Introduction to EzClean
• What EzClean does and what benefits it
brings to ERD and HPHT well design
• Empirical basis of EzClean
• The wellbore temperature model
underlying EzClean
• Hole Cleaning Index (HCI)
Why use EZClean?
• Costs of poor hole cleaning?
– +/- $300 million stuck pipe costs in 1998
– +/- 20% attributed to poor hole cleaning
– +/- $75 million penalty to Shell
• Challenges of today’s drilling:
– extended reach drilling
– deepwater, large risers
– multiple liners and tie-backs
– high angle / horizontal wells
– tight tolerances between pore pressure, mud weight
and fracture pressure
Hole-cleaning hotspots
In the section with the
largest diameter
Near diameter changes in the well, just
inside the section with the largest
diameter
In sections with At the point where the
inclinations between 30 highest inclination is
and 60 degrees since reached
particularly dangerous Casing
avalanching deposits
may occur here Liner
Bit
Mud rheology
Challenges
Challenges of
of Drilling
Drilling Hydraulics
Hydraulics
Temperature
Flow velocity
Standpipe pressure Circulating
pressure
Casing shoe pressure Torque
Tension
Pipe stress
Thruster performance
Thruster TOB
WOB
Mud motor
How can EZClean help me?
Drilling
Optimum flow rate
ECD management Other
Hole stability (ECD to compare with
Stabor)
Logging
BHA/bit design
Cased hole clean-up
Mud weight
Fluid rheology Running casing
Operational drilling practices
Sand clean-out
Tripping procedures
String design
EZClean – the tools
• Primary Utilities:
– hydraulics and pressure analysis
•• circulating
circulating pressure
pressure prediction
prediction
•• ECD
ECD prediction
prediction –– rheological
rheological and
and solids
solids effects
effects
•• mudflow
mudflow analysis
analysis
•• temperature
temperature modelling
modelling
– cuttings transport prediction
•• cuttings
cuttings concentration
concentration prediction
prediction
•• bed
bed height
height prediction
prediction
•• “Hole
“Hole Cleaning Index”
•• mud
mud density
density analysis
analysis
EZClean testing loop
Mud Flow
Mobilised Cuttings
Jkdeposit
Cuttings
cuttings transfer line scale
(not used during execution of experiment)
injection
hopper
cuttings
collection
hopper shaker
Auger
test section
scale
P
mud tank
mud pump Flow/densitometer
PC
Rheology Map
Rheology Map for Cuttings Conc. - Rotating
12.761 - 13.705 % 13.705 - 14.650 % 14.650 - 15.594 % 15.594 - 16.539 % 16.539 - 17.483 %
15
14
13
12
11
10
R6, deg
2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
YP, lb/100ft2
EzClean Validation
EzClean Validation
Ezclean Prediction against Experimental Results
45
Flow loop experiments
40
at 40, 50 and 80 degrees
35
EzClean prediction [%]
30
25
20
15
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Experimentally observed cuttings concentration [%]
Thermal modelling 1
• Functionality
– Predicts temperature profile in the hole under
different operating conditions
• Special features
– Temperature dependent rheology
– Temperature dependent density
Thermal modelling 2
• 3 different modes
– Undisturbed temperature profile
– User defined temperature profiles
– Calculates effect of mud circulation
• Calculated temperatures depend on:
– Thermal properties of the drill string, casing, mud and
formation
– Heat generation by downhole equipment (bits, mud
motors) and fluid frictional pressure losses
– Heat loss by riser and mud tank cooling and Joule-
Thompson effect
Global heat transfer picture
Mud Pit
Cooling Temperature
Disturbed
Annulus
Pipe
Bore
Undisturbed
TVD
Formation
Bit Heat
Generation
Local heat transfer picture
Bore Pipe Annulus Formation
QB, QA+QA,
TB TA+TA
q AB q AW
TW
AHD
GB GA
QB+Q B, QA,
TB+TB TA
TW
TA
TS
TB
r
Thermal application within IDM
• What can’t it model?
– Transient behaviour – changes around start
and end of pumping
– Effects if different casing types or types of
annular fluid (cement, N22 etc.)
– Thermal property contrasts between different
formation types
Additional Role of Thermal Model
• Hydraulics (EzClean) calculations
– Temperature dependent rheology modelling
– Temperature dependent densities
Checkpoint
• Please confirm your
connection by pressing
the tick button now
Any questions at this
point? Please raise your
hand
Next: Hole Cleaning Index
www.choate.co.uk Well Engineering Geomechanics Software
Hole Cleaning Index
Bit _ Open _ Area
HCI
Area _ Occupied _ by _ Cuttings
HCI – what is OK?
EzClean HCI Calibration study : 53 cases in Total
120
55% of the cases has tripping problems
100
Frequency of Problems [%]
80
Aim to keep
60
HCI > 1.5
40
20
0
0-0.25 0.25-0.5 0.5-0.75 0.75-1.0 1.0-1.25 1.25-1.5 1.5-2.0 >2.0
HCI [-]
Pumping out of hole
• String RPM = 0
• Mud flow around bit removes
cuttings.
• Cuttings concentration in return
flow has to be below limit
• Flow velocity around bit has to be
positive and larger than default
limit
• Maximum trip speed less or equal
to default limit
Backreaming
• Bit rotation removes cuttings. All
cuttings are mobilized by bit
rotation irrespective of bit RPM
• Cuttings concentration in return
flow has to be below limit
• Flow velocity around bit has to be
positive and larger than default
limit
• Maximum trip speed less or equal
to default limit
What information is needed?
• Well and Case information (from Well Editor):
– Well Depth (to determine wellbore configuration)
– Pipe string data
– Casing & Open Hole Information
– Directional Data (or local override)
– Fluid Properties
– Pore Pressure and Fracture Gradient data
– Undisturbed temperature profile
What information is needed?
• Operating Parameters (in module):
– Survey override
– Operational information
•• operation
operation
•• pumping
pumping parameters
parameters
•• riser
riser information
information
•• cuttings
cuttings data
data
•• heat
heat generation
generation data
data
•• flowrate
flowrate optimisation
optimisation parameters
parameters
– Analysis envelope
•• trend
trend analysis
analysis parameters
parameters
•• sensitivity
sensitivity parameters
parameters
