An operator in southern Mexico was concerned with high costs for on-hand shaker screen inventory and screen disposal, which was attributed to the lifespan of the traditional shaker screens in use. The objective was to run a field trial with the extreme-life shaker screens on a well.
Extreme-life shaker screens were recommended because the screen design significantly increases shaker screen life, which in turn reduces costs and the high amount of waste caused by frequent screen changes. As a by-product of these benefits, CO2 footprint and HSE risks are decreased as well.
The field trial involved drilling through a 26-in section with water-based mud (WBM), 17½-in section with oil-based mud (OBM), and 12¼-in section with OBM. The extreme-life shaker screens were demonstrated to successfully reduce screen consumption across all sections.
To compare the lifespan of the screens, one shaker was outfitted with a conventional screen and another shaker with the SLB extreme-life shaker screen, and equal flow was diverted to each. During this trial, mud weights ranged from 10.lbm/galUS to 16.lbm/galUS while drilling over 13,000 ft at an average rate of 325 galUS/min per shaker.
During construction of the well, the extreme-life shaker screens lasted 4.65 times longer than the conventional screens. The increase in shaker screen lifespan reduced screen costs by 23%, screen disposal volume by 77%, and screen weight hauled to and from the rig site by 77%.
