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www.cafetinnova.org ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 09, No. 06 December2016,P.P.2493-2498

Borehole Rock Stability under High Temperature Gradient of

Geothermal well Drilling
XIANYONG ZHANG1,2 AND AIGUO YAO1
1
Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, Hubei, China
2
Institute of Geothermal Resources, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China
Email: Zhang_Xianyong@126.com, a.yao@cug.edu.cn

Abstract: In high temperature geothermal well of drilling, when hot dry rock (HDR) meets the lower
temperature drilling fluid, larger thermal stresses will be produced due to a large temperature gradient in
borehole surrounding rock. Thermal stresses combined with non-uniform in-situ stress and wellbore pressure,
which will endanger the stability of surrounding rock. A stress analytical model of borehole surrounding rock in
HDR section was established, according to thermal and elastoplastic theory and finite element analysis of
temperature distribution of surrounding rock. The stability factor is established to judge the stability of borehole
surrounding rock, according to Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The stability of borehole surrounding rock in
high temperature geothermal well of Yangbajing area in China is analyzed by solving the analytical model.
When borehole with little internal pressure, the position of highest stability factor is the direction of the azimuth
angle of 0° and 180°, and the position of lowest stability factor is the direction of the azimuth angle of 90° and
270°, while positions of highest stability factor and lowest stability factor are opposite when borehole with a
very high internal pressure. The stability factor of the borehole increases first and then decreases with the
increase of borehole internal pressure, and turning points in different direction are difference. With the increase
of the distance from the axis of borehole, the stability factor of borehole surrounding rock is difference in
different azimuth angle and different borehole inner pressure.
Keywords: High temperature geothermal well, borehole rock, thermal stress, analytical model, stability factor

1. Introduction
In the process of drilling, borehole instability is a
complicated problem that affects the progress and
quality of drilling. The original equilibrium state of
the rock stratum is destroyed after borehole is drilled,
the re-distribution of all kinds of stresses in borehole
surrounding rock may cause the borehole instability,
and the existence of thermal stress should be paid
more attention to the re-distribution of stresses around
borehole. Thermal stress is generated in temperature
gradient field of borehole surrounding rock, which is
particularly prominent in high temperature geothermal
drilling. High temperature geothermal resource is a
kind of clean energy which has great potential in the
world. High temperature geothermal reserves are
mainly found in igneous and metamorphic rocks, such
as granite, gneiss, and its features are dense lithology,
high hardness, high compressive strength and
extremely low permeability (also called hot dry rock).
The temperature of hot dry rock is generally more
than 250℃, the maximum temperature may reach
500℃ (Xi Baoping et al, 2011). In the process of
drilling, the borehole surrounding rock meets drilling
fluid and the cooling effect produces a large
temperature gradient, which produces great thermal
stress. The coupling effect of high thermal stress and
non-uniform in-situ stress usually causes the borehole
surrounding rock failure.
Tang and Luo (1998) put forward that the thermal
stress near the wellbore occurs because the
temperature near the wellbore is changed by mud in
well. Choi and Tan (1998) indicated that temperature
differences between drilling fluid and the formation
can induce significant changes in pore-fluid pressure
and effective stresses around the wellbore wall, and
cooling the formation tend to increase the stability of
the wellbore. Falcao (2001) evaluated the thermal
stress generated due to the difference between the
drilling fluid and the undisturbed formation
temperature through an axial symmetry Finite
Element Model, and field cases studies in high
temperature areas in Brazil have shown that failure to
consider the thermal effect can lead to misjudgments
in the evaluation of the potential wellbore stability.
Yu et al. (2001) computed the stress field around a
wellbore taking account both chemical and thermal
effects, and Drucker-Prager criteria was used to
determine whether the rock was collapse failure.
Bassey et al. (2011) investigated the effect of
temperature on wellbore stability under combined
conditions of heat transfer pore pressure, and
indicated that the temperature of drilling fluid will
affect the stability of wellbore, especially in the
process of deep well drilling. Most of these studies
focused on the temperature distribution and thermal
stresses caused by temperature difference in wellbore,
however, the combination of thermal stress, non-
uniform in-situ stress and internal pressure are seldom

