Author Archive

News

Liner hangers provide an efficient and cost-effective means of connecting a liner extending from the hole setting depth to the bottom of the existing casing. Use of liner hangers prevents the need to set the liner on the hole bottom and promotes less stringent casing requirements. This yields greater flexibility when purchasing casing for your drilling program and results in reduced costs.

  • Case-off an open hole below a long intermediate casing string or when casing is being hung off bottom.
  • Reduce off-bottom time by preventing the need to lay down drill pipe and pick up a full casing string.
  • Control water, gas, or sand intrusion after a previous open-hole completion.
  • Protect against down-hole blowouts when drilling abnormal pressure zones.
  • Prevent flow of fluids between zones or intervals.
  • Hold back unconsolidated or sloughing formations and establish high quality cement completions.
  • Prevent loss of circulation in weak upper zones while drilling with normal weighted mud to control normal pressured zones at deeper intervals.
  • To repair damaged casing in closed holes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rigger announces successful installation of 2507 stainless steel liner hanger

NOVEMBER 2009 – Cal Energy has successfully installed a liner using a Rigger Engineering liner hanger, hanging approximately 160,000 pounds of 10-3/4”-45.5# liner in a geothermal well in Brawley, California. The liner was installed inside of 13-3/8″-68# casing. This liner hanger was unique in that the hanger as well as the liner was fabricated from 2507 Duplex stainless steel. Due to the highly corrosive properties of the sour gases in the wells in this area, Cal Energy has been using titanium liners. Though they stand up well to the corrosion the titanium liners are also very expensive. It is hoped that the 2507 stainless will be a more cost effective compromise. The stainless steel, especially in this size, was a challenge to machine but Rigger managed to accomplish the task and broke only a few cutters in the process. The next hanger should go easier. Overall Cal Energy was very pleased with the way the job went down – the liner hung right where they wanted it and cemented in place afterward. This liner hanger had a PBR receptacle so that they were able to install and cement another 10-3/4″ liner back to the surface. Right now Cal Energy is waiting for funding for additional wells and will probably hang another dozen or so liners of this type over the next couple of years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rigger installs first liner hanger in Azores

OCTOBER 2009 – The first Rigger Engineering liner hanger was recently installed on the island of San Miguel in the Azores. Earlier this year the company began supplying liner hangers to SOGEO – Sociedade Geotermica dos Acores S.A. The first liner was 106,000 pounds of 9-5/8″ hung inside of 13-3/8″-68# casing early in the month of October. The job went just as scheduled. Below is the letter sent by the service engineer upon the successful installation.

“The liner job went sweet. I set the liner on bottom(ran to one meter from original TD), activated the slips, then picket up 2.75 meters, slacked off and the slips bit as they were supposed to, then we unscrewed from the liner and pulled out with no problems. We set the hanger the on bottom method so never ran the off bottom setting tool at all. There really was no need to have purchased this tool as we always set these liners within a few meters of bottom anyway, but it was not properly explained or understood by the local Sogeo people the method of setting these liner hangers so they purchased the off bottom setting tool. That tool is mainly used for when you are setting a liner WAY off bottom, not close to bottom like we always do, correct? Once I fully explained to Rui how the liner was to be set he was fine with the simpler procedure of setting the liner on bottom,, releasing the slips, picking up to final setting depth and setting the hanger the way we did it here.
He was very happy. In fact, we set the hanger even before he knew we were done because we set it using the rotary table instead of the Kelly. He was sitting there explaining to the mud loggers and the girls what was coming next. When I walked off the floor he was worried, thought there had been a problem and came to me asking what is wrong? I said nothing, the hanger is all set! He said, But you never picked up the kelly, to which I told him that was a 15 minute ordeal at minimum and was totally unnecessary! In short, the job was perfect thanks to your good help and a good hanger. Again, thanks for your advice and assistance!”

This is a long term project with many more wells to be drilled over the next few years. Here’s to a succesful relationship with SOGEO.


