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Drillstring With Aluminum Alloy Pipes Design and Practices

Article · February 2003

DOI: 10.2118/79873-MS

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 SPE 79873
Drillstring with aluminum alloy pipes design and practices
Mikhail Ya. GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir S. BASOVICH, Vadim S. TIKHONOV, Aquatic Company

Copyright 2003, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. environment and their adaptability to manufacturing various
This guide provides the basics for preparing your paper either for presentation and products has led to their wide use in oil and gas industry.
distribution as part of an SPE-sponsored meeting, submission for review as an Since the late 1950s Russian research centers have done
unsolicited manuscript, or for final peer-approval and possible publication. For
further information, contact the SPE Technical Publications Dept., P.O. Box 833836, extensive research and development works resulted in
Richardson, TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., (phone) 01-972-952-9393, (fax) 01-972-952- development, full-scale manufacturing and widespread use of
9435, or (e-mail) tech-prog@spe.org.
aluminum alloy drill pipes in domestic industry. LBT is the
Russian acronym for this product, which mean “Light-alloy
Abstract drillpipe”, we suggest here to use LADP as English acronym,
The up-to-date aluminum drill pipes design made it possible to but in many previous cases “ADP” acronym has been used as
develop ultra-long drillstrings for super-deep and extended well. Samara Metallurgical works and Kamensk-Uralsky
reach wells. The new generation software providing for Metallurgical works have arranged special shops to produce
drillstring analysis including consideration of drillpipe tool LADP since 50s. The shops included the equipment designed
joints and pads in buckling helical loads evaluation. Drill for manufacturing pipes of various cross sections lengthwise.
string dynamics is also taken into account. The case studies of The research and development activities involved the
ADP application proved their benefits over the steel ones, and following:
recent analysis have shown an opportunity to design a super- - investigation of materials with suitable physical, mechanical
long 15,000 m well and this was not the absolute limit. and operational characteristics that would fully meet the deep
and ultra deep drilling requirements,
Introduction - development and experimental works associated with
One of the most effective and recognized method of oil and extending LADP grades and their manufacturing process,
gas fields development at the continental shelf, onshore remote - design and production of the equipment for LADP
areas, lakes, national parks and other guarded and environmental production,
sensitive territories, is directional drilling and extended reach - construction of specialized shops for LADP full-scale
drilling, including horizontal section drilled in the reservoir. This production,
method, called ERD makes it possible to reduce the number of - design procedure for drill string assembly of LADP for
drillsites construction, including offshore platforms, artificial drilling under a variety of borehole conditions.
islands, or other structures and to reduce the total costs of field These efforts have allowed for developing and
development. In addition, it is possible to reach the reservoirs introducing into production a wide range of LADP with some
located at a considerable distance offshore from the land, and 80 standard sizes. The design was developed to use all
improve the environmental conditions at a well site. benefits of LADP with taking into consideration the basic
The ERD has a lot of technical and technological features equipment of metallurgical production.
including the drillstring service conditions as one of the most Excellent efficiency of LADP use in drilling oil and gas
significant. The drillstring reliability plays important role in wells to a full range of depths, development of their best
providing ERD well construction success in the whole. The applications under specific geological conditions and regular
drillstring assembly and weight as well as the assembly and contacts with customers or drilling enterprises have resulted in
weight of individual section thereof influence the possibility of the increasing of LADP production. The total of 20.0-22.5
drilling in accordance with the designed borehole path. The thousand tons or 1.5 million meters have been produced
choice of drill pipe material and drillpipe geometry becomes very annually by the early 1980s. By this time the LADP use in
critical in that respect. drilling operations came up to 70-75% of the total annual
The consideration of aluminum alloys, as the most prospecting footage drilled in the USSR. There were 35.6 million meters
material for drillpipes in that circumstances is the subject of this drilled totally in 1985. The important LADP operational
paper. The aluminum alloys advantages are shown both in the benefits in drilling wells in remote regions, including Western
calculation and practical use for different well scenarios. Siberia and Far North, encouraged putting into operation
practically all of the major fields in these regions. It became
Aluminum drillpipes background possible through the extensive use of cluster directional
Specific physical and mechanical properties of drilling with mobile drilling rigs of 80-125 tones capacity. Use
aluminum alloys ensuring high strength-to-weight ratio of LADP encouraged prospecting and exploration of new oil
combined with good corrosive resistance in some aggressive and gas fields.
2 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

