Modelling and numerical calculation of the multiphase transport in deep drilling technology

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The aim of this project is to investigate the transport of particles in viscoplastic fluids using numerical methods and to aggregate derived findings in engineering models. The background of the project is the transport of cuttings in deep drilling technology. Deep drilling technology is of great importance for securing the future energy supply. This concerns the use of fossil fuels as well as the production of geothermal energy. In both cases, the drilling process is the most important cost parameter, so that efficient, time-optimised process control is required. For ecological reasons, the integrity of the borehole is of particular importance in order to prevent unwanted leakage of drilling fluids into the geological formation. The above goals can only be achieved by model-based, systematic optimization and automation of the drilling process. From the point of view of fluid mechanics, the transport of cuttings from the borehole is important. This must be quantified in suitable models for the conditions typical of deep drilling, i.e. high pressures and temperatures, the use of drilling fluids with complex rheology and over distances of several kilometres under variable environmental conditions.This approach in the present project is based on state-of-the-art computational techniques for the analysis of particle transport in liquids. These methods are extended as required and validated on the basis of experimental data. This will make it possible to quantify the effects of secondary flows or the rheology of the liquid on particle transport that have not been studied up to now. In this project, the work of the last years in the group of the applicant and at the TU Clausthal will be continued and extended.The present project will contribute to the clarification and better quantification of the hydrodynamic processes for the deep drilling process. However, there are numerous parallels to other fields of technology in which similar questions arise. Examples are fluidisation, filtration, paper processing, waste water treatment or food technology.