IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,549,356
Granted Patent B2
US 11,549,356 · App. 17/135,231 · Granted Jan 10, 2023

Effect of hole cleaning on torque and drag

Inventors: Manish Kumar Mittal (Cypress, TX); Robello Samuel (Cypress, TX)
Assignee: Landmark Graphics Corporation
E21B44/02E21B21/08E21B37/00E21B45/00E21B49/003E21B7/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,549,356
App. No.
17/135,231
Granted
Jan 10, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

The disclosure presents processes and methods for determining an adjusted drag friction factor, where the adjusting utilizes a hole cleaning function. In some aspects, the drag friction factor utilizes viscous drag. In some aspects, the drag friction factor utilizes viscous torque. In some aspects, the drag friction factor can be utilized to determine one or more decomposed friction factors. The decomposed friction factors or the adjusted drag friction factor can be utilized in a friction processor to improve the efficiency of borehole operations. The hole cleaning function can utilize various parameters, for example, a cuttings density, a cuttings load, a cuttings shape, a cuttings size, a deviation, a drill pipe rotation rate, a drill pipe size, a flow regime, a hole size, a mud density, a mud rheology, a mud velocity, a pipe eccentricity, and other parameters. A system is disclosed that is capable of implementing the processes and methods.

Claims (41)

1. A method to determine a hole cleaning friction factor for a borehole operation, comprising:

receiving drilling sensor data, wherein the drilling sensor data includes input parameters and hole cleaning parameters related to cuttings resulting from drilling including at least one of a cuttings density, a cuttings load, a cuttings shape, and a cuttings size;

calculating a drag factor using the drilling sensor data;

generating one or more hole cleaning friction factors utilizing the drag factor and the drilling sensor data, wherein the hole cleaning friction factor applies to a portion of a borehole undergoing the borehole operation, and the drag factor is adjusted by a hole cleaning function;

communicating the one or more hole cleaning friction factors to a system of the borehole operation; and

adjusting the borehole operation based on the one or more hole cleaning friction factors.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating the one or more hole cleaning friction factors to another system of the borehole; and

adjusting a borehole operation plan of the borehole using the one or more hole cleaning friction factors.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the adjusting further comprises:

identifying an outlier portion of the one or more hole cleaning friction factors using the input parameters, wherein the input parameters include a deviation threshold; and

calibrating an estimated friction factor using the outlier portion.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the hole cleaning parameters further include a deviation, a drill pipe rotation rate, a drill pipe size, a flow regime, a hole size, a mud density, a mud rheology, a mud velocity, or a pipe eccentricity.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein there is more than one type of cutting and each type of cutting has a separate set of hole cleaning parameters.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the drag factor is calculated using a viscous drag parameter.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the drag factor is calculated using a viscous torque parameter.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the drilling sensor data is received from one or more of a downhole sensor, a surface sensor, a data store, a well site controller, or a computing system.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more hole cleaning friction factors is one or more of a viscous drag factor, a torque drag factor, a viscous drag decomposed friction factor, or a viscous torque decomposed friction factor.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the method is performed for more than one borehole operation as determined by the input parameters.

11. A system to adjust a borehole operation utilizing a hole cleaning friction factor, comprising:

a data transceiver, capable of receiving input parameters, drilling sensor data, and hole cleaning parameters related to cuttings resulting from drilling from one or more of downhole sensors, surface sensors, a data store, a previous survey data, a well site controller, or a computing system, wherein the hole cleaning parameters related to cuttings resulting from drilling include at least one of a cuttings density, a cuttings load, a cuttings shape, and a cuttings size;

a result transceiver, capable of communicating a generated hole cleaning friction factor and one or more decomposed hole cleaning friction factors to a borehole operation system; and

a hole cleaning processor, capable of using the hole cleaning parameters and the input parameters to generate one or more hole cleaning friction factors utilizing a hole cleaning function; wherein a borehole operation is adjusted based on the one or more hole cleaning friction factors.

12. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the system is further capable of adjusting a borehole operation plan.

13. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the system is one or more of the well site controller, a geo-steering system, a bottom hole assembly, or the computing system.

14. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the hole cleaning processor is further capable of identifying a portion of the one or more hole cleaning friction factors that exceed a deviation threshold, and wherein the result transceiver is further capable of communicating the portion of the one or more hole cleaning friction factors.

15. A computer program product having a series of operating instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that directs a data processing apparatus when executed thereby to perform operations to determine a hole cleaning friction factor for a borehole operation, the operations comprising:

receiving drilling sensor data, wherein the drilling sensor data includes input parameters and hole cleaning parameters related to cuttings resulting from drilling including at least one of a cuttings density, a cuttings load, a cuttings shape, and a cuttings size;

calculating a drag factor using the drilling sensor data; and

generating one or more hole cleaning friction factors utilizing the drag factor and the drilling sensor data, wherein the hole cleaning friction factor applies to a portion of a borehole undergoing the borehole operation, and the drag factor is adjusted by a hole cleaning function;

communicating the one or more hole cleaning friction factors to a system of the borehole operation; and

adjusting the borehole operation based on the one or more cleaning friction factors.

16. The computer program product as recited in claim 15 , further comprising:

communicating the one or more hole cleaning friction factors to another system of the borehole; and

adjusting a borehole operation plan of the borehole using the one or more hole cleaning friction factors.

17. The computer program product as recited in claim 16 , wherein the adjusting further comprises:

identifying an outlier portion of the one or more hole cleaning friction factors using the input parameters, wherein the input parameters include a deviation threshold; and

calibrating an estimated friction factor using the outlier portion.

18. The computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the hole cleaning parameters further include a deviation, a drill pipe rotation rate, a drill pipe size, a flow regime, a hole size, a mud density, a mud rheology, a mud velocity, or a pipe eccentricity.

19. The computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the drag factor is calculated using one or more of a viscous drag parameter or a viscous torque parameter.

20. The computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the one or more hole cleaning friction factors is one or more of a viscous drag factor, a torque drag factor, a viscous drag decomposed friction factor, or a viscous torque decomposed friction factor.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 28, 2020
From: MITTAL, MANISH KUMAR; SAMUEL, ROBELLO
To: LANDMARK GRAPHICS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 054756/0001 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220205352A1 · Jun 30, 2022
Cited By (2)
US 12,467,352 US 12,704,058