Nygaard, R. 2011. Drilling laboratory manual for course PE313 Missouri S&T.
Copyright ©, Runar Nygaard, All Rights Reserved.
PE 313 Lab # 1. DESIGNING WELLBORE SCHEMATICS AND
ESTIMATING WELLBORE VOLUMES
Author: Runar Nygaard
Introduction
To drill a well, a hole in the ground is
excavated with a drilling bit at the
bottom of a drill stem which consists of
several sections of drill pipes up to the
drilling rig. Drilling fluids pumped down
the drill stem flows through the bit and
brings the rock fragments (drilling
cuttings) up outside the drill stem and
out of the wellbore. The space outside
the drill stem is called the annulus or
annular volume. The term annulus can
be used for any space between two
concentric objects in the wellbore.
Annulus can be between the open hole
and the outside of the drill stem, the
open hole and the outside of the casing,
two casings with different sizes or inside
of the casing and outside the drill stem
or production tubing.
When drilling a well the wellbore can
only be drilled to a certain depth before
the open hole has to be secured with a
thick steel pipe (casing). To secure the
casing and avoid any leakage outside the
casing the casing has to be cemented in
place. After the cement is solidified the
well can be drilled deeper but the
wellbore has to be smaller than the
inside diameter of the casing.
This laboratory exercise learning
outcome is to go through some important
nomenclature of the wellbore and train
you to use the software i-HandbookTM
from Schlumberger. We are going to use
the software for several projects and
homework throughout the semester. If
you plan to work as a drilling engineer
1
after you graduate you will also use this
handbook on a regular basis.
Laboratory Procedure
Today three different wellbore diagrams
will be constructed. But before we start
lets go through the overview of the i-
Handbook chapter with the software
open and follow each step closely to
learn how to use the software. Then go
through the example given in the chapter
wellbore schematics with i-Handbook.
After you have gone through the
example and understand how to make
wellbore drawings you are free to leave
the class or continue with the lab.
2nd part of this lab is to finish
constructing the two wellbores and
answer the questions given in wellbore
#1 and wellbore #2.
Overview of the i-HandbookTM
The i-Handbook is installed on the
computers in room McNutt 130 under
programs/Schlumberger or you can
download the software for free at
www.slb.com and install it on your
private computer. The following chapter
explains how to use the handbook. Have
the handbook open to see the
When you open the i-Handbook it opens
up on the title page (Figure 1).
 Nygaard, R. 2011. Drilling laboratory manual for course PE313 Missouri S&T.
Copyright ©, Runar Nygaard, All Rights Reserved.
column in Figure 2) are required. The ID
(inner diameter in in) is given in column
4. The three columns to the right are
related to casing strength and will be
addressed in the casing design lectures.

Figure 1. i-Handbook title page.

The tab to the upper left is marked

general info. If you click on the tab you
will get a table of content. Click on Figure 2. Casing data for 5 in casing.
Chapter 2 conversions factors. The
Drill pipe 4. Chapter
chapter lists conversion factors which
you will need for the Pet Eng 313 class. Figure 3 shows the drill pipe data listed
You can turn pages by clicking on the in the handbook. The drill pipe is
arrow in the upper corner on the page. If specified the same way the casing is
you flip 5 pages a unit conversion with OD, weight and steel grade. On the
calculator will appear. right side the pipe strength is given
which will be addressed in the drilling
stem lectures.
In addition to the general info tab the
three other tabs that will be used in this
course are;
• Coiled Tubing & Pipe Data
• Volume
• Cementing

