Borehole Problems

It has been observed that the drilling mud is the

source of most encountered hole problems and
drilling hazards. Therefore proper control of the
drilling fluid properties is essential to achieve the
drilling objective without running into problems
like:

1. Blowouts,

2. Lost circulation,

3. Stuck pipe (differential, keyseats, etc.),

4. Heaving shale,

5. Hole enlargements.

Some of the problems mentioned above are dis- Figure 10.1: Sketch of borehole when
cussed in the following, kick detection, removal drilling through soft and hard formations
and blowout control is presented in the
proceeding chap-ter.

10.1 Differential Pipe Sticking

In general the drillpipe gets stuck in the hole due to various reasons. Some of them are:

1. Keyseating,

2. Pressure differential between formation and borehole,

3. Bit and drill collar balling,

4. Foreign objects or junk in the borehole,

5. Sloughing formations (heaving shales),

6. Improper solids removal leaving cuttings above the bit or drill collar.
A drillstring is called differential stuck when it is motionless and forced against a permeable
for-mation (mud cake) due to excessive differential pressure (overbalance). In this situation,
sketched in figure 10.2, a section of the drillstring is pressed into the mud cake and literally
glued to the borehole wall.

Figure 10.2: Differentially Stuck Drillstring

Danger of becoming differentially stuck is high when the drillstring is static in the hole for an
extended time and thick mud cakes are present. It should be noted that the force that “glues”
the drillstring on to the borehole wall and is given by equation 10.1, increases with time.
 Fst = 12.hf .tmc. (ph − pf ) .f (10.1)
When the borehole is in-gauge, the term A = hf .tmc is expressed by:
A = 2.hf . − t . d2 − d

t
2 − tmc 22 − mc 1 (10.2)

d2 − mc
2 2

d2 d

for
d
t 1 d2 − tmc (10.3)
mc ≤ 2 ≤ 2
where:

Fst
[lbf] ... force necessary to free pipe
h
f [ft] ... formation thickness
t
cm [in] ... thickness of mud cake
p
h [psi] ... hydrostatic pressure in the borehole
p
f [psi] ... formation pressure
f [1] ... friction factor, function of time,
d1 [in] ... outer diameter of the drillstring where it is stuck
d2 [in] ... borehole diameter where pipe is stuck
12 [in/ft] ... conversion factor [in] -> [ft]

The friction factor f depends on the composition of the mud cake, variation of the contact
between drillstring and mud cake and the time since the drillstring got stuck. The value of the
friction factor ranges from 0.2 to 0.6.
To minimize the danger of getting differentially stuck, following precautions should be
applied:

1. Minimize the differential pressure (overbalance) between borehole pressure and

formation pressure,

2. Maintain efficient control of the mud properties,

3. Minimize the contact area between drillstring and borehole,

4. Minimize the non-rotating time of the drillstring,

5. Minimize the friction factor.

The contact area between the drillstring and the borehole can be minimized by:
 1. Using stabilizers on the drill collars,

2. Using grooved or noncircular drill collars,

3. Using drill collars with external upset,

4. Minimize filter cake thickness through proper design of the drilling mud.

The friction factor can be minimized by using low water-loss muds, oil-base muds and walnut
hulls.

10.2 Free Point Calculation

In order to take actions to free the pipe, the knowledge of the depth where the drillstring is stuck,
also called “free point”, is vital. Two methods are available to verify the free point location:
(a) measurement of the drillstring stretch, measured at the surface when the string is pull with
a certain amount of overpull and, (b) usage of so called “free point indicators”. Free point
indicators, which are either strain gauge probes or subsurface probes, are special gauge
tools that measure the strain in the drillstring.
To compute the free point based on the drillpipe stretch, only measurements taken at the
derrick are required. The procedure is summarized as:

1. Pulling the drillstring with normal hook load and mark a reference point X1 on the pipe.

2. Pull the drillstring with additional 20,000 to 40,000 [lbf], a force F that causes a stretch
of the free portion of the drillstring. At the reference point-level, mark the drill pipe for
X2. The stretch in [in] is given by X2 −X1. Note that the applied overpull force must not
exceed the yield strength of the pipe or the joints.

3. Use equation 10.4 to compute the free point location:

Lst = 735, 294. (X2 − X1) .Wdp (10.4)

F
where:

Lst
[ft] ... length of free portion of the pipe, depth of free point
W
dp [lb/ft] ... nominal weight of drillpipe
F [lbf] ... additional force (overpull)

As it can be seen, equation 10.4 accounts for the stretch of the drillpipe only.
10.3 Freeing Differentially Stuck Pipe

When the location of the free point is verified, following methods to free the drillstring are
possible and should be tried in the order they are listed below.

