RFID Drilling Circulation Sub
RFID Drilling Circulation Sub

Weatherford International announced the commercial release of JetStream® Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) circulation sub at the last Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition that will help the Oil & Gas industry. Poor wellbore integrity can cause events such as stuck pipe, wellbore collapse, sloughing shales and lost circulation, which are major concerns for drillers in deep water. The Jetsream® radio-frequency identification (RFID) drilling circulation sub is a remotely actuated circulation device that facilitates drilling and hole-cleanup operations.

The drilling circulation sub uses RFID technology to communicate open and close commands. When the operator needs to move the sub from the closed position to either of the two open positions, for example, an RFID tag is dropped from the surface and circulated internally through the sub. A built-in antenna receives the RFID signal, and a battery-powered electric motor operates a hydraulic pump, which moves the sleeve into the appropriate position. The JetStream RFID sub does not require a ball seat to operate; therefore, it does not have a reduction in ID. This is especially beneficial when running multiple tools, because using ball seats when running multiple tools creates a major restriction at the lowermost ball seat.

“Weatherford has pioneered the innovative application of RFID technology in the oil and gas industry to drive operations efficiency,” said Neil Gordon, Vice President of Intervention Services and Drilling Tools at Weatherford. “As operators deal with more complex wellbores, the ability to drop an RFID tag from the surface and circulate it through the sub enables our clients to open and close downhole tools multiple times, which provides superior operational flexibility and saves days of rig time. In deepwater drilling operations, RFID technology can save the client over $1 million per application by reducing the amount of non-productive time. This is critical in the current economic environment.”

Some of the applications of the RFID Drilling Circulation Sub for Oil & Gas drillers are to increase annular velocity, spotting of lost-circulation material (LCM) pills in any drilling assembly, cleaning the wellborn, jetting the blowout preventer (BOP) stack and increasing flow above a turbine, mud motor, or any other flow-restrictive bottomhole assembly (BHA) component.

 

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