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 2494 X IANYONG ZHANG AND AIGUO Y AO

analyzed, and these studies are mainly aimed at the 2.2 Model development
large temperature gradient of oil/gas wells, while the
According to the superposition principle of elastic
high temperature geothermal wells are rarely reported.
mechanics, borehole surrounding rock stresses can be
There are important differences between HDR
expressed as the sum of three parts: uniform in-situ
geothermal wells and oil/gas wells, the former are
stress (as shown in Fig.2.a), non-uniform in-situ stress
igneous or metamorphic rocks, such as granite, gneiss,
(as shown in Fig.2.b), and thermal stress caused by
with higher hardness, very lower porosity and higher
temperature gradient (as shown in Fig.2.c).
uniaxial compressive strength, and the latter is mainly
sedimentary strata, such as sandstone, mudstone, σH +σh σH -σh
2 2
shale, etc., these rocks are relatively soft and
generally larger porosity. The formation temperature
of HDR is generally more than 250℃, the maximum
σH +σh p0 θ σH -σh
temperature may reach 500℃, while the environment 2 2
temperature of oil/gas geological body is much lower.
The paper mainly focused on HDR geothermal well
and studied on borehole surrounding rock thermal
stress by cooling effect of drilling fluid in drilling a. b.
process, and combined with non-uniform in-situ stress
and wellbore pressure. According to thermal and t(r)
elastoplastic theory and considering thermal stress,
non-uniform in-situ stress and wellbore pressure, a
stress model of borehole surrounding rock in HDR
section was established. It is a difficult point to obtain c.
the temperature distribution of borehole surrounding
rock, the paper was to solve this problem by using the Fig.2: Borehole rock stresses decomposition
finite element method. By solving the model, three As shown in Fig.2.a, the uniform in-situ stress on the
principal stresses of borehole surrounding rock were
horizontal plane is , and the in-situ stress in the
obtained, and the stability factor was established
according to Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, then the vertical direction is . The radial stress, tangential
stability of borehole surrounding rock was described stress and axial stress of borehole surrounding rock
by stability factor in conditions of high temperature can be obtained with Lame Formula.
gradient combined with non-uniform in-situ stress and
wellbore pressure. (1)

2. Borehole surrounding rock stress model (2)

2.1 Basic assumptions (3)

In the process of HDR drilling, borehole formation
stress model is shown in Fig.1. The basic assumptions
of model are as follows:
(1) The borehole trajectory of the study layer is
vertical, and bedding faces are in horizontal
planes, and physical properties of stratum are
considered to be uniform in the horizontal plane.
(2) The borehole surrounding rock is affected by two
directions horizontal in-situ stresses and a vertical
direction stress. The study layer is compact rock
formation, and the effect of pore pressure is not
considered.
(3) The study layer is affected by overlying strata in
the axial direction, the axial strain is considered
to be zero.
As shown in Fig.2.b, one direction on the horizontal
plane is compressive stress, the other direction is
tensile stress, and their values are the same, those are
. The value of in-situ stress in the vertical
direction is equal to zero.
On the inner boundary, the stress components can be
expressed as Eq. (4) when the value of radius (r) tends
to borehole radius (r0)
, (4)
On the outer boundary, the stress components can be
expressed as Eq. (5) when the value of radius (r) tends
to radially infinite.
， (5)

σv The radial stress, tangential stress, axial stress and

shearing stress ( ) of borehole surrounding rock can
be obtained by SEMI-inverse method. The azimuth
σ p0 σt
h
angle ( ) description is shown in Fig.2.b.
σH

(6)
Fig.1: Borehole rock mechanical model

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 06, December, 2016, pp. 2493-2498
 Borehole Rock Stability under High Temperature Gradient of Geothermal well Drilling 2495

(7)
(8) (25)

(9)

