Development and verification of a dynamic underbalanced drilling simulator
- RF-Rogaland Research, Bergen (Norway)
- Shell RTS, Rijswijk (Netherlands)
- Agip Spa, Milano (Italy)
- Petrobras/CENPES, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
A dynamic underbalanced drilling (UBD) simulator has been developed in a joint industry project. The simulator incorporates models for multiphase flow, well-reservoir interaction, gas/oil solubility and gas injection systems. The fluid components in the system include injected gases, mud, produced gas, produced oil and water and drilled cuttings. Both coiled tubing and conventional jointed pipe can be simulated. The primary use of the simulator is in the planning phase of an UBD operation. An UBD operation is very dynamic due to the changes in flow conditions and other operations. The importance of the dynamic effects is illustrated by a field example. The dynamic simulator allows for the analysis of various operations that cannot be analyzed with a steady state simulator. Some of these operations include starting/stopping circulation; various gas injection techniques, e.g.: parasitic string, parasitic casing, through completion, and drill string injection; drilling operations: drilling, tripping, pipe connections, and BHA deployment. To verify the simulator, two phase flow tests in near-horizontal annulus were performed in order to provide data for validation. Field data are actively collected for this purpose. In this paper, two field cases are presented. One is a coiled tubing drilling operation in Dalen field in the Netherlands where a Nitrogen lift test was performed in a through completion configuration. The second case is a UBD operation in Candeias field in Brazil. In this case, drillstring gas injection tests were performed in a cemented 9-5/8-in. casing at 1,800 m.
- OSTI ID:
- 485046
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970146--; ISBN 1-890277-02-9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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