Eventos Anais de eventos
ENCIT 2022
19th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering
Experimental Study of Fracture-Filling by a Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow With Particulate Material
Submission Author:
Felipe Pereira , PR , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Felipe Pereira, Cássio Schneider, Vinicius Gustavo Poletto , Fernando Cesar De Lai, Andre Leibsohn Martins, Silvio L. M. Junqueira
Presenter: Felipe Pereira
doi://10.26678/ABCM.ENCIT2022.CIT22-0503
Abstract
The presence of fractures, frequent in the reservoirs, together with the pressure gradients inside the wellbore, significantly accentuates fluid leakage into the rock formation. Adding LCM (lost circulation materials) to the drilling fluid is an alternative corrective method to mitigate and control this issue. In the present work, we study the use of APU particles (abrasive plastic urea) acting as loss of circulation material combined with a non-Newtonian Herschel-Bulkley fluid to fill a fracture transversely located to a vertical channel. To characterize the lost flow rate, one built an experimental apparatus to monitor the pressure gradient caused by a valve opening at the end of the fracture. Using the APU solid particles combined with the non-Newtonian fluid effectively treats the lost circulation problem. As the main finding, adding LCM particles with an average diameter of 0.363 mm to a Herschel-Bulkley fluid with an apparent viscosity of 10cP avoids the loss of circulation by fully recovering the annular channel flow rate after suffering a fluid loss of 35%. Finally, results for the particulate beds formed during the fracture filling process and their respective geometries are also investigated.
Keywords
Non-Newtonian fluid, fracture, Lost circulation materials, Herschel-Bulkley