Read the rest of this entry »

Liner Hangers 101

Liner hangers provide an efficient and cost-effective means of connecting a liner extending from the hole setting depth to the bottom of the existing casing. Use of liner hangers prevents the need to set the liner on the hole bottom and promotes less stringent casing requirements. This yields greater flexibility when purchasing casing for your drilling program and results in reduced costs.

  • Case-off an open hole below a long intermediate casing string or when casing is being hung off bottom.
  • Reduce off-bottom time by preventing the need to lay down drill pipe and pick up a full casing string.
  • Control water, gas, or sand intrusion after a previous open-hole completion.
  • Protect against down-hole blowouts when drilling abnormal pressure zones.
  • Prevent flow of fluids between zones or intervals.
  • Hold back unconsolidated or sloughing formations and establish high quality cement completions.
  • Prevent loss of circulation in weak upper zones while drilling with normal weighted mud to control normal pressured zones at deeper intervals.
  • To repair damaged casing in closed holes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rigger celebrates 12 years in Cerro Prieto

OCTOBER 2009 – In October of 2008 Rigger Engineering celebrated 12 years as the sole supplier of liner hangers to the Cerro Prieto geothermal field. The field, located in Northern Baja near the border of California and Mexico, has been in continuous operation since 1973 and currently produces 720 megawatts of power. Rigger actually first began supplying liner hangers a few years earlier, in the early 1990′s. Those were marketed through another company but, when the field was cut off due to internal politics, Rigger began dealing with Latina, the operator, directly. Through the 12 years Rigger has formed a strong association with both Latina and CFE and looks forward to a continued relationship in the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rigger announces purchase of Viper CNC turning center

JULY 2009 – Rigger Engineering announced the purchase of a new Viper VT50 turning center. The slant bed lathe has a 2 meter bed and a swing of 35”. The hollow spindle has a bore of 10-1/4”. The machine is fully automated and computer controlled. Due to be installed in August, this lathe should decrease turn around time, improve accuracy, and allow the company to take on more intricate machining jobs.

Read the rest of this entry »

White Paper

To receive a FREE copy of our White Paper: Liners and Liner Hangers, written by our Founder and COO, Alan Stevenson, please complete the information below. The presentation will familiarize you with the basic uses of liner hangers, how they function and the attributes of the various designs employed in the industry. Our aim is to help you avoid the many pitfalls in purchasing and using liner hangers in your drilling program.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Role of Liner Hangers

As drilling technology improves and wells become deeper, liner hangers play an increasingly important role in modern drilling programs. Many unique features place the Rigger Engineering liner hanger head and shoulders above the competition.

True-Radius Slip Design

Rigger’s “true-radius” liner hangers have a constant radius between the slips and the inclined surface of the pockets.

  • Radius matches the radius of the containment pocket.
  • Unlike traditional cone hangers, our superior design allows for even weight distribution throughout the radius – no matter where the slip bites into the casing.
  • Liner load is 100% supported by the slips in the pocket, which reduces the chance of damage or breakage due to overstressing the slips.

Fully-Recessed Slips

The Rigger liner hanger was the first to incorporate a recessed pocket design.

  • Pockets are machined into the side of our liner hangers to house the spring-loaded slips.
  • Flushmount design prevents hang-ups while tripping into the hole, offering critical advantages in high-angle or dog-legged wells.
  • Keeps slips contained within a pocket until they are released.
  • Reduces the chances they will hang up on a dogleg or some other obstruction.
  • Each slip operates independantly, allowing for more flexability in the hanging operation.

Mechanical Release Mechanism

Rigger hangers are virtually infallible when using a mechanical releasing tool and it is near impossible to release the slips prematurely.

  • All Rigger liner hangers require right-hand rotation to set, eliminating the possibility of accidentally unscrewing the liner.
  • With our standard right-hand release mechanism, the setting tool requires five to six rotations to hang the liner. This prevents the hanger from setting prematurely and results in a very low failure rate.
  • Unlike a typical ‘J’ slot hanger, which generally requires as little as 1/6th of a turn to the left to release the slips, the Rigger liner hanger incorporates spring loaded slips that require the operator to rotate to the right to release.

Read the rest of this entry »

Login

March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Aug    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031