Drilling Engineering I

Practice Part
Dr. Dhorgham S. Ibrahim
oljdhorg@uni-miskolc.hu
 DRILLING FLUID
The drilling fluid is a large and important part of the
drilling operation, it is a mixture of clay, water, weighting
material, and chemicals,
 Drilling Fluid
The main factors governing the selection of drilling
fluids to be used on a particular well are:
 the types of formations to be drilled,
Performance
 the range of temperature, strength, permeability, and

pore fluid pressure exhibited by the formations,

 The quality and source of the water to be used in

building the fluid, and Economics

Selection
 ecological and environmental considerations.
Assessment

 In addition to the economic consideration.

 The cost of the drilling fluid, is comparatively
small as compared to the rig or casing costs; but,
the selection of the proper fluid and control of its Health, Safety, Environment
properties has considerable effect on the total
well cost.

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 Function of drilling fluid or mud
◦ remove cuttings from the well bore as they are produced
(Hole Cleaning);
◦ maintain drill cuttings in suspension when drilling
circulation is stopped (Suspend Solids);
◦ transmit hydraulic power to the drilling bit;
◦ maintain formation stability;
◦ maintain pressure on the formation (Pressure Control);
◦ control fluid loss through filtration (Minimize Formation
Damage);
◦ cool and lubricate the drill bit and string.

Fig. 1. Hole cleaning

The mud cake deposits during drilling operation.
on the walls of the
borehole
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 Types of Drilling Fluids
Drilling fluids are generally classified according to their base composition in to:
 It may be generally classified as liquid, gases, and liquid-gas mixtures.
 Although pure gas or gas liquid mixtures are used, they are not as common as
the liquid-based systems.
 Water-based drilling muds are the most commonly used fluids, while oil-based
muds are more expensive and require more environmental considerations.
• additives must often be added
to these fluids to overcome
specific downhole problems.

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 Drilling Mud Properties
The test equipment needed to perform the common drilling fluid properties
recommended by the API include:
◦ Rotational viscometer for determining gel strength and apparent viscosity at
various shear rates
◦ Mud balance for determining drilling fluid density
◦ Marsh funnel for checking drilling fluid consistency
◦ Filter press for determining mud filtration rate and mud cake characteristics
◦ pH meter for determining H + concentration
◦ sand screen for determining sand content
◦ Determination of liquid (oil, water) content and sand solids content (mud retort)

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Rotational Viscometer
 Viscometer
◦ The test is conducted at a range of
different speeds such as 600 rpm,
300 rpm, and 100 rpm etc.
(laboratory models can operate at 6
different speeds).
◦ The viscometer can be used to
determine rheological parameters
such as plastic viscosity and yield
point that describe non-Newtonian
fluid behavior.
◦ PV = 600 rpm–300 rpm
◦ YP = 300 rpm– PV
θ300=torque reading from the dial at a speed of 300 rpm,
θ600= torque reading from the dial at a speed of 600 rpm,
µp or PV = plastic viscosity, cp YP= yield point lb/100 ft2

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 Rheology of drilling fluids
 It is the study of the deformation and flow of matter (API) or it is the
relation between shear stress and shear rate.
 The relation called flow diagram, or Rheological diagram, or
rheogram

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 Drilling fluid rheology is important in the
following determinations:
 a) calculating frictional pressure losses in pipes and annulus
 b) determining equivalent circulating density of the drilling fluid
under downhole conditions
 c) determining flow regimes in the annulus
 d) estimating hole-cleaning efficiency
 e) estimating swab/surge pressures
 f) optimizing the drilling fluid circulating system for improved
drilling efficiency
 Rheology measurements
◦ Viscosity
 PV, plastic viscosity & YP, yield point
 n, flow behavior index & k, consistency index
◦ Gel Strengths

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 Definitions
 Shear rate,γ (sec -1): It refers to the change in fluid velocity divided
by the width of the channel through which the fluid is flowing in
laminar flow.
 Shear stress, τ (lb/100 ft2): The force per unit area required to
move a fluid at a given shear rate.
 Viscosity, µ (centipoises (cP)): This is the ratio of shear stress to
shear rate.
 Plastic viscosity, PV (cP): Plastic viscosity represents the
contribution to total viscosity of a fluid under dynamic flowing
conditions. Plastic viscosity is dependent on the size, shape, and
number of particles in a moving fluid. PV is calculated using shear
stresses measured at 600 and 300 rpm on the Fann viscometer.

