Continuous Circulation while Drilling: A New Approach to Maintain Hole Cleaning and Improve Drilling Performance in Swamp Drilling Operation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. K. Yuda

Swamp drilling operation in Mahakam has entered the industrialization period in which fast drilling is a common practice. However, fast drilling Rate of Penetration (ROP) causes hole cleaning issues to arise and induce a high Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) trend. In some wells, this potentially leads to loss problems because of weak formation in shallow sections or depleted formation with relatively low fracture gradient. As a result, drilling parameter reduction was performed that causing lower ROP and additional circulation to reduce ECD. A new technology called Continuous Circulation Device (CCD) can help to tackle the problems mentioned above. It is a sub-based constant circulation system that enables the continuous circulation of drilling fluids downhole while making or breaking drill pipe connections. This system helps to maintain ECD and improve drilling performance as the cuttings are continuously carried out of the hole. This paper is introduced to analyze the benefits of CCD and opportunities for future development in the swamp drilling operation. The device was applied during drilling in the 12-1/4” and 8-1/2” sections. The challenge during drilling in these sections was to improve ROP without inducing bad hole cleaning that could lead to a high ECD trend. The result of CCD utilization shows that ECD during drilling could be reduced up to 2 points and become more stable compared to the previous trend. Since there was a reduction of ECD, the ROP could be improved up to 10%. Furthermore, only 1 cycle for circulation at well TD was performed as the minimum cuttings appeared. Pulling out the string and running the casing string was managed smoothly as the hole was already in a good condition. This utilization has been successfully implemented without any safety incident nor related Non-Productive Time (NPT). This positive result leads us to open the opportunity for future development in swamp fields asset.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1125 ◽  
pp. 210-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Razak Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Syafiq Ab Rashid ◽  
Nurul Jannah Ismail ◽  
Wan Rosli Wan Sulaiman ◽  
Mohd Zaidi Jaafar

The key performance of any drilling operation depends heavily on the choice of drilling fluid used as well as how good it can overcome the drill pipe friction. It is essential that the drilling fluid be able to reduce bit wear, torque and drag. Drilling with oil-based drilling fluid offer less torque and drag. However, water based drilling fluid are cheaper and environmental friendly compared to oil-based and synthetic-based drilling fluids. Lubricants are added to drilling fluid to produce a thin film of liquid that separates the solid surfaces in contact to reduce the friction to an acceptable range. This study focused on the performance evaluation of two different commercial lubricants, which are EBL and EME salt to improve the lubricity of water based drilling fluid. The performances of lubricants were evaluated by ranging the concentrations from 1%, 2% and 3%. Fann Lubricity Tester is used to test the lubricity of these lubricants. The results reveal that the coefficients of friction for all lubricants were reduced after reaching the optimum concentration at the range of 1 - 2%. Some improvements were observed on the rheological properties such as plastic viscosity, yield point and gel strength when the lubricants were added to the drilling fluid. The values satisfy the requirement accepted by the industry. This study also showed that the applicants of EBL lubricant is better than EME salt in term of reducing the coefficient of friction in drilling fluid.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott William Petrie ◽  
Rick Doll

Abstract Continuous Circulation Systems (CCS) have been used in the past to help drill wells where interactions between the mud weight and theformation may increaserisks, thereby allowing the well to be drilledwithout encountering drilling problems or damaging the formation, whilst reaching total depth in the planned time. Previous systems have,however,relied on people working in the red zone. This paper discusses the process of making drill pipe connections, with continuous circulation,utilising a fully automatic deployment system to add value by removing the risk of people around the drill pipe during the connection, working in conjunction with other automated rig systems todeliver the advantages of continuously circulation over each connection. The continuous circulation subs are installed in every stand of drill pipe to be used in the drilled interval and facilitate circulation while the next stand is picked up and made up to the stump. A valve manifold is utilised to divert flow from the pumps to the subs, instead of the top drive, during the connection. During each connection, circulation is maintained down the drill string, from bit to surface, at drilling rates. Once the connection has been made the continuous circulation surface equipment is disconnected from the drill string allowing drilling to resume. After deploying the continuous circulation system on a number of geothermal projects, the results of using the system for top hole and intermediate sections suggest that while drilling with low rheology water-based mud systems,a high percentage of cuttings are returned to surface while the next stand of drill pipe is being picked up,limiting any hole loading and allowing the driller to increase the rate of penetration (ROP) through these sections. Fewer hole collapse issues were observed while drilling through volcanic tuff and ash, where wellbore stability is low due to poorly consolidated rock formations, thereby reducing non-productive time associated with stuck pipe and the costs of lost bottom hole assemblies (BHA's) and sidetracks. Most Geothermal projects work on very tight budgets and geothermal exploration costs need to be kept low. Improved drilling performance has improved the viability of these projects and increased the number of exploration wells that can be drilled in a campaign by reducing the days versus depth P90 estimate, that being the 90% probability of the rig matching the days v's depth curve predicted.