As shown in Fig.2.c, a temperature gradient exists in (26)

borehole surrounding rock, which will cause
additional thermal stress. According to the
generalized Hooke's law, stresses can be expressed as (27)
functions of strain and temperature difference. (28)
(10) According to law of the first kind boundary condition
(11) of cylindrical wall heat conduction, the borehole
surrounding rock radial temperature changes (t) can
(12) be approximately considered to obey the rule of
logarithm variation.
Assuming that the temperature change is only related
to the difference of radius. Equilibrium equation and (29)
geometric equations are shown in Eqs. (13)-(15).
Coefficients of A and B are
(13)
， (30)
(14)
The inner wall of borehole temperature is , and
(15)
is formation temperature at the radius of rt.
Radial displacement ( ) and thermal stresses in Coefficient k is associated with heat conduction
radial, tangential and axial directions can be obtained coefficient, specific heat and time.
from Eqs. (16)-(19). Most of current strength criterions are described with
principal stresses. Real solutions of Eqs. (31)
(16)
determine the value of the principal stresses.
(17) (31)
(18) , and are the stress invariants.
(19)
(32)
The radial thermal stress is considered to be zero
when the value of r tends to r0. Assuming that the
maximum radius of the influence of temperature Solving Eqs. (31), principal stresses of , and
change is rt, then the radial thermal stress is can be obtained.
considered to be zero when the value of t tends to rt.
Constants of C1 and C2 can be obtained according to 3. Analysis on borehole rock stability of high
above boundary conditions. temperature geothermal well drilling
The failure mode of borehole surrounding HDR is still
(20)
shear failure or compressive shear failure, or both
(21) (Wan et al, 2008; Zhao et al, 2009), so rock failure
can be judged by Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.
Substituting Eq. (20)-(21) into Eq. (17), Eq. (18) and The stability of borehole surrounding rock is
Eq. (19) yields determined by the stability factor ( ), which defined
by the Eqs. (33), according to Mohr-Coulomb failure
(22)
criterion. The internal friction angle of rock is , and
(23) the cohesive force is C.

(24) (33)

The radial stress, tangential stress and axial stress of and are shown in Eqs. (34).
borehole surrounding rock can be obtained by
superimposing three parts of those shown in Fig.2,
(34)
and set the compression direction as positive
direction.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 06, December, 2016, pp. 2493-2498
 2496 X IANYONG ZHANG AND AIGUO Y AO

If the value of is less than 1, rock failure is

considered. If the value of is greater than 1, it is
considered that rock is integrity, and the greater the
value, the more secure the rock.
3.1 Basic calculation parameters
According to the geological conditions of Yangbajing
Geothermal Field of China (Xu et al, 2005; Zhou et al,
2010), design depth of the high temperature
geothermal well is about 8000-8500 meters, the
vertical in-situ stress is 210MPa, and horizontal
stresses in two directions are 130MPa and 98MPa.
The formation temperatures are from 200℃ to 400℃. Fig.4: Temperature changes along the radial
The borehole diameter is 215.9 mm, and the direction of the borehole after one hour (the condition
surrounding rock of the target layer is granite, and of circulating drilling fluid temperature is 90℃)
physical parameters of granite are shown in Table 1 Fitting the temperature distribution in form of Eqs.
(Xi et al, 2010). (29) is for the convenience of calculation. The
Table1: Elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and thermal relationship between coefficient (k) and time (t) can
expansion coefficient of granite be obtained, as shown in Fig.5, according to the
results of finite element calculation.
Elastic Thermal expansion
TEMP Poisson's
modulus coefficient
( ) ratio
(GPa) ( )
100 68.00 0.28
200 63.76 0.35
300 51.42 0.41
400 40.35 0.43
3.2 Temperature distribution of borehole surroun-
ding rock

