A Project Report

On
Study of rheological properties and optimization of drilling fluid
hydraulics

Submitted for the award of the Degree of

Bachelor of Technology

in

Petroleum Engineering

by

Mohd Adeeb Khan (160107072)

Mohd Shayan Azam (160107049)

Ragib Athar (160107059)

Under the Guidance of

Mr. Gaurav Richhariya

Assistant Professor

Department of petroleum Engineering

DIT UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN, INDIA

Mussorie Diversion Road, Makkawala Dehradun, 248009

26th May 2019

 DECLARATION
This is to certify that the Project entitled “study of rheological properties & optimization
of drilling fluids hydraulics” in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of Bachelors Of Technology in Petroleum Engineering, submitted to DIT
University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, Under the supervision & guidance of Mr.
Gaurav Richhariya (Assistant professor Department of Petroleum Engineering & Energy
studies)

The matter embodied in this Project has not been submitted for the award of any other
degree or diploma to any University.

Name of candidate: Roll No Signature

1.Md Adeeb Khan 160107072

2.Md Shayan Azam 160107049

3.Ragib Athar 160107059

Date: -26-04-2019

Place: - DIT university, Dehradun

 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project entitled “Study Of Rheological Properties &
Optimization Of Drilling Hydraulics” in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of the Degree of Bachelors Of Technology in Petroleum Engineering, submitted to
DIT University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, Under the supervision & guidance of Mr.
Gaurav Richhariya (Assistant professor Department of Petroleum Engineering & Energy
studies).

Mr.Rahul Ganju Mr. Gaurav Richhariya

HOD Mentor & Assistant Professor

Department of Petroleum & Energy Studies DIT University

DIT University

Date: -26-04-2019

Place: - DIT university, Dehradun

Contents
INTRODUCTION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

RHEOLOGICAL STUDY-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5
TYPES OF FLUIDS AND RHEOLOGICAL MODELS------------------------------------------------------------------5-7

DRILLING OPTIMIZATION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

PROCEDURE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

CONCLUSION----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

REFERENCE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
RHEOLOGICAL STUDY
What is Rheology?

• Rheology is the science of flow and deformation of matter. A given material can
behave like a solid or a liquid depending on the time scale of the deformation process

•
Types of Fluids
There are basically two types of fluids, defined by the relationship between shear stress and
shear rate.

These are:

1. Newtonian

2. Non-Newtonian

NEWTONIAN Fluid- A Newtonian fluid is a fluid in which the viscous stresses arising
from its flow, at every point, are linearly proportional to the local strain rate—the rate of
change of its deformation over time.

Non Newtonian Fluid- A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that does not follow Newton's law
of viscosity, i.e. constant viscosity independent of stress. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity
can change when under force to either more liquid or more solid. Ketchup, for example,
becomes runnier when shaken and is thus a non-Newtonian fluid.
 The Newtonian Model
The Newtonian model has no value in predicting the behaviour of a drilling fluid, as the
majority of drilling fluids do not conform to the governing Newtonian fluids

Bingham Plastics

The Bingham Plastic Model

 The Power Law Model

The Power Law model is considerably more complex than the Bingham Plastic
model, but it provides for far greater accuracy in the determination of shear stress at
low shear rates.

Hydraulic Optimization
Drilling hydraulics is considered the most important factor in drilling performance. The rate
of penetration can be significantly increased using state-of-the-art techniques for hydraulics
optimization to minimize drilling cost. The goal of the optimization is to make the maximum
usage of the pump's power to help the bit to drill at maximum efficiency. This is achieved by
minimizing the energy loss due to friction in the circulating system and use the saved energy
to improve bit hydraulics. Starting with fluid rheology basics, this chapter provides drilling
engineers with a practical approach to optimizing drilling hydraulics.
 PROCEDURE
In this project we are going to study the rheological properties of drilling fluids by changing
the additives added to the drilling fluids like xantham gum , guar gum ,propylene glycol etc.
and studying the effects of this variation of additives on drilling hydraulics and hence
optimizing the drilling hydraulics by finding the renolds number, velocity of flow of drilling
fluid in the drill pipe and type of flow the fluid is undergoing i.e. laminar flow or turbulent
flow and hence finding the frictional pressure exerted by the fluid for laminar flow and
turbulent flow , pumping pressure and critical velocity .

The rheology of the drilling fluids and its variation with the change in additives is studied
using the rheometer by generating graphs and plotting the data on excel sheet.

Hence using excel we are generating a sort of a software which will require its input as the
flow rate of the fluid , area and dimensions of the drill pipe etc . as it input and will generate
its output frictional pressure exerted by the fluid for laminar and turbulent flow ,pumping
pressure and critical velocity .This data will prove to really helpful for the understanding of
drilling hydraulics and hence we can optimize them to get better results from the drilling
process.
 CONCLUSION
Hydraulic modelling is an integral part of drilling operations, thus its importance for the
efficient delivery of a wellbore cannot be over emphasized. The standard API methods for
drilling fluid hydraulics assume either Power law or Bingham Plastic, these models provide a
simple way of estimating required parameters for efficient drilling operations, but for
conventional wells. These models are sometimes not accurate when used to model the
hydraulics of more difficult wells.

When drilling fluid is circulated, pressure drop takes place due to friction between the fluid
and the surface of the stand-pipe, rotary hose, swivel, Kelly, drill-pipe, drill-collar, drill-bit,
and the annulus between the drill-string and the open hole or casing.

Thus it is required that an engineer should run different simulations using different hydraulic
models and then compare with the actual data during operations. The difference between the
simulated and actual can be used as the fudge factor to further optimize the hydraulics for
other hole sections or wells with similar configurations, if the best fit hydraulic model is
unavailable in the simulator.
 REFERENCES
• Drilling Engineering by Neal J Adams
• Optimizing Hydraulics For Drilling Operations(Research paper) by Okoli Ugochukwu
.
• Wikipedia
• Heriot Watt Drilling Enginering