Borehole stability in naturally fractured rocks with drilling mud intrusion and associated fracture strength weakening:A coupled DFN-DEM approach

Borehole instability in naturally fractured rocks poses significant challenges to drilling.Drilling mud invades the surrounding formations through natural fractures under the difference between the wellbore pressure(P w)and pore pressure(P p)during drilling,which may cause wellbore instability.However,the weakening of fracture strength due to mud intrusion is not considered in most existing borehole stability analyses,which may yield significant errors and misleading predictions.In addition,only limited factors were analyzed,and the fracture distribution was oversimplified.In this paper,the impacts of mud intrusion and associated fracture strength weakening on borehole stability in fractured rocks under both isotropic and anisotropic stress states are investigated using a coupled DEM(distinct element method)and DFN(discrete fracture network)method.It provides estimates of the effect of fracture strength weakening,wellbore pressure,in situ stresses,and sealing efficiency on borehole stability.The results show that mud intrusion and weakening of fracture strength can damage the borehole.This is demonstrated by the large displacement around the borehole,shear displacement on natural fractures,and the generation of fracture at shear limit.Mud intrusion reduces the shear strength of the fracture surface and leads to shear failure,which explains that the increase in mud weight may worsen borehole stability during overbalanced drilling in fractured formations.A higher in situ stress anisotropy exerts a significant influence on the mechanism of shear failure distribution around the wellbore.Moreover,the effect of sealing natural fractures on maintaining borehole stability is verified in this study,and the increase in sealing efficiency reduces the radial invasion distance of drilling mud.This study provides a directly quantitative prediction method of borehole instability in naturally fractured formations,which can consider the discrete fracture network,mud intrusion,and associated weakening of fracture strength.The information provided by the numerical approach(e.g.displacement around the borehole,shear displacement on fracture,and fracture at shear limit)is helpful for managing wellbore stability and designing wellbore-strengthening operations.

Safety analysis of stability of surface gas drainage boreholes above goaf areas

As longwall caving mining method prevails rapidly in China coal mines, amount of gas emission from longwall faces and goaf area increased significantly. Using traditional gas drainage methods, such as drilling upward holes to roof strata in tailgate or drilling inseam and cross-measure boreholes, could not meet methane drainage requirements in a gassy mine. The alternative is to drill boreholes from surface down to the Iongwall goaf area to drain the gas out. As soon as a coal seam is extracted out, the upper rock strata above the goaf start to collapse or become fractured depending upon the rock characteristics and the height above the coal seam. During overlying rock strata being fractured, boreholes in the area may be damaged due to ground movement after the passage of the Iongwall face. The sudden damage of a borehole may cause a Iongwall production halt or even a serious mine accident. A theoretical calculation of the stability of surface boreholes in mining affected area is introduced along with an example of determination of borehole and casing diameters is given for demonstration. By using this method for the drilling design, the damage of surface boreholes caused by excessive mining induced displacement can be effectively reduced if not totally avoided. Borehole and casing diameters as well as characteristics of filling materials can be determined using the proposed method by calculating the horizontal movement and vertical stain at different borehole depths.

Borehole stability in naturally fractured reservoirs luring production tests

Based on the plane of weakness theory, a model for predicting borehole stability in fractured reservoirs under different stress states was estiblisted and the equations for solving borehole stability were developed. The minimum downhole pressures required to maintain borehole stability under different natural fracture occurrences were calculated by using the data from a well in the Tazhong （central Tarim） area, Tarim Basin, west China. Several conclusions were drawn for naturally fractured reservoirs with a dip angle from less than 10° to greater than 30°. Application in three wells in the Tazhong area indicates that this model is practically useful.

