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Well Trajectory Calculations

The document discusses methods for calculating well trajectories based on downhole survey measurements. It describes three key methods: the minimum curvature method, which models the wellbore as a smooth circular curve; the radius of curvature method, which also models the wellbore as circular segments; and the angle averaging method, which takes the average of measured inclination and azimuth angles. Equations are provided for calculating coordinate positions along the wellbore for each of these three methods from survey data.

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Lazuardhy Vozicha Futur
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692 views3 pages

Well Trajectory Calculations

The document discusses methods for calculating well trajectories based on downhole survey measurements. It describes three key methods: the minimum curvature method, which models the wellbore as a smooth circular curve; the radius of curvature method, which also models the wellbore as circular segments; and the angle averaging method, which takes the average of measured inclination and azimuth angles. Equations are provided for calculating coordinate positions along the wellbore for each of these three methods from survey data.

Uploaded by

Lazuardhy Vozicha Futur
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Well Trajectory Calculations

Well Trajectory Calculations

Permanent records of hole locations, and the accuracy of these records, can have significant
impact on future drilling and completion operations, as well as on other technical, economic and
legal issues relating to a field.

To describe the well trajectory, we must be able to determine the coordinates xi, y and zi from the
i

measured angles i and i at every station i along the well path. There are several calculation
methods available, including the following:

 Tangential method
 Balanced tangential method
 Minimum curvature method
 Radius of curvature method
 Angle-averaging method

The tangential method is the least accurate of all methods, and should not be used. The most
accurate are the radius of curvature and minimum curvature methods. In this section, we
summarize the equations representing the minimum curvature, radius of curvature and angle-
averaging methods.

Minimum Curvature Method

The minimum curvature method uses the angles measured at two consecutive stations, i-1 and i,
to describe a smooth, circular curve that represents the wellbore path. It uses a dog-leg severity
ratio factor, Rei , for each corresponding section of the curve.

The coordinates xi and yi represent, respectively, the departures in the west-east and north-south
directions, while zi is the vertical departure. These coordinates are expressed as follows:

West-east departure:

(1)

North-south departure:

(2)

Vertical departure:

zi = ((di)/2)/(cosi-1+cosi)Rei (3)
where

(4)

ei= angle change of drill string between i and i-1, given by

(5)

We can determine the coordinates at the nth point along the well path by algebraically summing
over the total number (n) of survey points:

(6)

(7)

(8)

Radius of Curvature Method

Like the minimum curvature method, radius of curvature assumes that the wellbore is a smooth
curve represented by circular or spherical segments. From survey data at two consecutive
stations, i-1 and i, we can determine the coordinates xi, yi and zi from the following equations:

(9)

(10)

(11)

where i i-1and i i-1

Angle Averaging Method

The angle averaging method takes the mean of two measured sets of inclination and azimuth
values [(i, i) and (i-1, i-1 )], and assumes that the wellbore follows a tangential path. The
coordinates at station i are given by
(12)

(13)

(14)

We may use Equations 6, 7 and 8 above to calculate the total departures.

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