During drilling and upon completion and production of an oil and/or gas wellbore, a workover and/or completion tubular string can be installed in the wellbore to allow for production of oil and/or gas from the well. Current trends involve the production of oil and/or gas from deeper wellbores with more hostile operating environments. In order to produce the oil and/or gas from the wellbore, the wellbore is typically perforated to provide one or more fluid pathways through a casing lining the wellbore to the subterranean formation containing the oil and/or gas.
During the process of perforating an oil or gas well, a perforating gun assembly may produce a considerable amount of debris. The debris is primarily chunks of steel from perforating gun charge cases and charge holders as well as powdered zinc from zinc charge cases. As part of the perforating operation, debris may escape from the perforating gun and pass into the wellbore. Once the perforating operating is complete, the debris may accumulate within sections of the wellbore, particularly in horizontal zones and/or above packers in vertical zones.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds