MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND PETROLEUM STUDIES

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2

Group Members

NAME REG NO STUDENT NO

OYIRE GERALD 17/U/1057 217000092

NSEKANABO PAUL 17/U/9200/PS 217013728

TUSINGWIRE CALEB 17/U/18536/PS 217019868

BAKKABULINDI EMMANUEL 17/U/3443/PS 217010602

Lecturer: Mr Kawule Wycliff

Date of submission: 28th May, 2021

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 1

QUESTION ONE
Enumerate the causes and mitigation measures of the following drilling problems:
i. Human- and equipment-related
Causes.
Human related;
Given equal conditions during drilling/completion operations, personnel are the key to the
success or failure of those operations. These problems include;
 Poor supervision.  Lack of commitment.
 Poor communication.  Inadequate technical knowledge.

Equipment related;
The integrity of drilling equipment and its maintenance are major factors in minimizing drilling
problems. These problems include;
 Outdated and worn-out tools
 Low quality equipment
 Poor monitoring, management and maintenance of the equipment

Mitigations;
 Continuing education and training for personnel directly or indirectly involved is
essential to successful drilling/completion practices.
 Proper rig hydraulics (pump power) for efficient bottom and annular hole cleaning
 Proper hoisting power for efficient tripping out
 Well-control systems that allow kick control under any kick situation.
 Proper monitoring and recording systems that monitor trend changes in all drilling
parameters and can retrieve drilling data at a later date
 Proper tubular hardware to accommodate all anticipated drilling conditions.
ii. Formation damage
Damage Mechanisms
Formation damage is a combination of several mechanisms including solids plugging, clay-
particle swelling or dispersion, saturation changes, wettability reversal, emulsion blockage,
aqueous-filtrate blockage, and mutual precipitation of soluble salts in wellbore-fluid filtrate and
formation water.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 2

  Solids Plugging. Fig. 1 shows that the plugging of the reservoir-rock pore spaces can be
caused by the fine solids in the mud filtrate or solids dislodged by the filtrate within the
rock matrix. To minimize this form of damage, minimize the quantity of fine solids in the
mud system and fluid loss.

Figure 1: Plugging of the reservoir rock pores spaces

 Clay-Particle Swelling. This is an inherent problem in sandstone that contains water-
sensitive clays. When a fresh-water filtrate invades the reservoir rock, it will cause the
clay to swell and thus reduce or totally block the throat areas.
 Saturation Change. Production is predicated on the amount of saturation within the
reservoir rock. When a mud-system filtrate enters the reservoir, it will cause some change
in water saturation and, therefore, potential reduction in production.
 Wettability Reversal. Reservoir rocks are water-wet in nature. It has been demonstrated
that while drilling with oil-based mud systems, excess surfactants in the mud filtrate that
enter the rock cause wettability reversal.
 Precipitation of Soluble Salts. Precipitation of soluble salts, from the use of salt mud
systems or from formation water or both, can cause solids blockage and hinder
production.

Mitigation.
 To minimize this form of damage, minimize the quantity of fine solids in the mud
system and fluid loss.
 Circulating fluids at slow rates.
 To solve the problem of wettability reversal, the quantity of excess surfactants used in
oil-based mud systems should be kept at a minimum.
 Proper mud weight selection and maintenance.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 3

 iii. H2S-bearing formation and shallow gas
Causes.
 Drilling H2S-bearing formations poses one of the most difficult and dangerous problems
to humans and equipment.
Mitigation
 If it is known or anticipated, there are very specific requirements to abide by in
accordance with International Association of Drilling Contractors rules and regulations.
Shallow gas may be encountered at any time in any region of the world. The only way to
combat this problem is to never shut in the well; divert the gas flow through a diverter
system instead. High-pressure shallow gas can be encountered at depths as low as a few
hundred feet where the formation-fracture gradient is very low. The danger is that if the
well is shut in, formation fracturing is more likely to occur, which will result in the most
severe blowout problem, underground blow.
 Use of corrosive scavengers such as copper, zinc and iron.
 Addition of alkalis such as lime to control the mud PH.
 Proper mud weight selection to prevent shallow gas from flowing into the wellbore.

iv. Hole cleaning

Causes.
 Hole cleaning problems arise usually due to inadequate removal of cuttings due to low
viscosity and low flow rates.
 Drill string washout above the bit
 Low circulation rate in a large hole with an unweighted mud system
 Sloughing shale
 Gravel bed in the shallow portion of hole

Mitigations.
 Use of highly viscus drilling fluids.
 Increasing the flow rate.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 4

QUESTION TWO
Provide a detailed technical account of the distinction between mechanical and hydraulic jars.
Indicate clearly the circumstances under which they are used.

SOLUTION

A jar is an impact tool installed in the drill string to free a stack pipe.

1. Mechanical jars
Mechanical jars operate using a series of springs, lock and release mechanisms. Mechanical jars
trip up at preselected tensile force and down at a pre-selected compressional force. The jar trips
only at set thresholds that are normally beyond forces reached while drilling. The position of the
mechanical jar during drilling is either cocked(natural) or tripped up or tripped down as shown in
figure 3. The position is according to the driller’s preference.

Figure 2: Cross section of mechanical jars showing tripped up, cocked and tripped down
positions. (Source: Denis Adelung et al., 1991)
Drilling is never conducted with jar tripped down because un-necessary down jarring might
damage the bit and MWD equipment. The release threshold is set either downhole or at surface
depending on jar design.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 5

Two main designs of hydraulic jars include:
 One uses principle of torsion string and its release force can be varied downhole by 10-
15% by applying torque to the drill pipe. Left torque decreases release torsion while right
torque increases it.
 The other design is an expanding sleeve with slots, lugs and ancillary springs. The over-
pull necessary to trip the jar can be reduced downhole by increasing mud flow rate.

Hydraulic jars
Hydraulic jar consists of 2 reservoirs of hydraulic fluid separated by a valve. When tension or
compression is applied to the tool in cocked position, fluid from one chamber is compressed and
passes through valve at high flow resistance into the 2nd chamber. This allows tool to extend or
contract. The distance travelled is called metering stroke. When the stroke reaches a certain
point, the compressed fluid is allowed to suddenly bypass the valve. The jar trips as fluid rushes
into 2nd chamber instantly equalizing pressure between the two chambers. The greater the force
on jar, the greater the compression of fluid and the sooner and more forceful release. Once the
hydraulic jar is cocked it will fire if given enough time to complete the metering stroke.

Figure 3: Cross section of a hydraulic jar

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 6

This gives hydraulic jars an advantage in directional and horizontal wells. In these conditions
excess drag may prevent the driller from applying sufficient tension or compression to trip a
mechanical jar. A cocked jar will fire even with minimal compression or tension. Hydraulic jar
doesn’t trip at a pre-selected threshold. When and how forcefully jars trip is determined by
magnitude of applied tension or compression. In tripping for example, force blow is proportional
to the over-pull. The greater the over-pull up to the tool’s maximum the sooner the jar trips and
harder the blow.

Figure 4: Schematic of valve and oil reserve assemblies during metering and tripping of the jar.
Hydraulic jar has an advantage of having a continuously variable jarring force within with-in the
design limits. During drilling it’s recommended that hydraulic jar is run in extended position
because if run in cocked position there is risk of unintended firing because usually tension and
compression forces are not balanced.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 7

QUESTION THREE
Define fishing in the context of well site operations. List the relevant equipment/tools used in a
typical fishing operation and elaborate on how they are used.
SOLUTION

A fish a part of the drill string that separates from the upper remaining portion of the drill string.
This can result from the drill string failing mechanically, or from the lower portion of the drill
string becoming stuck and having to be disconnected from the lower portion to instigate an
operation to free and retrieve the lower portion with a strengthened, specialized string. Whereas
Junks are small items that fall into the borehole, or are left behind in the borehole during drilling
operations. Junk should be removed from the wellbore before any drilling operations continue
since they are non-drillable items.

Fishing is defined as the technique of removing a fish or junk from a borehole. During fishing
operations, there is trade-off between time and economics, for instance the longer, the fish stays
in an open hole, the more likelihood is well instability to occur.

