Schlumberger Reservoir Completions
PerforatingA General 
Overview 
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Perforating 
The productivity of a given reservoir is primarily 
dependent on the near wellbore pressure drop. 
 
This is governed by drilling damage and perforation 
parameters.   
 
Furthermore, successful stimulation and sand control 
operations are strongly dependent on perforation 
parameters. 
 
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Perforating 
Today we will look at: 
 History 
 Physics 
 Factors affecting performance 
 Quality Control 
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History 
Mechanical, prior to 1932. 
Bullet Gun, 1932 to present 
Hydraulic, 1958 to present 
 Abrasive jetting 
Shaped Charge, 1946 to present 
 Spin-off from DOD and DOE Technology 
 Most popular 
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Cavity Effect 
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Shaped Charge Perforator 
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The Perforation Process 
 High velocity - 7,000 m/sec 
 High Pressure - millions  psi 
 High speed - microseconds 
 Low temperature 
 Particulated jet does the 
work 
 
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Shaped Charge Magic 
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Penetration Physics 
 Jet Length  
 Jet Density 
 Jet Velocity 
 Jet Mass 
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Penetration Physics 
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Requirements: 
 Performance 
 Penetration Depth, Casing Hole Diameter 
 Flow effectiveness or productivity 
 Consistency 
 Manufacturability 
 Ease and Consistency 
 Cost  
 Effective  
 Competitive 
Shaped Charge Perforators 
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Solid copper (1946) 
 Adapted from military 
 Used today in big hole charges 
 Form large slug 
Bimetallic sheet metal (1958) 
 Hard to fabricate 
 Poor performance 
Powder metal (1960s) 
 Slug disintegrates 
 Preferred liner for deep penetrators 
Shaped Charge Liners 
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Factors Affecting Charge 
Performance 
Symmetry - Symmetry - Symmetry 
 
 A Shaped Charge is at best a semi-stable 
device and any deviation to the design that 
upsets its symmetry will yield a crooked jet and 
thus reduced performance. 
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Consistent  manufacturing 
 Liner 
 Powders and pressing 
 Tooling 
 QC Testing 
 API type targets 
 Regular checking 
 
Aggressive QC is critical for consistent shaped 
charge performance 
Factors Affecting Charge 
Performance 
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Effect of Optimized Liner Design 
Perforating Gun Comparison
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Old System
HyperJet
Ultrajet
PowerJet
G
u
n
 
T
y
p
e
API Section I Penetration (inches)
54.1 in. 
47.3 in. 
34.6 in. 
25.0 in. 
1999 
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Factors Affect Perforation 
Performance 
Water Standoff  
Scallop/Port Plug Thickness 
Shot Density/Charge 
Packaging 
Target Properties 
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Factors Affecting Performance 
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Standoff (distance from charge to gun wall) 
 Can optimize charge performance. 
Scallop/port plug thickness 
 Very small effect on deep penetrator. 
 More effect on big hole. 
Charge packaging in the gun 
 Charge-to-charge interference. 
 Detonating cord-to-charge interference 
 
It is a SYSTEM design 
Gun Design Factors Affecting 
Charge Performance 
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Major effects 
 Gun clearance 
 Casing and formation strength 
 Effective formation stress 
 Wellbore Fluid 
 Temperature (selection of explosive) 
 
Downhole Parameters That Affect 
Performance 
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Perforator Performance vs. Gun 
Clearance 
Penetration 
 Little effect in most conditions 
 If the ratio of wellbore clearance over charge 
diameter is >2 then EH and Pen could be 
reduced by a factor of 0.6 to 0.75. A ratio of 1 is 
OK. 
 very large standoff deteriorates jet    
Entrance hole 
 Effect can be considerable 
 BH guns are optimized to shoot with standoff 
 
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Temperature  
Selection of explosives: 
 T (within rating) --> no performance loss 
 Effect is cumulative 
 Consider accuracy of T reading 
 
Ratings 
 Temperature: RDX < HMX < HNS/HTX 
 Performance: HNS <HTX< RDX < HMX 
 
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Time vs Temperature 
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Temperature 
Major effects: 
 If T rating is exceeded: 
 Loss of performance 
 Burn 
 Low order or autodetonate 
 HMX or RDX < 300 F will not autodetonate 
 Above 300 F might burn or autodetonate 
 HNS/HTX is not known to autodetonate 
 Might lose performance or burn 
 
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HMX Enerjet 
300 
310 
320 
330 
340 
350 
360 
370 
380 
390 
400 
0.1  1  10 
Time to Autodetonation, Hours 
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
,
 
F
 
0.2% max RDX 
Rating point 
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HMX and T > 330 F 
 
 HMX at 330 F has a phase change which increases 
its impact sensitivity 
 If unshot guns need to be pulled from the well: 
 For 48 hrs do not download guns  
 After 48 hrs HMX reverts enough to be safe to handle 
 
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Classifications of Perforating Gun 
Systems 
Through-Tubing 
 Small guns to get through the tubing string 
 Can be shot underbalance 
Casing 
 Larger guns with big charges 
 Usually shot overbalance 
High Shot Density  
 Larger gun with more shots per foot 
 Used for tubing conveyed applications 
 
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Another Classification of Gun 
Systems 
Capsule Charge 
 Enerjet (1 
11
/16, 2 
1
/8 , 2 
1
/2 -in. ) 
 Pivot Gun (1 
11
/16 -in.) 
 
Hollow Carrier 
 Scallop Guns (1 
11
/16 & 2 
1
/8-in.) 
 HEGS (3 
1
/8 & 4-in.) 
 Port Plug Guns (4-in.) 
 HSD (1.56 to 7-in.)