Slickline

As well depths have increased over the years since the first measuring lines were brought into use, accompanied by increased working loads, it has become necessary to develop wireline having a high strength/weight ratio.

There is a need for strength to accomplish the operation without the wire breaking, and a need to keep the diameter of the wire as small as possible for the following reasons:

o It reduces the load of its own weight

o It can be run over smaller diameter sheaves, and wound on smaller diameter spools or reels without overstressing by bending

o It keeps the reel drum size to a minimum

o It provides a small cross-section area for operation under pressure

The sizes of solid wireline in most common uses are: 0.108ins and 0.125ins diameter, and are obtainable from the drawing mills in one-piece standard lengths of 18,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 ft.

= Uses =

lickline

Slickline tools operate with a mechanical action. Typically, this mechanical action is accomplished by the operation of jars. Some completion components may be deployed and retrieved on slickline such as wireline retrievable safety valves, battery powered downhole gauges, perforating, setting explosively set bridge plugs, and setting or retrieving gas lift valves. Slickline can also be used for fishing, the process of trying to retrieve other equipment and wire, which has been dropped down the hole.

The most common applications for slickline are:

*Tagging T.D.
*Gauge runs
*Broach tubing / Plunger Installations
*Bailing sand and debris
*Shifting sleeves
*Setting / Pulling plugs and chokes
*Setting / Pulling gas lift valves
*Running tailpipes
*Bottom hole pressure and temperature surveys
*Spinner Surveys
*Kinley perforator, sandline cutter, and caliper
*Running production logging tools
*Fishing operations
*Paraffin cutting
*Chipping ice / salt
*Lubricating long assemblies in the hole

Braided line

Braided line is generally used when the strength of slickline is insufficient for the task. Most commonly, this is for heavy fishing such as retrieving broken drill pipe. The most common use for braided line is fishing electric line tools.

=Slickline Tools=

Jar

This type of tool can extend and be closed rapidly to induce a mechanical shock to the tool string. This shock can induce certain components such as plugs to lock into place and then unlock for retrieving. Spang jars are manually operated by the wireline operator who either lifts or lowers wire rapidly, requiring a great deal of expertise. Power jars use springs or built-in hydraulics to give an upward jarring motion where greater force is required.

tem

Stem essentially just serves to add weight to the toolstring. The weight may be necessary to overcome the pressure of the well. Some variations of stem, called roller stem, may have wheels built into the tool to allow the tool string to glide more easily down moderately deviated wells.

Pulling tools

These are tools designed for fishing other wireline components which have been dropped down hole. All wireline tools are designed with 'fishing necks' on their top side, intended to be easily grabbed by pulling tools. Pulling tools are also used for retrieving seated components such as plugs.

Gauge cutter

The important part of these tools is their bottom end, which is a sharp metal ring of accurately determined size. By allowing for a sharp up and down motion, the metal ring can cut through contamination such as scale which may build up in the well bore. Gauge Cutters or Gauge Rings are used to determine the I.D. of the tubing or to locate seating nipples or tight spots in the tubing. Gauge rings are generally run prior to running plugs and other tools to insure that they will fit in the tubing.

Lead impression block

If an obstruction is found downhole, a lead impression block can be run to help determine its nature. The LIB has a malleable lead base in which the obstruction can leave an impression when they meet. The LIB is called Wireline Camera because of its function to mark any object downhole.They are also sometimes called "confusion" blocks because they only give a two-dimensional view of the down-hole object, making it hard to determine what three-dimensional object is in the hole.

Bailer

This tool is designed to collect samples of downhole solids for the purposes of cleaning out or just determining the nature of solids such as scale.

Running Tools

These tools are used to set plugs into nipples located in the tubing. The plug is fitted onto the running tool using shear pins made of brass or steel. When the target nipple is reached the plug can be set by shearing these pins using jars.