New Orleans

Meeting Time/Place

Current Chapter Newsletter

The New Orleans Chapter holds its meetings on the third Thursday of the month at 11:30 am, from September through May. We meet at the Downtown-Superdome Holiday Inn, 330 Loyola.
Members and Non-Members: $30.00

SPWLA New Orleans Monthly Luncheon Meeting

Thursday, February 18

“Acoustic Logging Techniques for Guiding Casing Recovery Operations in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico” By Glenn Donovan, Shell, New Orleans

RSVP Lisa at rxdx1117@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

While ultrasonic logging devices have been used in recent years to determine the likelihood that casing strings are unbonded and thus free to be removed in a casing recovery, this application is still under development. The uniqueness of this application lies in the fact that the bonding forces present on the outside of the casing are caused by drilling fluids in varying stages of decomposition as opposed to cement. The fact that the exact composition of these altered fluids is unknown makes it difficult to quantify their compressive strength, leaving no clear method for anticipating an acoustic response. Virtually all of the acoustic devices in use today, when used for any application other than borehole imaging, were developed to quantify the ability of cement in the casingformation annulus to provide a pressure barrier between zones connected to one another by the wellbore. In every such case, the cement used to provide the isolation is of a known chemical composition and extensive laboratory experiments are conducted to precisely measure its compressive strength and other properties. Since there exists no such opportunity to measure the properties of the material in an uncemented annular space, theoretical solutions have been developed which estimate the extent of adhesion these materials cause. This presentation discusses the applicability of such theoretical solutions and substantiates conclusions with case studies.

BIO

Glenn Donovan is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Duke University and has had assignments in the USA, South America, and Europe. He is currently a staff petrophysical engineer at Shell Exploration and Production Company in New Orleans assigned to the subsurface operations support team.

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General Information

For Meeting Information contact:

William Horvath (Shell)
504.728-0434
email: william.horvath at shell.com

2009-2010 SPWLA New Orleans Chapter Board of Directors