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The Lease Pumpers Handbook

Chapter 17
Well Servicing and Workover
Section D
WIRE LINE OPERATIONS
D-1. Five Uses for Wire Lines in
Servicing Wells.
There are many styles of wire line
available for use in the oilfields. The wire
used is generally either solid wire or wire
rope. There are five major purposes for wire
lines around well servicing units.
Surface uses:
Guying the pulling unit
Line from drum to blocks
Downhole uses:
Sand lines
Solid wire lines
Electric lines
D-2. Wire Rope.
Wire rope consists of strands of solid wire
braided in specific patterns around a core to
create various shapes (Figure 1). These
parts of a wire rope are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Typical shapes of wire rope.
(courtesy of Williamsport Wirerope Works,
Inc.)
Figure 2. Parts of a wire rope.
(courtesy of Williamsport Wirerope Works,
Inc.)
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Wire lines are available in right- and left-
hand lay or twist (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Several types of wire rope lay.
(courtesy of Williamsport Wirerope Works,
Inc.)
The correct method of measuring lines is
shown in Figure 4. This is important when
selecting wire rope accessories such as
clamps, blocks, and sheaves.
Figure 4. Methods of measuring lines.
(courtesy of Williamsport Wirerope Works,
Inc.)
As illustrated in Figure 5, wire ropes can
be damaged. Extreme care must be used to
prevent damage to the lines. Guy, sand, and
all other lines must be protected. The lines
should always be inspected prior to use.
Figure 5. Typical wire rope problems.
(courtesy of Williamsport Wirerope Works,
Inc.)
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D-3. Functions of Guy Lines.
Wire rope used for guy lines is usually
right-hand regular lay. This line is available
in many sizes but is smaller than the lines
used on the drum. When purchasing guy
lines, and the pumper should buy line that
will not break under load and should check
with the manufacturer to select the correct
line and core.
D-4. Functions of Line from Drum to
Blocks.
The draw works line used to drill an oil
well is different from the lines used on a
well servicing unit. The wire rope used for
well servicing is rotation-resistant so that the
elevators will remain in the same position
while traveling up through the derrick,
especially when using a single line. The
lines are designed to be used on the surface.
When purchasing a new line, the pumper
will need 500-800 feet or more in order to
lower tubing blocks from the crown to the
floor. A reserve amount needs to be stored
behind the drum divider so that 20 or more
feet can be periodically cut off according to
the ton-mile schedule. This will extend the
life of the line.
D-5. Sand Lines.
Sand lines are placed on the second drum
of the pulling unit or on the drum closer to
the cab. Many downhole services are
performed by the well servicing crew using
the sand line, so it must be long enough to
reach the bottom of the hole. Some typical
well servicing crew services are:
Swabbing fluids. This operation
involves dropping a swab down the hole
and lifting fluid out to a vessel to remove
it from the tubing to a holding tank.
When completing a new well, fracing, or
performing other operations, swabbing is
necessary to clean up the well bore and
matrix area. A satisfactory lubricator
with the proper valves and accessories is
needed.
Bailing sand. As fluids are produced,
sand may migrate from the formation
and settle in the bottom of the hole. A
sand bailer may be lowered to the
bottom of the hole when the tubing is
pulled on some wells and the sand
bailed.
Cutting paraffin and scale. The well
servicing crew may cut paraffin and
scale with the sand line with special
tools (Figure 6).
Figure 6. One style of paraffin scraper.
Running impression blocks. Another
function of the sand line is to run an
impression block. When a fish or loose
object in the hole is lost, the pumper
must go fishing to try to retrieve it.
When fishing, it is often desirable to run
an impression tool in and set it down on
the lost item in order to know how to
grab hold of the object. A standard or
hard impression block is a flat-bottomed
tool made of lead. It resembles a flat-
bottomed drill bit from a distance.
Running scrapers. Before running a
packer into the hole, the well servicing
crew generally runs a scraper slightly
larger than the packer to remove any
scale or paraffin. This also checks for
collapsed casing.
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Pulling standing valves. If problems
are encountered while checking for or
locating tubing leaks, a standing valve
can be dropped into the hole and the
tubing filled with water. As the tubing is
pulled, the water level will drop to the
level of the hole. When that point is
reached, the leaking joint is replaced.
The sand line can be run in the hole to
retrieve the standing valve without
having to pull the remaining joints.
D-6. Solid Wire Lines.
The solid wire line is a single strand of
wire. It is run into wells to perform special
tests and functions. Several sizes of wire are
available, according the depth of the well
and job to be performed. These jobs are
generally tests or valve placement using a
downhole tool usually referred to as a bomb.
Temperature surveys are run primarily to
detect casing (or tubing) leaks, although they
serve other needs as well. Temperature
surveys are run each six months to one year
to test for leaks in flowing wells. The leak
will be detected by a temperature drop or
decrease due to the expansion of the
escaping gas.
Pressure surveys are run on a yearly
schedule to determine pressure drop and
remaining reservoir fluids. By taking the
pressure drop and comparing it to the
previous years reading, the remaining fluids
in the reservoir and the remaining life of the
well can be projected. This is also an
important factor in regulating the
effectiveness of gas injection and reservoir
pressure maintenance. For flowing wells the
date when artificial lift may become
desirable is projected and funds to install it
can be scheduled.
Directional surveys can also be
conducted with a wire line while drilling a
well. A clock in the survey bomb is set for a
pre-determined time and the tool is lowered
into the hole. After the appropriate time has
lapsed, the clock will trigger the direction
impression on a small bulls eye disk, rotate
the disk 180 degrees, make a second
impression, and retrieve the tool.
Solid wire lines are used to run and
retrieve special tools, such as gas lift valves
in wells with side pocket mandrels. The
wire line machine is used to change gas lift
valves, scrape paraffin and scale, and
perform several other functions. There are
several other uses for the small solid line
such as running, perforating, and retrieving
blind plugs.
D-7. Electric Lines.
Electric lines are used for many purposes
in oil wells. When a well is being drilled,
open hole survey logs are run to evaluate
formations that are being drilled to
determine if hydrocarbons encountered have
enough volume to make a commercial well.
After the casing has been run, cased hole
logs can also be conducted. When the
casing is cemented, this is usually followed
with a cement bond log.
In production operations electric logs are
run for many purposes. All wells are
perforated by use of electric lines. They are
also used for measuring depth, conducting
temperature and pressure surveys, measuring
pressure drop during fracing operations,
running tracer surveys, and many other
purposes.