Transport of Small Cuttings in Extended-Reach Drilling

Abstract

Summary Field experience has shown that inefficient transport of small cuttings is a main factor for excessive drag and torque during extended-reach drilling; however, very little is known about the transport behavior of small cuttings. In this study, extensive experiments with three sizes of cuttings (0.45 to 3.3 mm) were conducted in a field-scale flow loop (8 in.×4.5 in., 100-ft long) to identify the main factors affecting small cuttings transport. The effects of cuttings size, drillpipe rotation, fluid rheology, flow rate, and hole inclination were investigated. The results show significant differences in cuttings transport based on cuttings size. Smaller cuttings result in a higher cuttings concentration than larger cuttings in a horizontal annulus when tested with water. However, a lower concentration was achieved for smaller cuttings when 0.25-ppb polyanionic cellulose (PAC) solutions were used. Unlike the transport of large cuttings, which is mainly dominated by fluid flow rate, the key factors controlling small cuttings transport were found to be pipe rotation and fluid rheology. Improvement by pipe rotation in the transport efficiency of small cuttings is up to twice as large as the improvement in large cuttings transport. Compared with water, PAC solutions significantly improve smaller cuttings transport, while the transport of larger cuttings is only slightly enhanced. Mathematical modeling was performed to develop correlations for cuttings concentration and bed height in an annulus for field applications. Predictions from a three-layer model previously developed for larger cuttings were also compared with experimental results. Differences (up to 80%) indicate the need for improving the frequently used three-layer model by including correlations specifically developed for small cuttings to get a better design of extended-reach drilling. This study is also useful for horizontal or high-angle well drilling and completion through sand reservoirs.