Horizontal fracture-simulated completions remain the most reliable method of producing hydrocarbons from shale formations. The vast majority of unconventional wells are completed using the “Plug and Perf” method. Th...Horizontal fracture-simulated completions remain the most reliable method of producing hydrocarbons from shale formations. The vast majority of unconventional wells are completed using the “Plug and Perf” method. This method involves using either a coiled tubing (CT) with a positive displacement motor or a jointed pipe to mill out composite plugs after fracturing operations are completed. An estimated average of 120,000 composite plugs is installed in the US alone each year. Bridge plug drillouts from milling operations tend to accumulate in horizontal wells and can cause stuck pipe incidents and loss of well control. Efficient removal of composite plugs’ debris is crucial in achieving operational efficacies and full production potential. This paper provides an overview of the various bridge plug drillouts cleaning practices adopted in horizontal wells. It discusses several case histories, showcasing how operators solved cleanout challenges. Developed mechanistic models to better understand hole cleaning are also reviewed. As more unconventional wells are being set at more extensive depths, an economical and optimized coiled tubing process becomes increasingly important. This paper focuses on delivering a more conclusive set of recommendations to increase efficiency and improve current composite plug coiled tubing cleaning-milling practices, increase operational efficiency and reduce cost.展开更多
An improved method to determine cutting force coefficients for bull-nose cutters is proposed based on the semi-mechanistic cutting force model. Due to variations of cutting speed along the tool axis in bull-nose milli...An improved method to determine cutting force coefficients for bull-nose cutters is proposed based on the semi-mechanistic cutting force model. Due to variations of cutting speed along the tool axis in bull-nose milling, they affect coefficients significantly and may bring remarkable discrepancies in the prediction of cutting forces. Firstly, the bull-nose cutter is regarded as a finite number of axial discs piled up along the tool axis, and the rigid cutting force model is exerted. Then through discretization along cutting edges, the cutting force related to each element is recalculated, which equals to differential force value between the current and previous elements. In addition, coefficient identification adopts the cubic polynomial fitting method with the slice elevation as its horizontal axis. By calculating relations of cutting speed and cutting depth, the influences of speed variations on cutting force can be derived. Thereby, several tests are conducted to calibrate the coefficients using the improved method, which are applied to later force predictions. Eventually, experimental evaluations are discussed to verify the effectiveness. Compared to the conventional method, the results are more accurate and show satisfactory consistency with the simulations. For further applications, the method is instructive to predict the cutting forces in bull-nose milling with lead or tilt angles and can be extended to the selection of cutting parameters.展开更多
文摘Horizontal fracture-simulated completions remain the most reliable method of producing hydrocarbons from shale formations. The vast majority of unconventional wells are completed using the “Plug and Perf” method. This method involves using either a coiled tubing (CT) with a positive displacement motor or a jointed pipe to mill out composite plugs after fracturing operations are completed. An estimated average of 120,000 composite plugs is installed in the US alone each year. Bridge plug drillouts from milling operations tend to accumulate in horizontal wells and can cause stuck pipe incidents and loss of well control. Efficient removal of composite plugs’ debris is crucial in achieving operational efficacies and full production potential. This paper provides an overview of the various bridge plug drillouts cleaning practices adopted in horizontal wells. It discusses several case histories, showcasing how operators solved cleanout challenges. Developed mechanistic models to better understand hole cleaning are also reviewed. As more unconventional wells are being set at more extensive depths, an economical and optimized coiled tubing process becomes increasingly important. This paper focuses on delivering a more conclusive set of recommendations to increase efficiency and improve current composite plug coiled tubing cleaning-milling practices, increase operational efficiency and reduce cost.
基金the Postgraduate Seed Fund of Northwestern Polytechnical University(No.Z2012038)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51005183)National Key S&T Special Projects(No.2011X04016-031)
文摘An improved method to determine cutting force coefficients for bull-nose cutters is proposed based on the semi-mechanistic cutting force model. Due to variations of cutting speed along the tool axis in bull-nose milling, they affect coefficients significantly and may bring remarkable discrepancies in the prediction of cutting forces. Firstly, the bull-nose cutter is regarded as a finite number of axial discs piled up along the tool axis, and the rigid cutting force model is exerted. Then through discretization along cutting edges, the cutting force related to each element is recalculated, which equals to differential force value between the current and previous elements. In addition, coefficient identification adopts the cubic polynomial fitting method with the slice elevation as its horizontal axis. By calculating relations of cutting speed and cutting depth, the influences of speed variations on cutting force can be derived. Thereby, several tests are conducted to calibrate the coefficients using the improved method, which are applied to later force predictions. Eventually, experimental evaluations are discussed to verify the effectiveness. Compared to the conventional method, the results are more accurate and show satisfactory consistency with the simulations. For further applications, the method is instructive to predict the cutting forces in bull-nose milling with lead or tilt angles and can be extended to the selection of cutting parameters.
