西南石油大学学报(自然科学版) ›› 2016, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6): 164-171.DOI: 10.11885/j.issn.1674-5086.2015.01.14.01

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Numerical Simulation of Cuttings Pulse Carrying in a Horizontal Well

ZHU Xiaohua, CHEN Keyu, MAO Yu, LIU Biao   

  1. School of Mechatronics Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China
  • Received:2015-01-14 Online:2016-12-01 Published:2016-12-01

Abstract: Horizontal well drilling technology has become an important means of modern oil and gas exploration and development. It can cause some dangerous accidents, such as high friction and torque, stuck pipe and choke pumps, when the annulus transportation condition of horizontal well is poor. And the accidents will impact the life of drilling tools and the safety of drilling progress, which cannot be solved in conventional technology. So, the method of pulse carrying cuttings is extremely needed. On the basis of the existing hydraulic pulse and the following diversion mechanism, a slimhole horizontal well flow model is established. It uses RNG k-ε model, the power-law model and the secondary development of subroutines for numerical calculations to determine reasonable pulse cycle of pulse carrying rocks, duty cycle, and other parameters. In order to find the distribution law of the velocity and density of cuttings it also discusses the effect of the flow rate of drilling fluid, the eccentricity of drilling pipe and the diameter of cuttings. The results show that under the same condition, pulse carrying cuttings is more efficient, destroying cuttings better and reducing cuttings bed concentration by about 40%.

Key words: pulse with rock, horizontal well, numerical simulation, cuttings transport, drilling safety

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