Modeling of yield-power-law fluid flow in a partially blocked concentric annulus

摘要

Horizontal well is one of the most effective ways of developing unconventional oil and natural gas reservoirs. During horizontal well drilling, a stationary cuttings bed forms on the low-side of the well bore. Formation of the bed is undesirable and has detrimental effect on wellbore hydraulic and drilling performance. Hydraulic optimization of the process strongly depends on accurate prediction of bed height and frictional pressure loss. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate hydraulic characteristics of horizontal welibore with cuttings bed, which can be represented by partially blocked concentric annulus when centralizers are used with drilipipe.