Gas drilling technologies play an increasingly important role in oil and gas exploitation. The modern gas drilling method minimizes reservoir damage and increases the efficiency of oil and gas exploration. The practical use and the development of the gas drilling technology are limited by the ineffectiveness of migration and control of the cuttings bed, which is unavoidable in horizontal sections during gas drilling. In this paper, the author applies the chemical initiation theory to study the initiation of the cuttings bed migration in a horizontal well in the process of gas drilling. Then, the author deducts the formula to calculate the cuttings bed initial velocity by considering characteristics of the cuttings in a horizontal well during gas drilling. The calculation results show that the initial velocity gradually increases with an increase in the size of cuttings, decrease in the cuttings sphericity, and increase in the degree of exposure in the cuttings window. The results are coherent with the field engineering data. The study can also provide a useful reference for the cuttings bed control in gas drilling of horizontal wells.
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Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 1, pp. 99–104, January – February, 2022.
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Xiaoguang, Y. Characteristic Research of Cuttings Initiation in Gas Drilling Horizontal Wells. Chem Technol Fuels Oils 58, 77–83 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10553-022-01353-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10553-022-01353-z