TORQUE AND DRAG IN DRILLING

Courtesy
Drilling Manual
• Drag is an axial force, generated between the contact force between the drill string when
it's moving and the formation or the casing.
• Torque, is the rotational force between the drill string and the formation. There are two
main causes of torque and drag, side forces and friction.
• Drill string drag is the incremental force required to move the pipe up or down in the hole; torque is the moment
required to rotate the pipe.
• Drag forces usually are given relative to the string weight measured with the string rotating but not reciprocating.
• Torque and drag are the results of friction caused by a moving pipe inside the wellbore: torque occurs when rotating
the pipe along the wellbore and drag occurs when moving the pipe.
Drill pipe torque calculated
• Force = Torque ÷ Length of the tong
• Force is perpendicular to the tong length.
• Example: Connection 4-1/2” IF – required make up torque = 30,700 ft-lb
Slack off weight in drilling
• Set-down weight, also referred to as slack-off or released drillstring weight, is the weight of the drillstring and BHA
available at the stuck point or at bottomhole if the pipe is free.
Reactive torque
• Reactive torque is created by the drilling fluid pushing against the stator. Since the stator is bonded to the body of the
motor, the effect of this force is to twist the motor and BHA anti-clockwise;
Make up torque
• The rotational force used to make up a connection in the string. Drill pipe failure may occur when the make-up torque
of a connection is exceeded.
Gyroscopic effect
• Gyroscopic effect is ability (tendency) of the rotating body to. maintain a steady direction of its axis of rotation. The
gyroscopes. are rotating with respect to the axis of symmetry at high speed.
• This gives them big kinetic energy.
Torque angle
• When tightening and measuring Torque, 'Angle' is the degrees of rotation that a fastener turns during its rundown
process.
• For example, if a Torque Wrench was to turn and tighten a bolt in one full rotation, this would be 360 degrees
Gyroscopic torque
• A gyroscopic torque will result if the axis of the flywheel is rotated and it acts perpendicular to the rotor axis.
• The magnitude of the torque is the product of the flywheel rotor moment of inertia, the flywheel angular velocity and
the angular velocity of the flywheel axis
 Newton-metre
• The newton-metre is a unit of torque in the SI system. One newton-metre is equal to the torque resulting
from a force of one newton applied perpendicularly to the end of a moment arm that is one metre long.
• The nonstandard notation Nm occurs in some fields.

3 units of torque
• Because torque is a product of length and force. The units used to describe torque reference both a force and a
length.
• There are three common torque units:
o SI (International Standard) based on Newton meters,
o Metric based on kilogram force centimeters, and
o American/ English based on inch pounds
 Torque (moment/moment of force)
• Is the tendency of a force to cause or change the rotational motion of a body. It is a twist or turning force on an
object.
• Torque is calculated by multiplying force and distance.
• It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both a direction and a magnitude.
Relationship between force and torque
• Torque is defined as Γ=r×F=rFsin(θ).
• Torque is the cross product between the distance vector (the distance from the pivot point to the point where force
is applied) and the force vector, 'a' being the angle between r and F.
• Mathematically, horsepower equals torque multiplied by rpm.
H = T x rpm/5252,
• where H is horsepower, T is pound-feet, rpm is how fast the engine is spinning, and 5252 is a constant that makes
the units jibe.
• So, to make more power an engine needs to generate more torque, operate at higher rpm, or both.
 Torque and drag analysis
• Torque and drag modeling is very important to analyze the mechanical behavior of the drill string and the
wellbore condition, hence, to predict and prevent downhole problems.
• There have been a number of different approaches to the way that torque and drag has been modeled in the well
drilling industry.

