ROP suddenly dropped while drilling

I am drilling 17-1/2" section at depth of 5000 ft..........ROP was 20 ft/hr which suddenly dropped to 3.5 ft/hr...........I have changed bit and also treated mud to a great extent but no improvement so far......can any one suggest a solution to this problem. Lithology we are drilling is interbedded sand and clay (clay is sticky) Drilling parameters Before after RPM 105-115 105-130 WOB 8-14 klb 15-28 klb GPM 850-900 900-930 Mud parameters Depth/TVD (ft) 4536/4536 5024/5024 Mud Weight /Temp (lb/gal) 11.0@80 11.0 @ 80 Funnel Viscosity (s/qt) 43 44 R600/R300 59/38 64/43 R200/R100 28/18 29/20 R6/R3 4/3 5/4 PV (cP) 21 21 YP (lb/100ft) 17 22 10s/10m/30m Gel (lb/100ft) 4/20/34 5/19/29 API Fluid Loss (cc/30min) 9 6.8 Cake API/HTHP (1/32") 1 1 Retort Solids (%Vol) 17 17 Oil/Water (%Vol) 0/83.0 1.0/82.0 MBT (lb/bbl) 20 9 pH / Temp 10.0@80 10.0@80 Alkal Mud (Pm) 0.15 0.2 Pf/Mf 0.1/0.5 0.2/0.7 Chlorides (mg/L) 27000 25500 Hardness (Ca++) 120 120 KCl (%) 3 3 K+ ions (mg/l) 16000 15800
4 days ago

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13 comments

HYTHAM

HYTHAM A. you have to change the drilling parameter and decrease WOB , also what the kind of BIT also when you check the the BIT did you find any Bit balling and what about the BIt condition in general
4 days ago

abdulla

abdulla E. i agree with fatah,,,,check the bit condition and what type of bit(tooth)
4 days ago

Hanjo

Hanjo L. any variation in pressure before and after the decrease in rop ???
4 days ago

John

John A. The first thing I would check is what is the HSI? If possible increase the pump rate. If it is bit balling there are a number of things to try before pulling the bit, in the first instance I would try a nut plug pill, if no good try a seawater or freshwater pill, if everyone is brave you can also try a caustic pill but some have reported that this can destabilise your wellbore.....good luck.
4 days ago

MUHAMMAD

MUHAMMAD A. At first, i was using five bladed 19mm cutter size PDC bit, with 8 X 13/32 nozzles (HSI = 1.41.9 at different flow rates) it was giving me 20 ft/hr.....suddenly ROP dropped when beds of sticky clay started......before pulling the bit, I 'd pumped a detergent pill which didn't work. than I Pumped a saturated KCl/water pill and started adding crude oil in mud. when I saw there was no improvement, decided to POOH and check the bit. On POOH, string stabs were 80% balled up (had 3 stabs in strng NB, 30ft, 60 ft) and NB stab and bit were 30% balled up, bit had errosion around its teeth and due to this I didn't dare to run it again. I didn't had any five bladed bit, so ran six bladed 19 mm bit with which all the story was repeated once again. Again bit was pulled out and was only 10% balled up. then I RIH tricone bit (IADC 135)...now this bit is performing better than previous bits... in sand it is drilling @ 8-10 ft/hr and in clay @ 3-4ft/hr.
3 days ago

Saravana

Saravana K. For 17 1/2 section hole YP is looking to be very low and your PV is greater than Yp this shows your mud system have more solids and solid percentage is also looking quite high . so try 2 reduce the PV which in turn will give u good wall formation and increase your Yp too.....
3 days ago

MUHAMMAD

MUHAMMAD A. Thanks saravana, Can you suggest a value.....how much i should increase the yp.......as you can see yp has been increased from 17 to 22.......althoug with 17 yp, everything was going fine before the problem occured........Solids %age is due to barite....as MBT has been reduced to 7.5 (Mud is in transition between Gell mud and KCl polymer).
2 days ago

Saravana

Saravana K. Dear Mohammed I can give you the graph which contains optimum PV and Yp values. I think your hike in Pv is not only of baryte because your W/L values are also looking quite high
2 days ago

MUHAMMAD

MUHAMMAD A. thanks Saravana.........kindly send me the graph at abdulrehman302@yahoo.com

2 days ago

Oddgeir

Oddgeir H. 25 kg/m3 Cl- gives 53 kg/m3 KCl. 16 mk/m3 K+ gives 30 kg/m3 KCl. You are experiencing ionic exchange with Na+ in formation (clay). From a very low KCl concentration. pH of 10 sounds high for a reactive clay. Nut plug pills may provide some effect, as may soaking the bit in neat brine for a while. Be careful, you don`t want to get stuck in swelling clay (stabs balled up). You could try to vary WOB and RPM, but with above properties I`d belive you would need to decrease pH and increase KCl. Oddgeir
1 day ago

Oddgeir

Oddgeir H. Could "mod" please inform me as to why "Your comment has been submitted for review"? Muhammad needs realtime solutions. Not next week! Oddgeir
1 day ago

Saravana

Saravana K. Dear Muhammad Graph forwarded to your mail

1 day ago

MUHAMMAD

MUHAMMAD A. thanks a lot saravana, I 'll check it out and will work accordingly