Analytical and Numerical Modeling of Mechanical Cleaning Device (MCD) for High Angle Wells

Drilling subs, having helical grooves or blades on their surface, assist in cuttings bed removal by creating turbulence and bringing the cuttings into suspension for removal by the drilling mud. Several of these subs, primarily meant for highly deviated and horizontal wells, are employed in a typical drilling application to reduce the in-situ cuttings concentration and hence prevent the occurrence of commonly-known drilling problems. A thorough analysis of these tools is required to determine their hole cleaning efficiency. This report presents a new cutting transport model which includes the effect of pipe rotation. Also, the report presents CFD simulations to determine dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) with distance. This TKE is then coupled with the transport model to give tool placement in the drill string. The results obtained from the simulations were analyzed giving valuable insights into the use of these devices for improving cuttings transport while drilling.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Petroleum Engineering

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Gaurav, FNU

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kostarelos, Konstantinos

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Samuel, Robello
• Vipulanandan, Cumaraswamy

• Hole Cleaning
• MCD

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/4863

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/4863