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Cuttings transport behavior in directional drilling using computational fluid

dynamics (CFD)

Article in Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering · July 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.jngse.2016.07.029

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Behnam Amanna Mohammad Reza Khorsand Movaghar

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 1 [Regular Paper]

2 Cuttings transport behavior in directional drilling using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
3 Behnam Amanna, Mohammad Reza Khorsand Movaghar*
4

5 Petroleum Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Hafez Ave., No. 424, Tehran, Iran
6

7 Abstract

8 As one of the most crucial concerns in hole cleaning and especially in directional drilling, cutting transport
9 optimization eventuates in reduction of drilling costs and increase in oil recovery. Cutting removal is,
10 however, affected by different parameters including fluid flow rate, drill pipe rotation, cutting size and
11 inclination which have to be considered simultaneously. In the current report, Liquid-Solid model is
12 implemented to solve the governing equations in the Eulerian CFD framework. Results are compared with
13 experimental data and validation with experimental data is achieved. On the basis of design of experiment
14 algorithm, further simulations have been carried out to investigate the effect of the as mentioned key
15 parameters on cutting transport behavior. Results show that hole inclinations between 45 and 60 degrees are
16 the most difficult angles in hole cleaning process. Moreover, increase in values of flow rate and drill pipe
17 rotation will effectively improve the drag effects leading to superior cutting removal. Besides, it has been
18 proved that cutting size affects cutting transport less than the other parameters. For industrial applications,
19 an empirical correlation is developed for estimating cutting concentration. Buckingham-π theorem along with
20 multi-variable regression techniques is applied to establish the correlation.

21 Keywords: Hole cleaning, Cutting transport, Computational Fluid Dynamic, Hole inclination, Pipe rotation
22

23 1. Introduction

24 Accumulation of drilled cuttings in the bottom of the well through the drilling process may cause several problems
25 such as stuck pipe, increase in Torque , Exhaustion of the drill and most important of all, considerable decrease in
26 drilling rate which leads to extended drilling periods and rises drilling costs.
27 In order to bring drilling cuttings out of the hole, it is necessary to overcome gravitational forces. Further-more, the
28 key parameters affecting the formation of the cutting bed in the annulus should be explored to achieve an ideal
29 cleaning.
30 Several studies have been devoted to hole cleaning and transportation of drilling cuttings in the experimental fields
31 and through CFD simulation. Investigations by Ziedler 1), as one of the pioneers in studies on the transportation of
32 drilling cuttings, on the parameters affecting cutting transport including flow rate of drilling mud and drill pipe
33 rotation prove that turbulent flow and pipe rotation improve hole cleaning performances.
34 Further studies on the impact of hole inclination on drilling cutting transport phenomena by Okranjni et al. 2)

35 suggested angles in the 45 to 55 range to be critical for particles transport where hole cleaning is more difficult.
36 Brown et al. have reported angles between 50 and 60 degrees to be the most difficult angles in hole cleaning
37 process through experiments in the BP research center. Peden et al. 3)
with the use of equipment of Herriot-Watt
38 University, studied the impact of changes in the inclination angle and drill pipe rotation and the size of the cuttings
39 on the drilling cuttings transport, and came to the conclusion that the drill pipe rotation impact transmission of the
40 cuttings vastly; However, regardless of the drill pipe rotation, angles between 40 and 60 degrees, are the hardest
＊
E-mail: m.khorsand@aut.ac.ir 41 angles to transfer drilling cuttings. Transfer of smaller

