Abstract Hole cleaning and cuttings transport play a vital role in the drilling operation. Various drilling problems such as a reduction in penetration rate, an increase in the torque and drag, and an increase in the potential of differential sticking are often related to poor cuttings transport from a wellbore. Multiple parameters, including the fluid rheology, mud velocity, cuttings size, and drill pipe inclination generally influence the cuttings transport performance. Although several experimental and modelling research works have been conducted in this area, the interactions among the parameters during cuttings transport have not been adequately investigated. This study focuses on interactions between the drilling parameters. Cuttings transport in the wellbore represents a solid-liquid multiphase flow phenomenon. In this research work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was employed to simulate the cuttings transport behaviours in a horizontal wellbore. The Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase flow model was adopted to describe the flow characteristics in the wellbore annular section. Design of Experiment (DoE) was used to systematically study the sensitivity and interactions among the operating parameters. It was observed that the mud viscosity, mud velocity, and drill pipe rotation have a positive impact, whereas an increase in cuttings size and eccentricity in annular clearance show a significant adverse effect on cuttings transport performance. According to the results, the cuttings between 1 mm to 2 mm are difficult to clean, compared to larger cuttings. The study also revealed important interaction effects between the parameters. Although both drilling mud viscosity and velocity show a positive effect, the interaction among them exhibits a negative influence on cuttings transport.

中文翻译：

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使用计算流体动力学方法对钻井作业中岩屑输送的系统敏感性分析

摘要 井眼清理和岩屑输送在钻井作业中起着至关重要的作用。各种钻井问题，例如钻速降低、扭矩和阻力增加以及差速卡钻的可能性增加，通常与井眼中的钻屑输送不良有关。包括流体流变学、泥浆速度、钻屑尺寸和钻杆倾斜度在内的多个参数通常会影响钻屑输送性能。尽管在该领域进行了多项实验和建模研究工作，但尚未充分研究岩屑运输过程中参数之间的相互作用。本研究侧重于钻井参数之间的相互作用。井筒中的岩屑输运表现为固液多相流动现象。在这项研究工作中，采用计算流体动力学 (CFD) 模型来模拟水平井眼中的岩屑输运行为。采用欧拉-欧拉多相流模型来描述井筒环形段的流动特征。实验设计 (DoE) 用于系统地研究操作参数之间的敏感性和相互作用。据观察，泥浆粘度、泥浆速度和钻杆旋转具有积极影响，而环形间隙中钻屑尺寸和偏心度的增加对钻屑输送性能有显着的不利影响。根据结果​​，与较大的切屑相比，1 毫米到 2 毫米之间的切屑难以清洁。该研究还揭示了参数之间的重要交互作用。