Over Torque
• Over torque can cause significant drill pipe thread damage.
• Over torqueing typically occurs when the drill pipe under torqued before its run down the hole.
• In these conditions the pipe continues tightening down the hole and can easily be over tightened

Reaction torque and Active torque

• Similar to this a couple is needed to be applied on the axis of spin where the disc is rotating.
• This is called active gyroscopic torque.
• Reactive gyroscopic torque- Similarly when a body is rotating centrifugal force acts opposite to that of
centripetal force.
• So an opposite reactive torque acts on the axis of spin
 Calculation of reactive torque

• Measure the distance, r , between the pivot point and the point the force is applied.
• Determine the angle θ between the direction of the applied force and the vector between the point the force is
applied to the pivot point.
• Multiply r by F and sin θ and you will get the torque.
Drilling Torque and Drag Calculations
 Drilling Drag
• Consider an object of weight W is resting on a horizontal plane. In order to slide the object a force Ft must be
exerted to overcome the force of friction Ff between the object and the plane surface.
• The magnitude of the frictional force is as following
• Ff = μ W
• where,
Ff = frictional force, lb
µ = Friction Coefficient, dimensionless is a constant that depends on the roughness of the
object and plane surface, Determined experimentally.
W = normal force acting perpendicular to the surface, lb
• Therefore, the force Ft (Drag Force) required to slide the object should be slightly greater than Ff (friction Force)
 Drilling Drag Calculations
• 1- A The buoyed weight of the Drill Pipes (W) is acting vertically
downward and can be resolved into two forces
• Fn (normal force acting perpendicular to the hole)
• Fx (the weight component acting parallel to the hole axis).
Fn = W sin θ
Fx = W cos θ
• 2- The frictional or drag force Ff is the normal force times the Friction
Coefficient.
Ff = Fn µ =W µ sin θ
• 3- The force Ft required to move the Drill Pipes is determined by
making a force balance
Ft = Fx + Ff
Ft = W cos θ + W µ sin θ
• The frictional force or drag always acts in the opposite direction of the
pulling force Ft.
• If the Drill Pipes is lowered into the hole, the frictional force will act in a
direction opposite to that.
 Drill String Drag Calculations In Deviated Hole
• In a curved section of the wellbore where inclination and azimuth change across
the section, the calculation of the drag force is more difficult.
• The forces acting on a short slightly curved element of the Drill String.
1- The weight of the element
2- Normal forces from the tension forces Ft and Ft + ΔFt as a result of the change
in the angle of inclination and the azimuth of the wellbore.
• The magnitude of the resultant normal force can be estimated by an equation
presented by Johancsik, Friesen, and Dawson,
• If the Drill String is moved uphole (or downhole) while being rotated as in back reaming, the drag force is
calculated by using the following equation,
 Relation Between Critical Hole Angle And Drill String drag force