1
 1 size cuttings in all angles was also proved to be more difficult than larger particles.
2 As with the analysis on the effect of particle size, Sifferman and Becker 4) in the southwest research center have
3 proved that in angles close to horizontal state and with low diameter particles, drill pipe rotation has a huge impact
4 on the transition of the particles out of well. Investigations by Bassal 5)
on the impact of particle size on
5 transportation and hole cleaning based on particles between 2 and 7 mm in diameter exhibited that hole cleaning
6 and transfer of smaller particles is more difficult than larger ones.
7 Martins 6) et al. undertook the same experiments as Bassal with particles in the 2 to 6 mm diameter range; however
8 and in contrast with former deductions by Bassal, transfer of larger particles was reported to be more difficult than
9 smaller ones. Through investigations on the rotation of drill string and its impact on the transportation of drilling
10 cuttings using particles sized between 2 and 7 mm, Sanchez et al. 7)
concluded that that orbital motion of the drill
11 pipe has a dramatic impact on the transfer of the drilling cut-tings, especially at low angles; High speed rotation of
12 the drill string and the use of high viscous fluids, was also suggested to be easier in carrying finer particles.
13 Regarding CFD investigations on transport of drilling cuttings, Bilgesu 8)
reported that drill string rotation,
14 especially in particles with a smaller diameter has a great influence on hole cleaning. Through reviews on various
15 angles, inclination angle was also proved to have a great impact on transportation of drilling cuttings. Mishra 9)
used
16 the Eulerian model to simulate the drilling cuttings transport in the CFD field. The results showed that reductions in
17 the inclination angle, will lead for transportation of the drilling cuttings out of the annulus space to be more difficult.
18 Investigations by Mishra further exhibited that drilling fluid flow has a great impact on the hole cleaning and
19 proved that carrying the larger particles is easier than smaller ones in water. Conclusions similar to results by
20 Bilgesu were taken on the impact of drilling pipe rotation. Li et al. 10) investigated the impact of drill pipe rotation on
21 cuttings transportation in CFD. The as mentioned simulations showed that drill pipe rotation has a large influence
22 on disturbance of the annulus space as well as in reducing the cutting concentration in the annulus space and
23 accelerating the cuttings and speeding-up their exit out of the hole.
24 Investigating on different parameters of drilling cuttings transportation has provided researchers with deep insights
25 into the process. In this study, by using the CFD tools, the effects of key parameters including the flow of drilling
26 fluid, particle size, the drill string rotation and the inclination angle on the cutting transport behavior will be
27 discussed. For this purpose, simulation models, are primarily verified with a series of experimental results. Using
28 the algorithm of experiment design, different conditions are then modeled with CFD simulator. Since one of the
29 most important goals related to studies of drilling cutting transportation is to reduce the problems related to
30 directional drilling, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclination angle in cutting
31 transport behavior.

32 2. Mathematical Modeling

33 Two-fluid model is used for simulation of Liquid–solid flow in the annulus of a well. Governing equations for
34 liquid–solid flow are presented in the Eulerian–Eulerian framework in which the particles and liquid are assumed as
35 continues phases. The liquid and particles behaviors can be predicted by solution of the governing partial
36 differential equations in three dimensional cylindrical coordinate system. Coordinate system is fixed and particles
37 pass through the fixed control volumes. The governing equations of this model are as follow.
38 The continuity equation for phase q is given as follow:

2
 ( q  q ) n
 .( q  q q )   m pq (1)
t
1

p 1

2 Where νq is the velocity of phase q and ṁpq characterizes the mass transfer from the pth to qth phase. From the
3 mass conservation equation can obtain:

4 mpq  mqp (2)

5 mpp  0 (3)
6 The momentum balance for gas phase q yields:
 ( q  q q )
 .( q  q q q ) 
t
 q P  . q   q  qgg
7 N (4)
  (K pq ( p   q )  m pq pq ) 
p 1

 q  q (Fq  Flift , q  F  m , q )
8 where τq is the qth phase stress–strain tensor is given as:

2
9  q   q q ( q  qT )   q (q  q ). qI (5)
3
10 here μq and λq are the shear and bulk viscosity of phase q, Fq is an external body force, Flift,q is a lift force, Fvm,q is
11 a virtual mass force, Kpq is the interphase momentum exchange coefficient, P is the pressure shared by all phases
12 and νpq is the interphase velocity. The momentum equation for solid phase is described as follow:
 ( s  s s )
 .( s  s s s ) 
t
13
 s P  Ps  . q (6)
N
 s  sg  (K ls ( l   s )  m lq ls ) 
p 1

 s  s (Fs  Flift , s  F  m , s )
14 where Ps is the solid pressure, which is composed of a kinetic term and a term due to particle collisions, Kls=Ksl
15 is the momentum exchange coefficient between liquid and solid phase shown as l and s respectively, N is the total
16 number of phases, and Fs, Flift,s and Fvm,s are different forces exerted on the solids and defined earlier. In the above
17 equations α is volume fraction and can be defined as follow:

18     dV (7)
V

19 Momentum equation in fully turbulent flow is determined from K-ε model 11) in which the effective viscosities in
20 the case of two-phase flow type have been estimated from this model. Hereupon, the effective viscosity correlations
21 for the liquid phase are as follow:

22 Eff     tl
(8)

3
 c  l K l2
1
  (9)
l
tl

2 C   0.09 (10)

3 And for solid phase are:

4 Eff    ts (11)

c  s K s2
  (12)
s
5
ts

6 C   0.09 (13)

7 In this formula μ is dynamic viscosity, Cμ is a dimensionless constant which is assumed to be 0.09, ρ is the
8 density for corresponding/related phase, K is turbulent kinetic energy and εs is turbulent dissipation energy.
9 The above partial differential equations are coupled and nonlinear, and can only be solved by numerical methods.
10 In this study, CFD Software is used for numerical solution of the governing partial differential equations as a
11 means of cutting transport simulation in the wellbore annular space.

12 3. Methodology

13 3.1. Mesh
12)
14 Gambit software is used to construct and to mesh the model geometry. Geometry includes centric pipes in
15 which inner pipe is assumed as drilling pipe and outer pipe as casing and has versatility alike the experimental set
16 up. It is worth noting that in simulated model, inner pipe as a drill pipe rotates like experimental model. According
17 to Fig.1Total number of simulated meshes in a 4 meters section is about 250400 and is kind of Quad Map on area
18 and Hex Wedge/Cooper in volume.
19

20

21 Figure 1Mesh generated for the annular section.

4
 1 3.2. Boundary condition
2 Velocity inlet as inlet and pressure outlet as outlet are implemented as the boundary conditions for turbulent flow.
3 For pipes, stationary wall is considered for outer pipe with no-slip condition (because of stationary casing pipe) and
4 rotational wall for inner pipe (due to drill pipe rotation as moving wall).
5 Here, water is supposed as carrier or drilling fluid as first phase and cutting as the second phase. Volume
6 percentage of cuttings in entrance is considered to be constant and is about 6%, with a density of 2700 kg/m3 in
7 various sizes from 2 to 8 mm as experimental set up. Properties of solid particles as well as granular form were
8 estimated through the kinetic theory. Moreover, due to the presence of solid and liquid phases, Eulerian model was
9 selected among the other two-phase models to investigate the cutting transport behavior.
10 In this simulation, rate of cutting transport through hole is investigated by changing effective parameters on hole
11 cleaning consisting of flow rate of drilling fluid, drill pipe rotation, size of cutting and inclination.
12 3.3. Model verification
13 For accuracy, simulation results were compared with the experiments which were performed in the “Drilling
14 Laboratory of the Tehran Polytechnic University” in Petroleum Engineering Department. The experimental set up
15 consists of two pumps for fluid and cutting injection, an electromotor for rotating drill pipe (inner pipe), pressure
16 gauge, a mixer tank as a feed storage for injecting pumps, a metal structure to ease changing the tube angle, a four
17 meter length transparent pipe with 4 1/8 " diameter as the casing and 2 ¼” diameter pipe in-side it as the drilling
18 pipe. The experimental simulator and the schematic of applied cutting transport simulator is demonstrated in Figs.
19 2and 3.

20

21 Figure 2 AUT-PETE experimental setup of cutting transport simulator

5
 1

2 Figure 3 Schematic of AUT-PETE Experimental setup for cutting transport simulator.

3 Specifications of equipment and properties of fluid are mentioned in Table 1.

4

Table 1 Specifications of experimental equipment and properties of fluid

5

6
Drill Pipe Diameter 2¼
7 Casing Diameter 4 1/8
8
Cutting Density 2700
9
Drilling Fluid Flow Rate 40-60-80-90
10

11
Hole Inclination 60
12 Cutting Diameter 5
13 Inlet Cutting Volume Fraction 0.06
14
Drill Pipe Rotation Speed 60
15

16

17 Lab drilling device was established based on dimensional analysis according to condition of 95/8” section
18 appeared in Khartang discovery well in Khartang field in south of Iran. In this regard, the ratio of internal diameter
19 to external diameter (the diameter of drill pipe to casing), type and size of cuttings are adjusted to drilling device
20 located in Khartang field.
21 Four tests have been taken in laboratory by considering 60 degree angle, cutting size of 5 mm diameter, pipe
22 rotation of 60 rpm and different flow rates. CFD simulations have then been performed in accordance with the
23 aforementioned laboratory tests.
24 Comparing the curves referring to simulation and experimental results in Fig. 4, a 5.94% absolute average error
25 is observed. As so, well confirmation is achieved for the accuracy of simulation results.

