Prediction models of burst strength degradation for casing with considerations of both wear and corrosion

Casing wear and casing corrosion are serious problems affecting casing integrity failure in deep and ultra-deep wells.This paper aims to predict the casing burst strength with considerations of both wear and corrosion.Firstly,the crescent wear shape is simplified into three categories according to common mathematical models.Then,based on the mechano-electrochemical(M-E)interaction,the prediction model of corrosion depth is built with worn depth as the initial condition,and the prediction models of burst strength of the worn casing and corroded casing are obtained.Secondly,the accuracy of different prediction models is validated by numerical simulation,and the main influence factors on casing strength are obtained.At last,the theoretical models are applied to an ultra-deep well in Northwest China,and the dangerous well sections caused by wear and corrosion are predicted,and the corrosion rate threshold to ensure the safety of casing is obtained.The results show that the existence of wear defects results in a stress concentration and enhanced M-E interaction on corrosion depth growth.The accuracy of different mathematical models is different:the slot ring model is most accurate for predicting corrosion depth,and the eccentric model is most accurate for predicting the burst strength of corroded casing.The burst strength of the casing will be overestimated by more than one-third if the M-E interaction is neglected,so the coupling effect of wear and corrosion should be sufficiently considered in casing integrity evaluation.

Hole cleaning evaluation and installation spacing optimization of cuttings bed remover in extended-reach drilling

In extended-reach or long-horizontal drilling,cuttings usually deposit at the bottom of the annulus.Once cuttings accumulate to a certain thickness,complex problems such as excessive torque and drag,tubing buckling,and pipe stuck probably occur,which results in a lot of non-productive time and remedial operations.Cuttings bed remover can efficiently destroy deposited cuttings in time through hydraulic and mechanical stirring effects.This paper aims to build a method for hole cleaning evaluation and installation spacing optimization of cuttings bed remover to improve the wellbore cleaning effect.Firstly,a Computational Fluid Dynamics approach with Eulerian—Eulerian multiphase model was utilized to investigate the mechanism of cuttings transportation,and a new type of cuttings bed remover was designed.Next,an evaluation method of hole cleaning effect of remover was established.After that,the effects of several drilling parameters on hole cleaning including flow rate of drilling fluid,rotational speed of drillpipe,rate of penetration,wellbore size,rheological property of drilling fluid,and remover eccentricity on the performance of cuttings bed remover were investigated.The results demonstrate that the new type of remover with streamline blade performs better than conventional removers.The efficiency of hole cleaning is greatly improved by increasing the rotational speed of drillpipe,flow rate of drilling fluid,remover eccentricity,and 6 rpm Fann dial reading for drilling fluid.While higher rate of penetration and large wellbore size result in worse hole cleaning.These findings can serve as an important guide for the structure optimization design of cuttings bed remover and installation spacing of removers.

Experimental study on solid particle migration and production behaviors during marine natural gas hydrate dissociation by depressurization

Sand production is one of the main obstacles restricting gas extraction efficiency and safety from marine natural gas hydrate(NGH)reservoirs.Particle migration within the NGH reservoir dominates sand production behaviors,while their relationships were rarely reported,severely constrains quantitative evaluation of sand production risks.This paper reports the optical observations of solid particle migration and production from micrometer to mesoscopic scales conditioned to gravel packing during depressurization-induced NGH dissociation for the first time.Theoretical evolutionary modes of sand migration are established based on experimental observations,and its implications on field NGH are comprehensively discussed.Five particle migration regimes of local borehole failure,continuous collapse,wormhole expansion,extensive slow deformation,and pore-wall fluidization are proved to occur during depressurization.The types of particle migration regimes and their transmission modes during depressurization are predominantly determined by initial hydrate saturation.In contrast,the depressurization mainly dominates the transmission rate of the particle migration regimes.Furthermore,both the cumulative mass and the medium grain size of the produced sand decrease linearly with increasing initial methane hydrate(MH)saturation.Discontinuous gas bubble emission,expansion,and explosion during MH dissociation delay sand migration into the wellbore.At the same time,continuous water flow is a requirement for sand production during hydrate dissociation by depressurization.The experiments enlighten us that a constitutive model that can illustrate visible particle migration regimes and their transmission modes is urgently needed to bridge numerical simulation and field applications.Optimizing wellbore layout positions or special reservoir treatment shall be important for mitigating sand production tendency during NGH exploitation.

