Can Centek centralizers be re-run after being pulled out of hole (POOH)?
Not automatically. Centek does not recommend routinely re-using centralizers after POOH. Any decision to re-run recovered equipment should be made on a case-by-case basis following appropriate inspection of the centralizers and stop collars, together with consideration of the well conditions and loading they have experienced.
During POOH, centralizers may need to compress through restrictions, doglegs, casing shoes and other changes in wellbore geometry in the reverse direction. Stop collars must continue to resist axial movement and retain the centralizers in position. Centek’s heat-treated, single-piece bow spring construction is designed to combine strength with the flexibility and spring recovery required for these demanding movements.
Centek has documented several operations in which its equipment was recovered intact, inspected and successfully re-run. In the Permian Basin, all 135 S2 centralizers were found to be undamaged and still at gauge after POOH. They were subsequently re-run in the highly deviated well and reached TD.
These examples are not a blanket recommendation for re-use. They demonstrate the importance of selecting centralization equipment capable of remaining intact and in position when an unplanned casing run becomes a round trip.
