Application of swelling packer in coalbed methane wells in Australia

Most coalbed sections of Australian coalbed methane wells are completed with screen pipes. Because coal is easy to collapse during production, the production pump was often blocked by coal particles falling from wellbore. To solve this problem, the swelling packer with rubber tube is developed by using the annular characteristics between formation and water swelling casing of water swelling packer, structural optimization of packer and lab experiments. Changing the design that the swelling rubber is vulcanized directly on the casing, this device replaces the swelling rubber with rubber tube and provided end rings at other ends. During construction, the rubber tube is installed on the casing and fixed with the end rings at both ends. The field applications show that the swelling packer with rubber tube is characterized by easy operation and reliable sealing, which can solve effectively and economically the problems with short pump inspection cycle resulting from hole collapse.