The effect of drill–pipe rotation on improving hole cleaning using polypropylene beads in water-based mud at different hole angles

Abstract

Hole cleaning is always a problem, particularly during drilling operations, and drilling fluid plays an important role in transporting drill cuttings through an annular section of wellbore to the surface. To transport the cuttings, a water-based mud with added polypropylene beads was selected since it is environmentally friendly and cost efficient. The polypropylene beads help to transport cuttings by providing an additional buoyancy force that lifts the cuttings to the surface via the influence of collision and drag forces. This experiment was performed using a 20 ft test section, 10 ppg drilling mud and 0.86 m/s annular velocity in a laboratory scale rig simulator, and the concentration of polypropylene beads was varied from 0 to 8 ppb. As the concentration of polypropylene increases, the cutting transport ratio also increases. It was observed that the fewest cuttings are lifted at a critical angle of 60°, followed by 45°, 30°, 90° and 0°. Additionally, cutting sizes had moderate effects on the cutting lifting efficiency, where smaller cutting sizes (0.5–1.0 mm) are easier to lift than larger cutting sizes (2.0–2.8 mm). Furthermore, a study of buoyancy force and impulsive force was conducted to investigate the cutting lifting efficiencies of various concentrations of polypropylene beads. This lifting capacity was also assisted by the presence of polyanionic cellulose (PAC), which increases the mud carrying capacity and is effective for smaller cuttings. The results show that in the presence of pipe rotation, the cutting lifting efficiency is slightly enhanced due to the orbital motion provided by the drill pipe for better hole cleaning. In conclusion, polypropylene beads combined with pipe rotation increase the cutting transport ratio in the wellbore.