Hole Opening Recommended Practices

Autotrak RCLS & Copilot Drilling Optimization Tool

© 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Overview

• In order to enhance the drilling process these recommended practices has

been put together aiming to address the different phenomena that can
happen while using Autotrak RCLS BHAs and a Hole Reaming device also
Copilot charts have being developed to mitigate vibrations and optimize
drilling.

This recommended practices includes:

– Bit break in
– Vibration mitigation procedures
– Formation transition zone drilling
– Copilot Hole opening WOB chart
– Connection practices
– Reaming and back reaming practices

2 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Bit Break in

RIH with consideration to hole restriction and appropriate procedures.

• Begin pumping and rotating a few feet from bottom with 50-60 RPM. Tag
bottom.
• Lift 1 ft off bottom and circulate for 5 minutes with minimal rotation.
• Begin drilling with low (no more than 500 lbs per inch of bit diameter) and drill
ahead 1 ft.
• Increase the target drilling value while increasing the RPM. Care should be
taken not to induce stick / slip or axial and lateral vibrations when increasing
parameters.
• Perform drill-off test and optimize parameters.

3 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Stick Slip Vibration Mitigation Procedure
Purple is an indication of periodic
backward rotation which can be destructive
to drillstrings components. Never drill with
periodic backward rotation.
• Stick-Slip occurring while drilling with a Tri-
Cone bit is usually due to drillstring or
wellbore contact. Reaming the hole may
improve drilling conditions. Stick-Slip may
also indicate a bit cone problem.
• To avoid sacrificing ROP with aggressive
PDC bits, drilling may have to continue
with a severity at level 5 for short intervals.
• Decrease RPM if Stick-Slip is created by
drillstring contact it is better to drill
with low level Stick-Slip at low RPM
rather than at high RPM.

4 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Axial Vibration Mitigation Procedure
Axial Vibration with PDC bits may
indicate bit balling or a severely
worn cutting structure. By
increasing WOB and or
decreasing RPM, Stick-Slip should
occur with a good PDC bit.
• Axial Vibration is commonly
caused by lithology changes or
fractures as the bit begins a new
cutting pattern.
• Axial Vibrations with a Tri-Cone bit
may indicate a bit or cone
problem.
• Choice 1 is preferred especially
when using a tri-cone bit to avoid
creating bit whirl.

5 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Lateral Vibration Mitigation Procedure
Lateral vibrations can be very destructive to
BHA components and requires immediate
attention.
• Lateral vibration is associated with whirl
and bending of the drillstring and also
resonant behavior at a critical rotary speed.
• Whirl is a stable phenomenon and might be
identified with a decrease in ROP, an
increase in vibration, a high steady torque,
and with the absence of Stick-Slip.
• Use caution when drilling formations that
wash out. Creating an over gauge hole may
cause the loss of stabilization, resulting in
the development of extreme lateral
vibration. Decrease RPM to 50 and control
ROP

6 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Downhole & Surface WOB Separation

7 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Formation Transition Zones
• Know where the top and bottom of the inclusions/hard stringer are. Confirm
w/ MWD RT data if possible.
• Reduce RPM (50 - 80 RPM) before reamer reaches the top of the inclusion.
• When the reamer is drilling the inclusion/hard stringer, ROP should not be
higher than the ROP recorded when the bit drilled the same interval.
• Monitor DWOB measurements to ensure Bit does not out drill reamer
• If Lateral vibration or Whirl is initiated, (which might indicate the bit is
outdrilling the reamer) reduce RPM even more and Increase WOB to keep
the Pilot bit loaded (observe any Stick slip development at that point).
• Keep parameters until the reamer exits the base of the inclusion.
• Use Bit break in procedures after connection & after positive & negative drill
breaks
• Keep the bit on bottom & make steady progress OPTIMIZE PARAMETERS

8 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Negative Drill Break Procedure

At hard rock interfaces there is

potential for bit cutter damage,
especially at high angle. Note the
poor ratio of WOB to surface area
contact for the bit’s cutters at
interface, causing damage first at
this point.
– There is potential for creating a
high local dogleg as the bit skids
along the surface of the hard rock
interface. Sudden increases of
WOB
• enhance the skidding effect,
especially at high angle

9 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Connection practices
• While making a connection with an AutoTrak & under-reamer BHA it should
be avoided that the BHA is rotated with high rpm in an off bottom situation
which can result into high vibration levels and connection back offs. Therefore
the following procedure should be followed to stop the drilling process:

– Reduce RPM to 60-80

– Drill off 50% WOB checking the downhole WOB and TOB values assuring proper
drill off is performed
– Stop rotary
– Lift off bottom checking for overpulls, record observed values and compare to
predicted.
• If excessive overpull is recorded follow the recommended procedure for ream the drilled
hole.
– Make the Connection

10 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Connection practices
• After the connection is made it is beneficial to restart the drilling process
similar to the bit break in procedure to allow a smooth startup with a low level
of vibration. To achieve this follow the listed procedure:

– Start rotary at 60-80 rpm

– Place bit on bottom
– Slowly increase WOB to its target drilling value
– Care should be taken when increasing WOB to ensure stick-slip is not initiated
– Increase RPM to its target drilling value
– Optimize drilling parameter

11 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

 Reaming & Back reaming Practices
• In general reaming and backreaming, (e.g. during a connection) should only be
performed unless it is absolutely necessary. If required the following practices
should be followed to reduce vibration and avoid tool failures:
– Rotary speed should be reduced to about 60-80 rpm.
– Pipe movement during reaming should be kept below 500 ft/hr to avoid creating string
stick-slip.
– Flow rate should be kept at a rate where the AutoTrak tool is powered up and VSS and
CoPilot data are transferred to surface for monitoring and optimization. Operation with a
flowrate below power up is defined as OOS operation.
– The AutoTrak BHA components must not be freely rotated in the opened up hole
section. At least the lowest three stabilization points (bit, steering unit and first stabilizer)
of the BHA should be kept in the pilot hole, if possible more.
– When reaming and backreaming the driller should stop the pipe movement at the apex
or low point for about 10 seconds before changing the direction of the pipe movement to
minimize whirl development from the change of direction.
– While reaming down and a stabilizer is entering back into the pilot hole the reentering
may cause hang off of weight which can induce backward whirl. In this case stop the
rotary and restart the process with 40 rpm or even try to wash the stabilizer back into
the pilot hole before restarting the rotary.
12 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
 Reaming & Back reaming Practices
Back-Reaming
• Any evidence of formation change or stringers will cause increased torque as the
cutters are pulled into those formation sections. High torque spikes can cause
damage to the cutting structure. If the reamer causes stick/slip, the pilot BHA may
continue to rotate. This may cause a pilot BHA twist-off. It is therefore essential to
know when these formation changes will occur and adjust the drilling parameters
to suit. It is prefered to back-ream instead of reaming down to avoid this kind of
situations.

Reaming down
• When reaming down, be cautious with stabilizers entering the pilot hole. There is
a always a possibility of inducing destructive vibrations if the stabs are hanging
up. Minimize string RPM or if possible slide the stabs into the pilot hole. Verify
bending moments on copilot as stabs enter the pilot hole.

13 © 2010 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.