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autiorr The fionnowing description of anunplanned surface detonat,ion Lry a wirelineperforatimg gun is graphic in nature anti

based om a composite of real evelats during the pastyeiars and could happen .again, unless"..

The wireline crew was on its second ruraandsecond rnisfire of the perforatirag guns and everyonewas getti lg anxior-ts" after afi, tirne is rnoney" Tlleengineer was very alvare [ha[ if tne and his clewdidn't get it right cn the third try theywould probablyget ",r'un off ttrre job," dieneaging his reputationand his company's reputation for tirnely senvic.e-

Ttre second rnisfired perfor.ator was lowened to tireground and placed nexf [o ttae newiy arrned thirdperforaton. The engineer began tlis electrieal firingcircuit checks- The custorurer's well site supervisortook his ioLr to heart and was carefully looking overthe shou{ders of the helpers who urere getting thethird run ready. The workoryer crew u/as also standiregctrose by in order to help controrl the heavy per-forat-ing gun when it was lifted up ar.ld over the wellboreand lowened Ior a third run" After al[, tFre rig neededto be released hy tFre end of the day to proceed tothe next job.

In order to cor'rfirrn the p,erforating firing circuitn'as cornptrete, the engineer yelled over the din of hiselectrical genelators to his helper. The helper wastold to strort the end of the line where the wirelinewould tre attached electrically ard physically to theperf rating gun" The trelper, a veterarn of over sixrnonths in the perforating business, knew the erqineerwould shoot,current dorylnn the line, sirreu{ating theprocess that would detonate the gun - hopefully

26 Wetl Seruitinq Maygu*e 2001

with success. He also kne'w thrat the "'firing head"rar,ould sparh when the engineer sent the current"The helper would then rnotion to the engineer thatthere uoas a spark and the engineer would then putthe firing circuit in safely and indicate that ttre helpercould now put tiae liring head on the perforator" T,trissequence would ready the perforator fcr loureringinto the hole.

The engineer waved at his helper to "strort theline" and then tre irecreased the current to sirnulatethe firing process" The engineer sees a strangereaction to his current/voltage meter- Sornethingisn'.t quite right! The engineer waves at the helper -he wants do this again * just to rnake sure eyery-thing is in order- FIe yells again at the helper, but thehelper is too far away, over hy the rig, and doesn-thear what the engineeris saying. So the engineerr,vaves again at the helper and the helper wavesback. The engineer resets his firing eircuit and triesit again, watching his rneters very carefully this tirne.

The heiper, watching the engineer wave at hirn andseeing the sparks. kalows that ncw is the tirne tc;setthe perforator connected up. The helper waves Lractr<

at the engineer and begins rmaking.the cosnecfions"After all, he wants to do a good job for the boss andthe custorner.

An explosive perf.orating gun, oltce initiated,carinot he reca,lled or stopped. There are perforatorsthat can pack i2 shaped cfranges per foot and willsend concentrated chernic,atr energy,outward atspeeds ol over 25,000 feet per second with enr:uglif,orce to Lrl.ast precise taoles [hrough steetr, conereteand rock to depths of over a rneter.

In the first thousandth of a second, the hetrper wasengulfed in a firebatrl so fast, the hurnan eye cannGtsee it- Ttrc shape charges penetrated his lower tlodyas he stood over ttte device, maki*g the connectionjust as the engineer tested the firing circuit for thesecond tir,ne while concentrating onXy on his Ereters"h the second tho'usandttr of a second, the [renperwas tlror*rn ciear iust as the energSr caused the second,fuily armed (and presurned misfired) per{oratar toinitiate from the concussicn sending ttrr,e workovercrevr and "cornpany rnan" fnying in atrl directions,breaking beines and shattering eardrunes. nn thethird thousar*dth of a second, the engiceer, safely inhis trtrck, becar,ne aware that something was vrrong-

Aeclder*ts are very rarely a resutrt of a single actionor condition. Ferhaps you have already deducedsome of ttre steps that could have been followed toprevent this incident frora ever happening. Andunlike the positicn that nc one point causes theincident, olle *hreak in the ctlairt" or in ather words,one safe action, perhaps your action or words, cotlldkeep the iacident from lmppening-

Ttrrere are Iiterally thousands of successftlX perfo-ratlng operations performed daily. tn truth, fotrlowingthe praeedures has provlded for an excellent safetyrecord invctrving oitfield explosive devices. However,everl one faitrure can be catastrophicr even deadly"So, what can you dc as an observer or participant ofsuch operations to keeP it safe?

