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CFD-DEM simulation of the hole cleaning process in a deviated well drilling: the effects of particle shape

Akhshik, S ; Sharif University of Technology

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2015.02.008
  3. Abstract:
  4. We investigate the effect of particle shape on the transportation mechanism in well-drilling using a three-dimensional model that couples computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the discrete element method (DEM). This numerical method allows us to incorporate the fluid-particle interactions (drag force, contact force, Saffman lift force, Magnus lift force, buoyancy force) using momentum exchange and the non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid. The interactions of particle-particle, particle-wall, and particle-drill pipe are taken into account with the Hertz-Mindlin model. We compare the transport of spheres with non-spherical particles (non-smooth sphere, disc, and cubic) constructed via the multi-sphere method for a range of fluid inlet velocities and drill pipe inclination angles. The simulations are carried out for laboratory-scale drilling configurations. Our results demonstrate good agreement with published experimental data. We evaluate the fluid-particle flow patterns, the particle velocities, and the particle concentration profiles. The results reveal that particle sphericity plays a major role in the fluid-solid interaction. The traditional assumption of an ideal spherical particle may cause inaccurate results
  5. Keywords:
  6. CFD-DEM method ; Deviated well drilling ; Particles transport ; Two-way coupling scheme ; Computational fluid dynamics ; Deflected boreholes ; Drag ; Drill pipe ; Drills ; Finite difference method ; Flow interactions ; Mindlin plates ; Non Newtonian flow ; Numerical methods ; Oil well drilling equipment ; Spheres ; Two phase flow ; Well drilling ; CFD-DEM ; Deviated wells ; Fluid-particle interaction ; Non-Newtonian behaviors ; Particle-fluid interaction ; Three-dimensional model ; Transportation mechanism ; Two-way coupling ; Transport properties
  7. Source: Particuology ; Volume 25 , 2016 , Pages 72-82 ; 16742001 (ISSN)
  8. URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167420011500142X