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Mud Density Optimization for Horizontal Well System in Clayey Silt Hydrate Reservoir with Considering Borehole Collapse

  • Research Article-Petroleum Engineering
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Abstract

Although horizontal well system has great advantages in methane production from clayey silt hydrate reservoir, borehole collapse is easy to occur during the drilling operation, which can seriously affect the drilling safety and efficiency. However, previous investigations have failed to thoroughly explore the mechanism of borehole collapse in horizontal well system. In this study, numerical investigation on collapse behavior of different boreholes within the horizontal well system in hydrate reservoir was conducted. It is found that borehole enlargement rate of both injection wells and production wells in horizontal well system decreases with the increase of drilling fluid density. However, due to the faster dissociation rate of natural gas hydrates, borehole enlargement rate is often higher in injection wells as compared to production wells. Based on the investigation results of borehole stability, lower limit of the safe mud weight window for horizontal well system was determined by considering different acceptable borehole enlargement rates. After analysis, it was found that the lower limit of the safe mud weight window depends on the mud density of the injection well for a specific acceptable borehole expansion rate. Moreover, the lower limit of safe mud weight window needs to be designed larger with improvement of the requirement for wellbore stability (i.e., decrease of acceptable borehole enlargement rate). For example, when acceptable borehole enlargement rate changes from 20 to 5%, the lower limit of the safe mud weight window needs to be increased from 1.007 to 1.047. Investigations in this paper will play a significant role in preventing serious borehole instability during drilling operation in hydrate reservoirs.

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Abbreviations

Az, Inc:

Azimuth angle and inclination angle, degree

C 0 :

Initial cohesion of hydrate-bearing sediments, MPa

C 1 :

Cohesion of sample without hydrate, MPa

D :

Depth below seafloor, mbsf

DT:

Temperature disturbance front, m

E 0 :

Elastic modulus of reservoir without hydrate, MPa

g :

Gravitational acceleration, 9.8 m/s2

H :

Water depth, m

P atm :

Atmospheric pressure at sea level, MPa

P eq :

Phase equilibrium pressure of methane hydrate, MPa

P m :

Bottom-hole pressure, MPa

P p :

Pore pressure, MPa

R S , R B :

Stress transformation tensor

S h :

Hydrate saturation, %

T :

Temperature, K

t :

Drilling time, s

V t :

Advancement rate of temperature disturbance front, cm/min

v :

Poisson's ratio

v 0 :

Poisson's ratio before hydrate dissociation, 0.275

α 1, α 2 :

Two Biot's coefficients, 1.25, 1.15

α, β, γ :

Three rotation angles, degree

σ B :

Stress tensor in borehole coordinate system, MPa

σ P :

In situ stress tensor, MPa

σ H , σ H , σ H , :

In situ stress components, MPa

φ :

Internal friction angle for samples with hydrate saturation of Sh

ϕ 0 :

Initial porosity of reservoir without hydrate, %

ρ :

Average buoyant density of the sediment particles, Kg/m3

ρ sea :

Density of sea water, 1030 kg/m3

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Acknowledgements

Implementation of the investigation should thank the theoretical support of Cheng Yuanfang's research group at China University of Petroleum (East China). At the same time, the successful publication of this paper also needs to thank to Ubedullah Ansari of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology for his help in language polishing.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the research grant of Postdoctoral Program of Henan Polytechnic University (No. 712108/210).

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  1. School of Energy Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, Henan, China

    Qingchao Li

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Li, Q. Mud Density Optimization for Horizontal Well System in Clayey Silt Hydrate Reservoir with Considering Borehole Collapse. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 11651–11671 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-06401-0

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