ABSTRACT
To kill a live closed-in gas well by bull heading down the tubing, the selected pump rate should be high enough to ensure efficient displacement of the gas into the formation (i.e. to avoid the kill fluid bypassing the gas). On the other hand, the pressures that develop during bull heading at high rate must not exceed wellhead pressure rating, tubing or casing burst pressures or the formation breakdown gradient, since this will lead, at best, to a very inefficient kill job. Given these constraints, the optimum kill rate, required hydraulic horsepower, density and type of kill fluids have to be selected. For this purpose a numerical simulator has been developed, which predicts the sequence of events during bull heading. Pressures and flow rates in the well during the kill job are calculated, taking into account slip between the gas and kill fluid, hydrostatic and friction pressure drop, wellbore gas compression and leak-off to the formation. Comparison with the results of a dedicated field test demonstrates that these parameters can be estimated accurately. Example calculations will be presented to show how the simulator can be used to identify an optimum kill scenario.