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 Yield point, YP (lb/100 ft2):The minimum force required to
initiate flow.
 Yield stress (lb/100 ft2): This is the calculated force required
to initiate flow and is obtained when the rheogram (a plot of
shear stress vs shear rate) is extrapolated to the y-axis at γ =
0 sec -1.
 Gel strength (lb/100 ft2): All drilling fluids build a structure
when at rest. The gel strength is a time-dependent
measurement of the fluid. It measures the attractive forces of
a drilling fluid under static conditions. Gel strengths are
commonly measured after 10 seconds, 10 minutes, and 30
minutes intervals.

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FLUID TYPES
 There are two basic types of fluids: Newtonian and
non-Newtonian.
 Newtonian fluids are characterized by a constant

viscosity at a given temperature and pressure.

 Common Newtonian fluids include:

•Water •Diesel •Glycerin • Clear brines

 Non-Newtonian fluids have viscosities that depend on

measured shear rates for a given temperature and

pressure. Examples of non-Newtonian fluids include:
• Most drilling fluids • Cement slurries

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 Types of Fluids
Fluids can be classified by their rheological behavior in to:
 i) Newtonian fluid: they are those fluids which follow Newton's law of Viscosity.
which can be written mathematically as:

 Newtonian fluids are those fluids in which shear stress is linearly proportional to
shear rate at a constant temperature and pressure.
 Fluids whose viscosity remains constant with changing shear rate.
 Water, salt solution, and light oil are examples of Newtonian fluids. A single
viscosity measurement characterizes a Newtonian fluid at a specified temperature
and pressure

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 ii) Non-Newtonian Fluid: are those fluids whose shear stress is
not directly proportional to shear rate and cannot be described by a
single constant value of viscosity.
 Viscosity varies with changing shear rate.
 Most drilling fluids are non Newtonian.
Shear stress is not zero at a zero shear rate.

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 Non-Newtonian Rheological models
 The rheological models are critical for a drilling fluid study because
they are used to simulate the properties of drilling mud under
dynamic conditions.
 No single, commonly-used model completely describes rheological
behavior of drilling fluids over their entire shear- rate range.
 A plot of shear stress versus shear rate is often used to graphically
describe a rheological model.

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 Rheological models
 Rheological models are mathematical equations used to
predict fluid behaviour across a wide range of shear rates
and provide practical means of calculating pumping
(pressure) requirements for a given fluid.
 Most drilling fluids are non-Newtonian and, therefore,

hydraulic models use a number of approximations to arrive

at practical equations.
 There are three rheological models that are currently in use:

1. Bingham Plastic model

2. Power Law model
3. Herschel-Bulkley model

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 1. Bingham Plastic Model
• The most commonly used fluid model to determine the rheology of
non-Newtonian fluid is the Bingham plastic model.
• This model assumes that the shear rate is a straight line function
of the shear stress.
• The point where the shear rate is zero is called “Yield Point”, and
the slope of the shear stress and the shear rate curve is called
“Plastic Viscosity.”
• Bingham plastic model produces acceptable results for a drilling
mud diagnosis, whereas it is not accurate enough for hydraulic
calculations.

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Bingham Plastic Model
 The equation of this relationship can be expressed as:

Plastic Viscosity (PV or ) can be determined by the following formula;

Plastic Viscosity (PV) = reading at 600 rpm – reading at 300 rpm
Yield Point (YP or ) can be determined by the following formula;
Yield Point (YP) = reading at 300 rpm – Plastic Viscosity (PV)

It is valid only for laminar flow. It is

working well for higher shear rates.
However, the model gives a
significant error at low shear rates.
YP for low shear rate can be
calculated from the following eq.
YP (Low Shear Rate)= (2 × θ3) - θ6
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 2. Power-Law Model
 The rheological equation for the power law model can be given as:
or
 the flow behavior index (n) and the consistency index (K) can be
calculated from the dial reading at 600 and 300 RPM (two reading)
using Fann V-G meter which is written as:

For 6 reading from (V-G Meter):

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 This model describes fluids in which the rheogram is a straight line when plotted on a
log-log graph and if plotted on Cartesian paper the graph becomes curve line.
 The drawback of this model is that at zero shear rate, the shear stress is zero. This does
not truly represent drilling mud because drilling mud has a residual shear strength at a
zero shear rate.

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3. Herschel-Bulkley model:
 It is a combination of the Bingham Plastic and the Power law models. It is
also known as modified power-law model.
 This model is preferable compared to power law or Bingham models
because it gives more accurate rheological behavior when adequate
experimental data are available.
 This model is an improvement model from Power Law model in order to
match the actual behavior of drilling fluid at a low shear rate by assuming an
initial shear stress value. Herschel Bulkley can be described as per the
equation below.