Briefly, there are a number of causes for fishing operations and the major ones include;

 Stuck drill pipes as this can be due to many causes, differential pressure pipe sticking,
mechanical pipe sticking, caving in of the borehole, cuttings accumulations.
 Mechanical fatigue and overstress of the drilling operations.
 Logging cable and wireline can part due to the logging tool becoming stuck. Such cable
and wireline can be removed by special fishing tools.
 Corroded and later weakened production tubulars after long periods of service in a
borehole.
 Broken bit components.

Fishing Tools
There are basically three categories of fishing tools. These are: -
 Those used to define the geometry and orientations of the fish or junk in the borehole
 Those used to recover tubular items (fish)
 Those used to recover miscellaneous items (junk). Nevertheless, many other categories
have been invented as technological innovation in oil and gas ranks higher.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 8

Tools for fishing operation
The impression blocks
The impression block has a soft lead insert in the lower end of its steel housing. The impression
block is made up to the end of the fishing drillstring and is lowered to the top of the fish (or
junk). A small amount of weight is placed on the impression block, which places an imprint of
the top of the fish on the lead insert. This imprint when recovered enables the operator to assess
the configuration of the fish and its location in the borehole. The operator is then in a better
position to select the proper tool needed to successfully complete the fishing operation.
Sophisticated televiewers are run in the borehole much like any other logging tool.

Figure 5: Impression block Courtesy of Lyon et al., 1996

Free point tool

Free point is depth to where the drill string is free and where the sticking commences. When a
drillstring or other tubular becomes stuck in a borehole it is very important that the depth where
the pipe is stuck be determined. In most cases this can be accomplished rather simply. The depth
to where the drillstring is free and where sticking of the pipe commences is called the free point.
Special tool that is used to determine where the drill string (or other tubulars) is stuck. Prior to
using the free point tool must be calibrated in the free pipe and this calibration is achieved using
anchoring system in the free string before operations.

Parting the pipe

 Chemical cutter. Lowered inside the pipe that is to be cut to depth one or two joints
above the stuck point. A collar locater is used to correlate depths. The chemical cutter
uses a blast of powerful acid (at high speed and temperature) to make smooth cut without
flare or distortion to OD or ID of pipe. It doesn’t damage outer string of casing making it
easy engaging pipe being cut.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 9

  Jet cutter. Uses shaped explosive charges using parabolic geometry to penetrate thick
steel armour. The advantage is it doesn’t have mechanical slips to set so condition of pipe
or what ID is coated with doesn’t matter. The disadvantage is the pipe gets deformed and
must be dressed off before fishing.
 Internal mechanical cutter. Used if large OD tubulars are being cut. It is used because
it’s cost effective for large OD unlike chemical and jet cutters. It can be run with a spear
allowing cutting and retrieving in one trip.
 Outside mechanical cutter. To operate the cutter is slowly raised until the dog assembly
engages the joint. The string is then lowered slightly to reduce excess pressure on the
knives as the cut is started.
 Inside fishing tools. Most of the fishing tools designed to catch tubular items from the
inside are variations on the tap or spear concept. A tapered tap is a tool with case-
hardened lead. The taper of the fishing tool permits easy entry into the upper part of the
fish. The coarse lead allows for positive engagement with the box end of the upper part of
the fish. A box tap uses a specific threaded spear to screw into a specific open box
element.
 Spear fishing tool. Once the spear is inside the fish, rotation to the left will place the
grapple in the engaging position. Upward pull will wedge the grapple in the fish. The
fishing tool can be released if it becomes necessary to come out of the hole. Bump
downward to break the hold of the grapple and turn to the right a few turns and the fish
should release.

Outside fishing tool

Outside fishing tools must pass over the outside of the fish before attaching themselves.

 The die collars. This is a short tubular that has case-hardened coarse threads cut in the
inner surface of the tool. Such a tool is used to recover tubular items.
 The overshot. This tool consists of a tapered bowl in which slips are free to move up and
down. The entire tool is designed to fit over the upper part of a fish. The entire tool is
designed to fit over the upper part of a fish.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 10

Auxiliary equipment

Basically, these type of equipment allow the fishing tools to attach themselves to the fish.

