MODELING CUTTINGS TRANSPORT MECHANISM IN HORIZONTAL WELL

Cuttings transport becomes a major problem to handle in oil and gas industry. It is a complex process to transport cuttings from vertical well and it is become more complex if the well is horizontal. Transporting cuttings from wellbore is important because if the well is inadequate in hole cleaning, it can lead to many serious problem. Since then, for the past few decades, many researches and studies have been made, objectively to understand in detail the mechanism of cuttings transport in wellbore. The problem was identified and researchers tried to come out with possible methods to overcome this problem. There are many models and methods have been developed to investigate the cuttings transport in wellbore. Mathematical model, empirical model, theoretical model, and also experimental work have been done in order to solve the problem. Some characteristics and parameters that affect the transportation process have been identified. In this project, the modeling using simulation's software is a new method used in study the cuttings transport mechanism in horizontal well. ANSYS II. 0 is used in this project as a tool in modeling and simulating the cuttings transport mechanism. The use of ANSYS I I .0 in modeling cuttings transport mechanism in horizontal well provides a simple workable method compared to experimental work. ANSYS 11.0 allowed user to investigate the unlimited parameters and the operational conditions of the wellbores also can be designed at any conditions. It means that, using this software eliminates all physical difficulties in study the cuttings transport mechanism. The main purpose of this project is to model a cuttings transport mechanism in horizontal well using ANSYS. The wellbore conditions will be design in this software and the investigation of the parameters that effect the transportation is done by comparing various set of parameters. Using two different sizes of particles, 0.185 inches and 0.274 inches, the simulation simulate three type of fluid with different density, 998.2 kg/m3 , I 198 kg/m3 , and 1497 kg/m3 by setting its annular velocity to 20 m/s, 40 mls, and 60 m/s. The result of the project is expected to be in graph diagram, where it compares all parameters