Monitoring Wellbore Cleaning and Borehole Stability

with Accurate Cutting Volume Measurement:

Case History Confirms the Importance of Careful Well
Planning
F. Anglereaux, P. McPhillimy

Table of Contents

1. Wellbore Stability and Hole Cleaning

2. Cutting Volume Monitoring System
3. Case History
4. Well services planning
5. Decisions Workflow on the rig

6. Conclusions

1. Wellbore Stability and Hole

Cleaning
How critical is borehole stability?

Rig rates
Deepwater Rigs

Risk

Semis
Surface of exposed section

Jackups
Land

Time factor
Different Formation
pressures

Section Length

Water Depth

When Risk and Day Rates both increase, monitoring

wellstability becomes crucial.
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1. Wellbore Stability and Hole

Cleaning

More than anywhere else, In deepwater and/or

high angle long hole sections:
1. Drilling Safety must be guaranteed.
2. Non Productive Time must be minimized.
3. Target must be reached.

A direct, quantitative measurement of hole

stability and hole cleaning is vital information to
reach these three objectives.
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2. Cutting Volume Monitoring

System
Measuring the volume of rock flowing out of the well provides a
quantitative, direct indication of hole cleaning and wellbore stability in
Real-Time.
The concept is straightforward:
The amount of cavings measured at
surface enables to gauge exactly
position, size and evolution of unstable
well sections.
A volume of cuttings coming to surface
lower than the expected theoretical
volume indicates a hole cleaning
problem.

2. Cutting Volume Monitoring

System
The technology to accurately measure rock volumes coming out of a well
exists, and has been around for a few years.
The weight of solids coming out of the hole is measured
by dedicated machines installed at the shakers
By applying a series of coefficients for density and
drilling mud parameters, the weight is transformed in a
volume
The difference between this volume
and the theoretical rock volume
excavated in a given time indicates
and quantifies hole stability issues
and hole cleaning efficiency

3. Case History
Case 1: Measurement of true hole volume for cement calculations: pseudocaliper log.
Computed 17 Hole Volume
m3 124.50

Hole Volume from Cutting Volume

Measurement:
m3 193.30
Hole Volume from Caliper:
m3 203.85
The total hole volume is within 5% of
the wireline caliper reading
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3. Case History
Case 2: Measurement of true hole volume for cement calculations: cavings
collected during wiper trip.
The section report shows
that a wiper trip at 6770
has generated 47 bbls of
solids returns.
This information leads to
two conclusions:

47 bbls
cavings

47 extra bbls need to be

accounted for in the
cement slurry calculations.
Since no significant stability problems were detected to that point, it is worth
reviewing the wiper trip procedure. Can the wiper trip itself be the cause?
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3. Case History
Case 3: Confirm Correct cuttings recovery.

A wiper trip was performed at the end of this

section prior to POOH to inspect the BHA
(washout).
A deficit of cuttings was identified while
drilling.

During the wiper trip all missing cuttings

were recovered.
This type of volume monitoring system enables to decide in Real-Time when to
stop conditioning the well according to the solids return.
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3. Case History
Case 4: Trading-off between well cleaning
and hole integrity.
While drilling this section, the hole seemed
in-gauge until 14780, with approximately 9
bbls of cuttings left in hole.

During the following circulation, an excess 8

bbls were recovered.
Drilling resumed with hole cleaning issues. At
this point both phenomena are active.
Recognizing this, a subsequent wiper trip is cut
short to prevent further hole damage.

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3. Case History
Case 5: Sliding / Rotary effect.

When drilling directional wells, sliding mode is often associated with poor
well cleaning. Accurate volume monitoring can confirm that.
Cuttings returns indicate clearly that:
Rotary

- Sliding causes poor hole cleaning

(almost 40% of the cuttings stay in the
hole).
- Rotary drilling is necessary and
sufficient to re-establish correct solids
returns.

Sliding

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4. Well Services Planning

Once the benefit from such technology have been ascertained , was it
introduced in all critical stability wells?
Not really. And here are the reasons statistically more common for this
under-utilization:
the lazyboy effect (It is a hassle to install an extra system
on a rig).
The cheap option (lets save some money, it will be all right
anyway)

Old habits die hard (why cant we do it the usual way?)

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4. Well Services Planning

Cutting volume measurement systems have the potential of saving
significant rig time, if not the entire well. It is crucial that the utilization of
CVM
these systems is considered during well planning
150mm

ZARANDA
350mm

305mm
70mm

200mm
Modified to 300 mm.
430mm

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5. Decisions workflow on the rig

Any new technique or data set utilized on the field can only provide benefit
if its data are utilized correctly.
Traditional workflows, when decisions need to be taken with regards to
well stability and related procedures, do not place significant weight on
surface logging data.
CoMan
Presents to Co
Man the problem

TP
Detects and
Informs TP
of stability
issues

May Require
qualitative data
from Mudlogger

Logger
Checks with
Mud Eng mud
conditions

Driller

Mud Eng
CoMan
instructs TP
and Mud Eng
on plan ahead

In this work flow, the mudlogger has a passive role and the data he provides
are qualitative. He does not have the tools or the framework to add value.
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5. Decisions workflow on the rig

In the proposed workflow, the cutting volume quantification has a central
and active role.
Its results trigger the action and are completed annd analyzed together
with the information gathered by the other 3rd parties.
CoMan
Reviews data and
checks with TP,
Driller, Mud Eng

TP
Checks with
Mud Eng
mud
conditions

Measures solid
returns and
reports anomalies

Logger
Analysis of the
complete
scenario

CoMan
instructs all on
plan ahead

Collaborative
Environment

Mud Eng
Driller

Confirms
stability issues

In this work flow, the mudlogger has an active role and the data he provides
are quantitative. He is put in the right conditions to add value.
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Conclusions

Cutting volume measurement systems have the

potential of saving significant rig time, if not the
entire well.
It is crucial that the utilization of these systems
is considered during the well planning, and that
the dataset generated becomes part of the
Real-Time decision-making process, to
maximize the benefit of such systems.

16

Monitoring Wellbore Cleaning and Borehole Stability

with Accurate Cutting Volume Measurement:
Case History Confirms the Importance of Careful Well
Planning
F. Anglereaux, P. McPhillimy

Q&A session