Abstract

Summary A new comprehensive, mechanistic model that allows more precise predictions of wellbore pressure and two-phase flow parameters for underbalanced drilling (UBD) is proposed. The model incorporates the effects of fluid properties and pipe sizes and, thus, is largely free of the limitations of empirically based correlations. The model is validated against actual UBD field data and fullscale experiments in which the gas and liquid injection flow rates as well as drilling fluid properties were similar to those used in common UBD operations. Additionally, a comparison against two different commercial, empirically based UBD simulators shows better performance with the mechanistic model.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call