Technology Focus: Bits and Bottomhole Assemblies (December 2020)
Authors: Mensa-Wilmot Graham 
Published: January 2021

Achieving and sustaining performance drilling’s intended benefits - improved drilling efficiency with minimal down-hole tool failures and the associated reductions in project cycle time and operational costs - requires new protocols in drilling-system analysis. Drilling-system components [bits, reamers, bottomhole assemblies (BHAs), drive systems, drilling parameters, and hydraulics] must be analyzed independently for their relevance on the basis of application types and project challenges. Additionally, the drilling system must undergo holistic evaluations to establish functional compatibility and drilling-parameter responses and effects, considering project objectives and key performance indicators. This comprehensive physics-based approach ensures durability and rate-of-penetration (ROP) improvements without compromising stability and downhole tool reliability.

The success of this process is strongly dependent on vibration control. Considering the different vibration modes - axial, torsional, lateral, stick/slip, and whirl - and their many dissimilar initiating and amplification factors, their sources always must be identified. Researchers have challenged the usual classification of erratic torque and revolution-rate behavior as stick/slip. BHA design and drilling-parameter ranges, considering blade spacing, can produce unfavorable tubular deformations, contact points, and side loads. This condition creates torque and revolution-rate fluctuations that have been linked to lateral vibrations. Awareness of these vibration modes, particularly their sources and intensifying conditions, ensures development of effective remediation solutions.

Improved borehole quality, with regard to tortuosity and rugosity, must always be considered as a critical requirement in performance drilling. This condition reduces borehole drag, enhances drilling-parameter transfer, and improves ROP and overall run lengths. Most importantly, it reduces vibrations, leading to improvements in downhole tool life and directional drilling performance. In addition to formation drillability effects, drilling-systems components and operational practices have strong effects on borehole quality. Consequently, this must be part of the drilling-system analysis.

The industry’s advancements at developing physics-based solutions for drilling challenges have matured. Continuing to ask questions that help us understand how and why we fail or succeed puts more wind beneath our wings to accelerate learning and reduce cycle times.

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

SPE 200740 Digital Twins for Well Planning and Bit-Dull-Grade Prediction by Mehrdad Gharib Shirangi, Baker Hughes, et al.

SPE 201616 Validating Bottomhole-Assembly Analysis Models With Real-Time Measurements for Improved Drilling Performance by Mark Smith, Premier Directional Drilling, et al.

IADC/SPE 199658 Simulation and Measurement of High-Frequency Torsional Oscillation (HFTO)/High-Frequency Axial Oscillation and Downhole HFTO Mitigation: Knowledge Gains Continue by Using Embedded High-Frequency Drilling Dynamics Sensors by Junichi Sugiura, Sanvean Technologies, et al.