Tag: SOLIDS CONTROL IN UNDERBALANCED DRILLING

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UNDERBALANCED DRILLING SOLIDS-CONTROL POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Shale

In general, thick shale sections cause problems with UBD. They slough or cave into the hole. This is probably due to thick shale sections having some elements of laminating, geo pressuring, or sensitivity to water. As a general rule, thick shale sections should not be drilled underbalanced. In the special case of air/gas drilling, shale usually remains stable as long as it is kept dry. Even the small amount of water in mist drilling will destabilize most shale. These formations need to be put behind casing within a few days. Watch out for excessive caving and especially long, thin cuttings. Once caving starts, it cannot be controlled with under-balance operations.

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AIR/GAS DRILLING

The extreme under-balanced that results when drilling with air or gas allows large disc-shaped cuttings to break from the formation with the impact of the bit tooth. These cuttings are degraded to dust as the turbulent airlifts them to the surface. Solids control while air drilling (including natural gas and nitrogen) consists of controlling atmospheric pollution, collecting samples, and disposing of cuttings and liquids. Normally there is no recovery or reuse of the air or gas except for a few occasions in natural-gas drilling when the gas is recycled to the gas plant. An elaborate separator/cleaning/recompressing system is required to recycle the gas. It is usually more economical to flare the gas than to recover and clean it (see Figure 1.)

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UNDERBALANCED DRILLING FUNDAMENTALS

Underbalanced drilling (UBD) is defined as ‘‘deliberately drilling into a formation in which the formation pressure, or pore pressure, is greater than the pressure exerted by the annular fluid or gas column’’ (IBD HSE Forum, IADC 2002). In this respect, ‘‘balanced’’ pressure drilling is a subcategory of underbalanced drilling because the annular pressure may fall below the formation pressure during pipe movement. Underbalanced drilling is used to avoid or limit lost circulation and as a method to protect reservoirs, prevent differential sticking, and increase the drilling rate.

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