What Is a Cast Iron Bridge Plug Used For?

What Is a Cast Iron Bridge Plug Used For?

What Is a Cast Iron Bridge Plug Used For?

Oil and gas drilling is a much more precise science than how its depicted in movies. Modern tools take much of the guesswork out of finding subterranean fuel sources.

Drillers use many types of tools in creating or servicing an oil well. One of them is called a bridge plug. Bridge plugs can be made of composite materials or cast iron. Each has different pressure tolerances, and the design of the plug determines how it can be set and whether it can be placed temporarily and retrieved, or if the placement will be permanent. So what is a cast iron bridge plug used for?

What Bridge Plugs Do

What exactly do bridge plugs do? Oil and gas wells have long, deep, vertical shafts drilled below ground, to reach the areas where reservoirs of fuels may be found. Pumps are set to extract the fuel from the ground, or additional “downhole” equipment and materials are used to break up rock and release natural gas. This process is called “fracking.”

Oil and gas servicing companies may need to isolate lower sections of the well from the upper section, to stop the flow of oil or gas from one section to the other. This enables servicing like testing, injection, stimulation, or other necessary procedures in the upper section. In cases where the well has given all it has, workers seal it off permanently.

Why Use Cast Iron Bridge Plugs

Cast iron bridge plugs have long been trusted as a means to permanently close off a well. Although they can be drilled out, cast iron bridge plugs are more often placed to seal off a spent well when no more fuel can be extracted. Among the many benefits of cast iron bridge plugs is the fact that they can endure high pressure and temperatures, and can be set using tubing or wireline.

Can Cast Iron Bridge Plugs Be Removed?

Cast iron bridge plugs can be removed by drilling them out, but they can’t be reused. Drilling them out destroys their functionality. It may happen that a producer would want to re-open a well, if servicing of upper segments is complete and the well can go back into production. In this scenario, a retrievable bridge plug is the usual choice. Cast iron bridge plugs are used as the reliable choice for permanent installation, to close off a defunct well.

Silver Fox is a top wholesaler to the oil and gas service industry. Contact us for all your downhole tool and equipment needs.