US 11,741,275 B2
Model-based selection of dissolvable sealing balls
John Paul Bir Singh, Kingwood, TX (US); Siva Rama Krishna Jandhyala, Katy, TX (US); Michelle Kan, Houston, TX (US); Ernst Rudolf Man Schnell, Houston, TX (US); Travis Allen Patterson, Houston, TX (US); Megan McDaniel, Natchitoches, LA (US); and K V V N Krishna Babu Yerubandi, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Filed by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Oct. 22, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/508,331.
Prior Publication US 2023/0128448 A1, Apr. 27, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 30/20 (2020.01); E21B 33/12 (2006.01); E21B 49/08 (2006.01); E21B 47/07 (2012.01); G06F 119/14 (2020.01)
CPC G06F 30/20 (2020.01) [E21B 33/12 (2013.01); E21B 47/07 (2020.05); E21B 49/0875 (2020.05); E21B 2200/08 (2020.05); G06F 2119/14 (2020.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of selecting well plugs and/or wellbore conditions for use at a wellbore location, the method comprising:
(a) defining a set of wellbore conditions for the wellbore location;
(b) defining plug properties which include dissolution time properties;
(c) creating an analysis of a physical and chemical model generated from the set of wellbore conditions and plug properties to determine dissolution properties for the proposed plug at the wellbore location, wherein the dissolution properties include at least one of the seal times for which the proposed plug can maintain a seal with the plug seat to hold pressure and the dissolution time until the plug is dissolved sufficiently to pass through the plug seat;
(d) determining whether the dissolution properties meet the needs of a wellbore operation; and
(e) selecting a plug and wellbore conditions for the plug to use at the well location for the wellbore operation based on steps (a) through (d).