Extending the reach of drilling: better wellbore trajectory and torque & drag models
type: CreativeWork
description: Extended reach [ER] drilling refers to the practice of directionally drilling to a given geological target located at a significant horizontal distance [horizontal departure] from the drilling rig. The ability to perform complex ER operations has become increasingly important in recent years, as the average length of the wellbore horizontal section continue to be extended. Drilling these complex wells, whether it is to reach reserves far from existing facilities or to expose reservoir sections for production and reservoir management advantages, requires accurate planning to reduce the borehole friction and ensure reaching desired targets within defined accuracy. This dissertation aims to extend the horizontal section and push the drilling capabilities near their limits without taking undue risks with the drilling system. These risks include stuck pipe, drillstring wear, and fatigue. This objective will be achieved by [1] calculating accurate measurements of borehole positions [true vertical depth, northing and easting], [2] calculating truer measures of wellbore tortuosity and geometric torsion that define the shape and the undulation of the borehole, and [3] predicting accurate measurements of drillstring to borehole friction forces from torque and drag [T&D] models. The novelty of the proposed models is the ability to estimate more realistic bending effects, accurately predict the contact forces between the drillstring and the wellbore, and solve T&D parameters from surface to total depth in reasonable time using standard engineering computers. The current 3D borehole trajectory model based on the minimum curvature method [MCM] tend to mathematically smoothen the wellpath. This is due to the assumption that the borehole trajectories are composed of constant curvature arcs. This assumption creates an artificial low tortuosity expressed as dogleg severity [DLS] which leads to the miscalculation of borehole positions, and generating unreliable predictions of T&D. Tod…
abstract: Extended reach [ER] drilling refers to the practice of directionally drilling to a given geological target located at a significant horizontal distance [horizontal departure] from the drilling rig. The ability to perform complex ER operations has become increasingly important in recent years, as the average length of the wellbore horizontal section continue to be extended. Drilling these complex wells, whether it is to reach reserves far from existing facilities or to expose reservoir sections for production and reservoir management advantages, requires accurate planning to reduce the borehole friction and ensure reaching desired targets within defined accuracy. This dissertation aims to extend the horizontal section and push the drilling capabilities near their limits without taking undue risks with the drilling system. These risks include stuck pipe, drillstring wear, and fatigue. This objective will be achieved by [1] calculating accurate measurements of borehole positions [true vertical depth, northing and easting], [2] calculating truer measures of wellbore tortuosity and geometric torsion that define the shape and the undulation of the borehole, and [3] predicting accurate measurements of drillstring to borehole friction forces from torque and drag [T&D] models. The novelty of the proposed models is the ability to estimate more realistic bending effects, accurately predict the contact forces between the drillstring and the wellbore, and solve T&D parameters from surface to total depth in reasonable time using standard engineering computers. The current 3D borehole trajectory model based on the minimum curvature method [MCM] tend to mathematically smoothen the wellpath. This is due to the assumption that the borehole trajectories are composed of constant curvature arcs. This assumption creates an artificial low tortuosity expressed as dogleg severity [DLS] which leads to the miscalculation of borehole positions, and generating unreliable predictions of T&D. Tod…
author: Abughaban, Mahmoud
language: eng
language: English
keywords: dogleg severity, torque and drag, wellbore trajectory, extended reach drilling, directional drilling, tortuosity
identifier: T 8337
date published: 2017
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:43:31Z
provider: Colorado School of Mines
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/11124/171587