Simulation of cuttings transport with foam in deviated wellbores using computational fluid dynamics

Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, Sep 2013

Foam is non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic fluid, which is used for drilling, well intervention, and stimulation. Predicting the cutting transport efficiency of foam in the wellbore annulus is very important to optimize the drilling process. In this paper, the cuttings transport process with foam is numerically simulated using an Eulerian two-phase model in inclined wellbores. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package called FLUENT was used for this goal. The effect of foam quality, foam velocity, drill pipe rotation, and wellbore inclination on cuttings transport phenomena in both concentric and eccentric annulus was investigated. The simulation results are compared to the experimental data from previous studies, with a relative error less than 8 %. This study shows the reliability of the CFD simulation in replicating the actual physical process.

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13202-013-0077-7.pdf

Simulation of cuttings transport with foam in deviated wellbores using computational fluid dynamics

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol Simulation of cuttings transport with foam in deviated wellbores using computational fluid dynamics Reza Rooki 0 1 Faramarz Doulati Ardejani 0 1 Ali Moradzadeh 0 1 Mahmood Norouzi 0 1 0 M. Norouzi Faculty of Mechanics, Shahrood University of Technology , Shahrood , Iran 1 R. Rooki (&) F. Doulati Ardejani A. Moradzadeh Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology , Shahrood , Iran Foam is non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic fluid, which is used for drilling, well intervention, and stimulation. Predicting the cutting transport efficiency of foam in the wellbore annulus is very important to optimize the drilling process. In this paper, the cuttings transport process with foam is numerically simulated using an Eulerian twophase model in inclined wellbores. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package called FLUENT was used for this goal. The effect of foam quality, foam velocity, drill pipe rotation, and wellbore inclination on cuttings transport phenomena in both concentric and eccentric annulus was investigated. The simulation results are compared to the experimental data from previous studies, with a relative error less than 8 %. This study shows the reliability of the CFD simulation in replicating the actual physical process. Cuttings transport; CFD simulation; Foam drilling; Deviated wellbores Introduction Foam is often used for underbalanced drilling. Foam fluids generally consist of 5–25 % of the liquid phase and 75–95 % of the gaseous phase. The liquid phase could be fresh water or brines. The gaseous phase is usually an inert gas. A surfactant is used as a stabilizer and it comprises about 5 % of the liquid phase. The liquid phase can be weighted up using heavy brines or barites. The advantages of foam drilling over conventional mud drilling include high penetration rates, a high cuttings transport ratio, and less formation damage. For the drilling with low bottom-hole pressures, the use of a lighter fluid, such as foam, is required (Zhu et al. 1995; Teichrob and Manuel 1997; Foster and Steiner 2007; Ramalho 2006; Chen 2005; Wang et al. 2009b) . In drilling operation, the fluid is pumped through the drill pipe down to the hole. Then the fluid with cuttings is circulated back up to the surface through the annular space between the drill pipe and the hole. Cuttings transport as a multiphase flow, is important to successful drilling operation, which can affect the operation cost, the time, and the quality of well drilling and completion. Inadequate hole cleaning can result in many costly problems, such as pipe stuck, lost circulation, premature bit wear, slow penetration rate, poor cement jobs, formation fracturing, high torque and high drag. Cuttings transport is controlled by many variables, such as the well deviation angle, hole diameter, drill pipe diameter, drill pipe rotation, drill pipe eccentricity, rate of penetration (ROP), cuttings characteristics (including the size, shape and porosity of bed), fluid velocity, fluid type, and the complex non-Newtonian fluid rheology. A comprehensive review of the cuttings transport was given by Nazari et al. (2010) . Much research has been carried out on cuttings transport with conventional drilling fluids in horizontal and directional wells. In addition, some empirical and mechanistic models have been developed for cuttings transport (Clark and Bickham 1994; Larsen et al. 1997; Nguyen and Rahman 1998; Kelessidis and Bandelis 2004; Loureiro et al. 2010; Piroozian et al. 2012) . Foam as a non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluid has high viscosity. Its viscosity is greater than either its liquid or gaseous components. Its density is usually less than one-half that of water. Therefore, foam could promote efficient cuttings transport. Its low density allows for underbalanced conditions, an increased ROP, and minimal formation damage. Foams are also stable at high temperatures and pressures (Ozbayoglu 2002; Ozbayoglu et al. 2005; Chen 2005; Duan 2007) .The rheological properties and hydraulic of foam have been studied much less than conventional (incompressible) drilling fluids. Even less is known about the cuttings transport capabilities of foam. Determining how to effectively remove cuttings with foam is critical to the drilling process. The cuttings particles with the foam drilling fluid could create problems similar to those with conventional drilling fluid. The solids particles can also change foam properties, which may completely alter the plan for controlling down-hole pressure. The majority of research related to cuttings transport with foam describes operators’ experiences, field practices, and one-dimensional numerical simulations of the cuttings transport process (Machado and Ikoku 1982; Owayed 1997; Saintpere et al. 2000; Martins et al. 2001; Ozbayoglu 2002; Ahmed et al. 2003; Li and Kuru 2003; Chen 2005; Capo et al. 2006; Chen et al. 2007; Osunde and Kuru 2008; Wang et al. 2009b; (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13202-013-0077-7.pdf

Reza Rooki, Faramarz Doulati Ardejani, Ali Moradzadeh, Mahmood Norouzi. Simulation of cuttings transport with foam in deviated wellbores using computational fluid dynamics, Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2013, pp. 263-273, Volume 4, Issue 3, DOI: 10.1007/s13202-013-0077-7