LADP found extensive use in the Urals-Volga region However, even comparatively superficial analysis of
(Samara area, Bashkiria, Tataria and Orenburg area), where the market situation shows that light alloy pipes are keenly
wells of 1,600-5,000 m depth were drilled, and in Volgograd competitive with steel pipes at the current prices.
and Saratov areas there were drilled 5,000-7,000 m deep
wells. For instance, in 1973-1978 some 4.5 million meters Design characteristics analysis for drillpipes
were drilled with LADP in Tataria with the total footage material selection
drilled of 10.2 million meters; Saratovneftegas drilled with A variety of drillstring operations under various loading
LADP about 60 per cent of wells in the late 1970s – the mid conditions and high requirements for the drillstring strength,
1980s and Nizhnevolzhskneft drilled with LADP 65-70 per safety and service life suggest a comprehensive approach to
cent of the total footage, no less than 20 per cent of the the materials selection for drill pipe production. The selection
indicated footage were drilled by rotary method. of physical and mechanical properties of drill pipe materials
‘Kuibyshevneft’ (Samaraneftegas) drilled with LADP some 70 depends on specific geological and technical drilling
per cent (430-520 thousand meters) with the annual footage conditions. Some properties, for instance, pipe material
drilled of 620-750 thousand meters; some 150 thousand density affects technical and economic characteristics of
meters were drilled by rotary method. The service life of an drilling operations. Other properties, for instance, the material
LADP set (there are 21 pipes in a 220-250 m long set) was 7-8 modulus of elasticity affects the drillstring stressed-strained
years at drilling 2,900-3,200 m deep wells. The mechanical state, etc.
drilling time per set was 5,500-5,600 hrs on the average while In order to evaluate the performance of materials
the round trip time was about 8,000 hrs. The thread of LADP used in drill pipe production we will consider the effect of the
lightweight steel tool-joint was repaired by 40 per cent less main physical and mechanical properties on the drillstring
frequent than with steel drill pipes because LADP are service conditions. Table 1 indicates the corresponding data.
considerably lighter and they bear less contact load at makeup (Fine et al1).
and breakout of connections. Specific strength. The drillstring weight is one of the
Use of LADP provided an important priority for the most important characteristics that affect well drilling
USSR in drilling unique ultradeep wells, including Kola performance and economy. The drillstring weight with the
super-deep well SG-3 with its record-breaking depth of 12,262 same drill rig installed capacity determines the round-trip
meters. time, while the percentage of the round-trip time of total rig
The long research and development experience has time increases considerably with well depth increasing.
found and outlined a lot of other promising applications of The drillstring weight depends on the density of drill
aluminum alloys in construction of wells, oil and gas pipes material, pipe geometry and borehole depth. The drilling
production, transportation of products and field facilities mud makes the drillstring somewhat lighter depending on the
construction. Quite a few of them have found practical use in a ratio of densities of drill pipes material and circulating fluid.
number of industrial sectors. When deciding whether the material is promising as
At the same time recently a sharp reduction of drill pipe material it is convenient to use the notion of specific
aluminum alloy application in Russian oil and gas industry has strength of the material L to be defined as the ratio between
been observed. For instance, in 2001 the LADP production in the yield stress σt and the specific weight of the material γk:
Russia came up to 4,200 tons (330 thousand meters), while in
the 1980s their production was five times greater. This can be L = σt /γk, (1)
explained by a variety of reasons. They involve general Clearly the specific strength of the material has the
reduction of footage drilled - 11 million meters in 1995 and dimensions of length and as applied to the drillstring, it
7.8 in 1996 which was three times less then 10 years before, defines the ultimate length of the single-size drillstring
inadequate work on summarizing and propagation of suspension in the air, while the stress at the point of drillstring
extensive good experience in LADP applications, a sharp holding reaches the yield stress of the material. In view of the
reduction of financing the research and development works on drillstring weight reduction by the circulating fluid of γf
further improvement of aluminum alloy products and their specific weight and the safety factor (n), the specific strength
serviceability as well as lack of work with potential customers equation (1) may be written as:
and some other reasons.
Sometimes the customers have not correct impression L = σt /n(γk - γf). (2)
about initial capital investment connected with the increased
cost of one tone of LADP against the cost of steel pipes. But To determine the possible length of single-size
more thorough analysis and recounting the cost per one meter drillstring suspended in borehole filled with circulating fluid
of drillstring shows the efficiency and prospects of LADP use. of various densities we should use the graph shown in Fig. 1.
In addition, the break-up of once single and state-planned oil The shaded areas A, T, and S in the graph indicate the
industry into separate private companies has led to priority permissible suspension length of the single-size drillstring of
purchase of Western complete drilling equipment supplied aluminum alloys, titanium alloys and steels correspondingly.
together with steel drill pipes. The length was calculated with regard to possible changing of
In addition, the younger generation of oil professionals the yield stress of the given material and the density of
simply lacks information on technologies and efficiency of circulating fluid γf in the range of 1.0-2.0 g/cm3.
LADP application in the new economic environment. Figure 1 shows that single-size drillstring of LADP is
the longest. In spite of high absolute magnitudes of the yield
stress ranging within 490-1080 МPа, the drillstring of titanium
 SPE 79873 DRILLSTRING WITH ALUMINUM ALLOY PIPES DESIGN AND PRACTICES 3

