Rheological Properties of Clay-Based Drilling Fluids and Evaluation of Their Hole-Cleaning Performances in Horizontal Directional Drilling
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 11, Issue 3
Abstract
Hole cleaning is a significant issue in well drilling, and this problem becomes more severe in horizontal directional drilling (HDD). One of the main functions of the drilling fluid is to transport cuttings from the borehole to the ground surface. A better understanding of the rheological properties of drilling fluid is essential to predict its hydraulic behavior in the annulus and choosing the optimal drilling fluid for hole cleaning in HDD. In this paper, the authors explore the rheological properties of drilling fluids with various bentonite concentrations through laboratory tests. A six-speed rotational viscometer was used to obtain the shear stress and shear rate relationships of drilling fluids, and both the Bingham plastic (BP) model and the Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model were adopted to describe the rheological properties. The effect of increasing bentonite concentration on the conventional hole-cleaning capacity index, yield point to plastic viscosity ratio (YP/PV), was calculated using the YP and PV values obtained from the BP model. Based on the cuttings transport mechanism and flow patterns, the hole-cleaning capacity of drilling fluid was divided into two components: the carrying (suspension) capacity and the sweeping capacity. The rheological parameters and the hydraulic parameters, such as the width of the flattened velocity profile (plug width, ), the frictional pressure loss (), and wall shear stress (), are used together to reflect the hole-cleaning performance of drilling fluid from the two aspects. The results showed that as the concentration of bentonite increased, YP, PV, and H-B yield stress () increased significantly, while the and values (H-B model) varied in a narrow range. The YP/PV, , and values increased as more bentonite was added, while increased first and then plateaued after 3.5% concentration. Although the high values of YP/PV, , , and will theoretically benefit the cuttings transport, the accompanying high frictional pressure losses may raise concerns about borehole stability.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge The Crossing Company for providing financial support and experimental materials in this study. The authors would also like to extend appreciation to the Consortium for Engineered Trenchless Technologies (CETT) at the University of Alberta for providing this research opportunity.
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Received: Jan 16, 2018
Accepted: Mar 6, 2020
Published online: May 31, 2020
Published in print: Aug 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 31, 2020
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