Study on wellbore temperature of riserless mud recovery system by CFD approach and numerical calculation

The riserless mud recovery(RMR)system abandons the riser used in conventional offshore drilling,and the drill string above the seabed is directly exposed to seawater,resulting in convective heat transfer from the drilling fluid in the drill string to seawater.Therefore,the wellbore temperature distribution in the RMR system is quite different from the conventional offshore drilling.In this paper,based on the heat transfer characteristics of the RMR system,a mathematical model of the thermal field of the RMR system is established.The data used in this paper come from a vertical well in the South China Sea.Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)software is used to simulate the temperature distribution in drill string at different seawater depths and different formation depths in this paper,and the simulation results are compared with the calculation results of the mathematical model,so as to verify the feasibility of the mathematical model established in this paper.Combined with the calculation results of the mathematical model,this paper also explores the effect of different discharge capacity and different injection temperature of drilling fluid on the wellbore temperature change.

Wellbore temperature distribution during drilling of natural gas hydrate formation in South China sea

The natural gas hydrate resources in the South China Sea alone are about 85 trillion cubic meters.In the drilling process of marine gas hydrate,the natural gas hydrate will decompose and produce gas,as the rising of temperature and dropping of the pressure in the annulus.This process will have a significant impact on drilling safety.Therefore,it is necessary to study the wellbore temperature distribution during the drilling of marine hydrate layer.In this paper,the wellbore temperature distribution of safe drilling in hydrated formation is taken as the research goal,and the research status of relevant domestic and international wellbore temperatures was investigated.According to the characteristics of the marine environment and reservoir-forming characteristics of hydrate reservoirs in the South China Sea,the wellbore temperature distribution model of offshore drilling wellbore under the condition of hydrate decomposition was established.The temperature distribution curve of drilling straight wellbore in hydrate layer of South China Sea was obtained.When drilling the hydrate reservoir,the distribution regularity of the wellbore temperature is similar to that of the conventional offshore drilling wellbore.However,the temperature of the wellbore annulus near the hydrate decomposition site is lower than the ambient temperature,mainly due to the hydrate decomposition endothermic.In this paper,the sensitivity analysis of several main parameters of the wellbore temperature distribution of drilling straight wellbore in hydrate layer of South China Sea was carried out.Through the conduction of experiment and numerical simulation,we have get some new findings:(1)The hydrate saturation has little effect on the wellbore temperature;(2)As the drilling fluid displacement increases,the annulus temperature of the wellbore above the mudline increases,and the temperature of the wellbore below the mudline decreases continuously;(3)As the density of the drilling fluid increases,the temperature at the wellhead decreases,and the temperature at the bottom of the well increases slightly;(4)The greater the rate of penetration of the well,the temperature at the upper part of the wellbore decreases,and the temperature at the bottom of the wellbore increases;Among them,the penetration rate has the most obvious effect on the annular temperature.The results are expected to be helpful to guide the drilling process of marine gas hydrate and offer some references.

A New Heat Transfer Model for Multi-Gradient Drilling with Hollow Sphere Injection

Multi-gradient drilling is a new offshore drilling method.The accurate calculation of the related wellbore temperature is of great significance for the prediction of the gas hydrate formation area and the precise control of the wellbore pressure.In this study,a new heat transfer model is proposed by which the variable mass flow is properly taken into account.Using this model,the effects of the main factors influencing the wellbore temperature are analyzed.The results indicate that at the position where the separation injection device is installed,the temperature increase of the fluid in the drill pipe is mitigated due to the inflow/outflow of hollow spheres,and the temperature drop of the fluid in the annulus also decreases.In addition,a lower separation efficiency of the device,a shallower installation depth and a smaller circulating displacement tend to increase the temperature near the bottom of the annulus,thereby helping to reduce the hydrate generation area and playing a positive role in the prevention and control of hydrates in deepwater drilling.

Study on prediction model of maximum hydraulic extension depth for ultra deep wells considering effects of temperature

How long the ultra deep well can extend and what is the ultra deep well's maximum hydraulic extension depth are always concerned and studied by drilling engineers. The well's maximum hydraulic extension depth can be predicted by the maximum hydraulic extension depth prediction model. To overcome the disadvantage that previous prediction model did not consider the effects of temperature and only applies to horizontal wells, a prediction model of maximum hydraulic extension depth for ultra deep wells considering effects of temperature is established. Considering the effects of temperature coupled with the constraints of drilling pump rated pressure and rated power, the prediction result of ultra deep well's maximum hydraulic extension depth is modified. An ultra deep well developed by Sinopec in Shunbei oilfield, China, is analyzed, and its wellbore temperature profile and maximum hydraulic extension depth are analyzed and predicted. Results show that the maximum hydraulic extension depth with considering temperature is larger than that without considering temperature. With the identical depth, the higher inlet temperature and the greater geothermal gradient mean the higher drilling fluid temperatures in the drill string and annulus as well as the larger maximum hydraulic extension depth. Besides, the maximum depth decreases with the increase in drilling fluid flow rate and density, while it increases with the increase in drilling pump rated pressure and rated power. To ensure the designed depth can be reached, there exists the maximum drilling fluid flow rate and density, as well as the minimum drilling pump rated pressure and rated power. This study is important for accurately predicting the ultra deep well's maximum depth within the limit capacity of drilling pump. In addition, it also plays a major role in avoiding drilling hazards.