CASING FAILURE ANALYSIS IN STEAM INJECTION WELL OPERATIONS USING FINITE ELEMENT METHODS

Steam injection is a successful method to increase heavy-oil production. But the
casing failure rates in steam injection wells are also an important concern. Severe
thermal stresses causing casing failures have been reported in the past leading to
downtime, high cost or low rate of production. Failures such as buckling, internal
diameter restriction, joint pull out, etc., are common occurrences, especially, inpoorly
cemented sections of the well. The casings are prone to thermal fatigue due to cyclic
steam injection operations. In other cases, part of the casing section is wornout either
uuc iu Jiill iuul uunicu;i ui utlici dillling operations. Such sections become vulnerable
to failure during high pressure/high temperature conditions.