Wellbore operations involving computational methods that produce sag profiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016138395-A1
Application number	US-201314890601-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 17, 2013
Priority date	Oct 17, 2013
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods for analyzing sag in a section of a wellbore may utilize computational methods that produce sag profiles, which may be useful in performing further wellbore operations. The computational method may include inputs of at least one wellbore fluid property, at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, at least one operational parameter into a computational method, and any combination thereof. Further, the computational methods may include a mass balance analysis for individual elements of the meshed section of the wellbore.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
inputting at least one wellbore fluid property, at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and at least one operational parameter into a computational method, wherein the computational method is configured to analyze sag within a section of a wellbore, and wherein the wellbore fluid property relates to a wellbore fluid that comprises a weighting agent; producing a sag profile of the section of the wellbore with the computational model; and performing a wellbore operation with at least one of a second operational parameter, a second wellbore fluid parameter, and a second wellbore condition based on the sag profile.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the sag profile involves: meshing the section of the wellbore into a plurality of elements and performing a mass balance analysis on each of the elements for each component in the wellbore fluid.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one wellbore fluid property comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a solids settling rate, a sagged fluid composition, an associative stability between two weighting agent particles in the wellbore fluid, an associative stability between a weighting agent particle and an emulsified phase in the wellbore fluid, a concentration of weighting agent particles, a rheological property, a fluid density, an oil-to-water ratio, a gel property, a water-phase salinity, a static aging profile, a fluid compressibility, a temperature effect on a foregoing property, a pressure effect on a foregoing property, and any combination thereof.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one wellbore condition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a temperature in the wellbore, a pressure of the wellbore, a diameter of the wellbore, a length of the section of the wellbore, a deviation angle of the section of the wellbore, a drill string eccentricity, a wellbore depth, and any combination thereof.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one operational condition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a lapse time at a static condition or a low shear condition, a flow rate of the wellbore fluid, a drill string geometry, a drill string rotation speed, a tripping speed, a connection time, and any combination thereof.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sag profile identifies a sagged zone and a depleted zone.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sag profile identifies a volume percent for a sagged zone and a volume percent for a depleted zone based on a volume of the section of the wellbore.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wellbore operation is designed to mitigate a well control issue.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wellbore operation involves at least one of resuming a fluid flow for a time sufficient to reduce the volume percent of the depleted and sagged zones by a desired amount, modifying the wellbore fluid properties, modifying a flow rate, modifying a drill pipe rotation rate, and any combination thereof.

10 . A drilling assembly comprising:
a drilling platform that supports a derrick having a traveling block for raising and lowering a drill string; a drill bit attached to the distal end of the drill string; a pump fluidly connected to the drill string; at least one sensor or gauge coupled to at least one of the drill string, the pump, and the drill bit, wherein the sensor is configured to measure at least one of: at least one wellbore fluid property, the at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and the at least one operational parameter into a computational method; and a computing device in communication with and capable of receiving data from the at least one sensor or gauge and configured to produce a sag profile from a computational method configured to analyze sage within a wellbore and including the data as at least one input.

11 . A method comprising:
measuring at least one wellbore fluid property, at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and at least one operational parameter, and wherein the wellbore fluid property relates to a wellbore fluid that comprises a weighting agent; inputting the at least one wellbore fluid property, the at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and the at least one operational parameter into a computational method; meshing the section of the wellbore into a plurality of elements; performing a mass balance analysis on each of the elements for each component in the wellbore fluid; producing a sag profile of the section of the wellbore with the computational model based on the mass balance analysis on each of the elements; and performing a wellbore operation with at least one of a second operational parameter, a second wellbore fluid parameter, and a second wellbore condition based on the sag profile.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one wellbore fluid property comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a solids settling rate, a sagged fluid composition, an associative stability between two weighting agent particles in the wellbore fluid, an associative stability between a weighting agent particle and an emulsified phase in the wellbore fluid, a concentration of weighting agent particles, a rheological property, a fluid density, an oil-to-water ratio, a gel property, a water-phase salinity, a static aging profile, a fluid compressibility, a temperature effect on a foregoing property, a pressure effect on a foregoing property, and any combination thereof.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one wellbore condition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a temperature in the wellbore, a pressure of the wellbore, a diameter of the wellbore, a length of the section of the wellbore, a deviation angle of the section of the wellbore, a drill string eccentricity, a wellbore depth, and any combination thereof.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one operational condition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a lapse time at a static condition or a low shear condition, a flow rate of the wellbore fluid, a drill string geometry, a drill string rotation speed, a tripping speed, a connection time, and any combination thereof.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the sag profile identifies a volume percent for a sagged zone and a volume percent for a depleted zone based on a volume of the section of the wellbore.

16 . A method comprising:
measuring at least one wellbore fluid property, at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and at least one operational parameter, and wherein the wellbore fluid property relates to a wellbore fluid that comprises a weighting agent; inputting the at least one wellbore fluid property, the at least one wellbore condition relating to a section of a wellbore, and the at least one operational parameter into a computational method; producing a sag profile of the section of the wellbore with the computational model; determining a transient wellbore condition in the section of the wellbore; and performing a wellbore operation on the section of the wellbore with a second operational parameter based on the transient wellbore condition.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein producing the sag profile involves: meshing the section of the wellbore into a plurality of elements and performing a mass balance analysis on each of

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Kulkarni Sandeep D
• Jamison Dale E

Classifications

• E21B21/08 Primary

  Controlling or monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid, e.g. automatic filling of boreholes, automatic control of bottom pressure (valve arrangements therefor E21B21/10) · CPC title

• E21B49/08 Primary

  Obtaining fluid samples or testing fluids, in boreholes or wells · CPC title

• E21B2049/085

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E21B44/00 Primary

  Automatic control systems specially adapted for drilling operations, i.e. self-operating systems which function to carry out or modify a drilling operation without intervention of a human operator, e.g. computer-controlled drilling systems; Systems specially adapted for monitoring a plurality of drilling variables or conditions · CPC title

• E21B49/0875

  determining specific fluid parameters · CPC title