Overview of Solids Transport Studies and Applications in Oil and Gas Industry – Experimental Work

Li, J.; Luft, Bernard

doi:10.2118/171285-ms

Cited by 27 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Modifying the drilling fluid flow at any rate may not be sufficient to satisfactorily disturb the deposited cuttings-bed. It is of utmost importance to reach, and if possible, exceed a critical flow rate and shear stress threshold for bed erosion [4,28]. Sometimes it is not possible to reach the ideally high flow rates due to borehole instability problems and limited surface equipment capabilities.…”

Section: Operational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamentals and Physical Principles for Drilled Cuttings Transport—Cuttings Bed Sedimentation and Erosion

2021

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The increasing necessity of challenging wellbore structures and drilling optimization for improved hole cuttings cleaning has been growing along time. As a result, operator companies have been researching and applying different hole cleaning techniques. Some of these are applied as traditional rules of thumb but are not always suitable for the new and up-coming challenges. This may result in inefficient hole cleaning, non-productive times, pipe stocking and low rate of penetration (ROP), among other problems. Here are presented some results and improvements for hole cleaning optimization obtained by the different research groups. The different authors mainly focus on specific cuttings transport parameters and sometimes combination of some of them. For this reason, there has not been a study that takes into account all of the different factors at the same time to accurately predict the cuttings bed height, formation and erosion, critical fluid velocity and properties and other key parameters. Consequently, there is a lack of understanding about the relation between different factors, such as the cohesiveness of the drilled cuttings with the different interstitial drilling fluids within the cuttings-bed. This relation can be analyzed establishing a wet-granular approach to obtain more efficient cuttings transport mechanism in challenging conditions.

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Section: Operational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamentals and Physical Principles for Drilled Cuttings Transport—Cuttings Bed Sedimentation and Erosion

2021

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“…The accumulation of this type of cuttings can cause different well drilling along with well completion operational issues (such as the pipe stuck, excessive torque and drag, wellbore cleaning, lost circulation, additional costs, etc.) [4][5][6]. Additionally, cuttings can be removed effectively and efficiently in extended-reach wells by pumping fluid at a high flow rate [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) on Newtonian and Two-phase Slurry Flow through the Annulus

Siddiqui¹,

Rahman²

2023

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT 2023)

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The objective of the study is to visualize the impact of fluid flow rate, fluid rheology, drill pipe rotation and eccentricity of drill pipe on cutting transport, transitional velocity profile, the effect of near-wall fluid turbulence and drag stress with and without the solid cuttings bed to mimic best drilling conditions for horizontal wells in ex-situ conditions. The analysis has conducted using combined techniques of Laser-induced Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Seeding/fluorescent tracers tracking, and Refractive Index Matching (RIM). Experiments have been performed on a plant-scale multiphase flow loop. The pipe sections of the flow loop and investigation area were made up of acrylic glass to imagine fluid flow patterns better. Biopolymer Flowzan® is used in different concentrations to obtain non-Newtonian characteristics of the liquid. For PIV analysis, seeding particles of a hollow glass material having a uniform diameter of 20 nm and fluorescent particles of size 20-30 μm were used to track and illuminate particles. A class IV LASER was used to illuminate the flow field inside the RIM box. The premixed seeding and fluorescent particles with the flow were tracked to evaluate the velocity field for the respective interested area by the PIV system. A high-speed CCD Phantom® v7.3 camera was utilized to capture flowing particles under the laser field. Both Laser and camera were placed in the normal position to capture PIV images. The refraction Matching Index (RIM) method was applied to calibrate the system by introducing the same fluid inside the RIM box to avoid the error of particle position in the annulus due to glass-liquid-glass refraction. To evaluate the statistics for the desired velocity field of the flow acquired, data was thoroughly investigated with DaVis 8.4 software. Additionally, the turbulent behavior of the slurry flow has also been identified with high preciseness, and the corresponding characteristics of the suspended particles were also observed at the same time. The velocity field outcomes will suggest that at the bottom of the annulus section, the velocity at the near-wall region deviates from the bulk velocity of the fluid because of the solid accumulation tendency. However, a higher flow rate of the slurry may introduce more suspended solid particles, which can eventually result in a uniform velocity field for the whole annulus section. The fluid flow patterns were altered due to drill pipe rotations and solid particles' helical motion. The rotation of the drill pipe resulted in the solid and tracer particles scattered more uniformly in the annular cross-section, which provided a constructive impression on the cutting transport. This technique provides a better prediction of mass and momentum transfer and identification of velocity profiles and pressure drop gradient in multiphase flow on a large scale.

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“…In two comprehensive review articles, Li and Luft [5,6] summarized experimental studies and theoretical analyses of hole cleaning. Experiments have also shown that hole cleaning can be different in gauge open hole and inside casing [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil-Based Drilling Fluid's Cuttings Bed Removal Properties for Deviated Wellbores

Ytrehus

Lund

Taghipour

et al. 2021

Journal of Energy Resources Technology

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Results from cuttings transport tests in laboratory using different field applied oil-based drilling fluids with similar weight and varying viscosities are presented in this paper. The fluids are designed for highly deviated wells, and the cuttings transport performance at relevant wellbore inclinations was investigated. The experiments have been performed in a flow loop that consists of a 10 meters long test section with 50.4 mm (2″) diameter freely rotating steel drill string inside a 100 mm (≈4″) diameter wellbore made of cement. Sand particles were injected while circulating the drilling fluid through the test section. Experiments were performed at three wellbore inclinations: 48, 60 and 90 degrees from vertical. The applied flow loop dimensions are designed so that the results are scalable to field applications; especially for the 12 ¼” and 8 ½″ sections. The selected setup provides correct shear rate ranges and similar Reynolds numbers to the field application when the same fluids are applied. Results show that hole cleaning abilities of the tested fluids vary significantly with well angle, drill string rotation and flow rate. Results support field experience showing that low viscous fluids are more efficient than viscous fluids at higher flow rates and low drill string rotation. As well as per field experience more viscous fluids are efficient in combination with high drill string rotation rates. The results show the effect of cuttings transport efficiency as function of hydraulic frictional pressure drop, demonstrating methods to achieve more optimal hydraulic design in the tested conditions. The key findings have direct relevance to drilling operations.

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Overview of Solids Transport Studies and Applications in Oil and Gas Industry – Experimental Work

Cited by 27 publications

References 58 publications

Fundamentals and Physical Principles for Drilled Cuttings Transport—Cuttings Bed Sedimentation and Erosion

Fundamentals and Physical Principles for Drilled Cuttings Transport—Cuttings Bed Sedimentation and Erosion

Application of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) on Newtonian and Two-phase Slurry Flow through the Annulus

Oil-Based Drilling Fluid's Cuttings Bed Removal Properties for Deviated Wellbores

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