What’s the difference between composite and dissolvable plugs?
Like the name suggests, dissolvable plugs are designed to degrade downhole. This degradation is triggered by certain conditions, like pressure, temperature, or exposure to certain catalysts. Composite plugs, on the other hand, are designed to maintain their shape and integrity until drilled out of the way. They’ll typically be more resilient when up against factors like high pressures and temperatures.
These different types of plugs can also come with different construction, features, and benefits.
Repeat Precision’s PurpleSeal™ composite frac plug comes with:
- Lightweight materials that lend themselves to a better drill-out
- Anti-extrusion fins on the lower cone
- A substantially sized rubber element that provides over 1” of casing engagement
- A fully optimized, rigorously tested ball-and-seat design
- Anti-preset features in the plug and wireline adapter kit
- No run-in-hole speed limits when pumping
- Ball-on-seat capability
Our PurpleReign™ dissolvable frac plug comes with:
- Magnesium composition for degradation by design
- An anti-extrusion limiter package
- A conventional lower slip chassis for greater reliability and hold
- A substantially sized rubber element that provides over 1” of casing engagement
- A top anchoring system to provide a second point of contact with the casing
- A muleshoe design to prevent inadvertent presets
- Ball drop or ball-in-place capability
READ MORE: What is a hybrid frac plug?
Why use composite plugs?
- They provide excellent zonal isolation to keep high-pressure water and sand compartmentalized, which also prevents proppant erosion and casing breaches.
- They tend to have greater downhole integrity, improve perforation uniformity, and require less customization across various applications.
- Pressure-normalized rates are higher than the rates for dissolvable plugs, according to DarkVision’s latest report.
- Composite plugs have a different material makeup compared to dissolvables, so composites often cost less to purchase.
READ MORE: Frac plug forensics: our takeaways from Darkvision’s report
Why use dissolvable plugs?
Dissolvable plugs are a less common choice, but they have their uses downhole:
- While they can cost more to buy, dissolvables can improve ROI if you are able to touch more rock in extended reach laterals.
- They can dissolve at different rates, giving you extra flexibility in terms of when they start to degrade downhole.
- They produce less debris during drill out, making this part of the operation less risky.
- There can be less per-stage cleanout time for dissolvable plugs versus composite plugs.
READ MORE: Why we changed our minds about dissolvable plugs
When you’re trying to decide between using composite vs dissolvable plugs, it all comes down to what you need to accomplish downhole. Learn more about the PurpleSeal™ frac plug and the PurpleReign™ dissolvable frac plug, or contact us today to talk about which plug is right for your completion.
