CEMENTING
Tubing Release Tool (TRT)
The Newest Plug-Setting Aid Developed by Halliburton
Halliburton’s TRT is a plug-setting aid that helps enable placement of a
competent cement plug downhole. The TRT (Figure 1) was designed based on the
following concepts:
• Plug contamination can be reduced if the tailpipe remains in the cement plug.
• The tailpipe enables cement placement directly over problem zones where fluid
loss is suspected.
• The tailpipe allows the drillpipe to remain above a fluid-loss zone, reducing the
risk of the drillpipe becoming differentially stuck.
• The TRT enables the operator to pull a wet workstring, thus preventing
displacement fluid from contaminating placed cement.
Applications
The TRT helps ensure a competent plug on the first attempt for kickoff,
sidetracking, or plugging and abandonment purposes. It retains the fluid inside
the workstring after the drillpipe separates from the lower tubing/tailpipe.
Consequently, the cement plug remains free of damage and contamination that
can be caused by the displacement fluid falling from inside the drillpipe. The TRT
can be used in vertical to highly deviated wellbores.
Features
The tool is designed to achieve these objectives through the following features:
• The disconnect mechanism’s upper portion, located near the top of cement
(TOC), is made of nondrillable materials and is retrieved to the surface with
the workstring. The weighted phenolic ball prevents both displacement of fluid
from the workstring and fluid mingling with placed cement.
• The disconnect mechanism’s lower portion consists of drillable or nondrillable
materials, depending on the application. This portion of the TRT remains
connected to the tailpipe, which remains in the wellbore.
• In vertical to highly deviated wellbores, centralizers may be necessary in large
wellbore configurations to help ensure maximum displacement efficiency,
however, steel centralizers render that section undrillable.
HAL16573
Table 1 (Page 2) provides the operating parameters for the TRT and Figure 2
(Page 2) illustrates the running configurations of the tool.
Figure 1—Tubing release tool
HALLIBURTON
Case Histories
The TRT plug-setting aid was introduced October of 2002 in the
New Mexico Monument field. The Monument field, now
substantially depleted, was discovered in the 1930s. In some areas of
the field, the low formation pressure will not support the drillingfluid column and fluids will be lost to the formation. Wells drilled
through Monument field Grayburg and San Andres formations
usually lose circulation between 3,900 and 4,700 ft in extremely
pressure-depleted zones that have produced for as long as 70 years.
The TRT has improved plug-setting success using a tailpipe to help
place cement properly while helping ensure the workstring remains
safely above the loss interval.
HAL16574
The TRT has been used successfully by more than 14 operating
companies on more than 160 jobs to date. The TRT and custom
tailpipe have successfully healed lost-circulation intervals in all 37
wells at well depths ranging from 724 to 11,400 ft and tailpipe lengths
varying from 150 to 5,300 ft. Lost circulation was healed in more than
150 wells on the first attempt, for a total estimated rig-time savings of
more than 280 to 550 days.
Figure 2—Tubing release tool configuration after disconnect
Table 1—Operating Parameters for the Tubing Release Tool (TRT)
TRT OD
TRT Assembly Part No.
Tailpipe Thread Connection
3.75 in. (95.25 mm)
101344701*
2-7/8 EUE 8rd
Material Makeup
Releasing Sleeve ID (Drillable)
Secondary Releasing
Sleeve (Nondrillable)
Releasing Ball Part No.
Releasing Ball Size
Maximum Pump Rate
Release Pressure
Rupture Disc
*
101307271**
101307273**
101307275**
3-1/2 EUE 8rd
4-1/2 EUE 8rd
3-1/2 EUE 8rd
Aluminum
Lower Section is Drillable
Load Rating
6 in. (152.4 mm)
101298569**
Steel
Yes
7,500 lbm (33,361 N)
No
20,000 lbm (88,964 N)
1.62 in. (41 mm)
1.88 in. (47.8 mm)
1.62 in.
1.88 in.
(41 mm)
(47.8 mm)
101437253
101437252
1.875 in. (47.6 mm)
2.375 in. (60.3 mm)
10 bbl/min (1.59 ft3/min)
15 bbl/min (2.38 ft3/min)
65,000 lbm (289,134 N)
2,500 ± 500 psi (17.2 ± 3.45 MPa)
4,000 psi (27.58 MPa) at 250ºF (121°C)
The 3.75-in. OD tool uses two 4-in. foam wiper balls (Part No. 152014) and one 1.875-in. steel ball (Part No. 101437253).
** Assembly
includes all items identified in Figure 2, plus a 6-in. foam wiper ball (Part No. 152016) and two
2-3/8-in. steel ball (Part No. 101437252).
www.halliburton.com
H03716 09/07
© 2007 Halliburton
All Rights Reserved
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