alloy pipes is second to the drillstring of aluminum alloy where v is the running/hoisting speed of the drillstring.
pipes. The suspension length of drill pipes made of high- Thus, under otherwise equal conditions the dynamic
strength steel of S-class provide on the average only 30 per stress exerted during the round trip operations is proportional
cent of the parameter characteristic of LADP. Fig. 1 clearly to the magnitude Eγk /g of the material and the magnitude ratio
specified the effect of the circulating fluid density on the will be 1:1.6:2.9 for aluminum, titanium and steel drill pipes
permissible suspension length. For instance, if the density of correspondingly.
circulating fluid γж increases from 1 to 2g/сm3, the suspension The conclusion from the above simple analysis was that
would be 2.3 times longer with LADP, while with the steel the physical properties of aluminum alloys provide for
drill pipes the increase in density does not have a pronounced important advantages in drillstring design using LADP.
effect.
Elastic properties. The most important properties of Kola SG-3 experience and LADP design features
drill pipe material are the Young’s modulus E and the shear The conditions of superdeep drilling have forced the
modulus G that markedly affect the drillstring stress-strain significant modification of the previous methods of the
state. We will consider some critical features of drillstring drillstring design. The temperature influence on the ADP
operation that are directly connected with the mentioned durability was now considered. Drag forces along the
properties. drillstring, ADP elements wear etc. were taken into account.
The drillstring rotation exerts the alternate bending The recommendations on the choice of materials and design
stress that reaches high levels during directional and criteria of ADP were given. Methods and drillstring design of
horizontal drilling. The variable component of bending stress optimal assemblage in extremely harsh environment of
within the pipe body may be defined from equation: superdeep drilling were developed.
The weight characteristics of pipes and their weight
σab = π2Edf0/4L02, (3) reduction in circulating mud predetermine the value of normal
tensile stresses in various cross-sections of a string and affect
where d is the drill pipes diameter, f0 = (Dborehole - d)/2 is its operational reliability. In superdeep drilling operations the
the bending deflection, and L0 is the length of half-wave of the lower part of the drill string is exposed for the long-term
drillstring bent axis. impact of the high temperature zone what deteriorates the
The pipes of various materials but of the same strength properties of the drillpipe material and, consequently,
geometry have L0 difference ranging within 5 to 7 %. restricts the penetration depth. This circumstance has
Therefore, it may be assumed with a small error that under predetermined the necessity of choosing the highly thermo-
otherwise equal conditions the alternate bending stress in drill resistant alloys to be used in the bottom part of a drill string
pipes is proportional to the Young’s modulus of the material and to develop corresponding methods of their analysis and
and ЕА:ЕТ:ЕС = 1:1.55:2.96 for aluminum, titanium and steel operation.
drill pipes correspondingly. It means that the bending stress in The study allowed to choose three aluminum alloys for
LADP will be almost three times smaller than in steel drill drill pipes manufacturing: D16T, AK4-1T1 and 1953T1
pipe of the same geometry. Fig. 2 shows the bending stress (Table 2). These alloys meet not only the requirements of
calculated by equation (3) for steel, aluminum alloy and drilling operations but also they are easy to produce what
titanium drill pipes depending on the borehole diameter to allowed organizing commercial production of pipes with
illustrate the important benefits of LADP application against variable diameter along the length. The physical and-
steel drill pipes. mechanical properties of aluminum alloys essentially depend
The value of Young’s modulus of the drill pipe material on temperature, load conditions, and duration of exposure.
is critical also during the drillstring passage through the ADP of high-strength alloy 1953T1 is especially sensitive to
inclined borehole sections. The smaller is the absolute value high temperature. At 110ºC, the plasticity of this alloy is
E, the better the drillstring fits in the deviated borehole and the rather low. It is recommended to use ADP of 1953T1alloy in
smaller is the exerted bending stress, which can be the upper part of a drill string where at the temperature below
approximately defined by equation: 110ºC its high mechanical properties will ensure perception by
pipes of higher static loads.
σb = dE/2ρ, (4)
Pipes of D16T alloy are characterized by highest
where ρ is the radius of hole curvature. plasticity if compared to other alloys. It is reasonable to use
Therefore, it is recommended to drill the greatly them within the temperature range 110-160ºC. At the
inclined boreholes using pipe material of smaller Young’s temperature exceeding 160ºC it is recommended to use ADP
modulus. The experience in drilling slant holes in Western of AK4-1T1 alloy.
Siberia, where solely LADP were used, lends good support to The experimental study and long-term operation
this recommendation. experience show that three major temperature zones of ADP
Drillstring handling. The landing of heavy operation can be identified. In the first zone, their mechanical
drillstring on the elevator or in the rotary slips during round properties are rather stable and their design strength factor
trip operations exerts tensile dynamic stress, which can be should be taken equal to the material yielding point at 20ºC,
calculated from the equation: which is conventionally taken for the design of drill strings.
With growth of operation temperature the material strength are
noticeably reduced, the operation time being an important
σd = v(Eγk /g)½, (5)
factor. Within this zone, the yielding point of material
4 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

