Application of Dynamic Temperature Modeling for Planning High Temperature Well

Abstract

Abstract The ability to drill wells in high temperature formations is limited by the temperature specification of the available drilling tools. Most drilling tools currently have a temperature rating of 150°C, and there is an ongoing effort to develop tools with a higher temperature rating. A parallel effort is to develop the modeling capability to simulate the complex downhole temperature environment, to allow engineer to understand the temperature effect on drilling operation and better manage the temperature-related risks. Many high temperature wells are planned in an extremely conservative manner. The engineer will rely on the formation temperature measured in offset wells to determine temperature gradient of the planned well. This temperature gradient will be used as a reference for all aspects of the well design, including drilling tools selection, cementing design, etc. In reality, there are many factors which affect the actual downhole temperature experienced by the tools. There is a complex interaction between heating from the formation, drilling fluid circulation, and the mechanical action of drilling tools. There are many forms of energy loss contributing to the downhole temperature, such as mechanical friction, rock cutting, and fluid friction. A new state-of-the-art dynamic temperature model is developed to simulate downhole conditions in order to precisely predict downhole temperatures. This paper will explain the development of dynamic temperature modeling and how the model being used to plan high temperature well. The paper will also present several case studies where the modeling was used on planning high temperature well and comparison between model results and actual downhole temperature measurements.