2012 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 510-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Peng Yao ◽  
Ying Shi ◽  
Ji You Fei

Configuration technology is a new technology for monitoring in the current society; it is the result of the development of computer control technology. To traffic light control system, it is to combine the use of configuration technology and procedures related to PLC, and through software simulation and traffic lights light changes, traffic light control system could achieve the monitoring problem, and if the system is in good condition, its application can save a lot of labor powers and materials.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Gharib Shirangi ◽  
Roger Aragall ◽  
Reza Ettehadi ◽  
Roland May ◽  
Edward Furlong ◽  
...  

Abstract In this work, we present our advances to develop and apply digital twins for drilling fluids and associated wellbore phenomena during drilling operations. A drilling fluid digital twin is a series of interconnected models that incorporate the learning from the past historical data in a wide range of operational settings to determine the fluids properties in realtime operations. From several drilling fluid functionalities and operational parameters, we describe advancements to improve hole cleaning predictions and high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) rheological properties monitoring. In the hole cleaning application, we consider the Clark and Bickham (1994) approach which requires the prediction of the local fluid velocity above the cuttings bed as a function of operating conditions. We develop accurate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to capture the effects of rotation, eccentricity and bed height on local fluid velocities above cuttings bed. We then run 55,000 CFD simulations for a wide range of operational settings to generate training data for machine learning. For rheology monitoring, thousands of lab experiment records are collected as training data for machine learning. In this case, the HPHT rheological properties are determined based on rheological measurement in the American Petroleum Institute (API) condition together with the fluid type and composition data. We compare the results of application of several machine learning algorithms to represent CFD simulations (for hole cleaning application) and lab experiments (for monitoring HPHT rheological properties). Rotating cross-validation method is applied to ensure accurate and robust results. In both cases, models from the Gradient Boosting and the Artificial Neural Network algorithms provided the highest accuracy (about 0.95 in terms of R-squared) for test datasets. With developments presented in this paper, the hole cleaning calculations can be performed more accurately in real-time, and the HPHT rheological properties of drilling fluids can be estimated at the rigsite before performing the lab experiments. These contributions advance digital transformation of drilling operations.


Author(s):  
Jan David Ytrehus ◽  
Ali Taghipour ◽  
Sneha Sayindla ◽  
Bjørnar Lund ◽  
Benjamin Werner ◽  
...  

One important requirement for a drilling fluid is the ability to transport the cuttings out of the borehole. Improved hole cleaning is a key to solve several challenges in the drilling industry and will allow both longer wells and improved quality of well construction. It has been observed, however, that drilling fluids with similar properties according to the API standard can have significantly different behavior with respect to hole cleaning performance. The reasons for this are not fully understood. This paper presents results from flow loop laboratory tests without and with injected cuttings size particles using a base oil and a commercial oil based drilling fluid. The results demonstrate the importance of the rheological properties of the fluids for the hole cleaning performance. A thorough investigation of the viscoelastic properties of the fluids was performed with a Fann viscometer and a Paar-Physica rheometer, and was used to interpret the results from the flow loop experiments. Improved understanding of the fluid properties relevant to hole cleaning performance will help develop better models of wellbore hydraulics used in planning of well operations. Eventually this may lead to higher ROP with water based drilling fluids as obtained with oil based drilling fluids. This may ease cuttings handling in many operations and thereby significantly reduce the drilling cost using (normally) more environmentally friendly fluids. The experiments have been conducted as part of an industry-sponsored research project where understanding the hole cleaning performance of various oil and water based drilling fluids is the aim. The experiments have been performed under realistic conditions. The flow loop includes a 10 meter long test section with 2″ OD freely rotating drillstring inside a 4″ ID wellbore made of concrete. Sand particles were injected while circulating the drilling fluid through the test section in horizontal position.


Author(s):  
B.M. Das ◽  
D. Dutta

Nanotechnology encompasses the science and technology of objects with sizes ranging from 1 nm to 100 nm. Today, exploration and production from conventional oil and gas wells have reached a stage of depletion. Newer technologies have been developed to address this problem. Maximum oil production at a minimum cost is currently a huge challenge. This paper reviews nanotechnology applications in the oil and gas production sector, including in the fields of exploration, drilling, production, and waste management in oil fields, as well as their environmental concerns. The paper reviews experimental observations carried out by various researchers in these fields. The effect of various nanoparticles, such as titanium oxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, copper oxide, and carbon nanotubes in drilling fluids and silica nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery, has been observed and studied. This paper gives a detailed review of the benefits of nanotechnology in oil exploration and production. The fusion of nanotechnology and petroleum technology can result in great benefits. The physics and chemistry of nanoparticles and nanostructures are very new to petroleum technology. Due to the greater risk associated with adapting new technology, nanotechnology has been slow to gain widespread acceptance in the oil and gas industries. However, the current economic conditions have become a driving force for newer technologies.


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