Multi-stage displacement systems Archives

Invention as a Fundament of Civilization

Civilization is driven by technological innovation. From the invention of writing to the printing press to today’s internet and smart devices, the things we invent change not only our world but how we conceptualize the world and solve problems. Consider, for example, how the advent of the personal computer has shaped how we talk about the brain, memory, and neurological circuits. Even logical reasoning is the product of combining two inventions in antiquity: divination and writing.¹

The esteemed science historian James Burke defines invention as the art of “bringing ideas or objects together in a novel way to create something that did not exist before.”² Invention is not only the life-blood of technology, it’s also vital to the advancement of problem-solving and finding better ways to perform crucial tasks. In other words, while we tend to associate invention with the things we use, it also applies to the ways we work, like the Japanese 5S method, for example.³

Portfolio Expansion through Invention

TETRA was founded in 1981 to serve the completion fluids market by addressing each customer’s unique challenges with tailored solutions—a principle based on judicious research, development, and invention. Our portfolio has since expanded and now includes not only completion fluids and additives but also various products and services for water management, flowback, production testing, filtration, wellbore cleanout, brine reclamation, and diverse grades of calcium chloride for applications in the energy, agricultural, road construction, dust-control, and food & beverage industries.

Addressing customer challenges with targeted research, development, and technological invention is the domain of our TETRA Innovation Group (TIG), a team of Ph.D. scientists and technicians. And while creativity at TETRA is certainly not confined to the TIG, it is this group that is perhaps most guided by the art of judicious invention.

State-of-the-Art Laboratories and Technical Support

Home for the TIG is our 26,000-square-foot research and development laboratory and technology center in Conroe, Texas, which TETRA established in 1996, as well as a second laboratory in Aberdeen, Scotland. Both facilities are outfitted with state-of-the-art lab equipment and support the Company’s many domestic and international service centers.

Every day, TIG personnel provide an enormous range of technical services, from completion and specialized fluid testing and frac-water analysis to analytical tests like GC-mass spectrometry, particle-size analysis, ion chromatography, and scores of other specialized procedures in support of fluid formulation, wellbore cleanout, brine reclamation, water management, filtration, and production testing.

Pioneering Industry Firsts

In addition to providing daily technical support, the TIG boasts an impressive record of industry firsts, key patents, and product innovations that have won awards and become benchmarks for performance, efficiency, sustainability, and environmental protection. Among just a few of its pioneering innovations are:

our family of TETRA CS Neptune^® completion fluids, our zinc-free, cesium-free high-density, monovalent and divalent fluids that are formulated with readily available ingredients, environmentally safe, and capable of doubling as reservoir drill-in fluids;

our TETRA Advanced Displacement System (or TADS), a 3-phase drilling-fluid displacement system that yields excellent wellbore cleanout;

our complementary displacement chemicals TETRA FlocCB and TETRA FlocZCB; and

our TETRA OilFix™ filtration service and TETRA O-Lok C™ treatment, which remove or reduce oil and grease levels in brines

Forging the Future

Looking ahead amid the accelerating pace of the global transition to more renewable sources of energy, TETRA is now embarking on commercialization of its latest product, PureFlow high-purity zinc bromide for use in zinc-bromine flow batteries. TETRA PureFlow ZnBr₂ clear brine fluid is produced using our patented process originally developed for formulating halide brines, but further refined to yield a high-purity ZnBr₂ that is ideal for the exacting standards of zinc-bromine flow batteries. Our TIG personnel are also exploring carbon-capture technologies.

As the world heads to the halfway mark of the twenty-first century, freighted with both optimism and uncertainty about the technologies that will power the future, one certainty that remains solid is the TETRA commitment to innovating through the art of judicious invention. We don’t just follow the technology; we help pioneer and lead with it.

^[1]See Giovanni Manetti (1993), Theories of the Sign in Classical Antiquity, as well as Walter Ong (1958) Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason, and Ong (1982), Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word.
^[2]James Burke, “Invention,” Britannica (website).
^[3] The 5S method is a means of organizing a work space for maximum efficiency and effectiveness; 5S stands for: seiri (整理), seiton (整頓), seisō (清掃), seiketsu (清潔), and shitsuke (躾), translated as sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain.

Do your service providers, operations personnel, and engineers understand the many variables impacting fluid performance across the entire spectrum of well operations? Do they recognize the profound impact a completion brine can have on cost, performance, safety, and the environment? Based on feedback from the frontline, we have identified a need for greater awareness of the overall impact of a completion brine.