determined after 500 hours exposure to the given temperature The drag forces were calculated as 60% of the total drill
is used as the major design parameter. The time span of 500 string weight, which were evaluated by the experimental
hours is chosen with the allowance for a long-term ADP studies made in the borehole (Basovich et al.3). Finally,
exposure in the borehole during problem elimination. The because of using LADP in amount of more then 10,000 m the
yield point is considered 30% less in compare with 20ºC yield reliable drillstring over 12,000 m length was in operation
parameter to analyze drillstring with LADP at high despite the fact of extremely high drag forces in the borehole.
temperature conditions. The major advantage of this string was large inside diameter
One of the most important operational parameters of a of 110 mm minimal, which allowed 32 l/sec (422 gpm)
drillstring is the endurance limit of its thread connections and circulation when drilling with turbodrill and up to 45 l/sec
their durability in the zone of limited endurance. The (600 gpm) when borehole flushing to remove cuttings from
experimental data on the durability and endurance limit of caverns. In addition we must point out that rig capacity was
ADP connections, which were received in lab testing, are used 400 tone and two triplex mud pumps with 1250 kW (1680 hp)
for the drill string design. The same data are used for the each have been used.
choice of the pipes connections optimal design and estimation Kola SG-3 operational experience is still of significant
of their stress-deformation state. value for the drilling engineers as unique example of
When drilling Kola SG-3 borehole below the depth of operations in ultra-deep well with ultra-long drillstring.
6000m the drillstring loading conditions made it impossible to
apply mass-produced ADP due to unreliable pipe-to-steel SLAVNEFT deep prospecting well drilling
tool-joint connection. The new ADP design was developed LADP application for the extending the capacity of
using new aluminum-to-steel thread connection. Instead of existing rig was well known advantage of this tool. The recent
taper triangular thread there was designed trapezoidal low case in 2002 with Slavneft-Megionneftegaz prospecting well
angle-tapered thread with protective stabilizing shoulder and #132R in Agan field was good example of such application
the stop face. Since it is impossible to provide an interference with high dependable LAIDP. This well had the following
fit over the thread and stabilizing shoulder with the stop face design: 12” conductor set at 707m; first 9-5/8” casing at 2770
by conventional torque, it was necessary to perform ‘hot’ m depth and 5” liner at 4500m depth. The standard BU-
make-up of the pipe and tool-joint. The new make-up 2500EUK1M Uralmash made rig was used. Rig capacity is
considerably improved the ADP dependability and provided 125 tones and this rig type has been conventionally used for
trouble-free operation of the drill string under severe load the cluster directional drilling in Western Siberia since 70s.
conditions during drilling Kola SG-3. This design is explained The drillstring assembly composed of 25 m BHA,
in the Figure 3. So, Kola SG-3 became the first case of high 125 m of 7” drillcollars, 125 m section of 5” X-95 steel pipes,
strength and improved dependability aluminum drillpipes LAIDP 147x11–D16T section was 2900 m length and the rest
application. Unfortunately this technology was not applied to was LAIDP 147x11–1953. Drilling operations were
the regular oil and gas drilling conditions. It was due to the terminated at 4060 m depth due to geological reasons.
fact that the average well depths of 2800m and directional The 3200-4060 m section was composed of very hard
drilling with turbodrills using only sliding mode of operations granite and basaltic rocks. Drilling with downhole motors,
allowed standard drillpipes successful application until the both PDM and gear-reduction turbodrill was terminated at
90s. 3500 m depth due to the inadequate rpm for the rock drillbits
Since 1997 the new design and make-up technology applied. The conventional rotary drilling techniques in 3560-
was renewed and brought to a commercial level and 3980 m interval provided penetration of 60.6; 131.7; 114.1
production of Light-Alloy Improved Dependability Drillpipes- and 111.4 m per run in series with rate of penetration in the
LAIDP was organized. LAIDP of 6-1/2”(164-mm) OD found range of 0.8 to 1.6 meters per hour. The WOB was 9-12 tones
good use in ultradeep offshore geotechnical drilling (Gelfgat with 60 rpm. The drillbits of IADC code 627, 817 and 837
et al.2)., 5-4/5”(147-mm) OD LAIDP in deep onshore drilling have been used.
by NK ‘Slavneft’ and 5-1/8”(131-mm) OD LAIDP at This example clearly shows that using up-to-date
‘Petrobras’ onshore field in ERD well. design aluminum drill pipes do not limited conventional rotary
Meanwhile now the Kola SD-3 experience is of grate technique application. The possibility of light capacity drill rig
importance for the long drillstring analysis. The conditions application for deep wells construction was confirmed once
and loads applied could simulate within the certain limits, an again.
extended reach well scenario. The drillstring length was more
than 12000m; the well path was very complicated and Petrobras ERD trials
excessive drag force problems had to be overcome for drilling In 2002 the experiment on LAIDP of 5-1/8” – D16T
operations success. The original engineering solutions were application has started in SERRA field, Brazil developed by
applied, included lightweight drillstring, well path control Petrobras. The ERD well SC106 target was at 3147 TMD with
instrumentation in the BHA, based on the hydraulic-pulse TVD 971 m. This experiment goal was to verify the LAIDP
technology, mud system control etc. application for drag forces reduction and using light capacity
The Kola SG-3 drillstring was composed of 147 mm rig for ERD.
OD ADP with internal pipe end upset, and wall thickness of Drillstring assembly was composed of 35m BHA
11, 13, 15, and 17 mm. Static calculations and assemblage with 12-1/4” PDC bit plus 9-5/8” PDM and correspondingly
example of a drill string for 12000 m depth in the Kola SG-3 MWD and monel collar, 81 m of heavy-wall LAIDP 150x28,
is shown in Table 3. 1020 m of LAIDP 131x13, again 36 m of LAIDP 150x28,
 SPE 79873 DRILLSTRING WITH ALUMINUM ALLOY PIPES DESIGN AND PRACTICES 5