STABILITY OF BOREHOLES IN A GEOLOGIC MEDIUM INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF ANISOTROPY

An analytical formulation is developed to investigate the stability of a deep, inclined borehole drilled in a geologic medium and subjected to an internal pressure and a non_hydrostatic stress field. The formulation consists of a three_dimensional (3_D) analysis of stresses around a borehole, combined with internal pressurization of the borehole to obtain an approximate solution of the overall stress distribution. The orientation of the borehole, the in_situ stresses and bedding plane can all be arbitrarily related to each other to represent the actual field situations. Both tensile failure and shear failure potentials of a borehole are investigated. The failure criteria applied assume that when the least principal stress exceeds the strength of the formation in tension, a tensile failure occurs. Shear failure is represented using the modified Drucker_Prager failure criterion for anisotropic materials. A parametric study is carried out to assess the effect of material anisotropy, bedding plane inclination and in_situ stress conditions on borehole stability. Results of the parametric study indicate that wellbore stability is significantly influenced by a high borehole inclination, high degree of material anisotropy, in_situ stress conditions and high formation bedding plane inclination. The stability of a borehole in an elasto_plastic medium is also investigated. In order to evaluate the extent of the plastic zone around a borehole and the effect of anisotropy of the material on this plastic zone, a mathematical formulation is developed using theories of elasticity and plasticity. The borehole is assumed to be vertical, subjected to hydrostatic stresses, and drilled in a transversely isotropic geologic medium. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of material anisotropy on the plastic behavior of the geologic medium. Results indicate that the stress distribution around a borehole, the extent of the plastic zone, and the failure pressure are influenced by the degree of material anisotropy and value of in_situ overburden stresses. It was observed that the borehole becomes less stable as the degree of anisotropy of the geologic medium increases.

Time-dependent borehole stability in hard-brittle shale

Rock damage appears in brittle shale even prior to peak stress(i.e.,before failure)due to the occurrence of microcracks in these rocks.In this work,a coupled hydromechanical model was built by incorporating the mechanical and fluid seepage induced stresses around a wellbore during drilling.The borehole instability mechanism of hard-brittle shale was studied.The results show that even if a well is simply drilled into a hard-brittle shale formation,the formation around the borehole can be subjected to rock damage.The maximum failure ratio of the formation around the borehole increases with drilling time.A lower drilling fluid density corresponds to a faster increase in the failure ratio of the borehole with time and a shorter period of borehole collapse.When the initial drilling fluid density is too low,serious rock damage occurs in the formation around the borehole.Even though a high-density drilling fluid is used after drilling,long-term borehole stability is difficult to maintain.While drilling in hard-brittle shale,drilling fluid with a proper density should be used rather than increasing the density of the drilling fluid only after borehole collapse occurs,which is more favorable for maintaining long-term borehole stability.

Critical condition study of borehole stability during air drilling

The purpose of this paper is to establish the existence of the critical condition of borehole stability during air drilling. Rock Failure Process Analysis Code 20 was used to set up a damage model of the borehole excavated in strain-softening rock. Damage evolution around the borehole was studied by tracking acoustic emission. The study indicates that excavation damaged zone （EDZ） is formed around borehole because of stress concentration after the borehole is excavated. There is a critical condition for borehole stability; the borehole will collapse when the critical damage condition is reached. The critical condition of underground excavation exists not only in elastic and ideal plastic material but in strainsoftening material as well. The research is helpful to developing an evaluation method of borehole stability during air drilling.

Influence of the characteristics of fault gouge on the stability of a borehole wall

How to find more effective way to stabilize the borehole wall in the fault gouge section is the key technical challenge to control the stability of the borehole wall in the Wenchuan fault gouge section during the process of core drilling. Here we try to describe the characters of deep fault gouge in fracture zones from the undisturbed fault gouge samples which are obtained during the core drilling. The X- Ray Diffraction （XRD）, X-Ray Fluorescence （XRF） and Scanning Electron Microscope （SEM） provided the detailed information of the fault gouge＇s microscopic characteristics on the density, moisture content, expansibility, dispersity, permeability, tensile strength and other main physical-mechanical properties. Based on these systematic experimental studies above and analysis of the fault gouge instability mechanism, a new technical procedure to stabilize the borehole wall is proposed -- a low water and a low loss low permeability drilling fluid system that consists of 4% day ＋ 0.5% CMC-HV ＋ 2% S-1 ＋ 3%sulfonated asphalt ＋ 1% SMC ＋ 0.5% X-1 ＋ 0-5% T type lubricant ＋ barite for core drilling in fault gouge sections.

