TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
AbstractDifferential pipe sticking is still today a challenging problem in horizontal well drilling. The main focus of this paper is the analysis of the dynamics of substitution of a viscous fluid (the drilling fluid) by a less viscous one (the spot fluid) in a fully eccentric horizontal annulus. Initially, an experimental study aiming the determination of the flow rates required for the substitution was performed on a pilot scale flow loop using flow visualization techniques. The tests reproduced the drilling of 8 ½ in horizontal wells. An extra test was performed to reproduce the 12 ¼ in phase. Based on results obtained from a 2D simulator predicting the critical shear stresses in horizontal eccentric annular flows, a mechanism for the efficient displacement of spot fluids is proposed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.