Mitigate drilling hazards and place lost circulation materials (LCMs)
The WELL COMMANDER ball-activated drilling circulating valve provides an alternate circulation path for such critical functions as placing lost circulation and wellbore strengthening materials.
The WELL COMMANDER valve allows operators to boost circulation to remove cuttings at strategic points in the drillstring. It allows them to condition or displace wellbore fluids at high flow rates or bypass sensitive downhole BHA tools with lost circulation or wellbore strengthening treatments with a simple, one-ball open-close functionality.
Applications
- Extended-reach, tortuous-well, and high-pressure drilling
- High-concentration LCM or kill-weight fluid spotting
- Cutting bed removal
- Underreaming or coring operations
- Annular velocity enhancement
- Fluid conditioning and displacement at high flow rates
Benefits
- Boosts annular velocity to enhance hole cleaning and facilitate drilling debris removal
- Enables control of debris reaching lower BHA components by shutting off flow completely
- Stimulates turbulent flow by combining the pipe rotation with increased annular velocities
- Reduces downhole pressure effects associated with increased rates
- Promotes workstring draining while tripping
Features
- Multiple ports provide generous bypass flow area
- Ability to be run in multiple trips up to the maximum circulating hours with no redressing
- Tool activation mechanism locks into open or closed position
- Lock-open position enables reverse circulation, if required
- Ball catcher permits smaller ball or limited wireline access below the tool, even after activation
- No internal tool connections
- Tool activation mechanism isolated from drilling fluids prevents failures due to solids accumulation
- Optional shutoff ball prevents coarse LCM from entering LWD and MWD tools, core barrel, mud motor, and other debris-susceptible BHA components
**Must include Bypass Ball Catcher (BBC), which is required to capture balls sheared through the tool**