Focus on research advances in the natural gas hydrate resource evaluation: Introduction to papers in the special section of Evaluation of Natural Gas Hydrate Resource Potential in the South China Sea

The continental hydrocarbon generation theory has opened a new field of oil and gas development and once solved the oil and gas shortage problem in China.Since then,geological theories of coalbed methane accumulation,foreland basin oil and gas accumulation,carbonate rock oil and gas accumulation,superimposed basin,and deep oil and gas accumulation have contributed to relieving the pressure of oil and gas shortage in China.

A review of down-hole tubular string buckling in well engineering

Down-hole tubular string buckling is the most classic and complex part of tubular string mechanics in well engineering. Studies of down-hole tubular string buckling not only have theoretical significance in revealing the buckling mechanism but also have prominent practical value in design and control of tubular strings. In this review, the basic principles and applicable scope of three classic research methods （the beam-column model, buck- ling differential equation, and energy method） are intro- duced. The critical buckling loads and the post-buckling behavior under different buckling modes in vertical, inclined, horizontal, and curved wellbores from different researchers are presented and compared. The current understanding of the effects of torque, boundary condi- tions, friction force, and connectors on down-hole tubular string buckling is illustrated. Meanwhile, some unsolved problems and controversial conclusions are discussed. Future research should be focused on sophisticated description of buckling behavior and the coupling effect of multiple factors. In addition, active control of down-hole tubular string buckling behavior needs some attention urgently.

Mechanical behavior of drillstring with drag reduction oscillators and its effects on sliding drilling limits

Practice has proved that drag reduction oscillators can decrease the axial friction and increase wellbore extension effectively in sliding drilling operations.However,the complicated mechanical behavior of drillstring with drag reduction oscillators has not been revealed sufficiently.In this paper,the mechanical model of drillstring with drag reduction oscillators is established by considering the friction nonlinearity.Further introducing the initial conditions,boundary conditions and continuity conditions,the finite differential equation of drillstring vibration is obtained and solved.The new model has been applied to a case study,in which the drag reduction effects of drillstring with and without oscillators are compared and the effects of relevant factors on drag reduction are analyzed.The results show that the hook loads increase obviously by reducing downhole average friction coefficient for drillstring with oscillators.Increasing vibration amplitude of the drag reduction oscillator can decrease axial friction,but the vibration frequency is nearly irrelevant to drag reduction.Increasing number of drag reduction oscillators can decrease axial friction,but may lead to large hydraulic power loss and high risk of drillstring fatigue.Therefore,there is an optimal number of drag reduction oscillators.The re search re sults are of significant guiding significance for optimal design and safety control in sliding drilling operations.

Analysis of drilling difficulty of extended-reach wells based on drilling limit theory

With the continuous increase in vertical depths and horizontal displacements of directional wells,the difficulties of drilling operations continue to increase,and more accurate methods of drilling difficulty evaluation are needed.In this paper,a drilling difficulty evaluation method is built by combining drilling limit model and expert evaluation.Firstly,the concept of drilling difficulty index is introduced,and the method to calculate drilling difficulty index is established.Next,the meanings of five drilling difficulty levels are explained and the optimization design method with drilling difficulty as the target is built.At last,the theoretical model is applied to the extended-reach drilling of the Liuhua oilfield in the South China Sea,in which drilling difficulties are evaluated and the relationship between drilling difficulty and development control radius is revealed.The results indicate that extended-reach drilling in the Liuhua oilfield is on the“normal”difficulty level on average,rotary drilling in 8_(1/2)-in.section is the most difficult,and the main constraint conditions are excessive torque and high friction.Through technology upgradation,the drilling difficulties are decreased,the development control radius increases from 6.6 to 11.4 km,and the maximum horizontalto-vertical ratio increases from 5.3 to 8.7.Then,the development wells in marginal oilfields and adjustment wells in old oilfields can be drilled on“normal”difficulty level.Therefore,technology upgradation,especially drilling rig upgradation,is the most important development direction for extended-reach drilling in the South China Sea.

