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Managed Pressure Drilling - Concepts PDF
Managed Pressure Drilling - Concepts PDF
Fundamental Concepts
Antonio Balanza
La Paz, Bolivia 2017
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GeoBalance Services
Addressing Today’s Drilling Challenges
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Why is GeoBalance important in today’s drilling challenges?
9%
Wellbore Instability
3%
Shallow water flow
4%
Kicks
Losses 11%
(NPT) = 43 % 3%
13%
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Module I
Concepts
What is Pressure?
It is the force acting on a unit area. In the oil field, pressure is commonly measured
in psi.
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Pore Pressure
• Lateral compression
• Expansion of fluids
• Fluid density contrasts
• Fluid shrinkage
• Undercompaction
• Unloading
• Rock dilation
• Reservoir depletion
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Fracture Pressure
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Collapse Pressure
What is Collapse pressure?
It’s the collapse resistance of the borehole per foot of
depth and is expressed as equivalent mud weight,
ppg or psi/ ft.
Borehole collapse occurs when the drilling-fluid
pressure is too low to maintain the structural integrity
of the drilled hole.
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Operational Window
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What to consider when building the operational window?
Operational
Window
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Operational Window Operational Window
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Drilling in the Operational Window Conventionally
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Hydrostatic Pressure
Hydrostatic Pressure is the pressure created by a column of fluid due to its density and vertical
height. This type of pressure always exists and may be calculated whether the fluid is static or
flowing.
F m ×g Density×Volume×gravity Den×A×h×grav
P= = = =
A A A A
P=Dens×h ×gravity
psi
P=0.052 ×Mud Dens ppg ×TVD(ft)
ppg×ft
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Hydrostatic Pressure
IT is important to know that 0.052 is a conversion factor, and it is not a constant value.
psi
P=0.052 ×Mud Den ppg ×TVD(ft)
ppg×ft
psi TVD = 5,000 ft Water
P=0.052 ×8.33 ppg ×5,000(ft)
ppg×ft
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Dynamic pressure
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Fluid Flow Friction Loss
The main factors influencing flow friction loss in drilling operations are:
Fluid
Flow Rate Well Geometry
Properties
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Wellbore pressure while circulating
Pump rate = 400 gpm
BHP = Hydrostatic pressure + pressure friction loss Annulus MW = 10.5 ppg
Examples:
The Higher the velocity
The Higher Friction Loss
The Higher the viscosity
The tighter the well geometry
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Two well Conditions
static condition dynamic condition
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Drilling Techniques
Characteristics
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Pressure equation for conventional drilling
𝑃𝐺𝑃 = 𝐻𝑃 + ∆𝑃𝐴𝐹𝐿
Where:
On Bottom
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Conventional Drilling
Pressure
2
5 25
Operating Window – Conventional Scenario
Fracture Pressure
Drilling
Connections Circulating
Fracture Pressure
Static Mud
Weight
Pore Pressure
Influxes
What to do in narrow operational windows
Why don´t we change the mud density?
• It is going to take too much time
• There is not enough material
brainstorming •
•
We don’t want to damage the formation
It is too expensive
Why don’t we change the pump rate?
• It is going to lead to poor hole cleaning
• The pumps will fail
• We are too close to the fracture point
• The BHA tools won´t work
Why don´t we change the mud properties?
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Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD)
What is it?
An adaptive drilling process used to precisely control the
annular pressure profile throughout the wellbore.
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Applied back pressure or Surface back pressure
It is an external pressure, which is applied into the well. To apply pressure, the
well must be in a closed loop system
Pascal’s Law
AP =200 psi
It states that pressure exerted anywhere in a confined
incompressible fluid is transmitted equally in all directions. This
means that the surface back pressure applied affects throughout AP =200 psi
the well.