• When the weight component of the drill string in the direction of the hole axis is equal to the drag force-resisting
downhole movement, the drill string is not able to slide downhole by its own weight and when drilling in the
sliding mode the drill string will require pushing with pipe higher in the hole.
• The angle at which downhole movement becomes impossible is called the critical hole angle,
θcr = arctan ( 1 / µ )
 Torque Calculations
Drill string Torque
• Drill string torque as it is the rotational force that is required to overcome all the frictional forces between the drill string and
the formation while drilling string rotation.
• The drilling Torque Calculations part will give a hand in understanding how to calculate the torque required to turn the drill
string.
Torque Calculations Equation
• The torque required to turn the drill string is calculated by the following equation,
Torque = Fn r µ (A/V)
Where:
T = Torque, ft-lb
Fn = normal force as defined
R = Radius of drill string component ft (for drill collars use outer radius of collar, for DP, HWDP and casing use outer radius of tool joint)
µ = Coefficient of friction
A = Angular speed
V = Resultant speed
• From drill string torque definition, If the drill string is not tripped while rotating, then T = 0 and A is equal to V and The
Equation reduces to
Torque = Fn R µ
• If the torque acting on the lower end of the drill string element is M, then the torque acting at the top of the element is M
+ ΔM .
• The torque increment ΔM is
ΔM = Fn R µ
Where :
Fn: is the normal force exerted on the element.
• The torque required to turn the entire drill string is the sum of all torque increments for all the elements.
 TorqueDrag2013.zip
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 Factors Affecting Torque And Drag In Drilling
• When planning a 3D well trajectory, one of the most important considerations is torque and drag. If the torque
and drag are not carefully considered, the drill string might fail.
• The torque and drag model used makes special assumptions that simplify the analysis and are used to model
real drill strings.
• The most important factor influencing the torque and drag forces is the hole curvature.
• The well path should be redesigned with a smaller build-up rate if the drill string seems to fail when simulating
these forces during the design stage.
• There are many causes for excessive torque and drag such as sliding friction, tight hole, collapsing or swelling
clay/shale, key seats, differential sticking, and cuttings build-up.
• The minimum curvature method assumes the bending part in the equilibrium equation used to calculate torque
and drag is discontinuous at survey stations.
• Some authors mean this is one of the main weaknesses of using the minimum curvature method. Due to the
missing bending stresses, the method might not represent the real drill string configuration.
Kick-Off Point affect torque and drag in Drilling
• The kick-off point is often the major factor influencing Drill String Torque and Drag in a well.
• This is due to the fact that shallow doglegs combined with pipe tension will cause a high normal force, thus a
high drag and torque at that point.
• In deep directional wells, the kick-off point should be considered from a Torque and Drag standpoint, in addition
to the other factors influencing the kick-off point.
Wellbore Tortuosity / Dogleg Severity
• Tortuosity can be defined as a measure of deviation from a straight line.
• It is the ratio of the actual distance traveled between two points, including any curves encountered, divided by
the straight line distance.
• Tortuosity is used by drillers to describe wellbore trajectory, by log analysts to describe electrical current flow
through rock and by geologists to describe pore systems in rock and the meander of rivers.
• As directional wells become deeper and sophisticated, unwanted deviations from the pre-planned well
trajectory occur frequently.
• Any unwanted deviation from the wellbore trajectory is regarded as wellbore tortuosity.
• The change in inclination and azimuth influence the normal force acting on the Drill Pipe.
• The larger the change in either, meaning increasing dogleg severity, the larger the normal force and the larger
the increase in drag due to that point.
• Smaller doglegs lead to less Torque and Drag.
The effect of Mud Lubricity on torque and drag analysis
• Mud lubricity is a term generated from a lab test (on a specific piece of equipment) that is intended to minimize
the Drill Pipe /casing interaction.
• The lubricity is scaled opposite the friction factor, increasing lubricity reduces the friction factor.
Hole Cleaning
• Hole cleaning is an important factor.
• A proper hole cleaning is a must during drilling operations to reduce the unwanted cuttings in the Mud Circulating System as
these cuttings have the potential to resist in drill string rotation and movement.
• In a directional wellbore, cuttings tend to accumulate up in the high angle build section; this is why removing the cuttings
from the hole is difficult.
• Improper hole cleaning also brings the risk of damaging downhole tools such as MWD tools and mud motors.
• However, if an MWD tool is employed on the drill string, cuttings intensity in the mud can be monitored by following the
parameter called Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD), which is the apparent drilling fluid density.
• An increasing trend of ECD will imply the accumulation of cuttings in the wellbore.
