How to Prevent Well Ballooning

This topic will you describe how to prevent well ballooning. There are several items that you can manage in order to prevent or minimize well ballooning.

Trying not to lose fluid or to minimize drilling mud loss into formation is the best way to prevent well ballooning. As you may know from the previous topic, well ballooning basic, before ballooning will happen, you must have downhole losses. Then, flow back will occur when pumps are off.

There are several ways that can help you on this issue as listed below:

Manage Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD)

• Develop pumping schedule to minimize ECD and still have good hole cleaning

• Select proper BHA and drill size – this directly affects annular pressure loss.

• Drilling mud properties – do not have high rheology mud while drilling. Moreover, good mud cake will seal porous formation and minimize losses down hole. Try to keep mud properties in good shape and treat mud ahead of the time if needed.

• Utilize pressure while drilling (PWD) to monitor downhole pressure

Understand Formations and Rocks

• Understand formation strength and how much – this point will affect you how to design the well. You don’t want to drill with high mud weight to control formation pressure down below but take a chance to break formation at the top.

• Know where depleted zones are – the depleted zones have more chance of drilling mud to lose. Minimize overbalance and keep good mud properties will help to minimize losses.

Good Drilling Practices

• Bring pumps up slowly and stage-by-stage increment

• Don’t try to surge wellbore while tripping in hole, working pipe, etc.

• Slowly rotate drill string for few seconds to break gel prior to slowly bringing pumps up to speed.

Reference book: Well Control Books