Let’s start with the tab Coiled Tubing &

Pipe Data. In this section we will use the
following chapters;
• 2. Casing
• 4. Drill pipe
• 5. Drill collar sizes
• 6. Drill bits & casing clearance
Casing 2. Chapter
Figure 2 shows the casing data listed in
the handbook. To specify the casing the
OD (outer diameter in in), weight
(pounds per foot), and steel grade (3rd
2
Figure 3. Pipe data for 4.5 in and 5 in
drill pipe.
Drill collar sizes 5. Chapter
In the lower section of the drill stem drill
collars are used between the drilling bit
and the drill pipe. Drill collars provide
stability at the bottom of the drill stem,
weight to the bit and avoid the drill pipe
being damaged by buckling.
 Nygaard, R. 2011. Drilling laboratory manual for course PE313 Missouri S&T.
Copyright ©, Runar Nygaard, All Rights Reserved.
In the table the drill collar inner diameter
is given for different drill collar outer
diameter and weight per foot
combinations.
Drill bits & casing clearance 6. Chapter
Figure 4 shows the bit size that can be
used inside a specific casing size. If the
OD of the casing is 5.5 in and the weight
is 15.5 lbm/ft the maximum bit size is 4
¾ in bit. However if the weight of the
5.5 in casing is 14 lbm/ft a larger bit size
of 4 7/8 in bit can be used.
Figure 4. Casing sizes and bit clearance.
Volume tab
The volume tab gives volumes and
displacement for open holes, drill pipe
and casing. The annulus calculator
calculates annular volumes for any open
hole, drill pipe and casing configuration.
Wellbore schematics using the
i-HandbookTM
This chapter is a walk through example
of how to construct a wellbore with i-
Handbook. In the upper right toolbar in
the software click on the wellbore tab. A
new window named wellbore diagram
will appear. The new window includes
instructions on how to construct a
wellbore diagram. In this exercise we
will construct a wellbore with a 12 ¼ in
diameter surface hole down to 1000 ft
depth and an 8 ½ in production hole
down to 10,000 ft. The surface hole will
have a 9 5/8 in diameter casing with 53.5
lbm/ft weight and C-95 steel grade. The
3
production hole will have a 7 in casing
with weight of 20 lbm/ft and J-55 steel
grade.
First click on the wellbore hardware
icon. When a new pop-up window with
wellbore hardware appear select open
hole with the mouse and while holding
the mouse button drag the cursor with
the mouse over to the wellbore diagram.
A red rectangle will appear and when
you held the cursor over the red
rectangle release the mouse button and
the open hole properties window will
pop-up (Figure 5). Change diameter to
12 ¼ in and the depth to bottom to 1000
ft (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Open hole properties window.
Second step is to select another open
hole section in the wellbore hardware
window and drag the open hole with the
mouse until the red rectangle shows up
in the wellbore diagram window.
Change the open hole properties for this
wellbore which starts at 1000 feet to
diameter 8 ½ in and depth to bottom
10,000 ft.
Third step is to select surface casing.
Click on the pipe icon in the wellbore
diagram. The Select a tubular window
will pop up. In the first drop down menu
(Tubular type) select casing. Leave
 Nygaard, R. 2011. Drilling laboratory manual for course PE313 Missouri S&T.
Copyright ©, Runar Nygaard, All Rights Reserved.
Supplier and Brand as API. Scroll down 55.77 bbl should appear on the right
until you find the right casing outer hand side.
diameter of 9 5/8 in. Find the casing
with weight of 53.5 lbm/ft and C-95 6th step is to select the annular volume
steel grade. Click on the casing and hold outside the 7 in production casing. Select
the mouse button and drag the casing start volume and click in the annular
over to the wellbore diagram window. space between the 7 in casing and the 8
Change the casing properties to 1000 ft 5/8 in casing. Then click on the annular
depth to bottom. space between the 7 in casing and the
production hole. Then select end volume
Fourth step is to select the 7 in 20 lbm/ft and a volume of 226.42 bbl is shown
weight and J-55 steel type casing. The (Figure 6).
casing should start at 0 ft and end at
10,000 ft. If the legends are not showing, The final step is to calculate the volume
as seen on the left side of Figure 6, drag inside the 7 in casing and you should
down the legends hidden at 0 ft and until have an identical figure as seen in Figure
they are visible. 6.