Stability Analysis of a Borehole Wall Based on ABAQUS

The instability of borehole wall is always a difficult question in drilling borehole progress. It increases the cost of production and prolongs production cycle. So it has a significant research value. Considering the effect of mud pressure and pore pressure on the stability of borehole wall, this paper establishes a math model by applying the two-dimensional bond theory of Biot. It applies the method of the numerical simulation to analyze the effect of mud pressure and pore pressure on the stability of borehole wall. The simulation results show that the mud pressure imposes great influence on stress field and on the deformation of borehole soil, which provides a theoretical basis during the drilling process to avoid the instability of the borehole and to study how to select reasonable mud and mud pressure.

Horizontal borehole azimuth optimization for enhanced stability and coal seam gas production

Horizontal boreholes have been widely used to extract natural gas from coal seams.However,these boreholes can encounter severe instability issues leading to production interruption.Optimizing drilling azimuth is a potential solution for enhancing borehole stability while considering gas production.In this work,we improved and implemented a dual-porosity,fully coupled geomechanical-hydraulic numerical model into COMSOL Multiphysics to investigate into this factor.The sophisticated numerical model incorporates various critical factors,including desorption-induced matrix shrinkage,stress-dependent anisotropic fracture permeability,and the interactions of gas flow and reservoir deformation in matrices and fractures.A suite of simulation scenarios(e.g.,varying coal strength)was carried out to quantify the impact of drilling azimuth on coal permeability evolution,cumulative gas production,and the borehole break-out width for Goonyella Middle Seam of Bowen Basin,Australia.The model was calibrated against both theoretical permeability values and field gas production data.Due to the lack of directly measured matrix permeability data,the actual gas production was used to back calculate the best-matched matrix permeability,which is 0.65μD for this particular work.Moreover,based on the breakout shape and induced volumetric strains around the borehole,drilling along the maximum horizontal stress does not necessarily lead to the best stability of the borehole,as generally believed.A drilling azimuth between 0and 60results in similar breakout width,whereas a drilling azimuth between 60and 90achieves the most efficient gas production.By considering both gas production efficiency and borehole stability,for this particular reservoir condition,the optimum drilling azimuth is determined to be between 45and 60.This study presents a practical approach for determining the optimum drilling azimuth in coal seam gas extraction through in seam boreholes.

Directional drilling in unstable environments

Directional drilling has been established in the coal industry as a viable means of gas drainage, exploration and water management. But the environment in and around coal seams is not always conducive to stable conditions while drilling and borehole stability after the drilling has been completed. This paper identifies the conditions which cause unstable drilling conditions and the various means which are used to attempt to manage or bypass those conditions. Ultimately, equipment does become bogged in these adverse environments and requires recovery by over-coring.

Prospect of HDR geothermal energy exploitation in Yangbajing,Tibet,China,and experimental investigation of granite under high temperature and high pressure

Hot dry rock （HDR） geothermal energy, almost inexhaustible green energy, was first put forward in the 1970s. The development and testing of HDR geothermal energy are well reported in USA, Japan, UK, France and other countries or regions. In this paper, the geological characters of Yangbajing basin were first analyzed, including the continental dynamic environments to form HDR geothermal fields in Tibet, the tectonic characteristics of south slope of Nyainqentanglha and Dangxiong-Yangbajing basin, and the in-situ stresses based on the investigations conducted, and then the site-specific mining scheme of HDR geothermal resources was proposed. For the potential development of HDR geothermal energy, a series of experiments were conducted on large-scale granite samples, 200 mm in diameter and 400 mm in length, at high temperature and high triaxial pressure for cutting fragmentation and borehole stability. For the borehole stability test, a hole of 40 mm in diameter and 400 mm in length was aforehand drilled in the prepared intact granite sample. The results indicate that the cutting velocity obviously increases with temperature when bit pressure is over a certain value, while the unit rock-breaking energy consumption decreases and the rock-breaking efficiency increases with temperature at the triaxial pressure of 100 MPa. The critical temperature and pressure that can result in intensive damage to granite are 400-500℃ and 100-125 MPa, respectively.