10.3.1 Spotting Organic Fluids

A mixture of diesel and surfactants is pumped to the location where the drillstring is stuck. This is
performed by pumping the mixture through the drillstring and up the annulus to the free point
depth. Since the mixture is meant to reduce the thickness of the mud cake and the friction factor,
sufficient time has to be allowed so that the mixture can be dissolved and the mud cake
destroyed. While spotting, the drillstring is worked continuously to free the drillstring.

10.3.2 Hydrostatic Pressure Reduction

This method aims to create a pressure differential between the inside of the drillpipe and the
annulus by pumping lower density fluid into the drillpipe. Since the hydrostatic pressure from
the fluid inside the drillpipe and from the annulus have to be the same at the bottom of the
hole, the mud level at the annulus as well as the pressure at the free point are reduced. The
amount of low density fluid to be pumped into the drillstring and the resulting maximum
drillpipe gauge pressures are given by:
Vo = .
ρm − ρo ρm − 0.052.Lst . 1 + Vdp . 1 − ρm
L .V p V ρ
st dp p an o
(10.5)

Vo
(10.6)
(p ) = 0.052. V
dp max (ρm − ρo) dp .

The fluid level drop in the annulus [ft] can be computed with:

pp
(10.7)
∆F L = L −
st 0.052.ρm
The equivalent mud weight during this bleed-off procedure is found as:

(p ) pdp
dp max −
ρe = ρm − 0.052.Lst. 1 + Vdp 1−
. ρm (10.8)
Van ρo

where:

Vdp
[bbl/ft]...capacity of drillpipe
 Van
[bbl/ft] ... capacity of annulus
p
p [psi] ... pore pressure
p
dp [psi] ... pressure within the drillpipe,
measured at the surface
(p )
dp max [psi] ... maximum drillpipe pressure
ρ
m [ppg] ... mud density
ρo [ppg] ... density of fluid pumped down
Vo [bbl] ... volume of the fluid pumped down
L
st [ft] ... length of the drillstring
D [ft] ... total depth of the well (MD)

It should be noted that precautions have to be taken that formations above the free point do
not kick due to the pressure reduction of the annulus.
As alternative procedure to the method described above, the low density fluid can be pumped
into both, the drillpipe and the annulus. Here the volumes of low density fluid required to
reduce the differential pressure Vo and the volume of mud Vm required to pump behind the
low density fluid are determined by:

pp
− Lst.ρm
Vo = Van. 0.052 (10.9)
ρo − ρm

Vm = Vdp.Lst + Van. (D − Lst) (10.10)

10.3.3 Backoff Operations

When all attempts to free the stuck drillstring failed, backoff operations are the last
alternative. By backoff operations parting the drillstring above the free point, recovering the
free part of the drillstring and fishing the remaining, stuck part of the string are understood.

Parting of the Drillstring

Nowadays four different methods are applied to part the drillstring:

1. Unscrew the pipe at a selective threaded joint above the stuck point using a prima cord
explosive run on a electric wireline.

2. Chemical cut - An electrical wireline tool and procedure that uses a propellant and a
chem-ical, halogen fluoride, to burn a series of holes in the pipe thereby weakening it so
that it easily pulls apart with a slight pull.
 3. Jet cut - A cut made by an explosive sharped with a concave face and formed in a
circle. It is also run and fired on an electric line.

4. Mechanical cut - A cut made with a set of knives installed in a tool and run on a small
diameter work string.

After the drillstring is separated, fishing operations can commence. First so called “lead
impression blocks” are run to check how the fish’s surface looks alike. Afterwards special
catching tools like ones listed below are run.

1. Overshot dressed with basket grapple,

2. Overshot dressed with spiral grapple,

3. Taper tap,

4. Box tap, etc.

When the fishing operations are not successful, the well has to be plugged back leaving the
fish in the hole. Subsequent operations are sidetracking or, depending on the well economics
and objectives, abandoning. Note that when “while running tools” are mounted on the
drillstring, they are lost in the hole which can jeopardize the drilling project economics.

10.4 Lost Circulation Control

Out of the problems encountered when drilling a well, lost circulation is the most common one.
By definition, lost circulation is the complete or partial loss of drilling fluid into formation(s).
Typical formations where lost circulation are prone to occur are:

1. Natural or induced fractured formations,

2. Faulted, jointed or fissure formations,

3. Vugular or cavernous formations,

4. Coarsely permeable unconsolidated formations.

Methods to identify and locate zone of lost circulation are:

1. Spinner survey,

2. Temperature survey,

3. Radioactive tracer survey,

 4. Hot wire survey,

5. Pressure transducer survey.

Lost circulation material is added to the drilling mud to bridge-off the large openings of the
formations and thus help control it. Table 10.3 list some of the most commonly used lost
circulation additives.

Figure 10.3: Common used additives for lost circulation

10.5 Keyseats

Figure 10.4: Different keyseat scenarios

 Reference :

- Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang F. Prassl, Curtin University of Technology | Issue

:5

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