Digital Assignment

Atmadeep Dutta(18BCM0135)
Natural Gas Engineering
1.The most common problems during drilling operation are drill pipe sticking,
lost circulation, deviation of drill pipe from hole, instability of borehole, mud
contamination, formation damage, H2S bearing formation and personnel
related problems. Explain various methods involved in each to overcome.
Ans.

Causes and Preventions of Stuck pipe

Complications related to stuck pipe can account for nearly half of total well
cost, making stuck pipe one of the most expensive problems that can occur
during a drilling operation. Stuck pipe often is associated with well-control and
lost-circulation events—the two other costly disruptions to drilling operations
—and is a significant risk in high-angle and horizontal wells.
Drilling through depleted zones, where the pressure in the annulus exceeds
that in the formation, might cause the drill string to be pulled against the wall
and embedded in the filter cake deposited there. The internal cake pressure
decreases at the point where the drillpipe contacts the filter cake, causing the
pipe to be held against the wall by differential pressure. In high-angle and
horizontal wells, gravitational force contributes to extended contact between
the drill string and the formation. Properly managing the lubricity of the drilling
fluid and the quality of the filter cake across the permeable formation can help
reduce occurrences of stuck pipe

Preventing stuck pipe can require close monitoring of early warning

signs, such as:
 Increases in torque and drag
 Excessive cuttings loading
 Tight spots while tripping
 Loss of circulation while drilling .
Prevention of lost circulation
The complete prevention of lost circulation is impossible, because some
formations, such as inherently fractured, cavernous, or high-permeability zones,
are not avoidable if the target zone is to be reached. However, limiting
circulation loss is possible if certain precautions are taken, especially those
related to induced fractures. These precautions include:

 Maintaining proper mud weight

 Minimizing annular-friction pressure losses during drilling and tripping in
 Adequate hole cleaning
 Avoiding restrictions in the annular space
 Setting casing to protect upper weaker formations within a transition
zone
 Updating formation pore pressure and fracture gradients for better
accuracy with log and drilling data

If lost-circulation zones are anticipated, preventive measures should be taken by

treating the mud with loss of circulation materials (LCMs) and preventive tests
such as the leak off test and formation integrity test should be performed to limit
the possibility of loss of circulation.

Causes of hole deviation

It is not exactly known what causes a drill bit to deviate from its intended path.
It is, however, generally agreed that one or a combination of several of the
following factors may be responsible for the deviation:
 Heterogeneous nature of formation and dip angle
 Drillstring characteristics, specifically the bottomhole assembly (BHA)
makeup
 Stabilizers (location, number, and clearances)
 Applied weight on bit (WOB)
 Hole-inclination angle from vertical
 Drill-bit type and its basic mechanical design
  Hydraulics at the bit
 Improper hole cleaning
It is known that some resultant force acting on a drill bit causes hole deviation
to occur. The mechanics of this resultant force is complex and is governed
mainly by the mechanics of the BHA, rock/bit interaction, bit operating
conditions, and, to some lesser extent, by the drilling-fluid hydraulics.
The forces imparted to the drill bit because of the BHA are directly related to
the makeup of the BHA, i.e.:
 Stiffness
 Stabilizers
 Reamers
The BHA is a flexible, elastic structural member that can buckle under
compressive loads. The buckled shape of a given designed BHA depends on the
amount of applied WOB. The significance of the BHA buckling is that it causes
the axis of the drill bit to misalign with the axis of the intended hole path, thus
causing the deviation. Pipe stiffness and length and the number of stabilizers
(their location and clearances from the wall of the wellbore) are two major
parameters that govern BHA buckling behavior. Actions that can minimize the
buckling tendency of the BHA include reducing WOB and using stabilizers
with outside diameters that are almost in gauge with the wall of the borehole.
The contribution of the rock/bit interaction to bit deviating forces is governed
by:
 Rock properties
 Cohesive strength
 Bedding or dip angle
 Internal friction angle
 Drill-bit design features
 Tooth angle
 Bit size
 Bit type
 Bit offset in case of roller-cone bits
  Teeth location and number
 Bit profile
 Bit hydraulic features
 Drilling parameters
 Tooth penetration into the rock and its cutting mechanism
The mechanics of rock/bit interaction is a very complex subject and is the least
understood in regard to hole-deviation problems. Fortunately, the advent of
downhole measurement-while-drilling tools that allow monitoring the advance
of the drill bit along the desired path makes our lack of understanding of the
mechanics of hole deviation more acceptable.

