Relevant Information on Oil and Gas Casing Design

DESGINED BY :
Mustafa Ismael , Mohummed Moayad , Abdul Azez Khalid

Abstract
Casing design is an important task in oil and gas well design. Casing design involves evaluation of the factors that con tribute
to the failure of the casing and proper se lection of the most suitable casing grades and weights that are both safe and
economical for a speci9ic job operation. A good knowledge of stress calculation is very essential in casing design. During
casing design, various modes of casing failure must be identi9ied and carefully handled such that the selected casing within
a well segment is able to withstand all the failure modes. A safety margin, (also known as factor of safety) is always provided
in casing de sign to allow for the future variations in the casing strength, loading and other unknown forces which may be
encountered. This paper provides key information, education, relevant and technical details on casing design for oil and gas
well.

Keywords: Design criteria; Types of casing; Casing grades; Design factors of casing; Casing design; Tensile stress; Burst
stress; Collapse stress

Introduction If casings are not sized correctly, then such casings are
prone to failure at their early stage of operation.
Oil casing is the pipe wall, used to support the oil and
gas, to ensure normal operation of the post-completion Tensile, compressive, bending, tensional stress jointly
wells at the drilling process [1]. Design of casing string calls affect on the tube, which makes the casing itself, need the
for knowledge of the operating conditions imposed on the higher quality requirements [1]. Casing wear in the oil and
casing as well as the concepts related to pipe properties [2].
gas industry is recorded on a world basis [4]. Rotation of
Casing serves numerous purposes in oil and gas wells. Safe
drill-pipe during the drilling process creates signi9icant
and economical sizing of casing is therefore an important
task in oil and gas well design. Casing situation requires contact forces that result in the reduction of casing wall
that the formation pressure at various sections of the well thickness [4]. Thickness reduction of the casing wall
should be determined [2]. Casing prevents formation from weakens the burst and collapse strength of casing. This is
interfering into the borehole activities. The 9irst step one of the causes of failure in casing even before oil and gas
towards the casing design procedure is the initial well data production. Casing can also fail by bursting. This occurs
[3]. Therefore, incorrect initial data could cause incorrect when the applied burst stress on the casing during the
casing design. operational conditions of the well exceeds the casing burst
strength. The burst stress tends

Relevant Information on Oil and Gas Casing Design Pet Petro Chem Eng J

to exert force on the inside walls of the casing. Casing can the outer walls of the casing and increases with the depth
also fail by collapse. The collapse of casing and tubing may of the casing. Collapse is a complex phenomenon with a
lead to the loss of a well [5]. Collapse stress on casing act on
great many factors and parameters that in9luence its effect are not adequate, or the connection design basis is not
[5]. consistent with the pipe-body design basis.

The collapse phenomenon is commonly attributed to Casing Design Criteria

suspected quality problems in the pipe. However, studies
show there are a set of causative factors, such as: wear on Casing damage is always the thorny problem in the
casing, wear due to buckling, increased external pressure process of oil 9ield development, so the research of its
due to temperature, improper depressurization, geostatic mechanism and in9luencing factors plays a great important
loads (overburden) due to plastic formations and tectonic role in ensuring casing security [7]. In practice, casing is
activity [5]. economically designed against buckling, collapse, tension
and bi-axial loads.
Because of the various modes of failure of the oil and gas
well casing, it therefore becomes necessary to design casing Casing Design for Collapse
suf9iciently with recommended factors of safety. The design Casing is usually designed against worst collapse
standards recommend various factors of safety for the conditions. The worst collapse conditions happen when the
design of casing against different modes of failure. There casing inner portion is assumed to be empty and the
are different types of casing. Casing, according to usage, can annulus completely 9illed with the drilling mud. Casing
be divided into: catheter, surface casing, intermediate collapse stress increases with the mud hydrostatic depth.
casing and production casing [1]. The casing is usually 9illed with mud weight. At the topmost
segment of the casing where the depth is
According to (Petrowiki) [6], to design a casing string, one approximately zero, the collapse stress is zero
must have knowledge of:
Collapse Stress = 0.0152ƍh (psi) ---------------- Equation 1
1. Purpose of the well
2. Geological cross section Where: ƍ = mud weight (pound per gallon, ppg) h
3. Available casing and bit sizes Cementing and drilling = mud hydrostatic depth (ft)
practices Rig performance
From the Equation 1, the pro9ile of the collapse stress is
4. Safety and environmental regulations
presented below:

The engineer responsible for developing the well plan

and casing design is faced with a number of tasks that can
be brie9ly characterized.

