Applications

Pulsed power technology is an alternative well intervention method with applications across the lifecycle of a well: from post-completion stimulation to scale sampling and cement removal for plug & abandonment. Treatment is fast to deploy and fast to run, with results that last.

Light intervention, big impact

Our pulsed power tools clear blockages and remove solids build-up in the wellbore by turning small amounts of electrical energy into pressure pulses that shatter brittle material. No chemicals, no rig, no complex logistics.

Applications of pulsed power in well intervention broadly fall into four categories – production enhancement, equipment cleaning, scale sampling and intentional cement removal – with compelling use cases along the well lifecycle, from post-completion through to decommissioning. It has also been used successfully to boost the effectiveness of other intervention methods.

Pulsed power is particularly effective at removing scale – including the most challenging scale types, such as BaSO₄ – and at reaching areas other methods can’t. The treatment can be deployed on precise intervals of the well.

The technology’s small footprint, ease of deployment and relatively short treatment time suit scenarios where intervention would otherwise be uneconomical. And because it cleans more effectively, results typically last much longer.

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Any well, anywhere

Pulsed power treats wells of all shapes, sizes and completion types. It can restore a well’s performance whether it’s an injector or producer, offshore or onshore, vertical or horizontal.

Well type

Producing well
Water disposal wells
Injection wells
Geothermal wells
Water supply wells

Trajectory

Vertical
Deviated
Horizontal

Pulsed power for production enhancement

Perforations compacted or plugged by fines, sand screens clogged by scale? A key application for pulsed power technology is as a low-risk, easy-to-deploy method for restoring or creating flow paths – at speed and with a small operational footprint.

Post-completion stimulation

Pulsed power is used for post-completion stimulation in a number of ways. It’s highly effective at opening up perforations that are not contributing due to near wellbore damage (fines, perforation damage, compaction).

Other use cases include the creation of wormholes to initiate oil and sand production and the consistent removal of filter cakes to enhance flow.

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Restoring production of mature wells

Pulsed power is an attractive first-call method for production enhancement on underperforming wells. If solids build-up is blocking perforations, screens, gravel packs or slotted liners, pulsed power is highly effective at clearing flow paths and reconnecting the well to the reservoir. It works on all types of completions, including barefoot.

The unique characteristics of the pressure pulses mean the technology can reach where mechanical methods can’t - without damaging completion components. It has proven particularly good at reviving wells choked by stubborn or thick scale. Pulsed power clears scale more thoroughly and in less time overall than other methods, with effects lasting longer. This makes it suitable for scheduled, multi-well campaigns in locations prone to scale formation.

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Reduction of pre-frac breakdown pressure

Pulsed power offers a proven alternative method for reducing the breakdown pressure in the formation prior to hydraulic fracturing, ensuring successful stimulation without the operational burden that comes with other methods.

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Improving or restoring injectivity

Pulsed power can do for injection wells what it’s great at doing for producing wells: mitigate near-wellbore damage and increase permeability to restore flow.

Deployed instead of - or in addition to - conventional methods like acidizing, chemical treatments or hydraulic fracturing, pulsed power offers a logistics-light, cost-effective and fast way of restoring injectivity.

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Pulsed power for equipment cleaning

Safety valves seized up and not working, gas lift equipment irretrievably lodged in place, tubing ID coated in inch-thick solids build-up? When tough scale stops critical well equipment from functioning, your operations grind to a halt. Pulsed power can clear the most challenging scale types, in places other methods can’t reach. So you can retrieve that gas lift valve, set that plug, access that wellhead.

A camera image of a subsea safety valve after cleaning using pulsed power

Restoring functionality

Pulsed power quickly and reliably restores functionality of critical well equipment to ensure production can continue – or increase. It offers a fast, rigless, chemical-free way of cleaning all types of safety valves (SSSV, SCSSSV, TRSV, ASV), gas lift valves and key completions components. The cleaning effect is so thorough, that equipment is left in as-new condition and retains functionality for longer.

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Camera images of tubing hanger before and after pulsed power treatment

Regaining access

Pulsed power can treat precise intervals of the well to regain access to equipment or sections of the well. For example, it precision cleans hard-to-reach areas of side pocket mandrels to enable the retrieval of gas lift valves, clears layers of scale off the internal diameter of tubing for plug setting in P&A, and removes scale from wellheads to restore access to the wellbore.

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Pulsed power for scale sampling

Our pulsed power tools remove scale without dissolving it. That means any debris can be caught and brought to surface for analysis – to evidence successful treatment or to inform future intervention regimes based on a more complete understanding of the precise scale composition.

Scale removed during treatment is collected and brought to surface for analysis

Standalone scale sampling

On wells where treatment has proven less effective than expected, or in offshore environments with complex scale challenges and expensive intervention scenarios, a diagnostic treatment run with our tools can provide your teams with the samples they need to more effectively and proactively address expensive scale issues.

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Scale intelligence

Routine sampling as part of pulsed power treatment runs ensures every job produces additional insights that helps fine-tune future intervention campaigns.

Insights from samples enrich the scale intelligence picture on the well treated, plus its neighbors and analogs. Our digital tools can track and organize this intelligence for you and help you plan proactive, cost-optimized programs.

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Pulsed power for intentional cement removal

Pulsed power can break and rubblize cement as part of rigless P&A and cement remediation operations. Available today for smaller casing IDs and shorter intervals, we are expanding our tool capabilities to soon cover all casing sizes and long-interval jobs. We are working with partners to build the fast, rigless P&A workflows of the future.

Removing cement to

Remediate cemented annuli
De-bond cemented tubing
Remove and replace non-sealing cement
Re-complete bypassed zones

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