Borehole Instability
Borehole-instability prevention
Total prevention of borehole instability is unrealistic, because restoring the
physical and chemical in-situ conditions of the rock is impossible. However, the
drilling engineer can mitigate the problems of borehole instabilities by
adhering to good field practices. These practices include:
 Proper mud-weight selection and maintenance
 Use of proper hydraulics to control the equivalent circulating density
(ECD)
 Proper hole-trajectory selection
 Use of borehole fluid compatible with the formation being drilled
Additional field practices that should be followed are:
 Minimizing time spent in open hole
 Using offset-well data (use of the learning curve)
 Monitoring trend changes (torque, circulating pressure, drag, fill-in
during tripping)
 Collaborating and sharing information
Mud contamination
A mud is said to be contaminated when a foreign material enters the mud
system and causes undesirable changes in mud properties, such as density,
viscosity, and filtration. Generally, water-based mud systems are the most
susceptible to contamination. Mud contamination can result from
overtreatment of the mud system with additives or from material entering
the mud during drilling.

Common contaminants, sources, and treatments

The most common contaminants to water-based mud systems are:
 Solids (added, drilled, active, inert)
 Gypsum/anhydrite (Ca++
)
 Cement/lime (Ca++
)
 Makeup water (Ca++
, Mg++ )
 Soluble bicarbonates and carbonates (HCO3−, CO3—)
 Soluble sulfides (HS−, S—)
 Salt/salt water flow (Na+
, Cl−)
Solids contamination
Solids are materials that are added to make up a mud system (bentonite,
barite) and materials that are drilled (active and inert). Excess solids of any
type are the most undesirable contaminant to drilling fluids. They affect all
mud properties. It has been shown that fine solids, micron and submicron
sized, are the most detrimental to the overall drilling efficiency and must be
removed if they are not a necessary part of the mud makeup. The removal
of drilled solids is achieved through the use of mechanical separating
equipment (shakers, desanders, desilters, and centrifuges). Shakers remove
solids in the size of cuttings (approximately 140μ or larger). Desanders
remove solids in the size of sand (down to 50μ). Desilters remove solids in
the size of silt (down to 20μ). When solids become smaller than the cut off
point of desilters, centrifuges may have to be used. Chemical flocculants are
sometimes used to flocculate fine solids into a bigger size so that they can
be removed by solids-removal equipment. Total flocculants do not
discriminate between various types of solids, while selective flocculants will
flocculate drilled solids but not the added barite solids. As a last resort,
dilution is sometimes used to lower solids concentration.
Calcium-ions contamination
The sources of calcium ions are:
 Gypsum
 Anhydrite
 Cement
 Lime
 Seawater
 Hard/brackish makeup water
The calcium ion is a major contaminant to freshwater-based sodium-clay
treated mud systems. The calcium ion tends to replace the sodium ions on
the clay surface through a base exchange, thus causing undesirable changes
in mud properties such as rheology and filtration. It also causes added
thinners to the mud system to become ineffective. The treatment depends
on the source of the calcium ion. For example, sodium carbonate (soda ash)
is used if the source is gypsum or anhydrite. Sodium bicarbonate is the
preferred treatment if the calcium ion is from lime or cement. If treatment
becomes economically unacceptable, break over to a mud system, such as
gypsum mud or lime mud, that can tolerate the contaminant.
Biocarbonate and carbonate contamination
The contaminant ions (CO3—, HCO3−) are from drilling a CO2-bearing
formation, thermal degradation of organics in mud, or over treatment with
soda ash and bicarbonate. These contaminants cause the mud to have high
 yield and gel strength and a decrease in pH. Treating the mud system with
gypsum or lime is recommended.
Hydrogen sulfide contamination
The contaminant ions (HS−, S—) generally are from drilling an H2S-bearing
formation. Hydrogen sulfide is the most deadly ion to humans and is
extremely corrosive to steel used during drilling operations. (It causes
severe embrittlement to drillpipe.) Scavenging of H2S is done by use of zinc,
copper, or iron.
Salt/saltwater flows
The ions, Na+Cl- , that enter the mud system as a result of drilling salt
sections or from formation saltwater flow cause a mud to have high yield
strength, high fluid loss, and pH decrease. Some actions for treatment are
dilution with fresh water, the use of dispersants and fluid-loss chemicals, or
conversion to a mud that tolerates the problem if the cost of treatment
becomes excessive.

Pipe-failure prevention
Although pipe failure cannot be eliminated totally, there are certain measures
that can be taken to minimize it. Fatigue failures can be mitigated by
minimizing induced cyclic stresses and insuring a noncorrosive environment
during the drilling operations. Cyclic stresses can be minimized by controlling
dogleg severity and drill string vibrations. Corrosion can be mitigated by
corrosive scavengers and controlling the mud pH in the presence of H 2S. The
proper handling and inspection of the drill string on a routine basis are the best
measures to prevent failures.