Drill Pipe Damage: 5 Common Causes

Oil country tubular goods (OCTGs) require adequate protection from the elements and the contents whose passage they are meant to facilitate. Since products like Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipes are reinforced with high-strength materials, they’re a shoo-in option for damage prevention.

The following are not only reasons for drill pipe damage are solids grounds for OCTG pipe solutions.

1. Cyclic Stress

High temperature and hydrogen sulfide are the most common reasons behind fatigue failure. A drill pipe experiences a lot of tension, torsion, pressure, and bending during its lifetime. It’s particularly vulnerable to cyclic stress caused by continuous rotation.

The more the drill pipe rotates, the more it’s likely to bend and compress. Fatigue failure due to bending mostly occurs near the thinner pipe portions, such as the joints. It manifests as cracks and fractures.

2. Corrosion

Corrosion can also cause fatigue and result in premature failure. It isn’t just caused by the air reacting with the chemistry of your pipes. On the contrary, it’s the result of necessary interventions.

Corrosion occurs when oxygen, Carbon dioxide, salts, hydrogen sulfide, and miscellaneous acids in the drilling mud react with the drill pipe. Since you can’t take these chemicals out of the equation, you might have to change the chemistry of your drill pipe and provide extra reinforcement through chemical scavengers.

3. Pipe Stuck

Pipe sticking or stuck is characterized by a non-rotating drill pipe and collar, also known as a drill string. It happens when you can’t pull the pipe out of the hole without causing damage. Pipe sticking can be differential pressure or mechanical.

Different pressure sticking is characterized by the partial or complete embedding of the drill string (collar and pipe). You might have to address this by diluting the mud with nitrogen.

When the drill cuttings aren’t completely removed from the annulus, you have a mechanically stuck pipe. It’s much trickier to address, but you could start by removing the annulus.

When the drill cuttings aren’t completely removed from the annulus, you have a mechanically stuck pipe. It’s much trickier to address, but you could start by removing the annulus.

4. Drill Pipe Thread Damage

It’s quite difficult to assess the damage to drill pipe threads. You can expect it to happen due to poor drilling conditions, human error, faulty production, and incorrect storage.

Furthermore, you could adopt the following preventive measures to ensure your threads aren’t damaged in the first place:

• Proper care
• Adequate storage
• Regular pipe inspection
• Thread protection

5. Loss of Circulation

You may experience drill pipe damage due to loss of circulation and the resulting uncontrolled drilling of mud into the hole. If you don’t want subsurface blowouts and waste capital on this entirely avoidable damage:

• Keep the mud weight within the proper range.
• Reduce fracture losses.
• Maintain appropriate formation pressure.
• Watch out for restrictions in the annular space.

Alternatively, reach out to OCTG pipe suppliers like CNPS to prevent drill pipe damage without trying too hard. Browse fiberglass-reinforced pipes, oilfield mud logging products, and other innovative energy solutions, so you don’t have to try extra hard to protect your drill pipes from corrosion, bending, torsion, and other threats.

Call +8618354639099 to learn more about OCTG pipe solutions, and other energy solutions and equipment.