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Abstract
Hole cleaning is always a problem, particularly during drilling operations, and drilling fluid plays an important role in transporting drill cuttings through an annular section of wellbore to the surface. To transport the cuttings, a water-based mud with added polypropylene beads was selected since it is environmentally friendly and cost efficient. The polypropylene beads help to transport cuttings by providing an additional buoyancy force that lifts the cuttings to the surface via the influence of collision and drag forces. This experiment was performed using a 20 ft test section, 10 ppg drilling mud and 0.86 m/s annular velocity in a laboratory scale rig simulator, and the concentration of polypropylene beads was varied from 0 to 8 ppb. As the concentration of polypropylene increases, the cutting transport ratio also increases. It was observed that the fewest cuttings are lifted at a critical angle of 60°, followed by 45°, 30°, 90° and 0°. Additionally, cutting sizes had moderate effects on the cutting lifting efficiency, where smaller cutting sizes (0.5–1.0 mm) are easier to lift than larger cutting sizes (2.0–2.8 mm). Furthermore, a study of buoyancy force and impulsive force was conducted to investigate the cutting lifting efficiencies of various concentrations of polypropylene beads. This lifting capacity was also assisted by the presence of polyanionic cellulose (PAC), which increases the mud carrying capacity and is effective for smaller cuttings. The results show that in the presence of pipe rotation, the cutting lifting efficiency is slightly enhanced due to the orbital motion provided by the drill pipe for better hole cleaning. In conclusion, polypropylene beads combined with pipe rotation increase the cutting transport ratio in the wellbore.
Highlights
IntroductionDrilling fluids have routinely been used in the oil and gas industry for several years, and such fluids have served many roles, such as balancing formation pressures in the wellbore, lubricating the drill string and so forth (Beck et al 1947; Bland et al 2006; Duan et al 2008; Hussaini and Azar 1974; Katende et al 2019; Ozbayoglu et al 2010; Pigott 1941; Saboori et al 2018; Salehi et al 2016; Saxena et al 2017; Sayindla et al 2017; Shu and Ma 2016; Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2020) 10:1253–1262Sifferman et al 1974; Werner et al 2017)
With directional drilling and extended-reach wells becoming popular, factors such as increased torque and drag force have become increasingly more significant (Amanna et al 2016; Dushaishi et al 2016; Frank and Ting 2014; Gavignet and Sobey 1989; Hovda 2019; Mamat et al 2013; Piroozian et al 2012; Yan et al 2018a, b; Zeng et al 2018a). This is true for waterbased muds (WBMs), which generate a high coefficient of friction (COF) between the drill string and the wellbore, resulting in higher torque and drag force
According to Peden et al (1990) and Clark and Bickham (1994), the minimum transport velocity (MTV) is the highest at hole angles from 40° to 60°, and it experiences a drastic reduction at hole angles above 60°
Summary
Drilling fluids have routinely been used in the oil and gas industry for several years, and such fluids have served many roles, such as balancing formation pressures in the wellbore, lubricating the drill string and so forth (Beck et al 1947; Bland et al 2006; Duan et al 2008; Hussaini and Azar 1974; Katende et al 2019; Ozbayoglu et al 2010; Pigott 1941; Saboori et al 2018; Salehi et al 2016; Saxena et al 2017; Sayindla et al 2017; Shu and Ma 2016; Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2020) 10:1253–1262Sifferman et al 1974; Werner et al 2017). With directional drilling and extended-reach wells becoming popular, factors such as increased torque and drag force have become increasingly more significant (Amanna et al 2016; Dushaishi et al 2016; Frank and Ting 2014; Gavignet and Sobey 1989; Hovda 2019; Mamat et al 2013; Piroozian et al 2012; Yan et al 2018a, b; Zeng et al 2018a) This is true for waterbased muds (WBMs), which generate a high coefficient of friction (COF) between the drill string and the wellbore, resulting in higher torque and drag force
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