Types of Bridge Plugs

Bridge plugs are downhole tools that are set to isolate the lower part of a wellbore. Bridge plugs may be permanent or retrievable, enabling the lower wellbore to be permanently sealed from production or temporarily isolated from a treatment conducted on an upper zone. They are composed of slips, mandrel, and elastomers (sealing elements).
Types of bridge Plugs
As mentioned above, bridge plugs can be;
Retrievable Bridge Plugs (RBP) or Temporary Bridge Plugs.
Permanent Bridge Plugs (PBP) or Millable/Drill-Through Bridge Plugs.
Retrievable Bridge Plugs (RBP)
These are high-pressure plugs for multizone and selective single zones operations such as acidizing, fracturing, cementing, and testing. RBPs can be set in tension or compression. They can also be set shallow in an unsupported casing to contain pressure while working on wellhead equipment.
RBPs can be set in tension which makes it ideal for setting shallow to test wellhead equipment and also deep to test high-pressure wells. It features a large internal by-pass to reduce swabbing when running and retrieving. The by-pass closes during the setting of the plugs and opens prior to releasing the upper slips to equalize pressure when unsetting. The by-pass is located directly below the upper slips to help wash the debris when the by-pass is open. Retrievable bridge plugs may be used for temporary abandonment operations or in tandem with retrievable service packers for remedial operations.
Permanent Bridge Plugs (PBP) or Millable/Drill-Through Bridge Plugs
These are bridge plugs that are designed/developed to seal off or isolate a part of the well permanently. They are usually designed with millable metals hence they are also referred to as drill through or millable permanent bridge plugs.
Permanent bridge plugs are suitable for volatile chemical or sour gas environments. PBP can withstand pressure from 10,000psi to over 15,000psi and high temperatures of 327°C (638°F) and a standard temperature of 205°C (400°F).
Bridge Plugs Sealing Elements (Swellable Elastomers)
Bridge plugs have a deformable element used to form a seal against the surrounding borehole wall. When being deployed, the deformable element may need to pass through a restriction that is smaller than the diameter of the borehole where the element is to be set. Consequently, the deformed element’s size can be limited by the smallest diameter restriction through which it will deploy. Once deployed at the desired location, the deformable element can then be set by compression, inflation, or swelling depending on the type of element used. Swellable elements take a considerable amount of time (e.g., several days) to swell in the presence of an activating agent, and the swellable elements tend to overly extrude overtime. When an inflatable element is used, it deploys in a collapsed state and then inflates when properly positioned. Unfortunately, the inflatable element can become damaged, can be difficult to implement, and can be affected by changes in downhole temperatures.
In a conventional approach, the plugs use a compression set element having a sleeve that is compressed to increase the element’s diameter to form a seal. Compressing such elements can require a great deal of force and a long stroke.
Sealing elements installed on the Bridge plugs depend on the properties of the well, the type of well fluid, the temperature and pressure of the well.
Mode of Conveyance
Bridge plugs can be deployed to the targeted depth in a well using different modes of conveyance. The mode of conveyance depends on some factors such as well profile (trajectory), the depth of the well, and more importantly the cost of conveyance.
Underlisted are some of the common modes of conveyance available.
Slickline
E-line
Slick-E-line
Well Tractors
Coiled Tubing
Threaded Pipe.
Applications of Bridge Plugs
Bridge plugs are usually used for zonal isolation of different parts of a well. A bridge plug may be set in place in order to carry out workover or intervention operations on a particular section of the wellbore. Setting a bridge plug in place helps achieve multi-zonal isolation to effectively carry out operations on a distinct part of the well without affecting other parts.
Bridge plugs are also employed for plugging and abandonment operations. When the quantity of hydrocarbon in a reservoir is no longer commercial or the reservoir volume has been drained via production, the need to abandon the well arises. The well designer may choose to set bridge plugs in conjunction with cement slurries to ensure that higher density cement does not fall in the wellbore. In that case, the bridge plug would be set and cement pumped on top of the plug through drillpipe, and then the drillpipe withdrawn before the slurry thickened.
Vigor can provide you with three different permanent bridge plugs, including soluble bridge plugs, composite bridge plugs and cast iron bridge plugs, Vigor’s permanent bridge plugs have been used in major oil field sites at home and abroad and have been highly recognized by customers. In addition, Vigor’s latest recyclable bridge plug is also one of the most popular products, which is known for its strict quality control and excellent performance, and is becoming one of the first choices for many customers’ completion equipment. If you are interested in the Vigor Completion Tool Bridge Plug Series or other drilling and completion tools for the oil and gas industry, please do not hesitate to contact us for the best product support and technical support.