Cuttings Transport Using Pulsed Drilling Fluid in the Horizontal Section of the Slim-Hole: An Experimental and Numerical Simulation Study

Xiaohua Zhu, Keyu Shen, Bo Li and Yanxin Lv
Additional contact information
Xiaohua Zhu: Mechanical Engineering School of Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China
Keyu Shen: Mechanical Engineering School of Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China
Bo Li: Engineering School of Southwest Petroleum University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China
Yanxin Lv: Mechanical Engineering School of Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-22

Abstract: Poor transport of cuttings in horizontal sections of small-bore well holes leads to high torque and increases the risk of the drill becoming stuck, reducing its service life and posing a threat to safe operation. Because the conventional cuttings transport method cannot effectively remove the cuttings bed, a transport method using pulsed drilling fluid based on a shunt relay mechanism is proposed. A three-layer numerical simulation model of cuttings transport in horizontal small-bore wells is established. Using both experiments and numerical simulations, the cuttings transport is studied in terms of the moving cuttings velocity, cuttings concentration, and distance of movement of the cuttings bed. By varying the pulsed drilling fluid velocity cycle, amplitude, and duty cycle at the annulus inlet, their effects on cuttings transport are analyzed, and the optimal pulse parameters are determined. The results show that the use of pulsed drilling fluid can effectively enhance the moving cutting velocity and transport distance of the cuttings bed, reduce the cuttings concentration, and improve wellbore cleaning.

Keywords: horizontal well drilling; pulsed drilling fluid; cuttings bed; CFD model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/20/3939/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/20/3939/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:20:p:3939-:d:277395

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().