A Comprehensive Study of the Combined Effects of Drilling Fluid Rheological Properties and Near Wall Turbulence on the Particle Removal From Bed Deposits in Horizontal Wells

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When drilling long horizontal wells, drilled solids tend to settle down on the low side of the wellbore and form a stationary bed. Presence of stationary cuttings bed causes operational difficulties such as pack-off, excessive torque and drag, slow drilling rate, and in severe cases, stuck pipe, lost circulation, and even loss of the well control. Occasionally, drilling must stop to clean the stationary bed, which is an expensive process and must be done in a timely manner. Despite significant progress made in drilling fluids, tools, and field practices, along with more than 50 years of university and industry research, field experience indicates that hole cleaning is still a major problem in most horizontal wells. The primary motivation of this study is the lack of a reliable model for optimizing hole cleaning process.