 Knuckle Joint. Such a device used in conjunction with an overshot and a wall hook
guide can be used effectively to engage a fish in a washed-out portion of the borehole.
 Multi-string cutter. Used to cut multiple string or casing cemented together. There are 3
or 4 bladed cutter designs and both actuated hydraulically. The tool is run to desired
depth and rotation is begun. As hydraulic pressure increases the knives are forced in
cutting position and cut is made.
 Wash over back-off safety joint. Used to cross the wash pipe back to the jarring
assembly and allow for wash over, screwing into fish and making a string shot back off in
one trip.

Jarring devices

Attachment devices (reconnecting to the fish)

 Cut lip Screw-in sub. Used to pull the connection over to align with screw-in assembly
when a fish is partially buried in the wall or partially behind a ledge or even against the
high side of borehole.
 Skirted Screw-in assembly. Gives operator all the hole sweeping advantages of an over-
shot with the strength, torque and circulating ability of a screw-in sub.
 External engaging devices. Doesn’t restrict the ID of fishing assembly thus leaving
wireline options open and allowing full circulation.
 High-pressure pack off. Used if high pressures will be required or there are well control
concerns.
 Hollow mill container and hollow mill. Used to dress off the top of a fish that has been
damaged and engage the fish in one trip.
 Bowen series 70 short catch overshot. Designed to engage the exposed portion of a fish
too short to be caught with conventional overshots.
 Internal engaging devices. Releasable spears are used although they often restrict ID of
fishing assembly.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 11

  Box taps and taper taps. Box taps are used to engage the OD of a fish by tapping
threads into steel tubing usually in situations where conventional releasing overshots
can’t be used. Taper taps are used to engage ID of a fish.

Junk Fishing Tools

There are items other than tubulars that must be fished from boreholes. These are drill bit parts,
pieces of downhole tools left in the borehole and hand tools accidentally dropped in the borehole.
 Milling Tool. The milling tool is a common device used for fishing junk. The milling
tool is used to grind the junk into small pieces so that the pieces can be circulated to the
surface or removed in a junk basket. These milling tools are especially designed to drill
steel. The milling tool is placed on the bottom of a drillstring designed to drill up junk.
Such milling tools are designed with carbide cutting surfaces.
 Junk Basket. The junk basket is a tool that can be run in conjunction with a milling tool
or separately. It is designed to recover the smaller pieces that have been milled or pieces
too large to be circulated to the surface.

Figure 6: Junk basket, Source, Lyons et al.,1996

 Magnetic Fishing Tools. Since many of the items that are lost in the borehole are steel,
the use of a magnet to recover small junk has been very successful. Magnetic fishing
tools may be either a permanent magnet type, or an electromagnetic type. Most in use are
of the permanent magnet type. In the permanent magnet type, the permanent magnet is
located inside a nonmagnetic section. The permanent magnet is a separate section of the
tool. The fishing magnet is placed at the bottom of a string of drill pipe and is lowered to
the bottom of the hole. The magnet attracts and holds the junk in place while the string is
retrieved.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 12

QUESTION FOUR
Write briefly about the following well Kill procedures:
Solutions:

i. Volumetric method
This method is used when the kick is taken during tripping up the hole with the drill bit far from
the bottom of the hole. The constant bottom-hole pressure principle is used to control the
situation. The fundamental principle of this method is equating the pit volume change with the
corresponding change in annulus pressure.
∆V p
∆ P s= 0.052 ~γ m
Va
where ∆ P s = change in surface pressure at casing side in psi
∆ V p = change in pit volume (volume gained) in bbl
~γ = mud specific weight in lb/gal
m

Va = volume capacity of annulus in bbl/ft

When the pit volume stabilizes, there is equilibrium in the annulus and the kick fluid is out of the
hole.
ii. Bullheading
Bullheading is a term used to describe killing the well by forcing formation fluids back into the
formation by pumping kill weight fluid down the tubing and in some cases down the casing. It is
used to displace a kick out of the pipe when wellbore and wellhead pressure limits permit. Wells
with short open-hole sections and zones of high permeability respond better to bullheading than
wells with long open-hole sections and low permeability zones.
The Bullheading method of killing a well is primarily used in the following situations:
 No communication exists between tubing and annulus.
 A combined kick and losses situation is experienced (downhole annulus bullhead rates
must exceed the gas migration rate to ensure the situation doesn’t deteriorate further)
 Kick calculations show that MAASP will be largely exceeded and probably results in a
detrimental well control situation when the well is killed conventionally. In this case the
influx needs to be squeezed back
 In areas where hydrogen sulphide is a possibility.
Bullheading is the simplest, fastest, and safest method to use to kill the well.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 13

