Casing design

Dr. Ali Farag

Geoscientist
Dr. Ali Farag
 Outline

1. Functions of casing
2. Casing types
3. Strength properties
4. Casing specification
5. Casing design
6. Other considerations

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The general picture of casing

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Three possible casing configuration

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Presentation Title
 Casing Sizes Decision Tree
18-5/8 20 24 30
Casing size, in 16

Bit & hole

size, in 14-3/4 17-1/2 20 26

11-3/4 13-3/8
Casing size, in 16 20
11-7/8 14

Bit & hole

size, in 10-5/8 12-1/4 14-3/4 17-1/2

Casing & liners 8-5/8 9-5/8 11-3/4 13-3/8

size, in 10-3/4
9-7/8 11-7/8 14

Bit & hole

size, in 7-7/8 8-1/2 8-3/4 9-1/2 10-5/8 12-1/4

Casing & liners

5-1/2 7-5/8
size, in 6-5/8 7 8-5/8 9-5/8
5-3/4 7-3/4

Bit & hole 8-1/2

4-1/2 4-3/4 5-7/8 6-1/8 6-1/2 7-7/8
size, in 8-3/4

Casing & liners

size, in 3-1/2 4 4-1/2 5 5-1/2 7

Presentation Title
Tubing size, in 1.9 2-1/16 2-3/8 2-7/8 3-1/2
 Terminology
• Casing • Tensile force
• Casing string • Collapse strength
• Surface casing • Collapse pressure
• Intermediate casing • Collapse resistance
• Production casing • Burst strength
• Liner • Burst pressure
• Drilling liner • Burst resistance
• Tube • Compression load
• Formation • Pressure coefficient

Presentation Title
 Functions of Casing

1. To keep the hole open and to provide a support for weak, or

fractured formations.

2. To isolate porous media with different fluid/pressure regimes

from contaminating the pay zone.

3. To prevent contamination of near-surface freshwater zones

4. To provide a passage for hydrocarbon fluids.

5. To provide a suitable connection for the wellhead equipment

6. to provide a hole of known diameter and depth to facilitate

the running of testing and completion equipment.
Presentation Title
 Casing Types

The necessity of classification

• The presence of high-pressured zones at different

depths;

• The presence of weak, unconsolidated formations or

sloughing shaly zones
 The classification of casing

Stove pipe
A. Functions
• To prevent washout of near-surface unconsolidated formations.
• To provide a circulation system for the drilling mud.
• To ensure the stability of the ground surface upon which the rig is sited.
B. Size

From 26” to 42”

C. Feature

• Cannot carry any wellhead equipment.

• Can be driven into the ground with a pile driver.

Presentation Title
 The classification of casing
Conductor pipe
A. Functions
• To protect near surface unconsolidated formations.
• To seal off shallow-water zones.
• To provide a circuit for the drilling mud.
• To protect the foundations of the platform(offshore).

B. Size
From 18 5/8 in to 30 in

C. Setting depth
from the surface to some shallow depth

D. Features
• One or more BOPs may be mounted on this casing;
• Always cemented to the surface;
• Either to support the subsequent casing strings and wellhead , or simply cut
Presentation Title
at the surface after setting the surface casing.
 The classification of casing

Surface casing
A. Functions
• To prevent caving of weak formations that are encountered at shallow depths.
• To ensure that the formations at the casing shoe will not fracture at high hydrostatic
pressures which maybe used later.
• To prevent shallow blowouts as drilling process.
B. Size
13 3/8” (in the Middle East)
18 5/8” or 20” in (in North Sea)

C. Setting depth
Chosen to protect troublesome formations, thief zones, water sands, shallow hydrocarbon
zones and build-up sections of deviated wells.

D. Feature
BOPs are connected to the top of the string

Presentation Title
 The classification of casing

Intermediate casing
A. Functions
• To seal off a severe-loss zones;
• To protect problem formations, such as salt sections or caving shales.
• To prevent communication behind the casing between the lower hydrocarbon
zones and upper water formations.

B. Size
The most common size is 9 5/8”

C. Setting depth
Usually set in the transition zone below or above an over-pressured zone

D. Feature
• Good cementation of the casing must be ensured
• Multistage cementing may be used to cement long strings of intermediate casing

Presentation Title
 The classification of casing

Production casing
A. Functions
• To isolate producing zones;
• To provide reservoir fluid control
• To permit selective production in mutizone production.

