Technology of double casing tubes & a binary cycle system for hole cleaning for CBM multi-branch horizontal wells

Abstract

At present, the aeration-assisted cutting-carrying technology is faced with complexities in the drilling of CBM multi-branch horizontal wells. For example, the aerating pressure is hardly maintained, and the borehole instability may happen. In view of these prominent problems, the technology of double casing tubes & a binary cycle system suitable for CBM multi-branch horizontal wells was developed according to the Venturi principle by means of parasitic tube insufflation which is used for well control simulation system. Then, a multiphase flow finite element model was established for the fluid-cutting particle system in this drilling condition. This technology was tested in field. Double-casing tubes cementing is adopted in this technology and a jet generator is installed at the bottom of the inner casing. In the process of drilling, the drilling fluid injected through double intermediate casing annulus is converted by the jet generator into a high-efficiency steering water jet, which, together with the water jet generated by the bit nozzle, increases the fluid returning rate in the inner annulus space. It is indicated from simulation results that the cutting-carrying effect is the best when the included angle between the nozzle of the jet generator and the vertical direction is 30°. Besides, the influential laws of cutting size, primary cycle volume, accessory cycle volume and drilling velocity on hole cleaning are figured out. It is concluded that this technology increases the flow rate of drilling fluid in annulus space, the returning rate of drilling fluid significantly and the cutting-carrying capacity. It is currently one of the effective hole cleaning technologies for CBM multi-branch horizontal wells where fresh water is taken as the drilling fluid.