Analysis of Particle-Fluid Interactions in the Cleaning Process of Oil Well Drilling
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Chemical and Process Engineering
Abstract
Oil well cleaning process is conducted by the transportation of drilled cuttings from the bottom hole to the surface using circulation of a drilling fluid. In order to predict and prevent the cuttings accumulation at the bottom hole, it is essential to study the critical parameters affecting the cuttings transport. Using an accurate computational model to predict the hole cleaning process is usually preferred as experiments are somewhat difficult and expensive to be carried due to the harsh conditions (depth, pressure and temperature) during drilling. In spite of the experimental and numerical investigations carried out in this field, few numerical studies have been conducted considering the effect of particles dynamics and interactions in the fluid domain. This research is overall aimed at modelling the bottom hole cleaning process using a fully coupled computational fluid dynamics and discrete element method (CFD-DEM) approach, considering the particle-particle, particle-wall (well and the drill bit), particle-fluid and fluid-particle interactions. An in-depth analysis of the transport phenomena can lead to a good understanding about the effect of the properties of particles (cuttings) and drilling fluid on the hole cleaning process and can help to identify strategies to improve the cleaning efficiency.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ali Hassanpour (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Alireza Zakeri (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509681/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 2216071 | Studentship | EP/N509681/1 | 01/10/2016 | 29/02/2020 | Alireza Zakeri |
| Description | There is insufficient uniformity and comprehensiveness in available literature for cuttings transport at annulus and bottom of wellbore in oil-well drilling operation. This is consequence of several reasons (related to harsh condition of drilling process and complexity of particles/cuttings collision at bottomhole) and is increased by the uncertainty in methodologies, mainly owing to large number of physical and computational parameters involved and ignoring the particle collision impact. The work presented in this study is a small step toward better understanding the mud fluid and dynamic behaviour of particles in the fluid domain due to drill-string rotation |
| Exploitation Route | This research has highlighted the significance of particle-particle collisions and their impacts on fluid and particle phase characteristics. Nevertheless, none has considered in detail the conditions that favour the high-concentration of particles at bottom-hole. The dynamic behaviour of particles in the fluid domain due to drill string rotation include a number of important aspects that dictate whether optimized particles transport will occur, affecting in turn efficient hole-cleaning process.so improvement in particle-particle interactions will be considered in future studies. |
| Sectors | Energy |
| Title | Simulation of dynamic behaviour of drilled cuttings in oil-well drilling process |
| Description | The aim of this study is to simulate the cleaning process of oil-well drilling operation. One of the most crucial concern in oil-well drilling process is the cleaning efficiency and drilled cuttings accumulation in the bottom of the well. In this paper the Dense Particle Method (DPM) simulation has been used to model cuttings behaviour in drilling fluid. Simulations using the open source software packages, OpenFOAM, have been carried out to investigate the impact of the different parameters on the dynamic of cuttings where the rheology of fluid phase is expressed by Herschel-Bulkley non-Newtonian model, treated as a continuum and described by Navier-Stokes equation in an Eulerian framework. The effects of mud fluid flow rate, cutting size and concentration on the cleaning efficiency are investigated. The results showed that higher flow rate in annulus reduces the cuttings concentration and provides better cuttings transport. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | • Using the DPM solver in OpenFoam desired particles characteristics (e.g. position, velocity) can be obtained across annuls by which the particles transport mechanism is analysed. • Higher fluid inlet velocity improves the cleaning efficiency by enhanced particle transport. • Flow in different inclination angles is simulated where the horizontal case shows better cuttings transport. • Improvement in particle-particle interaction will be considered in future studies. |
| Description | Poster presentation at PARTEC : International Congress on Particle Technology 9-11 April 2019 Nuremberg, Germany |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | PARTEC is an international forum for research and development in particle technology. The congress, which is held in English, brings together scientists and engineers from all over the world every three years and covers topics like particle formation, agglomeration and coating processes and diverse industrial applications for particles which was a good opportunity for us to approach the world outside of academic atmosphere. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |