DRILLING FLUID HYDRAULICS

& OPTIMIZATION
By: Titus N. Ofei
Petroleum Engineering Department
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia
2016

PARTICLE SLIP VELOCITY

&
CUTTINGS TRANSPORT

SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:
Define cuttings slip velocity and cuttings transport
Apply the Moore & Chien correlation for computing the cuttings slip
velocity at all flow regimes

Predict the transport ratio in vertical wellbores

Analyse a hole cleaning model

PARTICLE SLIP VELOCITY

Cuttings carrying capacity: this is the minimum mud flow rate required for carrying
drill cuttings to the surface. The minimum flow rate can be estimated based on the
minimum required mud velocity, which could be higher than the drill cuttings slip
velocity.
Slip velocity: this is the difference between the average velocities of the mud and
cuttings flowing together in a pipe or annulus. It depends mainly on the difference in
density between the mud and cuttings.
For a drill cutting falling in a Newtonian fluid through a vertical pipe, its terminal slip
velocity can be expressed as:

= 1.89

; /

Where: = equivalent cuttings diameter, inch; = cuttings density, ppg; = fluid density, ppg; =
particle
friction factor, dimensionless

PARTICLE SLIP VELOCITY CONTD.

Equivalent cuttings diameter: this depends on several factors including:
formation lithology
bit type
rate of penetration (ROP)
rotary speed at the bit
This cuttings diameter can be estimated on the basis of data from offset drilling
The following formula gives an approximation of the equivalent cutting diameter

= 0.2
;

Where: = rate of penetration, ft/hr; = rotary speed of bit, rpm

PARTICLE SLIP VELOCITY CONTD.

Particle friction factor, : this is a function of the particle Reynolds number and particle sphericity
Sphericity: this is defined as the surface area of a sphere containing the same volume as the particle
divided by the surface area of the particle. A conservative value for cuttings sphericity is 0.8.
An iterative correlation developed for determining the particle friction factor is given as:
= 10^ + +
Where

= 2.2954 2.2626 + 4.4395 2 2.9825 3

= 0.4193 1.9014 + 3.3416 2.0409

= 0.1117 + 0.0553 0.1468 2 + 0.1145 3

Where: = viscosity of Newtonian fluid, cp; = sphericity, dimensionless

928
=

MOORE CORRELATION
This is applicable to non-Newtonian fluids
Laminar flow
= 82.87

< 3

Transitional flow

= 2.9

2 1
=
144

0.667

0.333 0.333

1
2+

0.0208

3 < < 300

=
2.448(22 12 )

Turbulent flow
= 1.54

928
=

; > 300

CHIEN CORRELATION
This is applicable to non-Newtonian fluids

= 0.0075

= 1.44

36,800
+ 1 1 < 100
2

Laminar Flow

Turbulent Flow

> 100
For polymer type drilling fluids, apparent viscosity is computed as:

= + 5

928
=

=
2.448(22 12 )

Chien recommends that for suspension of bentonite in water,

plastic viscosity should be used in place of apparent viscosity

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT
One of the primary functions of a drilling
fluid is to bring drilled cuttings to the surface.
Inadequate hole cleaning can lead to a
number of problems including fill, packing
off, stuck pipe, and excessive hydrostatic
pressure.
Drillpipe rotation promotes a centrifugal
effect which causes particles to move toward
the outer wall of the annulus.

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT CONTD.

The absence of drillpipe rotation may result in the
following:
Cutting tends to recycle locally
Cutting turns to edge and migrates to side of the
annulus, then descends some distance before
migrating to the centre

The presence of drillpipe rotation may result in the

following:
Rotation effect impart helical motion to the cutting in
the vicinity
Turbulent flow creates flatter profiles and eliminates
turning moment

Figure 1: Cutting motion

William and Bruce (1950)

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT CONTD.

Hole cleaning efficiency is affected by:
Rotary speed

Wellbore angle

Flow rate

Cuttings dispersion

Mud rheology

Wellbore stability

Hole size

ROP

Washouts

Pipe reciprocation

Drillpipe diameter

Mud weight

Cuttings size and density

Flow regime (laminar or

turbulent)

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT MECHANISMS

Cuttings behave differently depending on well angle:

0o to 30o (vertical or near-vertical)

30o to 65o (medium angle)

Greater than 65o (high angle)

Guidelines for effective hole cleaning are therefore different

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT MECHANISMS CONTD.

Zone A: Efficient hole cleaning. Cuttings are effectively
suspended by the fluid shear and beds do not form.

Zone B: Slow cuttings removal. Cuttings are transported

as ripples or dunes.
Zone C: Good hole cleaning with moving cuttings bed.
Cuttings are suspended by the fluid.
Zone D: Some hole cleaning with cuttings bed

formation.
Zone E: Less hole cleaning with cuttings bed
accumulation.

VERTICAL CUTTINGS TRANSPORT

Consider how a vertical hole cleans:
1. Drilling fluid is moving upwards (say 100 ft/min) called
annular velocity
2. But gravity is pulling downwards (say, 5 ft/min) called
slip velocity
3. Hence, cuttings moves slightly slower than the drilling
fluid (mud rheology controls the efficiency of this)

VERTICAL CUTTINGS TRANSPORT CONTD.

Gel strength is a key mud property.
But how does it actually suspend the cutting as gravity is still pulling the
cuttings down in the mud?
As the cutting falls, it displaces its own volume of fluid upwards.
Unfortunately, the cutting is not alone. The mud is crowded with
cuttings.
In a crowded cuttings environment, a mechanism called hindered
settling occurs.
For each cuttings that drops, another cuttings is forced upwards

HORIZONTAL CUTTINGS TRANSPORT

Everything is the same except flow is now horizontal
STILL gravity is pulling the cutting downwards
There is no longer any fluid velocity direction to combat slip velocity
Cutting falls to bottom within 1-2 stands (maximum)
In laminar flow environment, the mud cannot carry the cutting out of the hole
This has huge implications for sweeps in directional portion of the hole
It also means that cuttings are on the low side, regardless of whether we are
pumping or not.

PUMPS OFF SUSPENSION

Cuttings now have only inches to fall due to the short radial position
Hindered settling mechanism fails quickly as each layer of cuttings touch the bottom
Cuttings cannot be suspended in a high-angle wellbore no matter what the mud is
like.
The situation is the same whether the pumps have been off for 5 sec, 5 min, or 5

days

MEDIUM ANGLE CUTTINGS TRANSPORT

In this case, the mud velocity is partly acting
against gravity.
The cuttings cannot still be carried out of the
hole, but will now travel farther than before.
Say, 3-4 stands instead of 1-2 stands for high-

angle wellbores
Hence, a medium angle well is more efficient

conveyor belt than high-angle wellbore

MEDIUM ANGLE CUTTINGS TRANSPORT CONTD.

Cuttings cannot be suspended in the medium angle
wellbore
Now, there is the risk of avalanche of cuttings bed.
The cuttings bed does not automatically avalanche
(just like snow doesnt automatically avalanche on a
mountain side)

A cuttings bed avalanche may trigger if the bed height

is too thick due to fast ROP, or gets disturbed due to
trip in or out

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT BEHAVIOUR

CUTTINGS TRANSPORT BEHAVIOUR CONTD.

High velocity fluid on top of the hole acts like a

conveyor belt transporting cuttings out of the

hole.

Cuttings will travel far and then fall off (into the
low flow zone) due to gravity.

The length travelled on the conveyor belt is a

function of wellbore angle, flow rate, rotary

speed, and fluid rheology.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT

Pipe rotation is the key factor in hole cleaning

efficiency for high angle holes

Active flow area is at the top of the hole

Pipe and cuttings mostly lie along the bottom

of the hole, hence agitation is required to get

cuttings into the fluid.

Required rotary speed is dependent upon hole

size and ROP.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT CONTD.

Laminar flow environment:

All the fluid travels at the top of the hole (wide

margin)

Dead zones separates high velocity mud and

cuttings.

It is not actually the pipe rotation nor tool joints

that clean the hole, but rather the fluid film called

viscous coupling rotating around the pipe.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT CONTD.

Common misconception:

Drillpipe rotation suspends the cuttings. This is a misconception.

Rotation is the ONLY means of throwing the cuttings up, but it does not

keep the cuttings suspended.

Probably, only 10% of cuttings are on the conveyor belt at any given

moment.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT CONTD.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT CONTD.

DRILL PIPE ROTATION EFFECT CONTD.

FLOW RATE EFFECT

PIPE-HOLE AREA RATIO (PHAR) FACTOR

Rule of Thumb:

The pipe-hole area ratio (PHAR) gives a feel of how far the top of the pipe is
from the top of the hole.

For PHAR > 3.25 = Big hole rule applies, > 120 rpm min., 180 rpm ideal
For PHAR < 3.25 = Small hole rule applies, 60 70 rpm min., 120 rpm ideal

BIG HOLE PHAR FACTOR

Big hole rule applies no matter what size of drillpipe:

SMALL HOLE PHAR FACTOR

Small hole rule applies with drillpipe size such as 5 to 5-1/2

BIG SMALL HOLE PHAR FACTOR

Big hole rule applies with small sized drillpipe such as 4 or 4-1/2 and

hole size of 8-1/2

OPTIMUM PHAR FACTORS

RULE OF THUMB FOR HIGH-ANGLE WELLS

Rotary speed

Flow rate

Hole size

Critical rotary speed

Hole size

Flow rate (gpm)

17-1/2

> 180 rpm

17-1/2

1,200 1,500

12-1/4

750 1,000

9-7/8

450 - 650

8-1/2

350 - 500

6-1/8

150 - 200

12-1/4

> 120 rpm

9-7/8

> 120 rpm

8-1/2

Preferably > 120 rpm, but > 70 rpm

THIN AND THICK MUD

Is thin or thick mud preferred? This depends on hole size:

For 12-1/4 & 17-1/2 hole hole cleaning is #1 priority

For 8-1/2 hole ECD is more important

If the mud is too thin, no viscous coupling to lift cuttings

into the flow, but lower ECD.

