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Managed Pressure Drilling Modeling & Simulation (a case study)

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The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020

Managed Pressure Drilling Modeling & Simulation (a case study)

Y. Arjmand1, M. J. Ameri2*
1
Ms.c in Petroleum Engineering, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amir Kabir University Of Technology,
Tehran, Iran
2
Associate professor in Petroleum Engineeing, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amir Kabir University Of
Technology, Tehran, Iran
ameri@aut.ac.ir

Abstract
Drilling with conventional methods in narrow operational mud windows is difficult or even
impracticable. The conventional drilling in such mud windows may lead to lots of drilling
problems including drill string sticking, kick and lost circulation. In addition, the problems
increase the non-productive time (NPT) and costs the oil industry a considerable amount of
money.In order to overcome the narrow operational window limits and challenges, managed
pressure drilling (MPD) technologies are developed, which are the extension of conventional
drilling method.Unlike conventional drilling method, MPD methods use equipment and techniques
to control well annular pressure precisely and be able to drill through narrow window safely. There
are several MPD variations and methods. In this research, some of famous MPD methods are
introduced and a MPD field case simulation is done using OLGA dynamic multiphase flow
simulator. Simulated field case is a well drilling into 3 layers with different pore & fracture
gradients, so operational mud window is very tight which forces the one to drill with a constant
bottomhole pressure. Controlling bottomhole pressure at a constant value was implemented using
surface choke back pressure with the help of a PID controller.

Keywords: managed pressure drilling (MPD), dynamic multiphase flow simulator (OLGA), smart
drilling, CBHP, choke backpressure, choke opening, PID controller

Introduction
Nowadays, Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is one of the evolving technologies in the
drilling industry, promising solution for the conventional drilling methods challenges such as
[1][2]:
 Deep-water environment
 Depleted reservoirs,
 High pressure high temperature and
 Extended reach wells - Horizontal wells.
One of the keys with MPD technique is that one can precisely control the annular pressure
with the help of techniques and tools. Figure 1 shows the operational windows for
conventional drilling, MPD and Underbalanced Drilling (UBD). As showon in Figure 1, MPD
drill near overpressure, which does not significantly damage the formation as the
conventional, and able to drill through narrow drilling window, which is not possible with
The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020
conventional drilling method. MPD is a relatively recent technology. The main principle of
MPD is to manipulate the annular pressure profile accordingly to its needs and this control is
made through the hydrostatic fluid column in addition to the application of a surface pressure
known as backpressure. The backpressure is normally done by a choke which can vary from
manual to semi or automatic, thus maintaining the desired pressure profile during the
operation. MPD focuses not simply on the bottomhole pressure but also on the entire pressure
profile[1] [2].

Figure 1-Drilling windows for Conventional, MPD and UBD [3]

According to the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) MPD is defined as:
MPD is an adaptive drilling process used to precisely control the annular pressure profile
throughout the wellbore.This facilitates faster corrective action when pressure variations
occur, as well as enabling drilling of otherwise “undrillable” wells[1].

Some of MPD advantages are as follows:

 Reduced number of casing
 Reduces the number of tripping and cost for cementing operation
 Reduced non-productive time
 Reduced the overall drilling cost
 Drill un-drillable formation, which is challenging for conventional methods
 Allows to drill a highly fractured formation
 Control annular pressure precisely during drilling and connection
 Increase Rate of Penetration (ROP)

To accomplish MPD a combination of techniques is necessary to be applied as follows:

 Backpressure
 A variable fluid density
 The fluid(s) rheology
 Circulation friction factor
 And the hole geometry
Equivalent circulating/static density during MPD can be estimated az Equation 1 for
circulating and
The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020

Equation 2

2 for static condistions.(MW) is the drilling fluid density, (AFP) is fluid’s frictional annular
pressure drop and (BP) is surface back pressure may be enacted by choke[1][2].
Equation 1

Equation 2

MPD equipment package

There are several configurations which are available for MPD equipment. They vary in
accordance with the objective of the work and the reservoir characteristics. For an accurate
choice of which equipment is necessary for MPD operations, there is a series of relevant
inputs and considerations to take into account for each case. Figure 2 shows the surface and
subsurface equipment as listed below [2]:
 Rotating Control Devices (RCD)
 Drilling Chokes
 Choke Manifold
 Flowmeter
 Oil/Gas Separators
 Non-return valves, downhole isolation valves, downhole measurement

Figure 2- An example of a MPD system [2]

Different kinds of MPD method

MPD can be presented in seven different main variations [2]:
1- Constant bottomhole pressure drilling (CBHP)
2- Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD)
3- Dual Gradient Drilling With and without a riser (DGD)
4- Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR)
5- Subsea MudLift Drilling (SMD)
6- Low Riser Return System (LRRS)
7- Returns Flow Control (HSE)

CBHP is used to report actions to reduce or correct the effect of circulation friction loss, or
ECD to avoid exceeding the limits of fracture gradient when drilling ahead. This variation is
The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020
uniquely suited to deal with narrow pressure environments. Normally the fluids program is
designed to be at the predetermined depth or nearer balanced than conventional. In practice,
the hydrostatic pressure transmitted by the mud, when not circulating, may result in a
reasonable disequilibrium, and for that, jointed pipe connections are made with a surface
backpressure roughly equivalent to the circulating annulus friction pressure, noted on the last
stand of the drill string. The backpressure is applied through a choke manifold system
connected to the RCD, hence maintaining the desired overbalance level to avoid an influx
from the formation into the well. An adjustable choke is used to control the annular pressure
independently if the mud pump is working or not. Even without the pump flow rate, the
pressure can be applied in two diverse ways: by circulation through BOP booster line or by
circulation through a dedicated pump during connection. In that way, the bottom hole pressure
resulted from fluid circulation (ECD) is replaced by the application of surface pressure, in
other words, the fluid density is reduced and the hydrostatic pressure loss or friction loss is
compensated by the backpressure. This fact allows the bottom pressure to be slightly over
than the pore pressure, decreasing the risk of circulation loss and overlap the formation
fracture gradient. Nowadays, CBHP is the MPD variation most used in the industry. It allows
to extend the shoe casings depth once it’s possible to continue drilling even when narrow
operation window and possibly reducing the hole sections of the well.[2][3].