The HSEQ Perspective

Let us begin with a look at the factors impacting health, safety, environment, and quality (HSEQ), because most of us would agree that safeguarding both personnel and the environment is paramount.

A Novel Alternative to Zinc-based Fluids

Forgoing the use of zinc-based fluids should now be the norm given their hazards to personnel and the current environmental restrictions on the use of zinc in practically every offshore field. In the Gulf of Mexico, where modest use of zinc is still permitted, it is reasonable to expect restrictions will grow even more stringent in the years ahead.

Fortunately, TETRA has pioneered a very effective high-density alternative to zinc-based brines—the family of TETRA CS Neptune^® completion fluids. These innovative fluids are zinc-free and formate-free, made with readily available, environmentally benign ingredients, and can be formulated as either monovalent or divalent with densities up to 15.7 and 17.5 lb./gal., respectively. Moreover, the fluids can also be used as working, packer, and reservoir drill-in fluids, so they provide unprecedented versatility compared to other high-density brines on the market.

The TETRA CS Neptune fluids won a Hart Energy Special Meritorious Engineering Innovation Award in 2020, and they are revolutionizing the industry as more and more operators recognize their many benefits.

More Efficient Displacement for Cleaner Results

Today, TETRA offers displacement spacer systems that are formulated specifically for a given well’s conditions, because targeted treatment ensures more thorough hole cleanout and surface preparation. But why has this approach not been widely adopted for cleaning fluid storage pits? In most cases, thousands of barrels of wastewater and detergents are used to clean their surfaces, all without first testing the chemistry of the wash on the synthetic-based mud it is meant to clean away—a textbook example of inefficiency.

The TETRA Advanced Displacement System (TADS) can address this problem. TADS is a 3-phase displacement system designed for optimal wellbore cleaning because it’s tailored to the specific application.

As reported in a number of cases, use of TADS has yielded:

Significant reduction of filtration time and interface volume losses (down to as little as 3–10 barrels), which cut rig time in half;
10-month displacement of zinc bromide down to the seabed wellhead (for a temporary abandonment) with no fill at total depth.
Brine so clean (35 NTUs), rather than return it for reclamation, the operator kept it for a backup working fluid.

Ultimately, TADS delivers exceptional value because it facilitates brine reclamation and is very effective in reducing disposal and environmental impact.

API Q2 Certification

TETRA is API Q2 certified. We provide behavioral-based training for every rig and service crew member. On a TETRA jobsite, all personnel perform their duties safely and consistently based on approved documented practices. Personnel involved in handling completion brines and additives are outfitted with appropriate personal protection equipment and acid-resistant clothing.

Our commitment to safety and proper procedures pays off: In one recent completion project spanning 12 months and 688,000 work hours, TETRA logged zero HSEQ incidents.

The Operational Perspective

Now let us turn to the operational aspects that impact the efficiency and results of your well operations. Below is a checklist that TETRA can help fulfill.

A Checklist for Success

Use the appropriate TETRA brines with third-party verification to prevent stress cracking of alloy 125 casing, like our CaBr₂ and ZnBr₂ brines;
Use a TETRA corrosion-inhibition package with third-party verification that is compatible with commonly used polymers, like our ZnBr₂ brine;
Identify any buoyancy issues with ball-drop operations;
Carefully monitor the circulation rate of viscous, high-density brines and never deviate from the designed rate;
Properly time running brines through the work string and tubing for maximum efficiency;
Use TETRA pills, like the TETRAFlex^™ cross-lined pill, that are formulated specifically for the downhole equipment and reservoir characteristics to minimize loss of completion fluid;
Optimize every brine’s pH, crystallization, and salt content, and avoid adding dry powder buffer compounds;
Use a clay-inhibitor that is based on well mineralogy and will safeguard the porosity of the pay zone;
Chart filtration data to determine the most prolific ‘signature’ event of the operational phase;
Carefully manage flowback to collect samples for chemical analysis and for potential reclamation of fluids.
Adhere to TETRA’s documented pit-cleaning standards to ensure thorough cleaning for uncontaminated fluids;
Consult TETRA for proper shaker-screen sizes for the different operational phases, from drilling to completion;
Define procedural mandates and responsible parties for the outside rig station;
Record and share lessons learned.

TETRA Technologies was founded in 1981 to provide the highest quality completion fluids in the oil and gas services industry. Our portfolio has since expanded to include a wide range of products and services for well operations and hydraulic fracturing, but completion fluids and additives remain one of our core offerings. We stand at the forefront of completion fluid technology, and we stand behind the quality of our products and services and commitment to work safely and deliver the most value to our clients.

Tag: Multi-stage displacement systems

The Art of Judicious Invention