then 671 m of steel 5” pipes, 306 m HWP 5” and 161 m of 7” various materials. However, when developing the design
drill collars. procedures of aluminum alloy drillstring for extended-reach
So far the experiment has shown reliable LAIDP drilling it became clear that the known design procedures of
performance without any problems in handling, tripping and steel drillstring does not meet the requirements for the SSS
drilling operations. analysis to the full extent. The reasons are as follows:
- a wide range of buckling loads acting on the
Improving the design procedures of the drillstring drillstring compressed areas in horizontal, slant and curved
stress-strain state in drilling extended-reach wells wellbores according to the data presented by, Wu and
Juvkum-Wold5, Mitchell6, etс.;
Design procedures of the drag forces and the - sophisticated algorithms and record machine time
moment of drag forces. In order to calculate the drag forces expenditure on their implementation;
acting on the drillstring, the ordinary differential equation of - necessity of developing a more precise model of
axial forces is employed. forces acting on the drillstring in contact with borehole walls.
The effective algorithms of drillstring design are
dF V difficult to develop basically because of the structure
= µ ( we sin θ + f a ) − we cos θ , (6) nonlinearity due to constraits on the drillstring axis lateral
dx Vr displacement in the borehole.
The simplest software of the developed package is
where F is the axial force; x is the distance measured BUCKL TJ designed for static analysis of a drillstring with
from the drillstring bottom end along the borehole axis; θ is pads in the form of tool-joints and protectors typical of
the borehole inclination angle; we is the drillstring effective aluminum alloy drill pipes. The software is based on the
weight per unit of length; f is the contact force at the assumption of a prescribed profile (sinusoid or helix) where
compressed drillstring section caused by buckling; µ is the the mentioned pads come into contact with the borehole wall.
friction factor; Vr is the resultant velocity of the point on the The BUCKL TJ software may be used for rough analysis of
drillstring outside surface: Vr = (Va2 + Vc2)1/2; Va and Vc are the the drillstring SSS in horizontal and slant holes.
axial and circumferential velocities of the point The BUCKL TJ2 software provides a more thorough
correspondingly: Vc = 0.5ωD; ω is the angular velocity of analysis of static SSS and it permits one to calculate the
drillstring rotation; and D is the drillstring outside diameter. configuration of the drillstring axis in general where the lines
The equation of the moment of resistance M is as of drillstring contact with the borehole wall alternate with the
follows: broken-contact lines arbitrarily (Tikhonov et al.7). The
BUCKL TJ2 may also be used for calculating the drag forces
dM V acting on the drillstring with regard to the distributed drag
= 0.5µD( we sin θ + f c ). (7) force brought about in the points of drillstring contact with the
dx Vr
borehole wall.
Both BUCKL TJ and BUCKL TJ2 contain the
When solving the Eqs. (6) and (7) it is difficult to
calculation algorithm based on the numerical search for a
define the force f. We approach the problem in the following
minimum functional of drillstring strain energy with design
way. At the first stage the Eqs. (6) and (7) are solved taking no
constraints on the drillstring axial displacement in the
account of the probable drillstring buckling at f = 0. The
borehole.
results of the solution of the Eqs. (6) and (7) are used
The BUCKL ROT software is designed for modeling
following the procedure suggested by Martinez et al.4, and Wu
the drillstring dynamics in hydraulic rotary drilling of straight
and Juvkum-Wold5 to determine the limits of the probable
borehole sections (Tikhonov et al.8). The software takes into
shapes of drillstring buckling. At the third stage the function
account the inertial force; the drillstring added mass in the
f(x) is defined more exactly with the use of one of the
drilling mud; the drillstring Coulomb frictional force acting on
programs described below. Finally, the last stage involves
the borehole wall, which is proportional to the contact force,
further solving the Eqs. (6) and (7) with the more precise
and hydrodynamic drag force. The software provides
value of the force f.
investigating the principal conditions of drillstring
Software package for designing the drillstring
translational motion in the borehole, including a snaking mode
stress-strain state. In order to analyze the stress-strain state
accompanied by drillstring periodic rolling against the
(SSS) of a drillstring of aluminum alloy pipes a software
borehole wall bearing surface, and a whirling. The BUCKL
package has been developed for numerical calculation of the
ROT main assumption is the occurrence of contact between all
drillstring equations at the equilibrium state and the dynamics
points of the drillstring axis and borehole wall. Under steady-
under tightened conditions in wells.
state conditions of snaking and whirling modes of the
The SSS analysis consists of the following phases:
drillstring central part this contact practically always exists.
- calculation of buckling for the drillstring compressed
However, within the range of drillstring angular velocities
section;
when a snaking mode turn into the whirling and heavy
- calculation of the drillstring drag forces and moment
collision of the drillstring and borehole wall occurs, the
of drag forces during various drilling operations;
assumption of the drillstring continuous contact with the
- strength design of drillstring.
borehole wall does not work.
The developed software is multipurpose designed and it
may be used in analyzing the SSS of drillstrings made of
6 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

