Session: 11-03-02 Well Control and Managed Pressure Drilling-2

Paper Number: 79540

79540 - A Validated Computation Fluid Dynamics Model Investigating Cuttings Transport With Herschel Bulkley Drilling Fluids 

A fundamental understanding of the impact of different hydrodynamic, scaling, and geometric conditions on cuttings transport are essential for successful wellbore drilling. This study presents a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for investigating cuttings transport phenomena in deviated wells with Herschel Bulkley drilling fluids at different drilling conditions.

A CFD model was developed and validated with our experiments conducted in the TAMUQ flow loop (5-meter horizontal length, 4.5in. X 2in.), and open literature. The Eulerian-Eulerian approach was used to simulate solid-liquid laminar and turbulent flow in annular geometry utilizing hexahedral mesh under transient conditions.

It was observed that the favorable range for efficient hole cleaning is from 0-200 RPM and increasing RPM above 200 will have a marginal impact on improving hole cleaning. Cuttings size of 0.004 m was determined to be the critical size for solid particle removal. Above this critical size, a larger particle size is easier to clean out than the smaller one and vice versa. Drilling flow rate and drillstring rotation are the major factors that enhance hole cleaning and bed erosion. On the other hand, hole enlargement has a hugely adverse effect on the fluid-carrying capacity due to the reduction of fluid velocity in the enlarged section and cuttings concentrate. Cuttings deposition aggravates with high drilling rate of penetration due to reduction in cuttings kinetic energy. Poor hole cleaning signs were observed with increasing cuttings density and wellbore inclination between 50-70 degrees. Large annular eccentricity complicates cuttings removal due to the reduction of the mixture velocity in the narrow parts, and the flow area available for cuttings transportation.

Presenting Author: Mohamed Shafik Khaled University of Texas at Austin

Authors:

Mohamed Shafik Khaled University of Texas at Austin
Muhammad Khan Texas A&M University at Qatar
Mohammad Azizur Rahman Texas A&M University at Qatar
Abu Rashid Hasan Texas A&M University