1. Ensure the well’s mechanical integrity by providing a

design basis that accounts for all the anticipated loads
that can be encountered during the life of the well.
2. Design strings to minimize well costs over the life of the
well.
3. Provide clear documentation of the design basis to
operational personnel at the well site. This will help
prevent exceeding the design envelope by application of Figure 1: Collapse Stress Pro9ile on the Casing.
loads not considered in the original design.

While the intention is to provide reliable well

construction at a minimum cost, at times failures occur.
Most documented failures occur because the pipe was
exposed to loads for which it was not designed. These
failures are called “off-design” failures. “On-design” failures
are rather rare. This implies that casing-design practices
are mostly conservative. Many failures occur at
connections. This implies that either 9ield makeup practices
 Casing Design for Burst table below shows the remaining collapse strength of the
Casing is subjected to burst stress. In practice, it is safer to casing as a function of tensile ratio.
design the casing for unlimited condition. Under unlimited Tensile Ratio =Weight Remaining Collapse
casing design against burst, it is assumed that the invading carried/Yield Strength Strength %
9luid from the completely 9ills the casing from the bottom to
the top. At the top of the hole, the external pressure due to 0 100
mud is zero and the internal pressure must be supported 0.1 94.5
entirely by casing body. Burst is the highest at the top and
0.2 88.5
least at the casing shoe.
The pro9ile 0.3 81.3
0.4 76
0.5 65
0.6 65
0.7 44.5
Table 1: Remaining Collapse Strength (Biaxial Load Check).

Types of Casing
Conductor Casing
1. Run from surface to some shallow depth to protect near
surface unconsolidated
Figure 2: Burst Stress Pro9ile on the Casing. 2. formation
3. Provide a circulation for the drilling mud to protect
foundation of the platform
Casing Design for Tension 4. May be connecting of BOP or cut at surface or diverter
Oil and gas well casings are designed against failure by connection
tension. Tension stress on a casing is due to own-weight of 5. Sizes from 18 5/8 in to 20 in
the casing and the weight of the other casings supported.
The topmost casing segment in the well carries the highest Surface Casing (13 3/8 in.)
tension stress while the last bottom casing in the well 1. Run to prevent caving of week formation encountered at
carries the least tension stress. Since the casing is always shallow depths
submerged in the drilling mud, the effect of buoyancy on 2. Should be set in competent rock like limestone: to ensure
the casing is therefore considered in the casing design [8]. that the formation will not fractured at the casing shoe
Buoyancy Factor, BF can be expressed as by high mud weight used later in the next hole
3. Protect against shallow blow-out, thus BOPs are
BF = 1 − ƥmud/ƥsteel connected to top

