A mathematical model for estimating cuttings bed thickness in horizontal and deviated wells Online publication date: Mon, 06-Nov-2017
by Mehmet Sorgun
International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT), Vol. 16, No. 4, 2017
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]
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook