Experimental studies of the carrying capacity of the drilling fluid

Abstract

The main factors affecting the efficiency of the carrying capacity of drilling fluid are analysed in the paper. A description of the design of an experimental setup for modeling the well flushing process is presented, which makes it possible to evaluate the efficiency of the carrying capacity of a fluid from a variety of factors under study. To conduct experimental studies of the influence of factors on the efficiency of cleaning wells from cuttings, an experimental plan was built using the Taguchi methods for six factors at three levels of their change. According to the plan, we studied the effect of such parameters on the carrying capacity of the drilling fluid at various values of its flow rate: the variability of the drill string in the well; the cuttings particle diameter; the plastic viscosity of the drilling fluid; the pulsation frequency; the rotation of the drill string and its longitudinal movement. The nature of the formation of stagnant rock zones in the annulus of directional wells has been assessed. The influence of factors according to the constructed plan of the experiment at the distance of the beginning of settlement of the cuttings was studied. Based on the results of the studies, it was found that changing the range of these factors reduces the volume of rock deposited on the lower wall of the directional wellbore. It has been established that the use of a pulsating flow of flushing fluid makes it possible to reduce the value of its consumption and improve the efficiency of cleaning the annular space of wells from cuttings.