Sliding sleeve
Encyclopedia
A sliding sleeve is a standard component for the completion of an oil or gas well
. Their main uses are to shut off flow from one or more reservoir zones or to regulate pressure between zones.
There are two main categories of sliding sleeves: open/close and choking. Open/close sleeves are shifted between a full open position and a closed position. They are used to shut off flow from a zone for economic reasons or to shut off a zone that is depleting or producing too much water. In multi-zone wells, they are used to regulate which zones to produce from and which ones to shut off. Mechanically actuated sleeves are simple and inexpensive but require actuation by a "lock," which must be run in the well on wireline
or coiled tubing
. Hydraulically actuated sleeves are more complicated but can be actuated from a small pump at surface. King sleeves can be used to regulate the pressure between two or more zones. They are also used to regulate the flow of fluid into a well during proppant fracturing or hydraulic fracturing
operations. Choking sleeves are all hydraulically actuated and have a much more complex design than open/close sleeves.
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
. Their main uses are to shut off flow from one or more reservoir zones or to regulate pressure between zones.
There are two main categories of sliding sleeves: open/close and choking. Open/close sleeves are shifted between a full open position and a closed position. They are used to shut off flow from a zone for economic reasons or to shut off a zone that is depleting or producing too much water. In multi-zone wells, they are used to regulate which zones to produce from and which ones to shut off. Mechanically actuated sleeves are simple and inexpensive but require actuation by a "lock," which must be run in the well on wireline
Wireline
In the oil and gas industry, the term wireline usually refers to a cabling technology used by operators of oil and gas wells to lower equipment or measurement devices into the well for the purposes of well intervention and reservoir evaluation....
or coiled tubing
Coiled tubing
In the oil and gas industries, coiled tubing refers to metal piping, normally 1" to 3.25" in diameter, used for interventions in oil and gas wells and sometimes as production tubing in depleted gas wells, which comes spooled on a large reel. Coiled tubing is often used to carry out operations...
. Hydraulically actuated sleeves are more complicated but can be actuated from a small pump at surface. King sleeves can be used to regulate the pressure between two or more zones. They are also used to regulate the flow of fluid into a well during proppant fracturing or hydraulic fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing
Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of utilizing pressurized water, or some other liquid, to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other...
operations. Choking sleeves are all hydraulically actuated and have a much more complex design than open/close sleeves.