Title: A mathematical model for estimating cuttings bed thickness in horizontal and deviated wells

Authors: Mehmet Sorgun

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering,Izmir Katip Celebi University, Cigli, Izmir, Turkey

Abstract: A mechanistic model is presented to estimate cuttings bed thickness in horizontal and inclined wellbores with and without pipe rotation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The model described in this work incorporates the effects of the hole inclination and pipe rotation on cuttings bed thickness. In this study, Navier-Stokes equations for turbulent flow are numerically solved using finite differences technique and a computer code is developed for CFD model. Extensive cuttings transport experiments are conducted using a flow loop. The pressure drop and cuttings bed thickness were recorded in addition to the other test conditions. Using the experimental data, the performance of the proposed model is analysed. The prediction results are satisfactory with determination coefficients, R² = 0.89 and average absolute percent error (AAPE) = 9.78 for cuttings bed thickness. [Received: January 18, 2016; Accepted: July 17, 2016]

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics; CFD; cuttings bed thickness; horizontal and inclined drilling; liquid-solid flow; pipe rotation; pressure loss.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.087857

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.16 No.4, pp.329 - 341

Received: 08 Feb 2016
Accepted: 17 Jul 2016
Published online: 06 Nov 2017 *

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