Cutting transport models and parametric studies in vertical and deviated wells

Abstract

Field experience shows that the accumulation of cutting in a wellbore causes several drilling problems. These include an increase in torque and drag, which may limit drilling from reaching to a desired target formation. In addition, it may cause drill string sticking and poor hydraulics as well. Therefore, an efficient hole cleaning is the most important aspect of drilling operation. Hole-cleaning is a very complex subject, which integrates fluid mechanics, fluid rheology, thermodynamics and mechanics. Since the introduction of hole-cleaning research several works have been carried out to investigate the behavior of cutting transport through modeling and experimental studies. In this thesis, the sensitivity of several parameters associated with the hole-cleaning was studied. For the analysis, widely known industry standard software, WellPlanTM /Landmark, was used. The results are in line with experimental works documented in literatures. The overall simulation analyses are summarized. In addition, list of recommendations as future work are proposed.