Cuttings Transport

Cuttings Transport

One of the primary functions of a drilling fluid is to bring the drilled cuttings to the surface. Inadequate hole cleaning can lead to a number of problems, including hole fill, packing off, stuck pipe, and excessive hydrostatic pressure. The ability of a drilling fluid to lift cuttings is affected by many factors, and there is no universally accepted theory which can account for all observed phenomena. Some of the parameters which affect cuttings transport are the fluids density and viscosity, annular size and eccentricity, annular velocity and flow regime, pipe rotation, cuttings density, and the size and shape of the cuttings.

If the cuttings are of irregular shape (and most are) they are subjected to a torque caused by the shearing of the mud. If the drillpipe is rotating, a centrifugal effect causes the cuttings to move towards the outer wall of the annulus. The process is further complicated because the viscosity of non- Newtonian fluids varies according to the shear rate, and therefore the velocity of the cutting changes with radial position. Finally, transport rates are strongly dependent on cutting size and shape, which as stated above, are both irregular and variable.

The only practical way to estimate the slip velocity (or relative sinking velocity) of cuttings, is to develop empirical correlations based on experimental data. Even with this approach, there is a wide disparity in the results obtained by different authors.