• Cuttings beds will locally change the effective Friction Coefficient and can be modeled in that manner if the location, length,
and friction factor of the cuttings bed is known.
• Unfortunately, these parameters continually change in the presence of a cuttings bed.
• The typical technique is to deduce the presence of a cuttings bed when unexplained trends in Torque and Drag develop in
well.
• This would be seen very practically on a trip out of the hole when pick-up weight begins increasing during the trip, rather
than decreasing, then suddenly returns to the baseline trend.
Drilling Tools
• It is not hard to imagine that the influence of a Drilling Stabilizer on drag would be much greater than that of a
similar length of Drill Pipe or Drill Collar and that the interaction of the stabilizer with the well-bore may include
additional components than does the simple model we have been working with Drilling tools can greatly impact
Torque and Drag are stabilizers, Drill Pipe protectors, Drilling Bits Type (roller cone vs. drag type), drill collars (flex
vs. slick) and hard banding on Drill Pipe.
Hole Instability
• Hole instability is a displeasing case that occurs when the original hole size, shape, and structural conditions of a
borehole are not well maintained.
• It appears with the failure of balance between the rock strength and in-situ rock stress at some depth during
drilling.
• It may also arise with the effects of drilling fluid such as erosion in the borehole and chemical interactions of
drilling fluid with drilled formation.
• Hole closure, which is the narrowing process of the borehole, results in an increase of torque and drag.
Key Seating
• Key Seating is the condition when a tubular of a small diameter is worn into the side of a larger diameter
borehole.
• It is generally a result of severe hole direction changes such as a high dogleg or a hard formation ledge left in soft
formations which erode and enlarge in time.
• In both cases, the diameter of the drilled hole is expected to be close to the diameter of the drill pipe.
• The larger diameter tools such as stabilizers, drill collars, and tool joints are not able to pass through the key seat
and become Drilling Stuck Pipe which will result in problems associated with high torque and drag.
• The preventive method is to enlarge the point of the key seat so that the tools with larger diameters can pass
through it.
 Torque Prediction
https://www.pvisoftware.com/blog/prediction-technique/
• Drillstring drag is the cumulative force required to move the pipe up or down inside the hole.
• Torque is the movement required to rotate the pipe.
• Drag forces usually are paralleled to the string weight measured with the string rotating but not reciprocating.
• Measured from the rotating string weight, the pickup drag is usually vaguely greater than the slack-off drag.
• The magnitudes of torque and drag are related in any particular well; high drag forces and excessive torque
loads usually occur together.
• There are various causes for excessive torque and drag, such as tight hole conditions, keyseats, differential
sticking, sloughing hole, sliding wellbore friction and cuttings buildup caused by poor hole cleaning.
• With the exception of sliding friction, these causes are associated with problem conditions in the wellbore.
• Contrarily, in wells with great hole conditions, the primary source of torque and drag is sliding friction.
• Torque and drag from any source tend to be more troublesome in extended-reach directional wells.
• In very deep, highly deviated wells, overcoming torque and drag can be vital to the successful well completion.
The capability to predict frictional loads on drillpipe has two main benefits:
• Deep, highly deviated wells can be planned to minimize torque and drag and ensure successful drilling
operations to total depth.
• A more complete knowledge of drillstring loading allows use of improved drillstring design techniques, having
considered the extra forces involved.
• Both torque and drag are assumed to be caused entirely by sliding friction forces that result from contact of the
drillstring with the wellbore.
• Two factors affect sliding wellbore friction:
o The normal contact force
o The coefficient of friction between the contact surfaces
• The product of these two factors represents the magnitude of the sliding friction force.
• The normal contact force between the pipe and hole wall depends on several factors such as, the effects of
gravity on the pipe, the effects of tension acting through curvatures in the wellbore and even pipe bending.
• The sliding friction coefficient is the ratio of the friction force to the normal contact force.
• This factor depends on specific contacting materials and on the degree of lubrication at various places in the
wellbore.
• However, the oil and gas industry has made many advancements technologically speaking and quite a few models
have been developed for these kind of issues.
• PVI’s torque and drag model, TADPRO, is designed to help remove many of the risks of a drilling program,
completions design or specific tool operations.
• Limits in the length of a horizontal based on specific friction factors can be determined.
• It can evaluate the needed weight to a liner-top packer.
• TADPRO can analyze forces downhole and predict rig equipment specifications for torque and hookload.
• The model provides both versatility and accuracy in its calculations and it integrates advanced features that make
it easier for our users to use.
THANK YOU