Patterns and security technologies for co-extraction of coal and gas in deep mines without entry pillars

Retaining gob-side entryways and the stability of gas drainage boreholes are two essential techniques in the co-extraction of coal and gas without entry pillars （CECGWEP）. However, retained entryways located in deep coal mines are hard to maintain, especially for constructing boreholes in confined spaces, owing to major deformations. Consequently, it is difficult to drill boreholes and maintain their stability, which therefore cannot guarantee the effectiveness of gas drainage. This paper presents three measures for conducting CECGWEP in deep mines on the basis of effective space in retained entryways for gas drainage, They are combinations of retaining roadways and face-lagging inclined boreholes, retaining roadways and face-advancing inclined boreholes, and retaining roadways and high return airway inclined boreholes. Several essential techniques are suggested to improve the maintenance of retained entryways and the stabilization of boreholes. For the particular cases considered in this study, two field trials have verified the latter two measures from the results obtained from the faces 1111（1） and 11112（1） in the Zhuji Mine. The results indicate that these models can effectively solve the problems in deep mines. The maximum gas drainage flow for a single hole can reach 8.1 m^3/min and the effective drainage distance can be extended up to 150 m or more.

Deformation Mechanisms and Safe Drilling Fluids Density in Extremely Thick Salt Formations

Hydrocarbons are very often associated with salt structures. The oil and gas industry is often required to drill along and through long salt sections to reach and recover hydrocarbons. The unique physical properties of salt require special techniques to ensure borehole stability and adequate casing design. This paper assumed that the mechanical behavior of salt is regulated by the magnitude of mean stress and octahedral shear stress and under the influence of different stress conditions the deformation of rock salt can be represented by three domains, i.e. compression domain, volume unchanged domain, and dilatancy domain, which are separated by a stress dependent boundary. In the compression domain, the volume of salt decreases until all microcracks are closed, with only elastic deformation and pure creep; in the volume unchanged domain the deformation is considered steady incompressible flow controlled by pure creep; and in the dilatancy domain the volume of salt increases during deformation due to micro-cracking, causing damage and accelerating ＂creep＂ until failure. This paper presents a hypothesis that the borehole is stable only when the magnitude of octahedral shear stress is below the dilatancy boundary. It gives the design method for determining drilling fluids density, and calculates the closure rate ofborehole with the recommended drilling fluids density. If the closure rate of the borehole is less than 0.1%, the drilling fluids density window can be used during drilling through extremely thick salt formations.

Preparation of fluidized catalytic cracking slurry oil-in-water emulsion as anti-collapse agent for drilling fluids

Fluidized catalytic cracking slurry oil-in-water emulsion(FCCSE)was prepared by using interfacial complexes generation method that was simple and versatile.The critical factors influencing the sample preparation process were optimized,for instance,the optimum value of the mixed hydrophile-lipophile balance of compound emulsifier was 11.36,the content of compound emulsifier was 4 wt%,the emulsification temperature was 75
C,the agitation speed was 200 rpm,and the emulsification time was 30e45 min.The performance as a drilling fluid additive was also investigated with respect to rheological properties,filtration loss and inhibition of FCCSE.Experimental results showed that FCCSE was favorable to inhibiting clay expansion and dispersion and reducing fluid loss.Furthermore,it had good compatibility with other additives and did not affect the rheological properties of drilling fluids.FCCSE exhibited better performance than the available emulsified asphalt.It has a promising application as anti-collapse agent in petroleum and natural gas drilling.