize
Prior to starting a pressure job
the torque could be
it is important to understand the
over 400 rotations.
diameter of the cable and the
Until the cable is
amount of wear on the cable. As
well seasoned it is
a general practice it is a good idea
recommended that flow tubes be
to caliper the wireline every couple
on the high end of the industry
of thousand feet and record the
standard (3 to 8 thousands of an
readings in the line record book
inch) to allow for changes in line
for future reference when selecting
diameter and
cable rotation.
This seasoning
is critical to the
life of a wireline
cable. (See New
Cables article in
July/August 2011
Well Servicing.)
Pressure work
also slows the
seasoning process
by lubricating
the cable and
preventing grit
and corrosion
from forming
Your Artificial
in the armors
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cable. The first
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Well Servicing July/August 2012 31

Figure 3

flow tubes. A good rule of thumb

is if the wireline varies in diameter
more than 0.006" it is not a good
candidate for pressure work. If you
are running deeper than normal
or the line has been cut off or
shortened, you could be getting
to a part of the wireline that has
never been off the drum. This is
the same as a new cable. Now you
have a mixture of used seasoned
cable and brand new cable. You
must treat it as if the cable is new.
Industry standard for flow tube
selection has been 3 to 8 thousands
of an inch larger than the maximum
OD of the wireline entering the well.
A wireline cable will vary in size
along the entire length of a cable
due primarily to wear and stretch.
Flow tubes also wear causing their
inside diameter to increase in size.
Understanding your cable and
flow tube diameters is critical in
getting a good seal during pressure
work without compromising the
possibility of getting stuck in the
flow tubes and potentially breaking
the cable.

32 Well Servicing July/August 2012

Crossed
armor wires
A common
problem that
results from
the use of
flow tubes
that many
times goes
unnoticed
is crossed
armor wires.
To
insert
the wireline
through the
flow tubes
the
rope
socket is cut off and the armor
wires twisted together. It is during
this step that the armor wire can be
unintentionally crossed as shown in
Figure 3. This crossed armor may
cause problems by getting stuck in
the flow tubes on that first run or
it may get milked up the cable and
show up many runs later thousands
of feet up the cable. The crossed
armor wire could also be forced
back through the flow tubes by
indenting the outer armor into the
inner armor and plastic conductor,
again going unnoticed. However,
in this case the crossed armor
by its very nature will take most
of the wear as the wireline slides
through the flow tubes. Eventually
the wire will break and potentially
ball up below the flow tubes. This
condition can also result in an
electrical short where the inner
wire has been forced though the
plastic to the copper.
The best practice to prevent
crossed armors is to stop and
check the cable after the first flow
tube has been installed. Slide

the first tube back and forth then

run your hand down the cable in
front of the flow tube feeling for
any irregularities. If a crossed
armor wire is found near the tool
end and it has not been forced
through the flow tubes, then it can
sometimes be milked back to the
tool end. If however the crossed
wire is hundreds or thousands of
feet up the wireline then the best
practice would be to go to the
nearest authorized service center
to have them return the wireline
to operational condition. When
a crossed armor has been forced
through a flow tube and then found,
the wireline needs to be cut off to
prevent the possibility of either
a broken armor or electrically
shorted cable.
By following the guidelines above
you can expect longer life from
your electro-mechanical cables.
These simple rules of thumb and
easy checks may also prevent costly
field problems.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Terr y
Moffatt, P.Eng., ME, PET, is president
of Quality Wireline and Cable Inc.
His experience includes co-founder
and president of Wireline Works
Inc.; and president and founder of
PROMORE Engineering Inc. He has
20 years experience in the design
and installation of permanent
monitoring systems using wireline,
and in the manufacture of electromechanical wireline.
Terry Madden is the U.S. sales
manager of Quality Wireline and Cable
Inc. His experience includes 28 years
at Maddens Cable Service Inc. where he
managed a service center and installed
and troubleshot wireline. He also spent 2
years in technical sales at Wireline Works
Inc. His expertise is troubleshooting
wireline cable field problems.