BARRIER TESTING METHOD Russian patent published in 2018 - IPC E21B47/10 E21B33/127 E21B43/10 

FIELD: soil or rock drilling; mining.

SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to a well completion system prior to commencement of production and, in particular, barrier testing for testing a production casing in a borehole. Method comprises connecting the drill pipe to the first end of a first production casing having annular barriers. Said barriers comprise a tubular part forming part of the casing and an expandable sleeve surrounding the tubular part, thereby defining an expandable space. Drill pipe and the first production casing are inserted into an intermediate casing extending in a first part of the borehole closest to the top of the well and at least part of the first production casing into a second part of the borehole. Second end of the first production casing is sealed. Pressure inside first production casing is raised and one or more of the expandable sleeves of the annular barriers is expanded to abut a wall of the borehole. Pressure inside first production casing is raised to a predetermined pressure. First production casing and one or more expanded barriers are tested after expansion by measuring if the predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period. First barrier packer is installed between the first production casing and the intermediate casing. First barrier packer is tested for its function as a barrier to ensure the overall integrity of the borehole.

EFFECT: technical result is the improvement of barrier testing to ensure the integrity of the borehole.

17 cl, 11 dwg