Heat Transfer in a Drilling Fluid with Geothermal Applications

Abstract

The effects of various conditions on the fluid flow, particle migration and heat transfer in non-linear fluids encountered in drilling and geothermal applications are studied. We assume that the drilling fluid is a suspension composed of various substances, behaving as a non-linear complex fluid, where the effects of particle volume fraction, shear rate, and temperature on the viscosity and thermal diffusivity are considered. The motion of the particles is described using a concentration flux equation. Two problems are studied: flow in a vertical pipe and flow between two (eccentric) cylinders where the inner cylinder is rotating. We consider effects of earth temperature, the rotational speed of the inner cylinder, and the bulk volume fraction on the flow and heat transfer.

Keywords

• geothermal energy
• drilling fluid
• concentrated suspension
• heat transfer
• non-Newtonian fluids
• non-homogeneous fluids
• rheology