Disadvantages of Bullheading include:
 Small chance of successfully squeezing the influx back into the formation
 Fluid may go into weakest formation that may not be formation from which influx came.
 Risk of fracturing formation along open hole section that can lead to a blowout.
 Application of high pressures to surface equipment.
iii. Circulate and weight
The circulate and weight method, a combination of the two standard well control procedures, can
kill a well as quickly as the wait and weight method yet with the practical advantages of the
driller's method. This method immediately circulates in the mud so as to circulate the kick fluid
out, while the weight of the mud is gradually increased in stages towards the kill weight.
The procedure involves the circulating kick from wellbore with original mud weight at Initial
Circulating Pressure (ICP). While circulating, isolate one pit and begin to weight up the mud in
stages to the kill weight. When mud is weighted up, switch pump suction to weighted pit.
When well is full of KWM, shut in well and check for remaining pressures. If surface pressures
are zero, check for flow by cracking the choke. If no flow, carefully open BOPs circulate around
again.
iv. Lubricate and bleed
In some special well control cases, you will not be able to circulate kick out of the well then the
kick is brought up to the surface using special well control procedure like “Volume Metric
Method”. At this point, surface pressure is the height because of decreased hydrostatic pressure
in the well bore. In order to remove fluid like gas out of well without more influx we perform the
“lubricate and bleed” method.
The basic theory is the same as Volumetric Well Control Method but it is just a reverse process.
Surface pressure will be replaced with hydrostatic pressure by pumping drilling fluid into the
wellbore. The gas and drilling mud are allowed to swap the places and amount of surface
pressure will be bled off later
Step 1- Determine hydrostatic pressure
Determine hydrostatic pressure of 1 bbl of mud that will be pumped into the well.
Step 2- Lubricate
Slowly pump a desired volume into the well. The amount of volume depends on well conditions
and it may change during the process. Increasing in surface pressure can be estimated by

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 14

utilizing Boyle’s Law (P1V1 = P1V2) and every one bbl of mud pumped into the well, the gas
size is reduced by one bbl. During lubricating, surface casing pressure will be definitely increase.
The amount of pressure increase will depend on the volume of gas being compressed. Small
pressure increase indicates large volume of gas. Additionally, Maximum Allowable Surface
Casing Pressure (MAASCP) will reduce because the increase in hydrostatic pressure during
lubrication. Since gas volume also decreases every time that gas is bled off, you may reach the
point to stop lubricating operation in order to prevent breaking out the wellbore. At this point
you will have gas in the wellbore but the “lubricate and bleed” procedure cannot be performed
any more. In order to know this figure, you may adjust parameters in the kill sheet in order to
minimize this issue.
Step 3 – Wait
Wait for a while to allow gas and mud swapping out. Drilling mud properties such as mud
weight and rheology effect on this step.
Step 4 – Bleed off pressure
Bleeding gas from the surface until the amount of pressure is equal to hydrostatic pressure of
mud pumped in hole. If you know that you lubricate in 50 psi, only 50 psi of gas must be bled
off. It is very important to bleed only gas.
Step 5 – Repeat step 2 to 4
Repeat step 2 – 4 until you get the gas out of the well or the desired surface casing pressure is
reached.
You may not be able to kill the well with this method because total hydrostatic head is not
sufficient to balance the wellbore.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 15

QUESTION FIVE
The data below refer to a 1 5/8” line with 8 lines of extra improved plough steel wire rope strung
to the travelling block. Use it to Calculate the ton-miles for drilling from 6000ft. to 8000ft.
Hole Depth = 10,000ft.
Drill pipe = 5 ½” OD, 4.778” ID, 20 lb/ft
Drill Collars = 650 ft, 8 ¼”, 2.1613”, 147 lb/ft.
Mud weight = 79 lb/ft3
Density of steel = 65ppg
Weight of travelling block and hook = 25,000 lbf
Length of each stand = 90 ft.

