DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
The primary functions of drilling fluids are:
To clean and cool the bit.
To carry cuttings away from the bit, up the annulus
between the drill string and the wellbore / casing to the
surface for disposal.
To control formation pressures.
To drive motors and other downhole tools.
Bit hydraulics

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
Circulating System Pressure Losses:
Surface equipment
Standpipes, kelly (or Top Drive), kelly hose and swivel.
Downhole equipment
Motors, turbines, drill collars, drill pipe, BHA, bit nozzles,
annulus.
Any piece of equipment through which there is a flow of
drilling fluid will cause a pressure loss.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
Circulating System Requirements:
Flow rate must be high enough to:
Carry high densities of cuttings all the way up the annulus.
Drive a motor or turbine plus other LWD tools.
Drilling fluid rheology should be able to hold cuttings in
spension when the pumps are turned off.
Flow rate must be low enough not to wash the hole away, or
cause excessive standpipe pressure.
This applies to the bit and the casing shoe.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
There are 4 basic rheological charcteristics of drilling fluids:
Density (weight) - usually measured in pounds/gal (PPG), or
as specific gravity (SG).
Rheology - refers o the chemical characteristics of the fluid,
principally:
Plastic Viscosity (PV): is the resistance to flow between
suspended particles, their concentration, size and shape.
Yield Point (YP): is the measurement of forces between
particles due to the negative and positive charges
between them.

Contd

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
Filtrate
Rate of water loss in the fluid indicates how much wall
cake is being deposited on the sides of the hole.
Chemical Inhibition (pH)
Abbreviation for potential Hydrogen Ion and a measure of
acidity.
The pH is expressed as a logarithm of the reciprocal of the
hydrogen ion concentration, each number indicating an
alkalinity ten times greater than the preceding number.
Is measured on a scale of 1-14, 7 being neutral

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
What do we mean by Pressure Loss?
Pressure Loss is the way we express the resistance of the
drilling fluid to circulation as a result of friction.
Therefore, the amount of pressure required to circulate fluid
around the system is called the circulating pressure.
The hydraulic power expended when circulating the fluid is a
direct function of the pressure losses and the flow rate through
the system.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
What is the goal of Hydraulics Planning?
To determine the Total Flow Area (TFA) using nozzles with flow
rate to deliver the maximum Jet Impact Force (JIF) and
Hydraulic Horsepower per square inch of bit area (HSI) within
the constraints of the system.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
What are the constraints?
Maximum Allowable Annular Surface Pressure - determined by
the Leak-off Test
Maximum Allowable Standpipe Pressure.
Maximum Pump Horsepower.
Minimum & Maximum Flow Rate - due to formation stiffness,
tool constraints, etc

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
The importance of ECD
ECD stands for Equivalent Circulating Density.
When the pumps are off, the pressure measured is the hydrostatic
pressure. The density is the Equivalent Static Density (ESD).
Only TVD influences ESD. Therefore the ESD in a horizontal
well remains constant.
When the pumps are on, the pressure increases due to
frictional forces in the annulus.
The hydrostatic pressure remains the same.

Contd

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
The importance of ECD.
This is known as the ECD Effect.
ECD is therefore affected by hydrostatic pressure and friction.
The ECD effect is greater in smaller hole sizes because of
increased frictional effects.
Higher flow rates increase ECD.

Contd

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
The importance of ECD
Higher RPM moves cuttings into the flow path, increasing
frictional forces between them, thus increasing ECD.
Increased mud weight increases hydrostatic pressure and ECD.
Increased mud PV suspends more cuttings which raises ECD.
Increased ROP raises ECD.
ECD values go up with hole depth drilled.

Contd

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Overview
The importance of ECD - summary.
BHA internals and bit nozzles do not affect ECD, only the annulus.
ECD is the pressure difference between flow and non-flow
situations. Therefore, ECD effect is a function of friction.
ECD effect does not depend on TVD (as does ESD).
ECD/ESD is a calculation derived from LWD pressure
measurement and TVD.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Bit Hydraulics

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Bit Hydraulics

Bit Hydraulics Optimization

There are two major considerations in order of importance:
1) to clean the hole effectively - minimum annular velocity
2) to make best use of available power to drill the hole.
Total Flow Area (TFA) is determined by nozzle size.
The TFA is the deciding factor in the system pressure loss. The
aim is to maximize the hydraulic horsepower at the bit and this
constitutes one of the most critical factors of drilling operations.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Bit Hydraulics
Bit Hydraulics Optimization
Jet Impact Force (Velocity):
Goes hand-in-hand with HSI. JIF helps to disperse cuttings
to annulus and keep the bit clean.
HSI has a huge influence on bit performance and bit life:
Too low HSI will greatly reduce ROP. Compensating with an
increase in RPM is a temporary measure (for example, if the
rig suffers a pump failure), but will cause ring-out, especially
on PDC bits.
Too high HSI could wash the formation and drill an over- gauge
hole.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Bit Hydraulics
Drilling horsepower & across the bit nozzles

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types
Flow regime and Reynold Number
Osborne Reynolds observed two types of flow by injecting
dye into a moving fluid stream:
Laminar Flow where the fluid flows in stream lines or laminae.
Turbulent Flow where there is a random, irregular fluid
movement in a transverse direction to the main flow. This
motion is superimposed on the mean fluid motion.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types
Flow regime and Reynold Number
Reynolds showed that the onset of turbulence through pipes was
dependent on the following factors:
Pipe diameter
Fluid density
Fluid viscosity
Flow velocity
This implies that the onset of turbulence can be predicted for
any size of pipe and fluids of any density and viscosity.
Reynolds found that flow regimes changed from laminar to
turbulent with increased fluid velocity.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types
Flow in concentric pipes.
Diagram shows that fluid flow in concentric pipes does not have
uniform velocity.
If flow pattern is laminar, the fluid flow immediately adjacent to
the pipe wall will be zero and the fluid flow in the pipe center will
be maximum.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types
Annular Velocity is calculated by:
AV = 24.5(GPM)/(ID-OD)*
Is affected by drill string components.
Required AV depends on slip velocity of the cuttings, a
measure of the lifting capacity of the mud.
A higher AV creates a higher pressure drop in the open hole.

* The iD is of the annulus/casing and the OD is of the pipe/collars etc.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Flow Types
Annular Velocity
PV can be controlled by the solids content of the fluid.
Higher PV indicates higher solids content.
YP indicates the level of contaminants. Can be controlled by
cellulose derivitives (thinners).
Gel strength is controlled by water and other chemical
components.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Summary

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Summary
Cuttings removal and disposal the priority in hydraulics
planning.
Maximizing HSI at the bit within the constraints of the system
is fundamental to the overall drilling program.
Total Flow Area (TFA) will determine the final system
pressure loss in the system after all other losses have been
summated.
Maximum HHP at the bit will be about 65% of pump HHP after
accounting for system pressure losses.

DRILL BIT HYDRAULICS

Summary
HHPb at the bit is expressed at (Pb x Q)/1714.
There are two types of flow in pipes - Laminar & Turbulent.
The onset of turbulence can be predicted for any size of pipe
and fluids of any density and viscosity.
Fluid flow changes from laminar to turbulent with increase in flow
velocity.