The BUCKL DYN software of a new generation displacement and 1,656 m TVD. The displacement to TVD
provides modeling of practically all drillstring dynamics in ratio was 6.4.
boreholes of unspecified profile. Yet another purpose of this Prior to CN-1 record drilling, three extended-reach
software is solving quasi-static problems by the method of wells were successfully drilled offshore from standard
continuation. This problem arises in investigating the drillstring platforms where the performance of mega extended-reach
axial compression loading, which is increasing/reducing with drilling was tried out.
time and simulates the actual drilling bit loading/unloading. In CN-1 was drilled with a modified heavy drilling rig
this case due to the Coulomb friction and inertia the transition N1625/3. Installing a third mud pump National 12P160 and a
from one form of drillstring static equilibrium to another will be sixth emergency generator modified the rig. The total power
“almost” abrupt. As this takes place, the buckling load increases of modified drilling rig reached 5,450 kW. The cleaning
with the increase of axial compression load while it becomes system consisted of five linear motion vibrating shale shakers
lower with axial compression load decreasing. That hysteresis to provide high capacity at large volume of drilling cuttings at
effect was repeatedly observed experimentally, however, only 200 m/hr. The total capacity of drilling mud tanks was 1,400
Heisig9 managed to simulate the effect with a computer. m3. There was used 1.25 g/cm3 density oil-based mud.
The indicated effect makes it difficult to evaluate the A top drive fitted to the drilling rig had 45,000 ft-lb of
drillstring helical buckling according to the simple known torque. It was also possible to install additional dead weight to
equations suggested by Mitchell6, Wu and Juvkum-Wold3, etc. the top drive to increase its weight loading the drillstring top
At the same time the correct evaluation of buckling helical during running.
load makes it possible to assign the optimal drilling bit loading During well drilling there were applied new
in extended-reach drilling. engineering solutions, including well circulation control with
The physical model of the drillstring contact with the evaluation of the drilling cuttings volume, casing running
borehole wall forms the basis of BUCKL DYD and takes into under floating conditions and reducing friction by mud
account the following: lubricity control.
- the square-linear elasticity of borehole wall in contact The main drilling problem was very high torque with
with the drillstring; drillstring turning that made further drilling impossible.
- linear damping of borehole wall in contact with then Increasing the mud lubricity solved this problem. Long and
drillstring; costly treatment of the drilling mud resulted in reducing the
- exponential hysteresis of drillstring movement along friction coefficient to 0.14-0.2.
the borehole surface. High-strength steel drillpipes were used in the
The main idea of the method consists in representing following combinations:
the “drillstring-borehole wall” contact in the form of classic - 6 5/8” and 5 ½” for drilling 12 ¼” borehole to
model of the beam on elastic base: if there is clearance 7,792 m depth;
between the drillstring and borehole wall, there will be no wall - 5” of grades G-105 and S-135 for drilling 8 ½”
reaction, while if there is no clearance the wall reaction will be borehole to 10,025 m depth;
increase depending on the clearance value. It will be easy to - 5 ½” and 4” for drilling 6 1/8” borehole to 11,184
integrate nonlinear drillstring motion equations by the method m depth.
of lines and by using the method Runge-Kutta.
This approach considerably reduces the computer time For the theoretical evaluation of possible ERD
expenditure on the drillstring stress-strain state calculation. displacement increase by replacement of steel drillstring with
The BUCKL DYN software provides modeling of drillstring the aluminum one the profile of well CN-1 was considered as
dynamics over rather extended period with real/computer time a basis. The well design was modified by the 8 ½” borehole
ratio of 1:10. for running the 7” casing extending to 12,000 m and 6 1/8”
borehole for running the 5” liner extending to 15,000 m.
Design of aluminum alloy drill string for super-long When designing ERD drillstring made of LAIDP the
ERD well following statements and limitations were applied, and some
ERD limitations invoeved hard operating conditions in of them may be used as practical recommendations for ERD.
the extended horizontal borehole interval, creating of axial 1. The sections of drill string assembly are are
load on the well bottom and high torque developed by designed to adhere the balance life strength regarding
increased drag forces with drillstring running and rotation. both tensile and bending forces as well as considering
The critical parameter in producing resistance forces buckling compression load during drillstring running and
(friction) during drillstring running and rotation is the well bottom axial loading.
drillstring weight, which produces pressing forces on the 2. The drill string design provides friction force (at
borehole wall and frictional forces. With this in mind, friction factor of 0.22) of individual drill string sections
aluminum drill pipes of about three times as little weight as being compared to the axial dead load component at 65-
steel pipes in the air are most promising for drillstring 70º inclination. It is necessary to exert compression load
assembly to improve ERD operations. at the expense of the dead load component of top sections
The data on Total’s CN-1 drilled in Argentina in to provide drillstring running in the borehole.
1999 with record displacement substantiate the above 3. All heavy monel housing components of MWD
statement (Vighetto, Roland et al.10). CN-1 was drilled from system were replaced with aluminum components to
onshore site to offshore field to 11,184 m TMD with 10,585 m reduce friction forces at BHA within the sludging-up
 SPE 79873 DRILLSTRING WITH ALUMINUM ALLOY PIPES DESIGN AND PRACTICES 7