Solution

ρm
Buoyancy Factor, BF=1−
ρsteel

Mud weight = 79 lb/ft3 = 10.562 ppg (since 5.615 ft3 = 42 gallons)

10.562
BF ¿ 1−
65

Buoyancy Factor, BF = 0.838

Round trip ton-miles at 6000 ft.

Work done by travelling block and hook load,

WD tb=¿ 4 x M x D
= 4 x 25000 x 6000
= 600,000,000 lb. ft

Work done by drill pipe

Buoyed Weight of drill pipe in mud, Wbdp = 0.838 x 20
= 16.76 lb/ft
WD dp = Wbdp x (Ls + D) x D

= 16.76 x (6000 + 90) x 6000

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 16

 = 612,410,400 lb. ft

Work done by drill collars

WD dc = 2 x c x D

= 2 x Ldc x (Wdc – Wdp) x BF x D

= 2 x 650 x (147 – 20) x 0.838 x 6000

= 830,122,800 lb. ft

Total work done by these 3 components = WD tb +WD dp+WD dc

WD rt = 600,000,000 + 612,410,400 + 830,122,800

= 2,042,533,200 lb. ft

2,042,533,200
Round trip in ton-miles =
2000 X 5280

RT6000 = 193.422 ton miles

Round trip ton-miles at 8000 ft.

Work done by travelling block and hook load,
WD tb=¿ 4 x M x D
= 4 x 25000 x 8000
= 800,000,000 lb. ft

Work done by drill pipe

WD dp = Wbdp x (Ls + D) x D

= 16.76 x (8000 + 90) x 8000

= 1,084,707,200 lb. ft

Work done by drill collars

WD dc = 2 x c x D

= 2 x Ldc x (Wdc – Wdp) x BF x D

= 2 x 650 x (147 – 20) x 0.838 x 8000

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 17

 = 1,106,830,400 lb. ft

Total work done by these 3 components = WD tb +WD dp+WD dc

WD rt = 800,000,000 + 1,084,707,200 + 1,106,830,400
= 2,991,537,600 lb. ft

2,991,537,600
Round trip in ton-miles =
2000 X 5280
RT8000 = 283.290 ton miles

Drilling ton miles from 6000ft to 8000 ft

Td = 3 x (RT8000 – RT6000) [condition; ream once at connections]
= 3 x (283.290 – 193.422 )
= 3 x 89.868
= 269.604 ton miles

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 18

QUESTION SIX
The following data refer to a 1 ½” line with 10 lines of extra improved plough steel wire rope
strung to the travelling block:
Weight of the travelling block and hook = 25,000 lb
Hole depth = 9,000ft
Drill pipe = 5” OD, 4.276” ID, 19.5 lb/ft
Drill Collars = 600 ft, 8”, 2.1613”, 160 lb/ft.
Mud weight = 75 lb/ft3
Density of steel = 65ppg
Line and Sheave efficiency factor = 0.9615
Block and tackle efficiency = 0.85

Calculate:
i. Weight of the drill string in air and in mud
ii. Hook load
iii. Deadline and fastline load
iv. Dynamic crown load
v. Design factor for wireline for running drillstring if breaking strength is 230,000 lb
vi. Design factor for running casing string of 7” OD and 30 lb/ft

Solution
i. Weight of the drill string in air and in mud

Weight of drill string in air = weight of drill pipe in air + weight of drill collars in air
= [(9000 – 600) x 19.5] + (600 x 160)
= 259,800 lb

Weight of drill string in mud = weight in air x buoyancy factor, BF

ρm
Buoyancy Factor, BF=1−
ρsteel

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 19

Mud weight = 75 lb/ft3 = 10.027 ppg (since 5.615 ft3 = 42 gallons)