Wellbore 1
First wellbore schematic to be
constructed is for a deep Rocky
Mountain vertical wellbore for gas
production. The actual well was drilled
in 2007 in the Leduc field in the
Canadian Rockies foothills. The total
depth of the well is 16,400 ft. The
surface hole was drilled down to 1970 ft
with a 17 ½ in drill bit. The surface
casing is a 13 3/8 in, 61 lbm/ft J-55
casing. The intermediate wellbore
section is drilled with a 12 ¼ in drill bit
down to 12,470 ft. The intermediate
section has a 9 5/8 in, 40 lbm/ft L-80
casing. The production casing is drilled
Figure 6. Final wellbore of example well
with an 8.5 in drilling bit and the
with volumes.
production casing is 7 in, weight of 38
lbm/ft and steel type L-80.
Fifth step is to determine volumes of the
annular space between the 9 5/8 in
First draw a wellbore schematics with all
casing and the 12 ¼ in wellbore. In the
the open hole sections and casings in
wellbore diagram window click on the
place.
start volume icon. Click inside the
annular space and click on the icon
Determine the volumes of the annular
which now says end volume. The area
space outside the surface casing. This
should be colored blue and a volume of
annular volume is gives the amount of

4
 Nygaard, R. 2011. Drilling laboratory manual for course PE313 Missouri S&T.
Copyright ©, Runar Nygaard, All Rights Reserved.
cement required to cement the surface
casing.
Determine the volume between the
intermediate casing and the intermediate
hole and surface casing. Normally the
lower casings are not cemented to the
surface. How much volume of cement is
required if the intermediate casing is
cemented just up to the bottom of the
surface casing?
Determine the volumes outside and
inside the production casing.
Wellbore 2
Second wellbore is a typical vertical
North Sea offshore well (where water
depth of 150 m and the conductor is
neglected). The surface section is drilled
with a 26 in drilling bit down to 1500 ft
where a 20 in 133 lbm/ft, J-55 casing is
set. Then an intermediate section is
drilled with a 17 ½ in drilling bit and
with a 9 5/8 in, 53.5 lbm/ft, L-80,
intermediate casing down to 4970 ft. The
reservoir section is drilled with an 8 ½ in
drilling bit and with a 7 in 35 lbm/ft, L-
80 casing down to 5700 ft.
Draw a wellbore schematic for this well
and calculate volumes of all annular
spaces and inside the production casing.
The following questions require partially
drawings of the wellbore schematics.
For the surface section what is the total
volume before the surface casing is in
the hole?
How much drilling fluid will the surface
casing displace?
What is the total volume of the
intermediate hole section before
intermediate casing is run?
The rig used to drill this well has two
400 bbl mud tanks (drilling fluid tanks)
with inside dimensions of; 50 ft long x
10 ft wide x 5 ft high -. Tank one is
completely full with drilling mud. The
tank has two feet of drilling fluids in it
after the production casing is drilled.
After the production casing has been run
what is the height of the drilling fluid in
tank one? (Hint: Calculate the volume of
the production casing in bbls change
units to cubic feet and divide the drilling
fluid volume by the area of the tank).
With the production section of 8 ½ in
could the surface hole have been drilled
with smaller diameter drilling bit?
Wellbore 3
For the final wellbore draw a wellbore
schematic of a 10,000 ft well including
three sections, a surface hole with
casing, intermediate hole with casing
and production hole with casing. The
wellbore requires a 5 in production
casing. You have to select casing depth,
hole sizes and casing diameters. You can
select any sizes you want but you have
to ensure that you have enough
tolerances between the casing and the
hole sizes.
Lab report instructions
Write a lab report according to the lab
format. Include a figure of all three
wellbore diagrams you have drawn.
Answer all the questions given for each
wellbore.
References
1. I-HandbookTM, www.slb.com