Fig.5: The relationship between k and t

Fig.3: Finite element analysis model
Fluid flux has almost no influence of heat transport in
low-permeable rocks，and thermal stress distribution
in the conduction-advection process does not differ
from the conduction process in case of a very low
permeability (Hou and Luo, 2012). The temperature
distribution of borehole surrounding rock is obtained
by the finite element analysis, the finite element
analysis model is shown in Fig.3. The temperature
changes along the radial direction of the borehole
after one hour are shown in Fig.4. The original
temperature of formation is Ts.
3.3 Stability of borehole rock in different azimuth
angle
The stresses of borehole surrounding rock in different
directions will be difference, because they are affected
by non-uniform stratum stresses. Fig.6 presents the
stability state of borehole wall in different azimuth
angle. Setting the internal friction angle of rock is
52.5° and the cohesive force is 30MPa. From Fig.6, it
can be learned that the value of stability factor of
surrounding rock is quite difference at different
formation temperature, while the law of change with
different azimuth angle are the same. Borehole
stability factor varies periodically with the change of
azimuth angle, and the variation law is difference with
different borehole internal pressure. When borehole
internal pressure of zero, the position of highest
stability factor is the direction of the azimuth angle of
0° and 180°, and the position of lowest stability factor
is the direction of the azimuth angle of 90° and 270°.
When borehole internal pressure of 120MPa,
positions of highest stability factor and lowest
stability factor are opposite, compared with the
internal pressure of zero. Comparison of Fig.3.a,
Fig.3.b and Fig.3.c shows that the difference of
borehole stability factor on different azimuth angle is
more obvious at higher borehole internal pressure.

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ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 06, December, 2016, pp. 2493-2498
 Borehole Rock Stability under High Temperature Gradient of Geothermal well Drilling 2497

35MPa for formation temperature of 400℃, otherwise

borehole will be destroyed.

a. borehole internal pressure of 0MPa

Fig.7: Stability of borehole rock in different wellbore

pressures
b. borehole internal pressure of 60MPa 3.5 Borehole surrounding rock stability in
different radius

c. borehole internal pressure of 120MPa

Fig.6: Stability of borehole rock in different azimuth
angle
3.4 Stability of borehole rock in different wellbore Fig.8: Borehole surrounding rock stability in different
pressures radius (the condition of formation temperature is
300℃)
Fig.7 presents the stability state of borehole wall in
different wellbore internal pressures. From Fig.7, it Fig.8 presents stability state of borehole surrounding
can be learned that stability factor of the borehole rock in different distances in the radial direction, in
increases first and then decreases with the increase of the condition of formation temperature is 300℃. It
wellbore internal pressure, and turning points are can be seen from Fig.8 that the stability factor
difference at different formation temperature. Taking increases gradually with the increase of the distance
the azimuth angle of 90° for an example, formation from the axis of borehole, in the condition of that
temperatures are 200℃, 300℃ and 400℃, borehole internal pressure is zero. When borehole
corresponding turning pressures are 110MPa, 85MPa internal pressure of 120MPa, the stability factor
and 75MPa. It is considered that the drilling fluid increases first and then decreases with the increase of
pressure should be moderate, too low or too high will the distance, the turning point at 1.6r/r0 in the
be harmful to the stability of borehole. Wellbore direction of 0°, and the turning point at 1.3r/r0 in the
stability factors are difference in different azimuth direction of 90°.
angle, for whole ring of borehole, drilling fluid
pressure should not be higher than 90MPa when the 4. Conclusions
rock stratum temperature is 200℃, and that is 50MPa (1) Taking HDR as the research object in geothermal
for formation temperature of 300℃, and that is well drilling, the analysis model of stresses of
borehole rock is established, and coupling effects

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 06, December, 2016, pp. 2493-2498
 2498 X IANYONG ZHANG AND AIGUO Y AO
of thermal stress and non-uniform in-situ stress
and wellbore pressure are considered. According
to Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, a criterion for
judging the stability of borehole surrounding rock
is put forward, that is, stability factor.
(2) Taking geothermal field of Yangbajing area of
China as an example, the stability of borehole in
the process of HDR drilling is analyzed, and the
following conclusions are obtained: ①The
stability factor of borehole varies periodically
with azimuth angle changes, and change
regulations with different borehole internal
pressure are difference, the greater the borehole
internal pressure, the difference of borehole
stability factor on different azimuth angle is more
obvious. ②The stability factor of the borehole
increases first and then decreases with the
increase of wellbore internal pressure, and
turning points in different direction are
difference. The most reasonable drilling fluid
pressure can be obtained by borehole rock
stability analysis. ③With the increase of the
distance from the axis of borehole, the stability
factor of borehole surrounding rock is difference
in different azimuth angle and different wellbore
inner pressure.
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