Title: Temperature and pressure calculation model of the wellbore annulus in the formation with narrow safe drilling fluid density window during gas kick process

Authors: Qiangui Zhang; Gen Yang; Xiangyu Fan; Jiawei Ran; Zhilin Li; Juntian Shuai; Qiang Wei; Mubai Duan

Addresses: Petroleum Engineering School, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China ' Petroleum Engineering School, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; Drilling and Production Engineering Technology Research Institute, CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Guanghan, Sichuan 618300, China ' Petroleum Engineering School, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China ' Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting Inc., China National Petroleum Corporation, Chengdu, Sichuan 610213, China ' Drilling and Production Engineering Technology Research Institute, CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Guanghan, Sichuan 618300, China ' China Resources Gas (Suining) Co., Ltd, China Resources, Suining, Sichuan 629000, China ' Drilling and Production Engineering Technology Research Institute, CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Guanghan, Sichuan 618300, China ' Drilling and Production Engineering Technology Research Institute, CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Guanghan, Sichuan 618300, China

Abstract: In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to simulate gas-liquid flow for calculating temperature and pressure in the wellbore annulus of formations with a narrow safe drilling fluid density window (NSDW). The model incorporates equations for liquid mass conservation, gas mass conservation, additional energy conservation of other components in the wellbore annulus-formation system, and gas-liquid slip velocity. The flux vector splitting method (AUSMV) is employed to solve the mass and momentum conservation equations. The effectiveness of the proposed model is demonstrated by predicting the temperature and pressure in the wellbore annulus for well XX1, revealing a strong agreement between the predicted results and the field-measured values. Additionally, this model is applied in order to analyse the impacts of formation pore pressure, injected drilling fluid displacement, and wellhead back pressure on well kick. The results provide valuable insights that can guide drilling operations in NSDW formations. [Received: November 21, 2022; Accepted: February 13, 2024]

Keywords: narrow safe drilling fluid density window; gas-liquid flow; temperature and pressure prediction; well kick evaluation; mathematical model.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2024.142095

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2024 Vol.36 No.4, pp.461 - 508

Received: 05 Nov 2022
Accepted: 13 Feb 2024
Published online: 07 Oct 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article