Rheology and Hydraulics of Polymer (HEC) Based Drilling Foams at Ambient Temperature Conditions
Authors: Chen Zhu , Ahmed Ramadan Mohammed , Miska Stefan Z. , Takach Nicholas E. , Yu Mengjiao , Pickell Mark B. 
Published: March 2007

An experimental investigation on polymer-based drilling foams was carried out. Rheology tests were performed with foams that have different concentrations of hydroxylethylcellulose (HEC) and 1% commercial surfactant. Experiments were conducted in a large-scale flow loop that permits foam flow through 2-, 3-, and 4-in. pipe sections, and a 6×3.5-in. annular section. During the experiments, frictional pressure losses across the pipe and annular sections were measured for different gas/liquid flow rates, polymer concentrations (0, 0.25, and 0.5%), and foam qualities (70, 80, and 90%). Significant rheological variations were observed between aqueous foams containing no polymers and polymer-thickened foams.

Experimental data show three distinct flow curves for the 2-, 3-, and 4-in. pipe sections, which indicates the presence of wall slip. The Oldroyd-Jastrzebski approach was used to calculate the wall slip velocity and determine the true shear rate. It has been found that wall slip decreases as the foam quality or polymer concentration increases. Two foam hydraulic models, which use slip-corrected and slip-uncorrected rheological parameters, have been proposed. These models are applicable for predicting pressure loss in pipes and annuli. Model predictions for the annular test section are compared with the measured data. A satisfactory agreement between the model predictions and measured data is obtained. This paper will help to better design foam drilling and cleanup operations.

Introduction

The use of drilling foams is increasing because foams exhibit properties that are desirable in many drilling operations. In practice, aqueous and polymer-based foams have been used with commercial success. However, drilling-foam rheology and hydraulics are still not sufficiently understood to minimize the risk and costs associated with foam drilling. It is generally accepted that the addition of polymers to the liquid phase affects the viscosity and stability of foams. However, the degree to which the bulk properties of drilling foams are enhanced by polymers has not been well understood and is difficult to predict. For safe and economical foam drilling, accurate knowledge of bottomhole pressure is essential. However, foam rheology and pressure drop predictions are not accurate enough to provide adequate hydraulic design information such as equivalent circulation density. This problem is more pronounced when polymers are added, because the apparent foam viscosity of polymer-thickened foams can be significantly higher than aqueous foams. It becomes apparent that there is a need for polymer foam rheological characterization in order to improve the knowledge of foam rheology and hydraulics.

Foam rheological characterization was carried out using large-scale, single-pass pipe viscometers (composed of 2-, 3-, and 4-in. pipe sections). Foam qualities were varied from 70 to 90%. Test pressure and temperature were 100 psig and 80°F.

Two foam hydraulic models were considered, assuming both no-slip condition at the wall and slip condition at the wall. The first model assumes no-slip boundary conditions in both pipes and annulus. By assuming no slip condition at the wall, slip-uncorrected foam rheological parameters were obtained from the pipe viscometer measurements. It has been found that if we plot friction factors vs. Reynolds numbers for all test data, regardless of pipe diameters, foam qualities, and flow rates, a single curve is obtained. This curve is similar to that obtained for incompressible fluid flow. Pressure drop in the annulus is calculated with the proposed model, and satisfactory predictions are obtained. The second model is based on the assumption that there is wall slip in both pipes and annulus. Rheological parameters and wall-slip coefficient corrections were first obtained using Oldroyd-Jastrzebski approach. The annular pressure losses are predicted based on slip-corrected rheological parameters and wall-slip coefficient correlations.