Introduction to EzClean

• What EzClean does and what benefits it

brings to ERD and HPHT well design
• Empirical basis of EzClean
• The wellbore temperature model
underlying EzClean
• Hole Cleaning Index (HCI)
Why use EZClean?
• Costs of poor hole cleaning?
– +/- $300 million stuck pipe costs in 1998
– +/- 20% attributed to poor hole cleaning
– +/- $75 million penalty to Shell
• Challenges of today’s drilling:
– extended reach drilling
– deepwater, large risers
– multiple liners and tie-backs
– high angle / horizontal wells
– tight tolerances between pore pressure, mud weight
and fracture pressure
 Hole-cleaning hotspots

In the section with the

largest diameter
Near diameter changes in the well, just
inside the section with the largest
diameter

In sections with At the point where the

inclinations between 30 highest inclination is
and 60 degrees since reached
particularly dangerous Casing
avalanching deposits
may occur here Liner
Bit
 Mud rheology

Challenges
Challenges of
of Drilling
Drilling Hydraulics
Hydraulics

Temperature
Flow velocity

Standpipe pressure Circulating

pressure

Casing shoe pressure Torque

Tension
Pipe stress

Thruster performance

Thruster TOB

WOB
Mud motor
How can EZClean help me?
Drilling
Optimum flow rate
ECD management Other
Hole stability (ECD to compare with
Stabor)
Logging
BHA/bit design
Cased hole clean-up
Mud weight

Fluid rheology Running casing

Operational drilling practices

Sand clean-out
Tripping procedures
String design
EZClean – the tools
• Primary Utilities:
– hydraulics and pressure analysis
•• circulating
circulating pressure
pressure prediction
prediction
•• ECD
ECD prediction
prediction –– rheological
rheological and
and solids
solids effects
effects
•• mudflow
mudflow analysis
analysis
•• temperature
temperature modelling
modelling
– cuttings transport prediction
•• cuttings
cuttings concentration
concentration prediction
prediction
•• bed
bed height
height prediction
prediction
•• “Hole
“Hole Cleaning Index”
•• mud
mud density
density analysis
analysis
EZClean testing loop
Mud Flow

Mobilised Cuttings
Jkdeposit
Cuttings

cuttings transfer line scale

(not used during execution of experiment)

injection
hopper
cuttings
collection
hopper shaker

Auger
test section
scale
 P

mud tank

mud pump Flow/densitometer

PC
Rheology Map
Rheology Map for Cuttings Conc. - Rotating

12.761 - 13.705 % 13.705 - 14.650 % 14.650 - 15.594 % 15.594 - 16.539 % 16.539 - 17.483 %

15

14

13

12

11

10
R6, deg

2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
YP, lb/100ft2
EzClean Validation
EzClean Validation
Ezclean Prediction against Experimental Results

45

Flow loop experiments

40
at 40, 50 and 80 degrees

35
EzClean prediction [%]

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Experimentally observed cuttings concentration [%]
Thermal modelling 1
• Functionality
– Predicts temperature profile in the hole under
different operating conditions
• Special features
– Temperature dependent rheology
– Temperature dependent density
Thermal modelling 2
• 3 different modes
– Undisturbed temperature profile
– User defined temperature profiles
– Calculates effect of mud circulation
• Calculated temperatures depend on:
– Thermal properties of the drill string, casing, mud and
formation
– Heat generation by downhole equipment (bits, mud
motors) and fluid frictional pressure losses
– Heat loss by riser and mud tank cooling and Joule-
Thompson effect
Global heat transfer picture
Mud Pit
Cooling Temperature

Disturbed

Annulus
Pipe
Bore
Undisturbed
TVD

Formation

Bit Heat
Generation
Local heat transfer picture
Bore Pipe Annulus Formation
QB, QA+QA,
TB TA+TA

q AB q AW
TW
 AHD
GB GA

QB+Q B, QA,
TB+TB TA
TW
TA
TS
TB

r
Thermal application within IDM
• What can’t it model?
– Transient behaviour – changes around start
and end of pumping
– Effects if different casing types or types of
annular fluid (cement, N22 etc.)
– Thermal property contrasts between different
formation types
 Additional Role of Thermal Model

• Hydraulics (EzClean) calculations

– Temperature dependent rheology modelling
– Temperature dependent densities
 Checkpoint
• Please confirm your
connection by pressing
the tick button now

Any questions at this

point? Please raise your
hand

Next: Hole Cleaning Index

www.choate.co.uk Well Engineering Geomechanics Software

Hole Cleaning Index

Bit _ Open _ Area

HCI 
Area _ Occupied _ by _ Cuttings
 HCI – what is OK?
EzClean HCI Calibration study : 53 cases in Total

120

55% of the cases has tripping problems

100
Frequency of Problems [%]

80

Aim to keep
60
HCI > 1.5
40

20

0
0-0.25 0.25-0.5 0.5-0.75 0.75-1.0 1.0-1.25 1.25-1.5 1.5-2.0 >2.0
HCI [-]
Pumping out of hole
• String RPM = 0

• Mud flow around bit removes

cuttings.

• Cuttings concentration in return

flow has to be below limit

• Flow velocity around bit has to be

positive and larger than default
limit

• Maximum trip speed less or equal

to default limit
Backreaming
• Bit rotation removes cuttings. All
cuttings are mobilized by bit
rotation irrespective of bit RPM

• Cuttings concentration in return

flow has to be below limit

• Flow velocity around bit has to be

positive and larger than default
limit

• Maximum trip speed less or equal

to default limit
What information is needed?
• Well and Case information (from Well Editor):
– Well Depth (to determine wellbore configuration)
– Pipe string data
– Casing & Open Hole Information
– Directional Data (or local override)
– Fluid Properties
– Pore Pressure and Fracture Gradient data
– Undisturbed temperature profile
What information is needed?
• Operating Parameters (in module):
– Survey override
– Operational information
•• operation
operation
•• pumping
pumping parameters
parameters
•• riser
riser information
information
•• cuttings
cuttings data
data
•• heat
heat generation
generation data
data
•• flowrate
flowrate optimisation
optimisation parameters
parameters
– Analysis envelope
•• trend
trend analysis
analysis parameters
parameters
•• sensitivity
sensitivity parameters
parameters