Casing failure due to heat checking - New modeling solutions for an old problem
Deploy a simulation approach to analyze your drilling tools heating
During drilling, contact can occur between a tool joint and the surrounding casing. This contact results in frictional heating and the creation of “hot spots”. When the contact is removed, the hot spots are quenched by relatively cool drilling mud. If the initial heating is sufficient to reach steel austenitizing temperatures, then this heating and quenching process, referred to as heat checking, can cause crack development or even casing leaks, costing tens of millions of dollars per incident.
Heat checking has been a known problem in the Oil & Gas industry for many decades. Nevertheless, developing a quantitative understanding of the phenomena and the drilling conditions under which it will occur has remained elusive. The problem is inherently challenging, as it involves the intersection of several different disciplines including heat transfer, fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, tribology, and metallurgy.
In this webinar, Zach Owens from Exponent will demonstrate his development of a computational fluid dynamics model. This model is used to analyze the heating of the tool joint and casing and perform sensitivity analysis. Results from the CFD modeling study are then used to inform and ultimately validate a closed-form, analytical methodology applied for real-time temperature prediction.
Você aprenderá:
- The physical principles that cause heat checking
- Multi-disciplinary and multi-material modeling that includes the drill string, drilling mud, and surrounding casing strings
- Analytical methodology for real-time safety improvement