Trajectory Control: Directional MWD Inversely New Wellbore Positioning Accuracy Prediction Method

The deviation control of directional drilling is essentially the controlling of two angles of the wellbore actually drilled, namely, the inclination and azimuth. In directional drilling the bit trajectory never coincides exactly with the planned path, which is usually a plane curve with straight, building, holding, and dropping sections in succession. The drilling direction is of course dependant on the direction of the resultant forces acting on the bit and it is quite a tough job to hit the optimum target at the hole bottom as required. The traditional passive methods for correcting the drilling path have not met the demand to improve the techniques of deviation control. A method for combining wellbore surveys to obtain a composite, more accurate well position relies on accepting the position of the well from the most accurate survey instrument used in a given section of the wellbore. The error in each position measurement is the sum of many independent root sources of error effects. The relationship between surveys and other influential factors is considered, along with an analysis of different points of view. The collaborative work describes, establishes a common starting point of wellbore position uncertainty model, definition of what constitutes an error model, mathematics of position uncertainty calculation and an error model for basic directional service.

Method of suspender line trajectory design

Based on the mechanical model of an elastic rod,a new trajectory design method was established.The advantages of the suspender line trajectory in reducing drag and torsion were compared,and the main controlling factors of drag and torque and their influence rules were analyzed.Research shows that the suspender line trajectory reduces drag and torque more effectively than the conventional trajectory in a certain parameter interval and has more controllable parameters than that of the catenary trajectory.The main factors affecting the drag reduction and torque reduction of the suspender line trajectory include the friction coefficient,vertical distance,horizontal distance,and deviation angle at the initial point in the suspended section.The larger the friction coefficient and deviation angle,the less the drag reduction and torque reduction.The suspender line trajectory has the best drag reduction effect when the horizontal and vertical distances are more than 3000 m and the ratio is close to 1.5.The drag in sliding drilling can be reduced up to 60%,and the torque in rotary drilling can be reduced by a maximum of 40%.Therefore,the trajectory design of the suspender line has unique application prospects in deep extended-reach wells.

Actual wellbore tortuosity evaluation using a new quasi-three-dimensional approach

The irregular wellbore trajectory caused by the wellbore deviation and fluctuation makes a significant effect on the torque and drag in extending and direction drilling,especially for wellbore trajectory with obvious deviation in the drilling direction.As a consequence,a new quasi-three-dimensional wellbore tortuosity evaluation method is developed.The new method incorporates the effect of fluctuation frequency and amplitude of oscillating wellbore trajectory;a weight coefficient index that quantifies the effect of tortuosity of one segment trajectory to the entire trajectory;a‘Peak-Valley’principle that can decompose the irregular wellbore trajectory in various scale lengths.The studies show that the deflection angle between the segments of tortuous wellbore increases the torque and drag by strengthening the contact behaviors between the drillstring and borehole.Therefore,the deflection angle is introduced to quantify the effect of deviation in the drilling direction on wellbore tortuosity.The evaluation results of two field cases demonstrate the new method which is adapted to the wellbore trajectory fluctuating with various characteristics and can reflect the actual state of wellbore tortuosity with severe oscillation more effectively and accurately.