If the mud is too thick, dead zone becomes impenetrable

for cuttings thrown up. But viscous coupling is good.

HOLE CLEANING & ECD

Fann viscometer reading:

Each fann reading is associated to a section of the wellbore.

Hole cleaning and ECD are very sensitive to 3 & 6 rpm

K & M RECOMMENDED RANGE

CRITICAL MUD VELOCITY

Critical mud velocity, : this is the minimum mud velocity required to
carry drill cuttings to the surface, and below which cuttings will settle in the
wellbore. This should be higher than the cuttings slip velocity by an
additional amount called transport velocity that is:

= +

CRITICAL MUD VELOCITY CONTD.

For directional well drilling, the critical
mud velocity required for drilling inclined
hole sections is 1.8
For horizontal well drilling, the critical
mud velocity required for drilling
horizontal hole sections is 1.5
The minimum mud flow rate in the
extreme wellbore geometry can be
calculated as:

= .

RHEOLOGY EFFECT ON CRITICAL FLOW RATE

Low viscosity fluids with low YP tend to
promote turbulence and cuttings saltation.
High viscosity fluids with high YP increase the
fluid drag force and cause the cuttings bed to
slide.
In general, the higher YP, and hence laminar
flow regime is preferred since higher viscosity
drilling fluid provides better cuttings
suspension and improved transport in vertical
and near-vertical wells.
Intermediate values of YP should be avoided
since they provide the worse cuttings
transport conditions.

TRANSPORT VELOCITY
Transport velocity: this is the net upward velocity of particles obtained by
subtracting the slip velocity from the annular velocity.
It also depends on the rate of penetration and the maximum allowable
cuttings concentration in the annular space, given as:

2
=
; /
4 3600

Where: = bit diameter, inch; = cuttings concentration,

dimensionless; = annulus cross-sectional area, in2

TRANSPORT RATIO
The transport ratio is defined as the transport velocity divided by the
critical mud velocity

=
=
=1

For positive cuttings transport ratio, the cuttings will be transported to the
surface.
For a particle slip velocity of zero, the cutting velocity is equal to the
critical mud velocity and the cuttings transport ratio is unity (1)

ANNULAR CUTTINGS FEED CONCENTRATION

This is defined as the amount of cuttings which are injected into the
annulus. It is a function of the rate of penetration (ROP), mud flow rate,
hole area, and the transport ratio :
2
=
4
A criterion commonly quoted for effective hole cleaning is a maximum
cuttings concentration of 5%. The maximum cuttings concentration will be
obtained in the largest annular section, which is the riser or conductor
pipe.

HOLE CLEANING MODEL

Luo et al. (1994) have proposed a hole cleaning model for calculating the
transport index (TI) which is a function of rheology factor (RF), angle factor
(AF), and mud specific gravity (SGmud)
The rheology factor (RF) is also a function of plastic viscosity (PV) and yield
point (YP)
The angle factor (AF) is a function of the hole inclination angle

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE

1. Enter the rheology factor (RF) chart with the appropriate values of PV
and YP values at 120oF and atmospheric pressure.

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE CONTD.

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE CONTD.

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE CONTD.

2. Get the angle factor, AF, from the Table below:

3. Calculate the transport index, TI, based on RF, AF, and SGmud using:
=

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE CONTD.

4. Enter the appropriate ROP
chart. With the value of TI
calculated and the desired (or
maximum) flow rate, read off
the maximum safe ROP.
5. If the hole is washed out, find
the flow rate correction, ,
below and calculate the
correction flow rate (CFR) for
the washout hole section.

MODEL APPLICATION PROCEDURE CONTD.

6. Calculate the transport index based on the correction flow rate for
the washed out hole section as:

=
834.5

CARRYING CAPACITY INDEX (CCI)

For vertical and near-vertical wellbores, good hole cleaning is
expected when the CCI is equal to or greater than 1.
The CCI can be determined using the equation below:

=
400,000

(/)

where:
+
=
(. )

511

2 +
= 3.32
+

 NOW, students should be able to:

Define cuttings slip velocity and cuttings transport
Apply the Moore & Chien correlation for computing the cuttings slip
velocity at all flow regimes

Predict the transport ratio in vertical wellbores

Analyse hole cleaning model

END OF PRESENTATION