Complex Mathematical Modeling of the Well Drilling Process

Abstract

Recently, the technologies for the global modeling of the process of oil well drilling have become widespread. Mathematical modeling is used in well design, virtual testing of various drilling equipment, simulations of various emergency situations, and personnel training. Complex modeling of the well drilling process includes the simulation of such phenomena as the dynamics of the drill string and its contact interaction with walls, the flow of the drilling fluid and its interaction with the soil (considering influxes and leakages), soil crushing by the drill, the transfer of cuttings particles by the drilling fluid, heat exchange with the soil, and others. This paper provides a detailed review of the existing modeling approaches to solving such problems. Most of the studies included in the review focus on building a detailed mathematical model of one or several of the above processes. Moreover, all these processes mutually influence each other, which also needs to be considered in the analysis. It appears that further development of such a multiphysics approach will be the main direction of research in this area in the near future.

Keywords

• well drilling process modeling
• drill string dynamics
• drilling fluid flow