MPD simulation Using dynamic multiphase flow simulator (OLGA)

OLGA is a comercial dynamic time dependent multiphase flow simulator, used for networks
of wells, flowlines and pipelines and process equipment, covering the production system from
bottomhole into the production system. OLGA comes with a steady state pre-processor
included which is intended for calculating initial values to the transient simulations, but which
also is useful for traditional steady state parameter variations. Modeling a MPD operation in
OLGA simulator may be a way to overcome complexity of MPD modeling[4].

Simulation was carried out for a narrow mud window case study.as shown in Figure 3, there
exist 3 different layers with different mud windows in open hole region (2 weak zones and a
kick zone between them). The the weak zone 3,2 have fracture gradients about 14.9 and 14.8
ppg (lb/gal), however, kick zone 1 has a pore pressure gradient about 13.7 ppg. So drilling
these 3 zones in single hole section with a uniform drilling fluid is difficult, because
operational mud window is between 13.7 to 14.8 ppg which is a narrow mud
window.Following a conventional well control design, a mud weight greater than 13.7 ppg is
required to drill Well. However, if this mud weight was used, that would have led to
significant frictional pressure losses in the slim annulus and increased the risk of problems
such as lost returns and pipe sticking. To overcome these complications, a 13.2 ppg mud
weight should be utilized in a MPD CBHP method. The pressure difference between the 13.7
ppg formation and 13.2 mud weight is compensated for by the balanced by the surface
backpressure at the choke.choke opening vae adjusted during drilling to hold bottomhole
pressure on 10558.912 psi when drilling into the kick zone.Table 1 shows simulation input
parameteres. To control choke opening during simulation a parallel PID controller has been
used which reads bottomhole pressure variations and changes choke openning related to the
readings.Table 2 Contains controller’s designed parameters.
The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020
Table 1- simualtion input data [4]
Simulation input parameters
mud weight (ppg) 13.2 Bit Diameter (in) 6
mud flow rate (gpm) 190 bit nozzle size (in) 3* 11/32
Target depth (ft) 17700 choke diameter (in) 3
open hole ID (in) 6 ROP (ft/hr) 23
open hole length (ft) 1832 RPM (rpm) 150

Table 2- PID Controller designed parameters

P 1*10^3
I 1*10^9
D 0
Control variables Bottomhole Pressure
Manipulated variables Choke Opening
Control Set Point 10558.912
Min Signal 0
Max signal 1

Figure 3- Schematic of simulated offshore well [5]

Results and discussion

Figure 4 shows bottomhole pressure variation during drilling kick zone in OLGA simulation.
As mentioned before, bottomhole pressure has been desired at 10558.912 psi. According to
Figure 4, simulated botoomhole pressure error related to desired pressure is less than 1%
during simulation time which is an acceptable result for controlling bottomhole pressure by
choke back pressures caused by changes in choke openning.Figure 5 Shows choke opening
changes during simulation caused by designed PID controller output signals.
The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020

Figure 4- OLGA MPD CBHP results

Figure 5- MPD CBHP Choke Opening variation during simulation

Conclusion
Conventional drilling in some cases like narrow mud windows, HPHT, and deep water
drilling wells may cause lots of drilling problems such as stuck pipe, loss circulation and
formation damage. To avoid these problems, a new drilling method called managed pressure
drilling may be useful. One of MPD methods called CBHP is a good choice when drilling in
narrow mud windows. In this research, MPD CBHP method modeling and simulation was
implemented for a narrow mud window case by OLGA software. Bottomhole pressure has
been kept constant by a choke back pressure configuration. Choke Opening during simulation
has been estimated by a parallel PID controller. Simulation results showed acceptable
bottomhole pressure variations which means MPD CBHP method is a good solution when
drilling in narrow mud windows, but needs to be improved and simulated for similar
situations before using it in real operations.

References
[1] B. Rehm, Managed Pressure Drilling, Houston: TX : Gulf Publishing Company, 2008.
[2] Sobreiro de Oliveira, Luize, " MPD-Field case Studies, Modelling and Simulation studies"
(2018). Stavanger Master's Theses.
[3] Deepak M. Gala,“ Managed Pressure Drilling 101: Moving Beyond “It’s Always Been
Done That Way” ”, Society of Petroleum Engineers, February, 2011.
 The 11th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2020)
Fouman, Iran, 28- 30 October, 2020
[4] Y. Arjmand, “Drilling fluid flow simulation using OLGA software”, September 2018.
Amir Kabir University of Technology Bachelor’s Theses. [Online]. Available:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329163248_Drilling_fluid_flow_simulation_using_
OLGA_software.
[5] Guner, Hakan, "Simulation study of emerging well control methods for influxes caused by
bottomhole pressure fluctuations during managed pressure drilling" (2009). LSU Master's
Theses
[6] B. Rehm, Underbalanced drilling: limits and extremes, Houston: TX: Gulf Publishing
Company, 2012.

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