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Home Resources Selection GuideFloat Collar & Float Shoe Selection Guide

Key Factors for Float Collar & Float Shoe Selection

Float collars and float shoes are typically used as a set in casing operations. The float shoe is installed at the bottom of the casing string, serving to guide the casing smoothly through the wellbore while preventing mud backflow. Positioned one to two casing joints above the float shoe, the float collar functions to prevent cement slurry backflow, ensuring effective annular sealing.

Improper selection may lead to cementing failures, including seal failures, insufficient cement height, or casing running difficulties. Therefore, scientific matching based on well depth, pressure conditions, and well type is essential for optimal performance.

Schematic diagram of casing string with float shoe

How to Select a Float Shoe?

Guide float shoe

Reamer float shoe

Eccentric guide shoe

Free rotating eccentric nose guide shoe

Stab-in float shoe

For standard well conditions
Guide float shoe, a standard type of float shoe, is suitable for most applications. It features a guiding mechanism or a smooth, oval nose to help the casing navigate around minor obstructions in the wellbore. As the most commonly used float shoe, it is appropriate for the majority of well conditions.
For swelling or collapse conditions
Reamer float shoe is equipped with a tapered nose to ensure smoother casing running even in challenging formations (e.g., swelling or collapse zones) and to guide the casing in deviated wells. Additionally, its body is fitted with tungsten carbide blades to clear obstructions during rotation.
For high-inclination & horizontal wells
Eccentric guide shoe features a tapered nose design to reduce friction during casing running. This design helps operators overcome wellbore obstructions and successfully run casing in high-inclination or horizontal wells. Optional up/down/lateral jetting ports enhance wellbore cleaning and maintain proper hole geometry.
For severe obstructions & narrow boreholes
Free rotating eccentric nose guide shoe provides superior circulation and cleaning capabilities, guiding the casing through severe obstructions and narrow boreholes regardless of well deviation. When circulation rates exceed the specified threshold, the guide shoe begins to rotate while the string remains stationary. This motion, combined with tungsten carbide blades on the body and nose, delivers optimal hole conditioning and cleaning. This model also supports up/down/lateral jetting.
For inner-string cementing operations
Stab-in float shoe is designed for inner-string cementing operations, where the process is similar to conventional cementing but involves pumping cement through the drill pipe to reach the stab-in stinger. The float shoe features a receptacle profile that matches the stinger, with an O-ring seal to ensure sealing upon stinger engagement. Available in sizes ranging from 3-1/2" to 6-5/8", and can also be supplied with IF/FH thread connections. The same configuration is also available for float collars.

How to Select a Float Shoe?

Conventional float collar

Auto fill float collar

Differential fill-up float collar

Conventional Float Collar
This type supports single-valve or dual-valve configurations and is suitable for most well conditions. The valve prevents cement slurry backflow, ensuring the slurry remains in place after being pumped into the annulus.
Auto Fill Float Collar
This float collar allows automatic filling while running the casing into the wellbore, with its valve remaining open, enabling maximum filling of the casing during run-in. Key advantages include: automatic casing filling during casing installation, ability to circulate at low flow rates at any time without switching the valve from fill mode to backpressure mode manually. Before cementing begins, the auto fill float collar can be converted to a conventional float collar by dropping a ball. Allow sufficient time for the ball to reach the collar and apply pump pressure of about 600–800 psi (adjustable) to achieve the conversion.
This configuration is especially effective in liner operations and under sensitive downhole conditions.
Differential Fill-Up Float Collar
This float collar enables 90% casing fill-up during running, reducing surge pressures caused by piston effects in restricted inner diameters applications. It provides additional buoyancy, achieving up to 81% fill efficiency. Circulation can be established at any time during running. A drop ball converts the differential valve into a standard back-pressure valve. When run with a float shoe, a single ball simultaneously activates both tools. It operates similarly to an auto-fill float collar valve.

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