(l) Have a "taitrgate r,neeting'-' and disct-lss exactlywtlat is going to happen with these devices and whatis the proper arn:ing arrd firing procedures. How-what, when, whetre, etc., Got it? Nunrber ONEI

(2) Cheek for stra5l electrical energies around therig Detortators are very sensitive to electrical energy,heat and sf'loelc These cXrecks have found some veryunusual sources o,f electrical energ)r. tsy the way,dry b,Iowixrg air and even static charges fronn light-rrring iive rniles aw:ay can detonate some of thesedevices-

(D Clear the area of all unraecessary personnenar+d reduce the trazard exposure- It ontry takes onernan (the ergineer) to atrn a perforator.

(4) Secure all electricatr power after checking thefiring cireuits, away frorn any explosive device andctrose enough to the instrurnent room to talk to thehelpers, no sign language, Please!

(5) Arrn the gun eleetrically before ballistically'This rtea*s make up the electrlc detonator (in a

Accidents are very rarely a resultof a single action or condition.

safety blast tube) to the now-electrically locked-outfiring cireuit" Then attach tlle detonator to the maincharge- This way, if a rnistake was rnade, the detona-tor goes off in the tube and doesn't set off the largerexplo'sive train.

(6) Keepir,q the firiug circuit locked otlt, energizethe instrurnents betow 200 feet r.ninirrlurn and thereverse for returrting to the surface, even ifyoul had every reason to betieve that there was asuccessful, pXanned detonation.

(7) Assurne a misfire. There have been tirnes whena frtorator only partially detonates, giving goodindications of a successful operation, on\r to fir,rish

the job uporl retum to lower pressure or ir'rcreasedo) gerl Ievels o,f the surface.

(8) Watch for trapped pressure. Some devices.ar, tr old trernendous pressure ontry to release it wiihdevastating results upon unsuspecting help.

(9) It there is a misfire, get *Ie detor,mtor cut awayfrom tfte rnain charge as quickly and safely as possible(no crowds, please). Get ttrle detor,lator in a safetytutrc and then, cut and shunt (twist the electricalwire$ togetfier) ttrre detonator away and safely sto'reback ln a rnagazirle. This is the reverse of arr,ning o'r

ballistic Lref ore electrical.(10) Account for ali exp,Iosive materiaXs and scrap

and lock it up in approved magazines for transporta-tion off-site. No dumping in the ntud pit-

Ten steps. Not a lot to remernber but a minimurnrequirernent for saie op,losive operations- W,ritethem down, comr,nit theal to rnernory or u$e a check-Iist, but use them to keep yourself and your fellowworker safe during explosives operations on tle wellsite. X{ you are noil sure or clear abotrt sonretiing inthis or any operation, ask tlre question or sto'p theoperation. You may be the person whosaves a lifetoday - and it rnay be Yours. .A

Abottt the Autkor: Eric L- Rasemttnn is the IISE Manager'(lS Operufiioru far Computa{og t}SA, o Dirsision of Preeision

Dri.t{ing with ouer 25 years in the oit and gas indus:try' Eric is

et boofu-certifted safety professiottcl (tftd a member of the

American Saciety of Safety Engineers and proud member ofThe AESC.

spEctALlztNG tN FIYD'RAULIc Roo & TUBING roNGS:MANUFACTuRING, sAl-ES, SEFVICE & RENTAI-S

REED MASTEFIS

ODESSA, TEXAS 79760 PHONE 333-5824

trAx 915-33+7951 www.cartertootrco'coff! P.O' BOX 3388

SPECIALIZNG IN CAT. CLIMISfI*S

DETROIT & MACK S'ESEL ENGTNES

ALLISON THAi {SMf SSIONSI,T]SEB-FI$IEH

L & W DIESEI. SERVICE, }NC.DIESEL ENGINE REBTJTLDEFS

2600 w" 43RD. ST. ' P.O- BOX 4635

OBESS&TEXAS 79760

l-EoN t-AcY ts151367-2747VP - Manager Res' 335-8555

Well Serutcinq Mayflune 2A0l 27