The parameter “Ty" is the fluid yield stress

at zero shear rate. In theory, this yield
stress is identical to the Bingham plastic
yield point (YP), but, the calculated value
is always smaller.
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How to select the best Rheological model
 Measure the rheological properties at different rotor speed (Ø rpm) using
viscometer. At each (Ø rpm) can read the dial reading (° deflection)
 There are instrument conversion factors that need to be applied in the calculations.
i. Shear stress (lbf/100ft2) is determined by multiplying the dial reading (° deflection) by 1.067, =1.067x
This correction is sometimes ignored in doing simple calculations.
ii. Shear rate (s-1) is determined by multiplying the rotor speed by 1.703, =1.703 x Ø

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iii. calculate the parameters for each model, n, k, PV, YP, Ty
iv. calculate τ cal. from each model equation
v. calculate the Absolute Average Percentage Error 𝐴𝐴𝑃E

Ø rpm ɣ (s-1) τ meas (lbf/100ft2) = 1.067 τ cal

θ
600 1021.8
300 511.9
200 340.6
100 170.3
6 10.22
3 5.11

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 examples
Example 1: The following Fann 35 data of fluid, Can the fluid behavior be accurately modeled by the
Newtonian model?
Solution:
i. transfer dial reading to shear stress τ (measured) by
multiplying the dial reading by 1.067.
ii. transfer rotor speed to shear rate ɣ by multiplying the
rotor speed by 1.703.

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The behavior of modeled fluid
 Making a plot of shear stress (ordinate) vs. shear rate (abscissa) on Cartesian paper
shows the fluid behaves as a non Newtonian fluid. Shear stress is not zero at a zero
shear rate. Also, the relationship between the shear stress is not directly proportional to
shear rate and cannot be described by a single constant value of viscosity. Curve of
drilling mud is not in a straight line. It means that viscosity is not a constant value.

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Example 2: Select the best Rheological model (lowest AAPE) of the previous data
of the drilling fluid?
1. Apply Bingham Plastic Model

2. calculate the parameters for the Bingham Plastic Model: PV, YP

 PV = 600 rpm –300 rpm= 53.3-31.98= 21.32 c.p
 YP = 300 rpm – PV=31.98-21.32= 10.66 lbf/100 ft2
 1 c.p=2.0886x10-3 lbf.sec/100 ft2
iv. calculate τ cal. for each ɣ

T cal= 10.66 + (0.0021 x 21.32 x 5.109)= 10.888

  calculate the Absolute Average Percentage Error 𝐴𝐴𝑃E

T cal T meas AAPE

The following figure shows a comparison between
56.40803 53.35 0.05732 real data (measured using viscometer) and the
33.53401 32.01 0.047611 calculated using Bingham Model. We can see the
25.90934 23.474 0.103746 model gives a significant error especially at low shear
18.28467 13.871 0.318194
11.11748 3.5211 2.157388
rates. The reason of that, is the model parameters (PV,
10.88874 2.134 4.102502 YP) depends on only two reading and

Total AAPE= 1.131127

Rheology behavior 27
 2.) Power-Law Model

T meas Log T Log G Log T*log G Log G2 T cal AAPE

53.35 1.727134 3.009366 5.197579 9.056283 46.88525 0.121176
32.01 1.505286 2.708336 4.076819 7.335083 31.33249 0.021166
23.474 1.370587 2.532245 3.470662 6.412263 24.75154 0.054424
13.871 1.142108 2.231215 2.548288 4.978319 16.54097 0.192486
3.5211 0.546678 1.009366 0.551798 1.01882 3.221713 0.085027
2.134 0.329194 0.708336 0.23318 0.50174 2.153007 0.008907
Sum=6.620988 12.19886 16.07833 29.30251 0.080531

n=0.5814
k= 0.834

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Log-Log paper
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 3.Herschel-Bulkley model:

T meas Log (T-Ty) Log G Log (T-Ty)*log G Log G2 T cal AAPE

53.35 1.721011 3.009366 5.179153 9.056283 49.16298 0.078482
32.01 1.495032 2.708336 4.049049 7.335083 31.50288 0.015843
23.474 1.356544 2.532245 3.435101 6.412263 24.33303 0.036595
13.871 1.11807 2.231215 2.494653 4.978319 15.72983 0.134008
3.5211 0.443138 1.009366 0.447288 1.01882 3.122376 0.113239
2.134 0.142108 0.708336 0.10066 0.50174 2.255904 0.057125
6.275902 12.19886 15.7059 29.30251 0.072549

Ty=2 x 2.134-3.5211=0.7469
n=0.65462
k= 0.5188

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 Log-Log paper
Best Rheological model (lowest AAPE)
1. Herschel-Bulkley model: AAPE= 0.072549
2. Power-Law Model: AAPE= 0.080531
3. Bingham Plastic Model: AAPE= 1.131127

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Thank you

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