Temperature Profiles and Aquifer Mass Transfer in a Circulating Well

A method is described for determining the temperature distribution in a circulating drilling fluid when aquifers are present in the formation. The depth of an aquifer relative to the well depth is shown to be an important parameter. An aquifer near the surface has much less influence on the temperature distributions than one located near the bottom of the well. If the drilling fluid has much greater density than the entering formation water, then the temperature distributions are altered significantly.