AP =200 psi
AP =200 psi
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PRESSURE PROFILE USING MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING
Fracture Pressure
Constant pressure at the control point
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Wellbore pressure behavior using MPD
BHP = Hydrostatic pressure + pressure friction loss+surface back pressure (sbp)
Fracture Pressure
TVD
Pore Pressure
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MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING
(Narrow Drilling Margins)
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Thresholds
Equivalent Mud Weight (ppg)
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
1800
2600
3400
3800
Depth (m)
4200
4600
5000
6600
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Flow in THE TECHNIQUE
Flow out The use of Surface Backpressure and a Kick
Detection System allows to determine the
Depth
drilling window in RT
PROCEDURE
Losses Pressure
ECD is kept at a value where drilling is done
Pore Pressure
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Managed Pressure Drilling
Techniques
Conventional
Drilling
Constant
Bottom Hole
Pressure
Drilling Underbalanced
Techniques Drilling
Pressurized
Mud Cap
Managed Drilling
Pressure
Drilling
Dual Gradient
Return flow
control
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Conventional (Overbalanced) Drilling
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Conventional Drilling
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Underbalanced Drilling (UBD)
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Underbalanced Drilling (UBD)
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Why Consider UBD?
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Underbalanced Operations
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Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD)
What is it?
An adaptive drilling process used to precisely control
the annular pressure profile throughout the wellbore.
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Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD)
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Constant Bottom Hole
Pressure
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Constant Bottom Hole Pressure (CBHP)
CBHP is the term generally used to describe actions taken to correct or reduce
the effect of circulating friction loss or equivalent circulating density (ECD) in
an effort to stay within the limits imposed by the pore pressure/collapsed
pressure and fracture pressure.
Annular
Friction Loss
𝟓, 𝟒𝟓𝟎
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Constant Bottom Hole Operations
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Pressure Balance Equation while circulating
ΔPGravity =
ΔPFriction =
Drilling and circulating
SBP =
Surf. Drop =
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Pressure Balance Equation during Connections
ΔPGravity =
ΔPFriction =
SBP must
Connections compensate friction
SBP = in the annulus
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Pressure Balance Equation during connections
To have constant pressure at the control point, the SBP must compensate the lack of
annular friction in the system and the reduction on surface drop
To generate proper SBP during connections, the MPD choke must have flow through it.
To accomplish this, it is needed to have a Rig Pump Diverter or a Back pressure pump
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Trapping pressure connections
This connection technique does not ensure constant pressure at the control point,
however it can be forced to generate higher BHP or equal to the formation pressure.
Trapping pressure must be used when it is impossible to provide flow through the MPD
Choke.
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Trapping pressure
No flow
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Pressure Balance Equation while trapping pressure
Once the operation is resumed, it is important to monitor all the parameters in case of a
possible influx. It is a good practice to circulate a bottoms up before drilling ahead.
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Pressure Balance Equation while Tripping
BHP = ΔPGravity + ΔPFriction + SBP + Swab/Surge + SD
ΔPGravity =
ΔPFriction =
Surf. Drop =
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Continuous Circulation Systems
Technique: keeps the ECD constant by not interrupting circulation during drilling. The
circulation can be maintained during connections or other interruptions to drilling progress by
using continuous circulating subs being added to the drill string.
Application: used on wells where the annular friction pressure needs to be constant and/or
to prevent cuttings settling in extended reach horizontal sections of the wellbore.
Pressure at control
point (psi)
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 (𝐦𝐢𝐧)
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Continuous Circulation System – Ec-d
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Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD)
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Pressured Mud Cap Drilling
Main drivers of the technique
Drilling through zones with total losses
Drilling through zones with hazardous reservoir fluids (e.g. H2S or CO2)
Pro: reduces the time and cost associated with continuous well control issues and
loss of drilling fluid.
Con:
Requires a zone that can take the cuttings and the drilling fluid used to drill
the section for a long period of time
Large quantities of sacrificial and mud cap drilling fluids
Complex operational procedures
Specialized equipment/personnel
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Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD)
A buffer manifold must be installed below the RCD to allow fluid to be pumped into
the annulus.
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Floating Mud Cap Drilling (MCD)
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Dual Gradient Drilling (DGD)
Technique
Control up-hole annular pressure
Mimic saltwater overburden with a lighter-density fluid by injecting less
dense media, or by filling the drilling riser with salt water while diverting
and pumping the mud and cuttings from the seabed floor to the surface.
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Dual Gradient Drilling (DGD)
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Return flow control
This method is using the RCD to divert the flow and increase safety in the drilling
operations.
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