experimental investigation of cuttings transport in horizontal wells using aerated drilling fluids a

148 Pages·2017·5.56 MB·English

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CUTTINGS TRANSPORT
IN HORIZONTAL WELLS USING AERATED DRILLING FLUIDS

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

SERCAN GÜL

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE
IN
PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS ENGINEERING

FEBRUARY 2017

Approval of the thesis:

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CUTTINGS TRANSPORT
IN HORIZONTAL WELLS USING AERATED DRILLING FLUID

Submitted by SERCAN GÜL in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department, Middle
East Technical University by,

Prof. Dr. Gülbin Dural Ünver
Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences

Prof. Dr. Serhat Akın
Head of Department, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Prof. Dr. Mahmut Parlaktuna
Supervisor, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Ergün Kuru
Co-Supervisor, Petroleum Engineering Dept., University of Alberta

Examining Committee Members:

Asst. Prof. Dr. Çağlar Sınayuç
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Mahmut Parlaktuna
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Ergün Kuru
Petroleum Engineering Dept., University of Alberta

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gürşat Altun
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Dept., ITU

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sorgun
Civil Engineering Dept., İzmir Katip Celebi University

Date: 02.02.2017
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that,
as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material
and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name : Sercan Gül
Signature :

iv
ABSTRACT

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CUTTINGS TRANSPORT
IN HORIZONTAL WELLS USING AERATED DRILLING FLUID

Gül, Sercan
M.Sc., Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mahmut Parlaktuna
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ergün Kuru

February 2017, 130 pages

A new experimental approach has been introduced in this thesis for the cuttings transport
in horizontal wellbores with the introduction of drag reducers into the aerated drilling
fluids. Advanced Flow Loop System (annular test section of 21 ft. long 2.91-in. ID
transparent casing and 1.85 in. OD inner drill pipe) in Middle East Technical University
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department have been used for the experiments.
The liquid phase has been water and water-PHPA copolymer mixture where the gaseous
phase has been dried air. Water and water-polymer mixture experiments have been
conducted in 0.05%V/V, 0.07%V/V, and 0.10% V/V PHPA polymer concentrations.
It was observed that optimum concentration of PHPA polymers in water for the given
experimental test section is 0.07% with average drag reduction of 41.88% in single phase
flow. Moreover, increasing water and gas flow rates increases the differential pressures.
Four main flow regimes were observed in the experiments which are a bubble, elongated
bubble, slug and wavy annular. It was also observed that adding PHPA polymers in water
shifts the flow regime transition boundaries to higher y values and water is the main phase
in cuttings transport. Effect of increasing gas velocities is much lower compared with the
effect of increasing liquid velocities in cuttings transport. Using PHPA polymers in 0.07%
reduced the cuttings area by an average of %4.05 while reducing the differential pressures
by an average of %23.90 with the existence of cuttings at the rate of penetration of 115
ft./hr.

Keywords: Underbalanced Drilling, Horizontal Drilling, Cuttings Transport, Drag
Reduction
v
ÖZ

HAVALI SONDAJ SIVILARI KULLANILARAK YATAY KUYULARDA
KESİNTİ TAŞINMASININ DENEYSEL ARAŞTIRMASI

Gül, Sercan
Yüksek Lisans, Petrol ve Doğalgaz Mühendisliği Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Mahmut Parlaktuna
Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ergün Kuru

