Numerical Simulation of Effective Hole Cleaning by Using an Innovative Elliptical Drillpipe in Horizontal Wellbore

In the drilling of horizontal wells, the drill cuttings tend to settle down on the low side of the annulus due to gravity and form a stationary bed, which results in hole cleaning problems. In this paper, a novel type of drillpipe with an elliptical shape was proposed to alleviate inadequate hole cleaning during the drilling of horizontal wells. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) Eulerian-Eulerian approach with the Realizable k-ɛ turbulence model was developed to predict the solid–liquid two-phase flow in the annular space. Numerical examples were given to investigate the influence of different parameters on cuttings’ transport behavior, and the elliptical drillpipe was compared with the circular drillpipe. The annular cuttings concentration, annular pressure drop, and hole cleaning efficiency were evaluated. The numerical results clarify the potential of the elliptical drillpipe to enhance the hole cleaning efficiency without significantly increasing the annular pressure drop. Due to the swirl flow and secondary flow caused by the rotation of the curvature wall, the swaying phenomenon of drill cuttings’ distribution along the rotation direction of drillpipe was observed and enhanced the cuttings transport ability. Using the elliptical drillpipe as a joint-type tool can improve hole cleaning performance. Under the optimum conditions applied in this study, the hole cleaning efficiency increased by nearly 18%.

Studying joint influence of a number of factors on borehole cleaning

Studying the behavior of cuttings transport under various conditions using experimental observations and computational fluid dynamics is the main method for analyzing the influence of cuttings, fluid and operating parameters on well cleaning. Despite the existing abundant models and recommendations of researchers, still there are problems with the accuracy of determining the cuttings layer height, critical velocity and other key parameters, which complicates the task of effective solution of the problem of borehole cleaning. The purpose of the study is to analyze the models obtained via the organization of a full factorial experiment and variance analysis to identify the influence of such factors as viscosity and flow rate of the drilling fluid in the annular space and the inclination angle of the well on the degree of cuttings transport. The studies of the kind are carried out using special devices called flow loops. Experimental data were taken from literature sources. To organize a full factorial experiment, the data of the dependent variable were combined into a combinational square, which simplified the coding of factor values. After setting the full factorial experiment, the models were obtained that made it possible to assess the contribution of the studied factors to the process of destruction product removal within the intervals determined while setting the research tasks. The obtained models allowed to determine the influence degree of each of the factors on the process under investigation. The results of the succeeding analysis of variance confirmed the indicated degree of influence and determined the rank of each of the factors in percentage.

Numerical study of cutting transport using aerated drilling fluids

The paper deals with drilling fluid flow in a horizontal well during its drilling. As part of this work, rheological parameters of water-based drilling fluid with the addition of polymers and a foaming agent were used. Cuttings transport was studied at different degrees of foam aeration. Besides, the paper presents the study of the effects of drilling fluid flow, as well as the rotation of drill pipes on the cuttings transport.