bottom hole area. At 80-85º inclination this replacement Wellbores”, paper presented at the 2001 ETCE, Houston,
reduces friction forces by 10-12 kN. February 5-7.
4. The heavy-wall aluminum drill pipes are used as 5. Wu, J., and Juvkum-Wold, H.C.: "Coiled Tubing
a transition from LADP to steel pipes from the top and to Buckling Implication in Drilling and Completing
the BHA. Horizontal Wells", SPEDC (March 1995) 16.
5. The short section of steel drill collars was 6. Mitchell, R.F.: "New Concepts for Helical Buckling",
applied at the top of drill string for better running-in of SPEDE (September 1988) 303.
LADP. The length of this section should be not more then 7. Tikhonov, V.S., Safronov, A.I., Gelfgat, M.Y.: "Study of
the vertical section of the borehole. Drill Pipe Buckling in a Horizontal Well. Comparative
6. The design provides the use of the concentrated Analysis of the Numerical Modeling and the
dead load at a power swivel when running the top Experimental Results", paper ETCE 2001/DRILL-17005
aluminum drillstring sections to improve the LADP based presented at the 2001 Energy Sources Technology
drillstring running with rotation and flushing. Conference, Houston, February 5-7.
8. Tikhonov, V.S., Safronov, A.I., and Gelfgat, M.Y.:
Table 4 and 5 indicate the drillstring assembly for "Investigation of Drillstring Transverse Vibrations at
possible extending the ERD well of CN-1 type within 7,800- Rotary Drilling in Inclined Wells", paper ETCE
12,000 m interval with 8-1/2” (215.9-mm) borehole and 2001/DRILL-29031 presented at the 2002 ETCE,
within 12,000-15,000 m interval with 6-1/8” (155.6-mm) Houston, February 4-6.
borehole correspondingly. In the first case the LAIDP of 5- 9. Heisig, G.: "Postbuckling Analysis of Drillstrings Using
1/8”and 4” could be used and for the second – 15,000m long the Finite-Element Method", paper presented at the 1995
drillstring – LADP of 4 ½” and 4” correspondingly. The Energy-Sources Technology Conference and Exhibition.
LAIDP design is in accordance with the new standard Drilling Technology, PD-Vol. 65, Houston, Jan. 29-Feb.
approved by the ISO TC67 recently – ISO15546 and 01.
presented in Table 6. The 5-1/8” and 4-1/2” pipes are with 10. Vighetto, Roland, Matthieu Naegel, Emmanuel Pradie
external upsets, which provides excellent opportunities for “Total drills extended-reach record in Tierra del Fuego,”
borehole circulation with high flow rate. The presented Oil & Gas Journal, May 17, 1999 p. 51–56.
drillstring design is just one option; the 5-3/4” LAIDP with the
7” OD tool joint could be used in 12,000m long drillstring as
well. When drilling 12-1/4” section LAIDP of 6-5/8” size,
internal flash is also available.

Conclusion
The LADP design and drilling practices along with the
analytical studies have shown that application of aluminum
drill pipe string has a number of technical and technological
benefits against steel drill pipe string and may provide
implementation of ERD projects at reduced costs and with
longer displacements.

Acknowledgement
We appreciate the opportunity to use information from
Petrobras and Total and Slavneft companies in this paper. We
thanks for the help of Aquatic Company staff in the paper
preparation.

References
1. Fine G.M., A.S. Neimark Design and operations of
drillstrings in deep wells, Nedra Publishing, Moscow,
1985, 237 pp.
2. Gelfgat M.Ya., Podrazhansky A.M., Geise J., Paff G.
“Stratigrafy drilling in deep water with aluminum drill
pipes application”, paper SPE 37597, presented at the
1997 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
3. Basovich V.S., V.V. Sledkov “The evaluation of actual
drag forces in the super-deep borehole”, Proceedings
VNIIBT, issue 57, Moscow, 1983.
4. Martinez, A., Kuru, E., and Miska, S.: “Experimental
Investigation of Pipe Stresses in Horizontal and Curved
8 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

Fig.1 – The possible single-size drillstring suspension

 SPE 79873 DRILLSTRING WITH ALUMINUM ALLOY PIPES DESIGN AND PRACTICES 9

Fig.2 – Bending stresses in drillpipes of different material depend on

drillpipe/borehole diameter factor

Fig.3 – Aluminum drill pipe improved connection with steel tool joint
10 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

º
Table 1 – Main physical and mechanical properties of materials available for drill pipes production (Т=20 С)

Material Density, Young’s Shear Poisson Linear expansion Specific heat

g/cm3 modulus,MPa modulus, MPa ratio coefficient, (х106 (J/kg°С)
1/°С)
Steel 7.85 210000 79000 0.27 11.4 500
Aluminum 2.78 71000 27000 0.30 22.6 840
Alloys
Titanium alloys 4.54 110000 42000 0.28 8.4 460

Table 2 – Aluminum alloys for drillpipes manufacturing

Alloy characteristics Unit Alloy designation

D16T 1953T1 AK41T1
1. Yield strength, no less than MPa 330 480 350
2. Ultimate strength, no less than MPa 450 540 410
3. Hardness НВ 120 120-130 130
4. Elongation % 10-11 7-8 11-12
5. Reduction of area % 18-20 14-15 24-26
3
6. Density g/cm 2,8 2,8 2,8
7. Modulus of elasticity MPa х105
Е 0,72 0,70 0,73
G 0,26 0,275 0,275
8. Maximum operational temperature С0 160 120 240