Şubat 2017, 130 sayfa

Bu araştırmada yatay kuyularda kesintilerin taşınmasında basınç düşürücü sıvılar ile su
beraber kullanılarak yeni bir yöntem deneysel olarak incelenmiştir. Deneysel çalışmalar
için Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Petrol ve Doğalgaz Mühendisliği Bölümü’nde
bulunan İleri Seviye Akışkan Laboratuvarı (21 ft. uzunluğunda 2.91 inç iç çapındaki
saydam dış boru ve 1.85 inç dış çapındaki sondaj borusundan oluşan test düzeneği)
kullanılmıştır. Sıvı fazı olarak su ve polimer solüsyonu, gaz fazı olarak ise kurutulmuş
hava kullanılmıştır.
Birinci bölümde su ve su-polimer karışımının basınç kayıpları üzerindeki etkisi
incelenmiştir. Deneyler sonucunda en uygun polimer karışım oranının basınç kayıplarını
41.88% düşüren 0.07% oranı olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Hava veya su akış hızlarındaki
artışların basınç kayıplarını artırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Ayrıca deneylerde dört ana akış
rejimi gözlemlenmiş, akış haritaları oluşturulmuştur. Deneylerde polimer kullanıldığı
zaman ise bu akış haritasının sağa doğru kaydığı gözlemlenmiştir. Bunların dışında
kesintilerin taşınmasındaki ana etkenin sıvı akış hızı olduğu görülmüştür. Ayrıca 0.07%
oranında PHPA polimer sisteme dâhil edildiğinde kesintilerin yatay deney düzeneğinde
kapladığı alanda 4.05% lik bir azalma, belirlenen noktalar arasındaki basınç kayıplarında
ise 23.90% lık azalma gözlemlenmiştir. Deneylerde saatlik 115 feet değerinde sabit bir
sondaj ilerleme hızı kullanılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Denge Altı Sondaj, Yönlü Sondaj, Kesinti Taşınması, Sürtünme
Azaltıcı
vi
To My Parents

vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Prof. Dr. Mahmut
Parlaktuna and co-supervisor Prof. Dr. Ergün Kuru for their guidance, advice, criticism,
encouragements and insight throughout the research.

The author would also like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Evren Özbayoğlu and Dr. Reza
Ettehadi Osgouei for their support in solving the technical problems of Advanced Fluids
Research Laboratory in Middle East Technical University Petroleum and Natural Gas
Engineering Department.

The technical assistance of Mr. Basar Dimez, Mr. Seyhan Gül, Mr. Payam
Allahverdizadeh and Mr. Naci Doğru are gratefully acknowledged.

viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v
ÖZ ..................................................................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xiii
NOMENCLATURE ........................................................................................................ xvi
CHAPTERS
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Background ......................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of the Problem .................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objectives of the Research .................................................................................. 4
1.4. Most Important Contributions of the Thesis ....................................................... 5
1.5. Structure of the Thesis ......................................................................................... 6
2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORY .................................................................... 7
2.1. Literature Review .................................................................................................... 7
2.1.1. Cutting Transport with Single Phase Drilling Fluids ....................................... 8
2.1.2. Two Phase Flow Patterns for Horizontal Pipe and Annulus Flow................. 14
2.1.3. Cutting Transport with Two Phase Drilling Fluids ........................................ 19
2.2. Theory ................................................................................................................... 23
2.2.1. Water Phase Flow Theory .............................................................................. 23
ix
2.2.2. Air – Water Two Phase Flow Theory in Pipe Flow ....................................... 27
2.2.3. Air – Water Two Phase Flow Theory in Annulus Sections ........................... 30
2.2.4. Calculation of Cuttings Bed Heights in Test Section ..................................... 32
3. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM .................................................................................. 35
3.1. General Description of the Experimental Program ............................................... 35
3.2. Experimental Set Up .............................................................................................. 36
3.3. Material Used ........................................................................................................ 56
4. SINGLE PHASE FLOW EXPERIMENTS ................................................................. 61
4.1. Single Phase Flow Experiment Procedure............................................................. 61
4.2. Single Phase Flow Experiment Results ................................................................. 62
4.3. Polymerized Water Single Phase Flow Experiment Results ................................. 64
4.4. Single Phase Flow Experiments Comparison of Measured Frictional Pressure
Losses with Model Predictions
4.5. Single Phase Flow Experiments Repeatability Analysis ....................................... 66
5. TWO PHASE FLOW EXPERIMENTS ...................................................................... 71
5.1. Two Phase Flow Experiment Procedure ............................................................... 71
5.2. Two Phase Flow Experiment Results (Air + Water) ............................................. 72
5.3. Two Phase Flow Experiment Results (Air + Polymerized Water) ........................ 74
5.4 Two Phase Flow Experiments Repeatability Analysis ........................................... 83
6. THREE PHASE FLOW EXPERIMENTS .................................................................. 85
6.1. Three Phase Flow Experiment Procedure ............................................................. 85
6.2. Three Phase Flow Experiment Results (Water + Air + Cuttings) ......................... 86
6.3. Three Phase Flow Experiment Results (Polymerized Water + Air + Cuttings) .... 87
6.4 Three Phase Flow Experiments Repeatability Analysis ......................................... 91
x