Where ƥmud = mud weight (in pounds per gallon, ppg) Intermediate Casing (9 5/8 in.)
ƥsteel = steel weight (in pounds per gallon, ppg)
1. Usually set in the transition zone below or above
Casing Design Check for Biaxial Loads pressured formation (salt and/or caving shale)
2. Need good cementing to prevent communication behind
Under tensile stress, the casing thickness reduces and the the casing between zones; multistage cementing may be
casing collapse strength also reduces. The remaining used for long strings
collapse strength of the casing should be determined to
ensure that casing selected can withstand the collapse Production Casing (7 in.)
stress at the maximum hydrostatic depth of the casing. The
1. Isolate production zones
2. Provide reservoir 9luid control
3. Permit selective production in multi zones production Axial Load
Axial load is to be calculated separately for each section of
Liner Casing casing. The factor of safety for axial loads seems higher than
1. A string of casing that does not reach to the surface other load cases due operational activities such overpull of
2. Hang on the intermediate casing, by use of suitable the casing string during sticking. The acceptable factor of
packer and slips called liner hanger safety for axial load/tension load is 1.6-1.8.
Therefore,
Casing Grades Design Axial Load = Axial load * 1.8 (F.O.S). Good casing
design should incorporate all these factors to provide
According to the strength of the steel casings, they can suf9icient allowance against different forms of casing
be divided into different steel grades, namely J55, K55, N80, failures.
L80, C90, T95, P110, Q125, V150 and other. Under well
conditions, different casing steel grades have different
strengths. In corrosive environments, casing itself also Essential Data for Casing Design
requires corrosion resistance. In place of complex Some data are required for casing design. These data could
geological conditions, casings also require anticollapse be assumed based on experience, existing wells at the
properties. In design, different casing steel grades are set at location, drilling manuals and casing property tables. The
different depths of the well. Different casing grades have data could be grouped into 4 categories based on the type
different collapse strengths, burst strengths and tensile of data. The data can be grouped into:
strengths. It is therefore very important to set a casing at
depth, where it is capable to withstand collapse stress,
1. Formation pressure at the depth of next hole section data
burst stress and tensile stress throughout its length.
2. Fracture gradient data
3. Mud program data
Design Factors of Safety (F.O.S) 4. Available casing data
Casings are usually designed with allowance for
variability in material strength, human design error, and The following highlights the basic data required for the
unforeseen circumstances on the 9ield. casing design. 1. Hole size
2. Casing depth
3. Casing size
Collapse Load
4. Mud weight
Collapse is 9irst calculated for the surface casing, collapse at 5. Casing grade
the surface will be zero. 6. Burst safety factor
Collapse at the casing shoe = Mud gradient * Depth of casing 7. Collapse safety factor
shoe 8. Tension safety factor
Hence, design collapse load will be = Collapse at casing shoe 9. Formation 9luid gradient
* F.O.S 10. Gradient of invading 9luid (gas gradient)
F.O.S for collapse is generally 1.1-1.25
References
Burst Load
The burst load at casing shoe = internal pressure – external 1. Hua Tong, Xiao-Hong Tang (2016)
pressure Where: Oil Casing Introduction. International Journal
Internal pressure = Fracture gradient * Depth of casing shoe of Science and Research (IJSR) 5(6): 696-698.
External pressure = Fresh water gradient * Depth of casing
2. Edaigbini PI, Maikobi AA (2015) Casing Design for High
shoe
Pressure/High Temperature Wells. Innovative Systems
Design Burst at casing shoe = F.O.S * Burst load at casing
Design and Engineering 6(3): 9-25.
shoe
3. Thattil MS (2017) Casing Design for Casing/Liner while
F.O.S for burst load is generally 1.2-1.8
Drilling. International Research Journal of Engineering
Burst load at surface is also calculated using similar
and Technology (IRJET) 4(7): 1-3.
procedure.
4. Zheng Shen, Frederick E Beck, Kegang Ling (2014) The 7. Jianjun Liu, Xianbin Yu (2012) Stress Analysis on the
Mechanism of Wellbore Weakening in Worn Casing- Combination of Casing-Cement Ring -Surrounding
Cement-Formation System. Journal of Petroleum Rock Considering Fluid-Solid Coupling. Electronic
Engineering 2014: 8. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 1863-1873.

5. Asadi A, Parhizgar N, Momeni E (2011) Prediction of 8. Liping Guo, Xu Chen, Xiaoyang Yu, Shuang Shi, Yu Wang
Collapse in a Casing and Tubing: with Case Study of (2015) Research on Casing Damage Based on Effect of
Iran. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences Water Injection Pressure. Open Journal of Fluid
5(11): 831-840. Dynamics 5: 208-214.

6. Petrowiki (2015) Casing design.