Multiphase Flow in Oil and Gas Well Drilling

Baojiang Sun, Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professor, Petroleum Engineering Department , China University of Petroleum (Huadong), Shandong, China. Professor Sun has more than 15 years of experience in multi-phase flow of petroleum engineering.  After years of study, concentrating on phase transition and solubility of acid gases in liquid, he has built up the innovative multi-phase flow model "seven components multi-phase flow pattern" applied in gas & oil drilling and production areas. Professor Sun has won 4 patents and 5 software copyrights, and has published over 60 articles in this area. Professor Sun has led the team to achieve "The State 863 Projects", "The National Key Technology R&D Program", "The Key Project of Natural Science Foundation", "The Major Subject of National Science and Technology". He is the winner of the Second Prize for the National Technology Progress Award in 2007, the winner of the First Prize for The Technology Progress Award of Shandong Province.

• Preface ix Chapter 1 Introduction 11.1 Multiphase flow in the well 21.2 Methods 31.2.1 Theoretical analysis 31.2.2 Experimental study 31.2.3 Numerical simulation 41.3 Parameters 51.4 Multiphase Flow Patterns 91.4.1 Flow Patterns of Gas-Liquid Flow 91.4.2 Gas-Liquid Flow Pattern of Acid Gas Under Supercritical Condition 141.5 Multiphase Flow Models 191.5.1 Homogeneous Flow Model 191.5.2 Separated Flow Model 201.5.3 Drift-Flux Model 221.5.4 Statistical Average Model 24Chapter 2 The Void Fraction Wave and Flow Regime Transition 252.1 Introduction 252.1.1 Bubble Coalescence and Flow Regime Transition 252.1.2 Void Fraction Wave and Flow Regime Transition 282.2 Experimental Setup and Methods 322.2.1 Experimental Setup 322.2.2 Observation and Determination of Flow Regimes 332.2.3 Flow Resistance Measurement 352.2.4 Flow Rate and Void Fraction Wave Measurement 352.2.5 Data Processing 372.3 Formation Mechanism of Slug Flow With Low Continuous Phase Velocity 382.3.1 Flow Regime Transition 382.3.2 Analytical Method 402.3.3 Experimental Results 462.3.4 Discussion on the Instability of Void Fraction Wave and Formation Mechanism of Taylor Bubble 492.3.5 Propagation Velocity of Void Fraction Wave 522.4 Gas-Liquid Flow Regime Transition with High Continuous Phase Velocity 542.4.1 Flow Regime Transition 542.4.2 Experimental Results and Discussions 552.4.3 Mechanism of Losing Stability for Bubbly Flow 622.4.4 Velocity of Void Fraction Wave 682.4.5 Non-Linear Properties of the Void Fraction Wave 71Chapter 3 Multiphase Flow Model for Well Drilling 753.1 Continuity Equation 763.1.1 Continuity Equation in the Annulus 763.1.2 Continuity Equation in the Drilling Stem 813.2 Momentum Equation 823.2.1 Momentum Equation in the Annulus 823.2.2 Momentum Equation in the Drilling Stem 833.3 Energy Equation 853.3.1 Energy Equation in the Annulus 853.3.2 Energy Equation in the Drilling Stem 893.4 Applications of the Model 893.4.1 Underbalanced Drilling 893.4.2 Kicking and Killing 903.4.3 Kicking and Killing After Acid Gas Influx 923.4.4 Kicking and Killing for Deepwater Drilling 93Chapter 4 Multiphase Flow During Underbalanced Drilling 974.1 Flow Model 984.1.1 Flow-Governing Equations in the Annulus 984.1.2 Flow-Governing Equations in the Drilling Stem 994.1.3 Energy Equations 1004.1.4 Auxiliary Equations 1014.2 Solving Processing 1114.2.1 Definite Conditions 1114.2.2 Discretization of the Model 1124.2.3 Algorithms 1154.3 Case Study 1184.3.1 Gas Drilling 1184.3.2 Drill Pipe Injection-Aerated Drilling 1254.3.3 Annulus Injection-Aerated Drilling 128Chapter 5 Multiphase Flow During Kicking and Killing 1335.1 Common Killing Method 1345.1.1 Killing Parameters of Driller’s Method and Wait and Weight Method 1345.1.2 The Circulate-and-Weight Method 1385.2 Multiphase Flow Model 1395.2.1 Governing Equations for Killing 1405.2.2 Governing Equation for Kicking 1435.2.3 Auxiliary Equations 1435.3 Solving Process 1435.3.1 Definite Conditions 1435.3.2 Discretization of the Model 1465.3.3 Algorithms 1485.4 Case Study 1495.4.1 Basic Parameters of the Well 1495.4.2 Simulations of Overflow 1505.4.3 Hydraulic Parameters for Killing 151Chapter 6 Multiphase Flow During Kicking and Killing with Acid Gas 1556.1 Flow Model 1566.1.1 Flow Governing Equations for Killing Acid Gas Kicking 1566.1.2 Flow Governing Equations for Acid Gas Kicking 1586.1.3 Auxiliary Equations 1586.2 The Solving Process 1606.2.1 Definite Conditions 1606.2.2 Algorithms 1636.3 Simulations and Case Study 1646.3.1 Basic Parameters of the Well 1646.3.2 Acid Gas Compressibility and Density in the Wellbore 1646.3.3 Acid Gas Solubility in the Wellbore 1666.3.4 Acid Gas Expansion in the Wellbore 1686.3.5 Impact on the Pit Gain 169Chapter 7 Multiphase Flow During Kicking and Killing in Deepwater Drilling 1737.1 Common Deepwater Killing Method 1747.1.1 Dynamic Killing Method 1747.1.2 Advanced Driller’s Method 1767.1.3 Additional Flow Rate Method 1787.2 Flow Model 1817.2.1 Governing Equations for Deepwater Well Killing 1827.2.2 Governing Equations for Kicking 1887.2.3 Auxiliary Equations 1897.3 The Solving Process 1917.3.1 Definite conditions 1917.3.2 Algorithms 1947.4 Case study 1957.4.1 Basic parameters of the well 1957.4.2 Simulations of kicks and blowout 1957.4.3 Simulation of the Killing Process 198References 203Author Index 211Subject Index 213