Barite Sag is the settling of barite particles in the wellbore (or other weighting materials), which results in undesirable fluctuations in drilling fluid density. A variety of major drilling problems including lost circulation, well control difficulties, poor cement jobs, and stuck pipe can result from uncontrolled barite sag. Study of this phenomenon and how to mitigate its effects has long been of interest. This paper describes a fundamental mathematical approach to analyze the settling of barite particles in shear flow of Newtonian fluids. A set of four coupled partial differential equations to describe dynamic barite sag in Newtonian fluids in pipe flow is obtained by applying mass and momentum conservation for solid and liquid phase. Solid concentration in axial and radial directions as a function of time is calculated by using an explicit numerical method to solve these equations. A number of experiments in a flow loop were conducted to verify the mathematical model. Two mass flow meters were installed at the inlet and outlet of the flow loop’s test section. Differences in the density measurements over time were converted to the solid accumulation, which was compared with results from the modeling. In addition, based on the experimental results, three different stages of barite accumulation due to the settling and bed pickup of barite particles during circulation will be presented. The proposed methodology and results of this study will help drillers have a better understanding in terms of undesirable density fluctuations and barite bed characteristics.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: tcnguyen@nmt.edu
e-mail: Nicholas-Takach@utulsa.edu
Article navigation
June 2011
Research Papers
Predicting Dynamic Barite Sag in Newtonian-Oil Based Drilling Fluids in Pipe
Tan Nguyen,
Tan Nguyen
Assistant Professor
Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Pl. Socorro, NM 87001
e-mail: tcnguyen@nmt.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Nicholas Takach
e-mail: Nicholas-Takach@utulsa.edu
Nicholas Takach
Professor
McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering, The University of Tulsa
, 800 S. Tucker Dr. Tulsa, OK 74104
Search for other works by this author on:
Tan Nguyen
Assistant Professor
Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Pl. Socorro, NM 87001
e-mail: tcnguyen@nmt.edu
Mengjiao Yu
Associate Professor
Nicholas Takach
Professor
McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering, The University of Tulsa
, 800 S. Tucker Dr. Tulsa, OK 74104e-mail: Nicholas-Takach@utulsa.edu
J. Energy Resour. Technol. Jun 2011, 133(2): 023102 (10 pages)
Published Online: June 17, 2011
Article history
Received:
July 20, 2010
Revised:
April 5, 2011
Online:
June 17, 2011
Published:
June 17, 2011
Citation
Nguyen, T., Miska, S., Yu, M., and Takach, N. (June 17, 2011). "Predicting Dynamic Barite Sag in Newtonian-Oil Based Drilling Fluids in Pipe." ASME. J. Energy Resour. Technol. June 2011; 133(2): 023102. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4004026
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Related Articles
A Universal, Nonintrusive Method for Correcting the Reading of a Flow Meter in Pipe Flow Disturbed by Installation Effects
J. Fluids Eng (September,2002)
Heat Transport by Inverse-Piezoelectric Driven Dream
Pipe
J. Heat Transfer (October,2011)
A Comparison of Volume of Fluid and Euler–Euler Approaches in Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Two-Phase Flows With a Sharp Interface
J. Turbomach (December,2021)
Theoretical, Numerical, and Experimental Study of the Time of Flight Flowmeter
J. Fluids Eng (April,2011)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Introduction
Introduction to Finite Element, Boundary Element, and Meshless Methods: With Applications to Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow
Image Matching Based on Partial Differential Equations Methods
International Conference on Computer Technology and Development, 3rd (ICCTD 2011)
Heat Generated in Pipe Flows Due to Friction
Everyday Heat Transfer Problems: Sensitivities to Governing Variables