10.027
BF ¿ 1−
65

Buoyancy Factor, BF = 0.846

Weight of drill string in mud = 259,800 x 0.846
= 219,790.8 lb

ii. Hook load

H𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑊 = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑑 + 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑡𝑟𝑎v𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘
W = 219,790.8 + 25,000
= 244,790.8 lb
iii. Deadline and fastline load
Fastline load
W (1−K ) W
Ff = =
K (1−K n) nE
244,790.8(1−0.9615)
Ff =
0.9615(1−0.961510 )
Fastline load= 30,186.740 lb

n n W
Deadline load F s=K F f =K
nE

Fs = 0.961510 x 30,186.740
Deadline load= 20,384.924 lb

iv. Dynamic crown load

= Fastline load + Hook load + Deadline load
= 30,186.740 + 244,790.8 + 20,384.924
= 295,362.464 lb

v. Design factor for wireline for running drillstring; breaking strength is 230,000 lb

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 20

 breaking strength
Design factor =
F astline tension
230000
Design factor =
30,186.740
Design Factor = 7.619

vi. Design factor for running casing string of 7” OD and 30 lb/ft

Weight of casing = weight per foot x depth.
= 30 x 9000
=270,000 lb
Buoyed weight = weight in air x buoyance factor
= 270,000 x 0.846
= 228,420 lb
Hook load W = weight of travelling block + buoyed weight of casing
= 25,000 + 228,420
= 253,420 lb

Fastline tension
W (1−K )
Ff =
K (1−K n)
253,420(1−0.9615)
Ff =
0.9615(1−0.961510)
Fastline tension= 31,250.862 lb

breaking strength
Design factor = F astline tension
230000
= 31,250.862

= 7.360
Design factor = 7.360

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 21

QUESTION SEVEN
The data below were gathered to facilitate a well control procedure according to the Driller's
method. Use it to prepare a kill sheet to be utilized in the execution of a well kill operation. Also,
determine the weight of the kill mud. (30 marks)
 Well data  Well shut-in data:
Hole size = 12 ¼” Shut-in drill pipe pressure = 500psi

Measured depth (MD) = 11,000 ft Shut-in casing pressure = 600psi

True vertical depth (TVD) = 11000ft. Pit volume gain = 35bb1

Kill rate pressure @ 60spm = 1000psi

Kill rate pressure @ 40spm = 600 psi

 Drill string:  Additional data:
 Drill pipe 5.0"-I9.51b/ft Mud pump (7 in. x 12 in. triplex @ 95%
Capacity = 0.01776 bbl/ft eft) = 0.136 bbl/stk
Leak-off pressure with 9.0ppg mud =1130
 HWDP 5.0" 49.3 lb/ft
psi
Capacity = 0.00883 bbl/ft
Casing setting depth = 4000ft
Length = 350ft
Mud weight = 9.6ppg
 Drill collars 8.0” OD, 3.0” ID
Length = 400ft
 Annulus:
Drill collar/open hole capacity= 0.0836 bbl/ft

Drill pipe/open hole capacity = 0.1215 bbl/ft

Drill pipe/casing capacity = 0.1303 bbl/ft

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 22

 KILL SHEET
measured depth, MD=TVD=11,000ft

Length of drillp pipe, Ldp= 11,000-(350+250) = 10,400 ft

Section of drill pipe not cased = 10,400-4000 = 6,400 ft

Drill string volume = Volume of drillpipe + volume of HWDP + volume of drill collars

Volume of drillpipe = 0.01776 x 10400 = 184.704 bbl

Volume of HWDP = 0.00883 x 250 = 2.2075 bbl

Volume of drill collars = ((0.25 x π x (3/12)2 x 350) ÷ 5.615 = 3.0598 bbl

Drill string volume = (184.704 + 2.2075 + 3.0598)

= 195.2386 bbl

Total annulus volume = volume of mud in cased hole + volume of mud in open hole.

Volume in Drill collar/open hole capacity= 0.0836X350 = 29.26 bbl

Volume in Drill pipe/open hole capacity = 0.1215 X 6,400 = 777.6 bbl

Volume in Drill pipe/casing capacity = 0.1303 X 4000 = 521.2 bbl

Total annulus volume = (521.2 + 777.6 + 29.26) bbls

= 1,328.06 bbl

Toatal volume of mud in well = 1,328.06 + 195.2386

= 1,523.2986 bbl

Pit volume gain = 35bbl

Surface to bit strokes:

= Drill string Volume (bbl) ÷ Mud pump rate (bbl/stk)

= 195.2386 (bbl) ÷ 0.136 (bbl/stk)

