TY  - CONF
N1  - cited By 1; Conference of SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, APOGCE 2013: Maximising the Mature, Elevating the Young ; Conference Date: 22 October 2013 Through 24 October 2013; Conference Code:103383
Y1  - 2013///
N2  - Precise prediction of Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) is one of the most important challenges in drilling operations. This becomes more vital in deep-water offshore wells in which formation pressure is very close to the fracture pressure. In addition, techniques such as Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) relies on precise estimation of frictional pressure losses. Although many theoretical and experimental studies have been conducted on fluid flow through pipes and annuli to predict the pressure losses, majority of them undermine or simply ignore the effect of tool joints. A few studies that take the effect of tool joints into account indicate that it can have significant effect on pressure loss. Therefore, there is a strong need to determine the amount of additional pressure loss caused by the tool joints. This paper presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach to investigate the effect of tool joint on annular pressure losses. The utilized software package in this simulation study uses Finite Volume methods to solve the problem. The effects of important parameters such as flow rate, mud type, mud weight and mesh size are investigated. The pressure loss for annuli, with and without tool joint, is obtained and additional pressure loss due to presence of tool joint is calculated accordingly. Simulation results show that the ratio of annular pressure loss with tool joints to the pressure loss without tool joints (α) strongly depends on the flow regime. In Laminar flow, this ratio remains relatively constant, regardless of the type of the drilling fluid. In turbulent flow, it increases rapidly with increasing Reynolds number and can be precisely estimated by the proposed correlation. It has been found that in deep offshore wells and high range of operational flow rate, the additional pressure loss due to tool joints can be as high as 30 of the total frictional pressure loss and must be taken into account in ECD calculations. Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
A1  - Karimi Vajargah, A.
A1  - Najafi Fard, F.
A1  - Parsi, M.
A1  - Kalwar Shuaib, A.
A1  - Ofei, T.N.
SP  - 1433
EP  - 1443
VL  - 2
TI  - Investigation of tool joint effect on equivalent circulating density in deep offshore wells
PB  - Society of Petroleum Engineers
CY  - Jakarta
KW  - Computational fluid dynamics; Drilling fluids; Exhibitions; Finite volume method; Flow rate; Friction; Laminar flow; Offshore oil wells; Reynolds number; Tools
KW  -  Annular pressures; Drilling operation; Equivalent circulating density; Formation pressure; Fracture pressures; Frictional pressure loss; Managed pressure drillings; Simulation studies
KW  -  Pressure effects
UR  - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84897452556&partnerID=40&md5=3ef9af6ce5a9df0da11f92ca2f72b051
ID  - scholars3858
AV  - none
ER  -