Numerical and experimental investigation on the depressurization capacity of a new type of depressure-dominated jet mill bit

Efficient cuttings transport and improving rate of penetration(ROP)are two major challenges in horizontal drilling and extended reach drilling.A type of jet mill bit(JMB)may provide an opportunity to catch the two birds with one stone:not only enhancing cuttings transport efficiency but also improving ROP by depressuring at the bottom hole.In this paper,the JMB is further improved and a new type of depressure-dominated JMB is presented;meanwhile,the depressurization capacity of the depressure-dominated JMB is investigated by numerical simulation and experiment.The numerical study shows that low flow-rate ratio helps to enhance the depressurization capacity of the depressure-dominated JMB;for both depressurization and bottom hole cleaning concern,the flow-rate ratio is suggested to be set at approximately 1:1.With all other parameter values being constant,lower dimensionless nozzle-to-throat-area ratio may result in higher depressurization capacity and better bottom hole cleaning,and the optimal dimensionless nozzle-to-throat-area ratio is at approximately0.15.Experiments also indicate that reducing the dimensionless flow-rate ratio may help to increase the depressurization capacity of the depressure-dominated JMB.This work provides drilling engineers with a promising tool to improve ROP.

Cuttings transport: Back reaming analysis based on a coupled layering-sliding mesh method via CFD

Inadequate hole cleaning is one of the main reasons for inefficient operations in extended-reach drilling.The mechanism of cuttings transport under the back reaming operation,which is frequently adopted to remove the cuttings,has been investigated in this study.To this end,a coupled layering-sliding mesh method with the Eulerian-Granular approach has been established innovatively.The dynamic layering method has been employed to simulate the axial motion of the pipe,whereas the sliding mesh method has been used to simulate the pipe rotation.The back reaming operation of a connector-furnished pipe has been simulated,and the sensitive parameter analysis has been conducted.The results thus obtained demonstrate that the increase in the initial bed height,inclination,and the diameter and length of the connector causes a significant increase in the cuttings concentration.In addition,the cuttings concentration is observed to decrease significantly with the pipe rotation speed.Furthermore,two main factors contribute towards the cuttings accumulation around the connector,namely,the difference in the cross-sectional area and the pushing effect of the connector—like a“bulldozer”.The“bulldozer”effect of the connector dominates when the tripping velocity is significant compared to the velocity of the cuttings.Conversely,the effect of the difference in the cross-sectional area becomes the leading factor for cuttings accumulation.The“bulldozer”effect of the connector causes a more severe impact on hole cleaning.In both cases,increasing the tripping velocity only mildly affects the cuttings concentration.It is therefore suggested that the tripping velocity should be slower than that of the sand during the back reaming operation.Furthermore,increased fluid velocity might lead to a higher accumulated cuttings concentration around the connector when the cuttings bed has not entirely passed through the connector.A significant flow rate can be safely applied after the cuttings have passed through the connector furnished with a large diameter,such as the bottom hole assembly.This exploration serves as an essential guide to predicting and controlling tight spots while back reaming.

Multi-objective optimization design of deviation-correction trajectory considering the production loss in shale gas cluster well

In shale gas mining,the inter-fracture interference effect will significantly occur if the actual well deviates from the planned trajectory.To reduce production loss,operators want to get back on the planned trajectory economically and safely.Based on this,a multi-objective optimization model of deviationcorrection trajectory is established considering the production loss evaluation.Firstly,the functional relationship between the production envelope and the fracturing depth is constructed,and the production loss is obtained by combining the calculation method of volume flow.Based on the proposed“double-arc”trajectory design method,the production loss of the fracture on the deviation-correction trajectory is obtained.Finally,combined with the well profile energy evaluation,a new optimization model of deviation-correction trajectory is established.The results demonstrate that after optimizing the fracturing depth,the production loss of the deviation-correction trajectory is reduced by 13.2%.The maximum curvature value results in a trajectory with a minimum production loss yet a maximum well profile energy.The proposed model reduces the well profile energy by 15.6%compared with the existing model.It is proved that the proposed model can reduce the probability of drilling accidents and achieve high gas production in the later mining stage.This study fully considers various factors affecting horizontal wells in the fracturing area,which can provide theoretical guidance for the design of deviationcorrection trajectory.