Comparisons
Traditionally, oil well cement is used for zonal isolation and inflow control, but there are serious disadvantages.
Cement ~ a risky venture
Lost production due to poor and
ineffective zonal isolation
Cement shrinks on setting, becomes brittle after hardening, unpredictable setting time can put tools - or even the well at risk, offers poor zonal isolation and it unable to seal off against micro-annulus.
Repairing a failed cement job is time consuming, difficult and costly. Further, as cement seals off all zones including the pay zone, subsequent perforation is inevitable.
External Casing Packers (ECPs) are therefore often used in certain situations. These ECPs are relatively short rubber packers, inflated by cement. Installation involves pumping cement and a subsequent clean-out trip. When sealing in a permeable formation, some fluids will by-pass the rubber elements via the formation pores. Their effectiveness is further seriously affected in wash-outs.
But this is the best we could do for more than 80 years... until now.
Simple - Efficient - Reliable
Significant production increase
due to SWELLFIX Zonal Isolation
SWELLFIX is engineering risks, costs and complexity out of the traditional well construction and production process.
For nearly a decade, SWELLFIX has been developing and implementing compliant annular seals based on swellable elastomers for use in open hole and encased hole. Such seal consists of several swellable elastomer sections mounted on a standard API pipe joint, which can be connected together to provide any length required.
Compared to ECPs, SWELLFIX seals are more cost effective, self-activating and easily seals lengths of 50 to 100 meters. The technology has proven to be extremely useful in a low-cost setting.