B. Size
The normal size is 7”

C. Feature
• The last casing string;
• The well will be completed through the string.

Presentation Title
 The classification of casing

Liner casing
A. Introduction of liner casing
• Not to reach the surface;
• Hung on the intermediate casing

B. Setting depths

set at the bottom and hung from the intermediate casing

C. Advantages:
• Total costs of the production string is reduced;
• Running and cementing times is reduced ;
• The length of reduced diameter is reduced.

D. Disadvantages:
• Possible leak across a liner hanger;
• Difficulty in obtaining a good primary cementation due to the annulus between the liner and
the hole.
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 The classification of casing

The types of liner

• Drilling liners:
to isolate lost circulate or abnormally pressured zones to permit deeper drilling
• Production liners:
• to replace a full casing to provide isolation across the producing or injection zones
• Tie-back liner:
a section of casing extending upwards from the top of an existing liner to the
surface or wellhead
• Scab liner:
used to repair existing damaged casing
• Scab tie-back liner:
a section of casing extending from the top o fan existing liner.

Presentation Title
Strength properties

Casing strength properties are normally specified as:

1. Yield strength
2. Collapse strength
3. Burst strength
Engineering Definitions

• Stress
• Strain
• Modulus of Elasticity
• Hooke’s Law
• Poisson’s Ratio

Presentation Title
18
Stress Formula

Force F
Stress  
Area A p

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19
Stress Formula

Force ( lbf ) lbf

Stress = =2 = psi
Area ( sq.in .) in

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20
Strain Formula

Length Change
Strain
Original Length

L

L
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21
Strain Formula

Length Change in
Strain  
Original Length in

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22
Hooke’s Law

  
Stress is proportional to strain

 is the proportionality constant called

Young’s Modulus or Modulus of Elasticity

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23
Poisson’s Ratio


 r

 a

 = radial (sometimes referred to as transverse) strain

 = axial strain
r

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24
 Strength properties

Yield strength

Ultimate strength
Load B
C
A
Fracture strength
Yield strength

O Elongation
• Load-elongation graph

O-A-B
This part is a straight line and can be called as the “elastic range”.

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 Strength properties

Hooke’s law is only applicable to this portion:

σ = Eε
Where:
σ = Applied stress=load/cross-section area
E = Young’s modulus
ε = deformation=elongation/original length

A. To result in no damage to the internal structure; removal of the load will

resume its original shape and length.
B. Point B is defined as yield strength.

Presentation Title
 Strength properties

B-C
To result in a change in the internal structure and in a loss of strength;
removal of the load will not resume its original shape and length.

Note:
① when quoting the strength of the casing, it is customary to use the yield
strength of casing.
② API define the yield strength as the tensile stress required to produce a
total elongation of 0.5% of the gauge length.

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 Strength properties

Axial tension

F tensional = σ 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 As

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 Example

Compute the body-yield strength for 20-in, K-55 casing with a nominal wall thickness
of 0.635 in and a nominal weight per foot of 133 lb/ft.

Solution.

This pipe has a minimum yield strength of 55,000 psi and an ID of

d=20.00-2(0.635) = 18.730 in.
Thus, the cross-sectional area of steel is
As=(π/4)(202-18.732)=38.63 sq in.
and minimum pipe-body yield is predicted by at an axial load of
Ften =55,000(38.63)=2,125,000 lbf.
Presentation Title
 Strength properties

collapse strength
(1) Concept
Collapse strength is defined as the maximum external pressure to collapse
a specimen of casing.

(2) Types

• Elastic collapse: specimen fails before it deforms.

• Plastic collapse: specimen deforms before it fails.

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 Strength properties
Elastic collapse
The elastic collapse pressure Pc, can be determined from the following formula:

2E 1
Pc   bar
1  2
DD 
2 (1)

  1
t t 

Where E: Young’s modulus of steel;

ν: Poisson’s ratio;
t: casing thickness;
D: the outside diameter of casing
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 Strength properties

In Imperial units, E=30×106psi and ν=0.3; hence the equation ( 1 ) simplifies to

46.95 10 6 (2)

Pc  2
psi
DD 
  1
t  t 
In metric units, the equation ( 1 ) becomes

2.198  10 6
Pc  2
bar
DD  (3)
  1
t  t 
Presentation Title
 Strength properties

Plastic collapse

The minimum collapse pressure Pp in the plastic range may be determined from the
following equation :

 A 
Pp  Y   B  C (4)
 D/t 

Where A,B and C are constants depending on the grade of steel used and Y is
yield strength.

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 Strength properties

Formula Factors

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 Strength properties

Transition collapse pressure

The collapse behavior PT, in the transition zone between elastic and plastic failure is
described by the following formula:

 F 
PT  Y   G  psi (5)
 D/t 

Where F and G are constants can be given by A,B and C.