6
 50
45.3
Cutting in annular space to total cutting injected (%)

45 43.2
40.1
40 37
36.1
33.67 34
35

28.8
30

25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Flow rate of drilling fluid (GPM)

Experimental simulation Software simulation (CFD)

1

2 Figure 4 Comparison of cutting concentrations from model prediction with lab data

3 3.4. Design of experiment

4 To investigate the variation in impressive key parameters, further testing and simulation should be done.
5 In order to decrease the cost of time-consuming experiments, an optimized design should be obtained for
6 carrying out the simulations. On this basis, the values of effective parameters are chosen as a result of design of
7 experiments (DOE) algorithm. For this purpose, we used the CFD simulated model which was verified carefully in
8 the last section and accordingly to DOE table the simulations are performed in to 25 runs the more detailed
9 variables of which are shown in Table 2.
10

7
1

Table 2 Variables of Design of Experiment.

Run Flow Rate Inclination Cutting Size Drill Pipe Rotation
NO. (GPM) (Degrees) (mm) (RPM)

1 03 03 5 03
2 03 60 8 53

0 53 03 5 53
4 03 05 6.5 03
5 83 45 6.5 03
0 03 03 2 53

0 03 03 5 53

8 03 45 3.5 43

0 83 05 3.5 03

13 03 03 5 03
11 83 45 6.5 43
12 83 05 6.5 43
10 03 45 6.5 43
14 03 05 6.5 43
15 83 45 3.5 03

10 03 45 3.5 03

10 03 05 3.5 03

18 03 05 3.5 43
10 83 05 3.5 03

23 03 03 5 53
21 83 45 3.5 43
22 03 45 6.5 03
20 03 03 5 53
24 03 03 5 53
25 83 05 3.5 43

8
 1 After running simulations based on the DOE, correlations could be achieved to predict the cutting transport
2 behavior in annular space and generally the effect of impressive parameters on the holes cleaning process. These
3 correlation, are introduced as graphs in the next section.

4 4. Result and Discussion

5 4.1. Effect of flow rate and cutting size on concentration of cuttings

6 As observed in Figs. 5 and 6, accumulation of cuttings in the annular space, which cause severe problems during
7 the drilling procedure, increases as the drilling mud flow rate decreases. As expected, increase in flow rates will
8 strengthen the intensity of turbulent eddies which result in the lift of cuttings into the dispersed layer. Therefore,
9 only pure drilling fluid layer and dispersed layer will exist. With further in-creases in flow rates, cuttings will be
10 transported out of annular space.

Inc=30,RPM=60
0.45

0.4
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

0.35

0.3

0.25
siz = 2

siz = 3.5
0.2
siz = 5

siz = 6.5
0.15
siz = 8

0.1
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Flow rate(gpm)

11

12 Figure 5 Effect of flow rate on cutting concentration for different cutting sizes, inclination of 30 degrees and drill string speed of 60 RPM.

9
 Inc=60,RPM=60
0.4
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

0.35

0.3

0.25 siz = 2

siz = 3.5

siz = 5
0.2
siz = 6.5

siz = 8

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Flow rate(gpm)
1

2 Figure 6 Effect of flow rate on cutting concentration for different cutting sizes, inclination of 60 degrees and drill string speed of 60 RPM

3 Based on these figures, at higher flow rates of drilling mud, the effect of particle size on hole cleaning is more
4 obvious. This is due to the lack of sufficient drag force being implemented on particles at lower rates.
5 Comparing Figs. 4 and 5, it can be seen that at the same flow rate, particle size and drill string rotation, more
6 accumulation of cuttings occurs at the angle of 60 degrees relative to the angle 30 degrees.
7

8 4.2. Effect of flow RPM and cutting size on concentration of cuttings

9 As can be understood from Figs. 7 and 8, the effect of RPM on hole cleaning is similar to drilling mud flow
10 rates. hole cleaning is improved at higher drill string rotational speeds. The effect of RPM on hole cleaning is due
11 the drag forces applied to cuttings by viscous forces. Such a drag force is caused by tangential velocity of drilling
12 mud as the drill string rotates. Therefore, at higher velocities, larger drag forces on cuttings are experienced which
13 leads to superior hole cleaning.

