Investigation: Cutting Transport Mechanism in Inclined Well Section under Pulsed Drilling Fluid Action

Xiaohua Zhu, Keyu Shen and Bo Li
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Xiaohua Zhu: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Keyu Shen: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Bo Li: School of Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Nanchong 637000, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Due to gravity, drilling cuttings are easily accumulated in an inclined well section, ultimately forming a cuttings bed, which places the drill pipe under strong friction torque. In severe cases, this can cause dragging, stuck drills, and broken drill tools. Because conventional drilling fluids are difficult to prevent the formation of cuttings in inclined well sections, a method of carrying cuttings with the pulsed drilling fluid to improve wellbore cleanness is proposed. Experiments and numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of cuttings bed transport velocity, cuttings size, cuttings height, drill pipe rotation speed, cuttings bed mass, and roughness height. The optimal pulse parameters are determined per their respective impact on cuttings transport concerning varied periods, amplitudes, and duty cycles of the pulsed drilling fluid. Compared to cuttings transport under the conventional drilling fluid flow rate, the pulsed drilling fluid produces the turbulent dissipation rate, increases cuttings transport velocity, and thus improves the wellbore clearance rate.

Keywords: cuttings transport; cuttings bed; inclined well section (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: 2021
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