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 Strength properties

Formula Factors

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 Strength properties

Burst strength

Concept:
Defined as the maximum value of internal pressure required to cause the steel to
yield.

The minimum burst pressure for a casing can be got by the following Barlow’s
formula:
 2Yt 
Pbr  0.875 
 D 
The coefficient 0.875 can be deduced if the imperial units are
used in the above equation.
Presentation Title
 Strength properties

Example

• Compute the burst-pressure rating for 20-in,K-55 casing with a normal wall thickness
of 0.635 in and a normal weight per foot of 133 lb/ft.

Solution

• The burst-pressure rating is computed by use of the above equation.

Pbr=0.875×2×55000×0.635÷20=3056 psi

Rounded to the nearest 10psi, this value becomes 3060psi. This burst-pressure rating
corresponds to the minimum expected internal pressure at which permanent pipe
deformation could take place, if the pipe is subjected to no external pressure or axial
loads.
Presentation Title
 Casing specification

• Casing specification is referred to the following parameters:

a. Outside diameter and wall thickness

b. Weight per unit length;
c. Type of coupling and thread;
d. Length of joints;
e. Grade of steel.

Presentation Title
 Casing specification

Outside diameter and wall thickness

Different depths

Different pressure

Economy

Different diameter
and wall thickness

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 Casing specification

Weight per unit length

API defines three types of casing weight :

(1) nominal weight;

(2) plain end weight;
(3) threaded and coupleded weight.

• Used for the purpose of identification of casing types during ordering.

• Expressed in lb/ft or kg/m.
• Not exact weights and normally based on the calculated, theoretical weight
per foot for a 20ft length of threaded or coupled joint.

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 Casing specification

Weight per unit length

Nominal weight, Wn , is calculated from the following formula:

Wn=10.68(D-t)t+0.0722D2 lb/ft

where
D: outside diameter, in;

t: wall thickness, in.

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 Casing specification

plain end weight

• The plain end weight is the weight is the weight without the inclusion of
threads and couplings.
• The plain end weight can be calculated by use of the following formula,taken
from API Standards:

Wpe=10.68(D-t)t lb/ft

where
D: outside diameter, in;
t: wall thickness, in.
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 Casing specification

Threaded and coupleded weight

• The threaded and coupleded weight is the average weight of a joint including the
threads at both ends and a coupling at one end when power-tight.
• It can be calculated by use of the following formula:

(20−(NL+2J)/24)Wpe+weight of coupling−weight removed in threading two pipe ends )

w= 20

Where:
W=threaded and coupled weight (lb/ft);
NL=coupling length (in);
J=distance from end of pipe to center of coupling in the power-tight position (in);
Wpe=plain end weight .
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 Casing specification

Threaded and coupleded weight

• A coupling is a short section of casing and is used to connect two casing joints.
• A casing joint is externally threaded at both ends. The most common type of
coupling is internally threaded from each end.

• API specifies that a coupling should be of the same grade as the pipe body.

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Presentation Title
 Casing specification

In general, the casing and coupling are specified by the type of

threads (or connection) cut in the pipe or coupling. API defines
three principal elements of thread:
(1) thread height or depth, defined as the distance between the
thread crest and the thread root measured normal to the axis of
the thread;
(2) lead, defined as the distance from one point on a thread to a
corresponding point on the adjacent thread, as measured
parallel to the thread axis;
(3) taper, defined as the change in diameter of a thread expressed
in inches per foot of thread length;
(4) thread form -- most casing threads are squared or V-shaped.
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 Casing specification -Casing Couplings

The following are the most widely used connections.

(a) API 8 round thread;
(b) Buttress thread;
(c) VAM thread;
(d) Extreme line threaded coupling;
(e) Buttress double seal (BDS) thread.

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Casing specification -Casing Couplings

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Casing Couplings

8 round

• 30 degree rounded
thread form
• Weaker than pipe
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 Casing specification -Casing Couplings

Buttress

• Full strength coupling

• Stock is same material as casing
• Make up length to the base of
triangle
• Square shoulder for handling

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 Casing specification -Casing Couplings

New Vam

Thread run out

Thread form

Seal geometry

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 Casing specification -Casing Couplings

Vam ACE

Thread run out

Thread form

Seal geometry

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Casing specification -Casing Couplings

Presentation Title VAM thread configuration

 Casing specification
Length of joint

Range Length (ft) Average

length (ft)
1 16-25 22
2 25-34 31
3 Over 34 42

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 Casing specification

Grade of steel

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