10
 Q=60,Inc=30
0.34

0.33
Siz= 2
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

0.32

Siz= 3.5
0.31

0.3 Siz= 5

0.29
Siz= 6.5

0.28

Siz= 8

0.27
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
RPM
1

2 Figure 7 Effect of drill string speed on cutting concentration for different cutting sizes, inclination of 30 degrees and flow rate of 60 GPM

11
 Q=60,Inc=60
0.345

0.34
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

0.335
Siz= 2

0.33
Siz= 3.5

0.325

Siz= 5
0.32

0.315 Siz= 6.5

0.31
Siz= 8

0.305
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
RPM

2 Figure 8 Effect of drill string speed on cutting concentration for different cutting sizes, inclination of 60 degrees and flow rate of 60 GPM

3 The effect of inclination on hole cleaning is also investigated in this case. As observed in Figs. 7 and 8, changing
4 the hole angle from 30 to 60 degrees will increase the cutting accumulation in the annular space
5

6 4.3. Effect of inclination on concentration of cuttings

7 Fig. 9 simultaneously shows the effect of inclination and RPM on hole cleaning at an averaged flow rate of 70
8 GPM. Fig. 10 also demonstrates the effect of flow rate on hole cleaning at an averaged RPM of 60, as the
9 inclination changes. In both figures, particles have a diameter of 5 mm.

12
 Q=70,Siz=5
0.3

0.28

RPM= 40
RPM= 50
RPM= 60
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

RPM= 70
0.26
RPM= 80

0.24

0.22

0.2

0.18
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Inc
1

2 Figure 9 Effect of inclination on cutting concentration for different drill string speeds, flow rate of 70 GPM and cutting size of 5 mm.

RPM=60,Siz=5
0.45

0.4
Total Cutting Volume Concentration(%)

0.35
Q= 50

0.3 Q= 60

Q= 70
0.25

Q= 80

0.2
Q= 90

0.15

0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Inc
3

4 Figure 10 Effect of inclination on cutting concentration for different flow rates, drill string speed of 60 RPM and cutting size of 5 mm

13
 1 In spite of the previous results, particle concentration shows a polynomial behavior with respect to changes in
2 inclination and the trend is no more linear. Within the range of 45 to 60 degrees, a maximum value of cutting
3 volume concentration is experienced. This range of hole angles is referred to as “critical area”. During drilling
4 operations, careful considerations should be given at critical angles in order to prevent formation of cutting beds.
5 Similar observations have been proposed by Fig.11.

7 Figure 11 Hole cleaning difficulty vs. inclination13)

8 4.4. Contours of cutting concentration

9 For further investigations on the effects of operational parameters on hole cleaning, contours of cutting
10 concentrations have been presented at two hole angles of 30 and 60 degrees. Side bars in these figures present
11 cutting concentrations where red and blue colors refer to maximum and minimum concentrations, respectively.
12 As observed in Figs. 12 and 13, the concentration of cuttings in the annular space decreases as the flow rates
13 increases from 60 to 80 and also with RPM increases from 30 to 70. According to the concentration contours,
14 drilling cuttings have an asymmetric distribution and cutting beds will be simply formed at relatively low RPMs
15 and flow rates. As larger drag forces applied to particles caused by drill string rotation in the vicinity of drill string,
16 the accumulation of cuttings is more obvious near the casings. Larger RPMs moves the cuttings out of the bed to
17 the dispersed layer where higher flow rates improve the transportation of cuttings out of annulus. As described
18 formerly, the difference between the concentration of cuttings at inclination of 30 and 60 degrees can be observed
19 in Figs. 12 and 13.

14
1

2 Figure 12 Annular cuttings concentration contour at the angle of 60.

4 Figure 13 Annular cuttings concentration contour at the angle of 30.

5 5. Empirical correlation

6 As it has explained before, cutting concentration is function of many parameters that can be defined as:

15
 Vb
1  f ( , , , l , s ,  , D h , g , d c ) (14)
VW

2 Based on Buckingham-π theorem, seven dimensionless groups are determined as follows 14):

 D hyd
1  (15)

3

2
4 2  (16)
gD hyd

5 3  Cc (17)

6 4   (18)

dc
7 5  (19)
D hyd

d c 
6  (20)

8

 D hyd
7  (21)