Table 3 – Drill string for Kola SG-3 design

Drill string section Section Cumulative Section Cumulative Drag Total pull Allowed Safety load
content* length, length, m weight in weight, kN forces, out load, pull out for each
m mud, kN kN kN load, kN section, kN
BHA 40 40 50 50 50 100 - -
SDP 140x9 150 190 43 93 55 148 - -
ADP 147x11-AK4 2800 2990 338 431 300 731 1300 569
ADP 147x13-AK4 1005 3995 140 571 380 951 1530 579
ADP 147x15-D16T 1205 5200 145 725 445 1170 1730 560
ADP 147x11-1953 1200 6400 145 870 520 1390 1950 560
ADP 147x13-1953 1400 7800 194 1064 650 1714 2280 566
ADP 147x15-1953 1450 9250 217 1281 750 2031 2590 559
ADP 147x17-1953 1100 10350 178 1459 870 2329 2890 561
SDP 140x11 1650 12000 557 2016 1100 3116 3680 564

* SDP means steel drill pipe; first figure after the pipe name is pipe body OD, next figure is pipe wall thickness - all
sizes in mm. The aluminum alloy type is specified after the pipe size.
 SPE 79873 DRILLSTRING WITH ALUMINUM ALLOY PIPES DESIGN AND PRACTICES 11

Table 4. – Drillstring design for 15000-m ERD well deepening in the interval of 7800-12000m with borehole
1
diameter 8 /2” (215.9mm)

Total Section Total Tension load Torque in top Safery factor

Section Friction Permissible Permissible
Drill String Design length, weight, weight, in top cross- cross-section, by by
length, m force, kN tension, kN torque, kNm
m kN kN section, kN kNm tension torque
BHA 20 20 25.5 25.5 5.6 31.1 - - - - -
HWA 150x25-D16T 50 70 10.8 36.3 2.4 44.3 - - - - -
LAIDP 103x9 7000 7070 418.6 454.9 92.1 555 8.9 864 22.5 1.8 2.5
1953T1
LAIDP 131x13 4000 11070 520 974.9 67.6 1142.6 18.4 2090 72.0 2.2 3.9
1953T1
HWA 150x25 50 11120 10.8 985.7 8.3 1161.7 19.5 2900 96.0 3.0 4.9
1953T1
SDP 139.7x10.54-S 500 11620 181.9 1167.6 24.6 1368.2 20.8 3380 138.0 2.9 6.6
DC 177.8x71.4 – G 380 12000 527 1694.6 24.2 1919.4 21.0 14200 220.0 7.4 10.4

Table 5. – Drillstring design for 15000-m ERD well deepening in the interval of 12000-15000m with borehole
1
diameter 6 /8” (155.58 mm)

Total Total Tension load Torque in top Safery factor

Section Section Friction Permissible Permissible
Drill String Design length, weight, in top cross- cross-section, by by
length, m weight, kN force, kN tension, kN torque, kNm
m kN section, kN kNm tension torque
BHA 20 20 21 21 5.7 26.7 - - - -
HWA 120x30 D16T 50 70 8.2 29.2 1.8 36.7 - - - -
LAIDP 103x9 8000 8070 478.4 507.6 95.6 610.7 12.6 864 22.5 1.69 1.78
1953T1
LAIDP 114x10 4000 12070 291.2 798.8 69.2 971.1 16.5 1230 26.8 1.52 1.62
1953T1
HWA 120x30 D16T 1000 13070 175 973.8 36.9 1183 18.4 1650 46.0 1.67 2.5
SDP 101.6x9.65-S 1500 14570 329 1302.8 67.5 1579.5 23.5 2230 72.2 1.69 3.0
DC 120.6x57.1 – G 530 15000 314 1616.8 7.4 1900.9 25.0 5900 115.0 3.7 4.6

3
Remarks: 1. DS design considers drill mud of 1.2g/cm density.
2. Friction factors assumed as 0.27 – for steel and 0.22 – for aluminum.
3. Permissible load was calculated based on 0.8 of pipe material yield strength consuming; permissible torque is based
on yield strength.
4. Drill-string running requires an additional pushing force of 100-150 kN, which could be generated by extra weight at
top-drive.
12 Mikhail GELFGAT, SPE, Vladimir BASOVICH, Vadim TIKHONOV

Table 6. – Aluminum drill pipes used for 15,000-m ERD drillstring design

Characteristics Unit LAIDP 131x13 LAIDP 114X10 LAIDP 103x9

1 Length Mm (foot) 9150 (30)
2 Pipe OD Mm (inch) 131 (5-1/8) 114 (4-1/2) 103 (4-1/16)
3 Wall thickness Mm (inch)
Pipe body 13 (0.51) 10 (0.39) 9 (0.35)
Upset ends 21 (0.83) - external 19 (0.75) - external 16 (0.63) - internal
4 Tool joint diameters Mm (inch)
OD 178 (7) 155 (6.1) 118 (4.64)
ID 107 (4.2) 94 (3.7) 73 (2.87)
5 API thread 5-1/2FH NC-50 NC-38
6 Pipe weight Kg/m (lb/foot)
In air 20.2 (13.6) 11.2 (7.5) 9.2 (6.2)
In drill mud 1.2 g/cm3 13.1 (8.8) 7.3 (4.9) 6.0 (4.0)

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