During a recent Tech Talk, hosted by SPE and sponsored by TechTAC®, our team fielded several questions from the audience. All the questions were insightful, but one of them stood out. After seeing many varied applications for the Slimline® TAC, the attendee was rethinking her preconceived idea that the Slimline® was just a specialty tool. She asked:
“Based on the data you’ve shared, it sounds like [the Slimline® TAC] isn’t just a specialty tool. Could it be used in any well?”
The short answer is, yes. While our team would argue the Slimline® TAC is special (i.e., unique), it’s not a specialty tool. In fact, a recent CFD study highlights how most wells can benefit from running the Slimline®.
Use the Slimline® TAC in Place of a Standard B2 Anchor
The most common application of the Slimline® is as a replacement for a standard B2 anchor. The Slimline® features up to 245% more flow-by area than a traditional TAC. That unique design allows it to mitigate many of the problems a standard B2 anchor can encounter downhole.
Case in point: A research study conducted by Echometer Company looked at the production rates of 11 oil wells. Each well featured high fluid levels and a standard tubing anchor set high above the pump intake. According to the study, the tubing anchor “is considered to be the main cause of [an] uneven distribution of fluids in the wellbore…. The small flow area [around the anchor] could increase the velocity of the upwards flowing gas to the point where it would be difficult for liquid present in the upper part of the annulus to flow downwards past the depth where the tubing anchor is set. The anchor would essentially act as a choke and also cause an increase of the annular back pressure.”
In other words, the tubing anchor itself was restricting the flow of gas up through the annulus of the well. The gas that did escape had an increased velocity. That velocity made it difficult for fluid above the anchor to fall past it and reach the pump. In turn, the fluid around the pump had a high gas content, making highly efficient production impossible.
The reduced OD of the Slimline® TAC mitigates this issue by allowing the free flow of gas around the anchor. The same holds true for sediment that can bridge off on top of an anchor. The narrow annular area around a standard B2 TAC doesn’t allow sediment to easily fall past the anchor. Instead, it can collect on top and cement the anchor in place. In contrast, the Slimline® anchor allows most sand and sediment to fall past the TAC. As one TechTAC® customer noted:
“Sand was a frequent problem in many of our wells. It would fall on top of a standard TAC and cement the anchor in place. After switching to the Slimline, that problem all but disappeared.”
Sediment buildup and scale around a standard B2 TAC can also lead to a gas locked rod pump, by trapping formation gas below the anchor. The Slimline® is much less susceptible to this challenge as well. Not only does sediment and sand typically fall past the anchor, but the increased annular area also promotes the free flow of gas up and around the TAC. Even wells that have never encountered challenges with gas locking, plugging or scale buildup can likely benefit from running a Slimline® TAC versus a standard B2 anchor. If nothing else, the Slimline® minimizes the risk of those problems occurring, which allows for more predictable production.
Use the Slimline® QuickSet™ TAC in Deep or Deviated Wells
Deep or deviated wells pose a unique challenge for operators. The distance and/or bend of the wellbore can make it difficult to get sufficient torque rotations down to the tool to fully set a traditional TAC.
For these situations, TechTAC® created the Slimline® QuickSet™ TAC. This anchor is designed to give engineers more flexibility when anchoring tubing strings in wellbores with extreme geometry. That’s because the Slimline® QuickSet™ provides all the same benefits as the original Slimline® anchor but can be set and released in 1-to-3 turns, as opposed to the traditional 6-to-8 turns.
The decreased surface rotations required to set the anchor makes the Slimline® QuickSet™ a viable solution for anchoring tubing in deep or deviated wells. That was the case for this engineer with a large energy company operating in the Permian, who said: “Despite trying a variety of different products, we could not get a tubing anchor to set in the dogleg of one of our horizontal wells. We tried standard and quarter-turn anchors but kept getting the same result. Finally, after hearing about the Slimline QuickSet TAC, we decided to give it a try – and we were able to fully set the anchor in the bend of the well.”
Use the Slimline® TAC to Anchor as Much of the Production String as Possible
The deeper a rig crew can set a tubing anchor, the more effective the anchor becomes. The optimal place to set any anchor is as deep as possible. Unfortunately, with a standard B2 anchor, the only practical placement of the TAC has been at or above the seat nipple. In the past, to do otherwise could jeopardize production. On the other hand, that placement can leave hundreds or thousands of feet of tubing unanchored. So much unanchored tubing can impact production and make expensive equipment more susceptible to wear and tear.
The Slimline® TAC, however, can be (and has been) successfully deployed below the perforations in many wells. With its increased flow-by area, the Slimline® mitigates the risk of sediment buildup, scale formation, turbulent flow and trapped gas – allowing it to anchor the entire production string without hampering production.
Setting the tubing anchor below the perforations may not be the optimal design for every well. But with the Slimline®, engineers have the option. That possibility gives those engineers greater flexibility in developing quantitative, results-driven solutions to their downhole tool assembly challenges.
An Anchor for All Seasons
The TechTAC® Slimline® TAC is not a specialty tool. In most cases, research has shown that the Slimline® or Slimline® QuickSet™ can provide better downhole performance than traditional alternatives like standard B2 TACs, regardless of the well dynamics. To learn more and see if the Slimline® anchor can improve the performance of your wells, visit the Slimline® product page or contact the TechTAC® team today.
