Real Success: RzrFRAC Composite Frac Plug

In my previous article (RzrFRAC: The Next Step in Composite Technology) I highlighted the design features of the RzrFRAC Composite Frac plug that have brought value to our customers. Each one of the features described in the article, and more, help to provide the most optimized plug and perf completion solution available on the market. In addition to the design features, I want to highlight some of the actual success our customers have experienced with the RzrFRAC.

Pump Down

During a recent pump down operation in West Texas an operator experienced the wireline bottom hole assembly (BHA) hitting something and stopping.  To err on the side of caution the operator decided to pull the BHA from the well, inspect, and rerun the equipment. On surface it was clear that the plug had encountered something in the well, it had a large gouge out of the bottom. This shows how robust the plug is even when encountering something during the pump down. Even though the plug experienced forces great enough to take a chunk of composite out, there was no other visible damage to the plug.

The fact that the setting equipment runs through the inside diameter (ID) and connects to the bottom of the plug ensures that any forces experienced on the bottom of the plug during pump down will go through the bottom of the plug and into the setting equipment, rather than into the slips or the element which could cause issues. Also, since the slips are not held together with shear media there is no chance of it breaking and causing preset.

Mill Up

The easiest way to measure the value of the RzrFRAC Composite Plug is through its mill up performance. The speed, consistency, and efficiency of the milling operation is one of the reasons our customers continue to choose the RzrFRAC.  We recently had a customer mill up 49 5.5” 20-23# RzrFRAC Plugs in a single trip with an average mill time of 5.6 minutes. The customer used stick pipe with the following BHA and milling procedure.

 The graph below shows the results of the mill up, as you cam see the mill ups were quick and extremely consistent. The standard deviation of the mill times was only 2.2 minutes. This proves the consistency of the mill times throughout the job, 70% of the times were between 3 and 8 minutes.

In another Permian well the client milled up 37 plugs in an 8,000’ lateral. The plugs milled up with an average time of 4.6 minutes (standard deviation of 1.9 minutes) using a rock bit and stick pipe, which was phenomenal. In addition to this the average trip time between the plugs was only 30 minutes. Many times service providers will highlight the quick mill times of their composite plug which will be great, but the average wash times between plugs elevate to 1 hour or more. The RzrFRAC leaves very small components after milling through the anchored portion of the plug that do not affect the wash times. The total job was performed in less that 24 hours without short trips or bit trips.

Milling BHA Wear

In addition to milling up quickly the RzrFRAC does so without causing damage to the milling BHA. We recently had a customer mill up 76 5.5” 17-20# RzrFRAC plugs using a single bit. After the mill up it was clear that the RzrFRAC had been milled up without any damage to the bit. As you can see there is very little scarring on the outside of the bit. The mill tooth cones still have their hardening and show very little wear. What you can’t see from the pictures are that the cones are still tight and can be rotated by hand. The customer commented that he would be confident in milling another 30 plugs.

The RzrFRAC saves our customers money on the bit choice because we recommend using a mill toothed cone. Many other providers recommend a hybrid design that utilizes tungsten carbide inserts (TCI) in the cones of the bit. These TCI are designed to handle higher wear rates associated with the materials of other plugs and tend to provide longer bit life in those applications. The bits that use TCI are typically more expensive than a standard mill tooth cone, sometimes up to $2,000 more. The materials used on the RzrFRAC do not cause the increase wear rates and therefore only a mill toothed cone is needed.

Cutting Edge Simplicity

The RzrFRAC has been designed to provide the most optimized plug and perf completion solution and the results prove it has achieved its goal. The plug provides a high pressure competent seal using 70% less material than the industry accepted alternative and is constructed entirely out of composite material. With close to 8,000 runs the RzrFRAC continues to delight our customers. Please contact me if you’d like to experience the RzrFRAC in your well at matthew.crump@rubicon-oilfield.com.