TY - CHAP
T1 - A CFD investigation of the effect of particle sphericity on wellbore cleaning efficiency during oil and gas drilling
AU - Epelle, Emmanuel
AU - Gerogiorgis, Dimitrios
PY - 2018/6/11
Y1 - 2018/6/11
N2 - In all drilling operations in the oil and gas industry, the generation and eventual distribution of formation rock cuttings along the wellbore constitutes a major concern to operational feasibility and profitability. The nature of the annular geometry/wellbore trajectory, rheological properties of the non-Newtonian carrier fluid and physical properties of the cuttings are also very important to consider, particularly in the design stage. Cuttings encountered in practical operations are hardly of a perfectly spherical geometry; however, the ease of mathematical description due to this simplifying assumption is prevalent in most CFD modelling studies. This decreases the accuracy of simulated flow behaviour as far particle-particle and particle-fluid interactions are concerned. We address this challenge by modifying the Syamlal-O’Brien (SO) interphase exchange coefficient in the Eulerian-Eulerian model. This modification yields a better representation of the actual flow dynamics during cuttings transport. Our results show increased transport velocity of non-spherical particles compared to particles of perfectly spherical shape. The relatively complex wellbore geometry (in deviated drilling) considered reveals a key finding: there is greater particle deposition at the inclined-to-vertical (upper) bend, relative to other sections in the CFD flow domain.
AB - In all drilling operations in the oil and gas industry, the generation and eventual distribution of formation rock cuttings along the wellbore constitutes a major concern to operational feasibility and profitability. The nature of the annular geometry/wellbore trajectory, rheological properties of the non-Newtonian carrier fluid and physical properties of the cuttings are also very important to consider, particularly in the design stage. Cuttings encountered in practical operations are hardly of a perfectly spherical geometry; however, the ease of mathematical description due to this simplifying assumption is prevalent in most CFD modelling studies. This decreases the accuracy of simulated flow behaviour as far particle-particle and particle-fluid interactions are concerned. We address this challenge by modifying the Syamlal-O’Brien (SO) interphase exchange coefficient in the Eulerian-Eulerian model. This modification yields a better representation of the actual flow dynamics during cuttings transport. Our results show increased transport velocity of non-spherical particles compared to particles of perfectly spherical shape. The relatively complex wellbore geometry (in deviated drilling) considered reveals a key finding: there is greater particle deposition at the inclined-to-vertical (upper) bend, relative to other sections in the CFD flow domain.
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64235-6.50024-3
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64235-6.50024-3
M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)
T3 - Computer-Aided Chemical Engineering
SP - 127
EP - 132
BT - 28th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering
A2 - Friedl, Anton
A2 - Klemeš, Jiri
A2 - Radl, Stefan
A2 - Varbanov, Petar
A2 - Wallek, Thomas
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -