Experimental Study on Cuttings Flow Characteristic With V-Shaped Cuttings Cleaning Tool in Extended-Reach Wellbore

Summary Borehole cleaning is one of the key issues affecting the drilling safety and efficiency in extended-reach wells, which is directly affected by the accumulated cuttings. In many instances, simply optimizing the on-site drilling parameters is insufficient to achieve the requisite cleanliness of the annular. In such scenarios, cuttings cleaning tools, such as the V-shaped cuttings cleaning tool, can effectively disrupt the cuttings bed and prevent cuttings redeposit. However, the hydraulic and mechanical influences of the V-shaped cuttings cleaning tool on varied working conditions are not clear, and the tool’s effective influence distance (TEID) is difficult to predict. In this study, an experimental approach was used to investigate the influence of a V-shaped cuttings cleaning tool on borehole cleaning efficiency under various parameters, including flow rate, drillpipe rotation speed, and wellbore inclination. The cleaning performance was evaluated by measuring the wetted perimeter of the cuttings bed and the distance between the cuttings bed and the tool. The results demonstrate that the tool effectively alters the cuttings flow pattern, hence enhancing cuttings transport efficiency. Furthermore, the cleaning effectiveness and the TEID under different parameters were evaluated, and a predictive model for the TEID was established. The model achieved an exceptionally high prediction accuracy of 99.23%. This study provides significant practical guidance for the application of V-shaped cuttings cleaning tools and the implementation of borehole cleaning operations in the oil field.