Best Practices for Operations in HFTO Prone Applications

Abstract

Abstract Vibrations impact the drilling process by reducing reliability, increasing maintenance costs and reducing rate of penetration and drilling efficiency. Herein, torsional vibrations are typically distinguished into low-frequency torsional oscillations and stick/slip with frequencies below 1 Hz and high-frequency torsional oscillations (HFTO) with frequencies up to 450 Hz. HFTO is associated to high accelerations with critical values above 150 g and dynamic torsional torque values above the make-up torque. A HFTO mitigation strategy is mandatory for prone applications to guarantee high reliability and drilling efficiency. In this work different best practices for mitigation of HFTO and their interdependency are discussed along with their operational efficiency. The discussed scenarios include coupling between stick/slip and HFTO, different formation properties, and tools that are used for vibration mitigation such as isolators and mud motors. The analysis includes the review of time-based acceleration and load data with a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz and 2500 Hz and numerical modeling to determine the application and environment specific critical range of operational parameters in a holistic approach. The extracted critical range of operational parameters enables operations to optimally adjust parameters with a minimum of torsional loads and optimal drilling efficiency. This analysis again unveils that the general effect of HFTO is triggered by the cutting forces between PDC bits and hard and dense formation. It is shown qualitatively and quantitatively that high WOB values and low rotary speed values correspond to HFTO. The case study shows opportunities of a reduction of HFTO related loads by increase of the rotary speed without compromising the ROP in specific applications and environments. It is shown that special tools for vibration mitigation influence the stable operational window and need to be considered. Depending on the scenario a complete mitigation of HFTO or at least a significant reduction of loads can be achieved by targeted adjustment of operational parameters and use of tools for vibration mitigation. The drilling process can be optimized leading to a reduced cost of the well delivery since HFTO can be a major cause for non-productive time if not handled properly.