9

10 where Vb represents cuttings volume (m3), Vw is wellbore volume (m3), θ is the inclination (°), v represents fluid
11 flow rate m/s, x stands for pipe rotation (s-1), ρl is the density of drilling fluid (kg/m3), ρs is the density of cuttings
12 (kg/m3), μ represents the viscosity of drilling fluid (Pa/s), dc is the cuttings size (m), Dhyd stands for the hydraulic
13 diameter (m), Cc is the cuttings concentration, g stands for the gravity (N/kg).
14 In related experimental condition and simulations, injected cuttings concentrations is constant, so the term π 3 is
15 neglected and Eq. (14) is changed to:

Vb
16  a11a2  2a3  4a4  5a5  6a6  7a7 (22)
VW

17 The multi-variable regression technique is applied for 25 groups data, and cuttings concentration can be
18 determined:

Vb  D hyd 0.17759  2 0.060079

 7.9664( ) ( )
VW  gD hyd
d c 0.92395
19
( ) 0.009657 ( ) (23)
D hyd
 d c 1.0048  D hyd 0.060668
( ) ( )
 

16
 1 6. Conclusion

2 In this paper, two-phase liquid–solid flow in the annular space of a drilling well was investigated through
3 implementing two-fluid Eulerian model of CFD software. A three-dimensional approach was used in order to
4 investigate the effect fluid flow rate, hole inclination, drill pipe rotation and cutting size in the annulus. Validation
5 with respect to experimental was data successfully carried out. Results are presented as follow:

6 - Hole inclinations between 45 and 60 degrees as critical angles causes the cutting removal to be more
7 difficult.

8 - Cutting concentration in annular space decreases with increasing fluid flow rate due to the strengthened
9 intensity of eddy turbulent flow. Therefore, at higher flow rates of drilling mud, the effect of particle size
10 on hole cleaning is more evident.

11 - Cutting removal is more convenient for larger cutting particles.

12 - At higher speeds of drill pipe, because of greater drag forces applied to cuttings, transportation of cuttings
13 will be easier.
14

15 - Buckingham-π theorem was applied to define dimensionless groups as an empirical correlation for
16 estimating cutting concentration using multi-variable regression techniques for Khartang field based on
17 CFD simulations.

18 Nomenclatures

19 ρ : Fluid density [Kg/m3]

20 μ :Dynamic viscosity [gr/cm.S]
21 π :Dimensionless group
22 θ :Inclination [degrees]
23 ω :drill string rotation [RPM]
24 Q :Fluid flow rate [GPM]
25 CC Cutting concentration
26 ν Fluid velocity [m/s]
27 d Diameter [inch.]

28 References

29 1) Zeidler H.U., SPE 3064, SPEAIME 45th Annual Fall Meeting, Houston, Texas, October, 1970.

30 2) Okranjni S.S. and Azar J.J., SPE 14178, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,USA, Las Vegas, September, 22-25, 1985.
31 3) Peden, J.M.,Ford, J.T.,Oyeneyin M.B.,the European Petroleum Conference, 1990, p. 394-405.

32 4) Sifferman, T.R.,Becker, T.R., SPE Drilling Engineering, vol. 7, p. 115-120, 1992.

33 5) Bassal, A.A.,M.S. Thesis, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, 1995.

17
 1 6) Martins, A.L.,Sa, C.H.M.,Lourenco A.M.F.,Campos W., international Petroleum Conference and Exhibition, 1996, p. 295-304.

2 7) Sanchez R.A., Azar J.J., Bassal A.A., Martins A.L., SPE Journal, 4, 101, (1999).
3 8) Bilgesu, H.I.,Ali, M.W.,Aminian, K.,Ameri, S., SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, 2002, p. 1-4.

4 9) Mishra, N., M.S. thesis, West Virginia University, West Virginia, USA, 2007.

5 10) Li, M.,Wang, Z.M.,Hao, B.Y.,Wang, Z.Q.,Hong, Y.K., Chn. Petrol. Machan., 37, 34, (2009).

6 11) Shih, TH, Liou,WW, Comput. Fluids,24, (3),227 (1995).

7 12) Fluent 6.2 Documentation (http/:Fluent.inc/fluent6.2.1.16/help/index.html).
8 13) Swaco, M. I., “Engineering Drilling Fluid Manual,” Rev. No. A-0, 03.31.98,Ch. 20B, Hole Cleaning, p. 618-629.

9 14) Ozbayoglu, M.E., Saasen, A., Sorgun, M., Svanes, K. , IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition; Jakarta,

10 Indonesia, 25-27 Aug 2008.

18
 1

19

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