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 23

 = 1435.578 stk
= 1436 strokes
Bit to casing strokes:
= Openhole volume/ 0.136
= (777.6 + 29.26) ÷ 0.136
= 5,932.79 strokes
=5,933 strokes
Bit to surface strokes:

= Annular volume ÷ 0.136

= 1,328.06 ÷ 0.136

= 9,765.147 strokes

=9,765 strokes

Surface to Surface strokes = Total mud volume in well ÷ 0.136

= 1,523.2986/0.136

= 11,200.725 strokes

=11,201 strokes

Travel time

Surface to Bit Travel time:

= Surface to bit strokes (stk) ÷ Pump rate (Stk/min)

For Kill rate pressure of 600psi at @ 40spm

Travel time = 1436÷ 40 = 35.9 minutes
= 35 minutes and about 15 seconds

For Kill rate pressure of 1000psi at @ 60spm

Travel time = 1436÷ 60 = 23.9 minutes
= 23 minutes and about 15 seconds

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 24

 SIDPP
TVD * 0 . 052
Kill mud weight = Current mud weight +

500
= 9.6 +( )
11000∗0.052

= 10.5 ppg round up to 11 ppg

Practical Kill Mud Weight = 10.5 ppg

Initial Circulating Pressure, ICP

= SIDPP + Slow Circulation Rate Pressure (SCRP)

= 500 + 600
= 1100 psi
Final Circulating Pressure, FCP
pressure at SCRXkill mud weight
¿
original mud weight
600 X 10.5
¿
9.6

= 656.25  656 psi

= 656 psi
Drill pipe pressure reduction per stroke:

= (ICP – FCP) ÷ Surface to bit strokes

= (1100 – 656) ÷ 1436

= 0.3092 psi/stroke

Circulating Rate:
=Pump output (bbl/stk) x kill rate speed (stk/min)
= 0.136 x 40
= 5.44 bbl/min

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 25

Maximum allowable mud weight

= Test Mud weight + (Shoe TVD

P
× 0.052 )
LOT

1130
= 9.0 + ( )
4000 × 0.052
= 14.43 ppg rounded up tp o 14 ppg

Maximum Allowable Annular Surface Pressure, MAASP:

Initial MAASP =(Max allowable mud weight – Current mud density)X shoe TVDX 0.052

= (14.4-9.6)X(4000)X0.052 = 998.4psi  998psi

= 998 psi
Final MAASP = (Maximum allowable mud weight – kill mud density)X shoe TVD X0.052

= (14.4-10.5)*(4000)*0.052 = 811.2psi  811psi

= 811 psi

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 26

REFERENCES

1) Abrams, A. 1977. Mud Design To Minimize Rock Impairment Due To Particle

Invasion. SPE Journal of Petroleum Technology 29 (5): 586-592. SPE-5713-PA
2) Annis, M.R. and Monaghan, P.H. 1962. Differential Pressure Sticking-Laboratory
Studies of Friction Between Steel and Mud Filter Cake. J Pet Technol 14 (5): 537-543.
3) Azar, J.J. and Samuel, G.R. 2007. Drilling Engineering. Tulsa, Oklahoma: PennWell
Corporation.
4) Hussaini, S.M. and Azar, J.J. 1983. Experimental Study of Drilled Cuttings Transport
Using Common Drilling Muds. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal 23 (1): 11-20.
SPE-10674-PA.
5) Krueger, R.F. 1986. An Overview of Formation Damage and Well Productivity in
Oilfield Operations. SPE Journal of Petroleum Technology 38 (2): 131-152. SPE-10029-
PA.
6) Larsen, T.I., Pilehvari, A.A., and Azar, J.J. 1997. Development of a New Cuttings-
Transport Model for High-Angle Wellbores Including Horizontal Wells. SPE Drill &
Compl 12 (2): 129-136. SPE-25872-PA
7) Lubinski, A. and Woods, H.B. 1953. Factors Affecting the Angle of Inclination and
Doglegging in Rotary Boreholes. API Drilling and Production Practice (1953): 222-242.
8) http://petrowiki.org/PEH%3ADrilling_Problems_and_Solutions Accessed on 19th May
2021 at 21:00hrs.

Drilling Engineering Group Assignment #2 Page 27