Patent Application
20160237767
A considerable range of fluids are used in the creation and operation of subterranean boreholes. These fluids may contain suspended solids for a number of purposes. Included within this broad category are drilling fluids which may contain suspended solids to block fractures in formation rock and mitigate so-called lost circulation.
Lost circulation, which is the loss of drilling fluid into downhole earth formations, can occur naturally in formations that are fractured, porous, or highly permeable. Lost circulation may also result from induced pressure during drilling. Lost circulation may also be the result of drilling-induced fractures. For example, when the pore pressure (the pressure in the formation pore space provided by the formation fluids) exceeds the pressure in the open wellbore, the formation fluids tend to flow from the formation into the open wellbore. Therefore, the pressure in the open wellbore is typically maintained at a higher pressure than the pore pressure. However, if the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the fluid in the wellbore exceeds the fracture resistance of the formation, the formation is likely to fracture and thus drilling fluid losses may occur. Moreover, the loss of wellbore fluid may cause the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore to decrease, which may in turn also allow formation fluids to enter the wellbore. The formation fracture pressure typically defines an upper limit for allowable wellbore pressure in an open wellbore while the pore pressure defines a lower limit. Therefore, a major constraint on well design and selection of drilling fluids is the balance between varying pore pressures and formation fracture pressures or fracture gradients though the depth of the well.
A similar problem can arise when cementing. Pressure to push cement into place in an annulus around casing can create fractures in the surrounding formation into which cement is lost.
Several remedies aiming to mitigate lost circulation are available. These include the addition of particulate solids to drilling fluids, so that the particles can enter the opening into a fracture and plug the fracture or bridge the opening to seal the fracture. Documents which discuss such “lost circulation materials” include
U.S. Pat. No. 8,401,795 and Society of Petroleum Engineers papers SPE 58793, SPE 153154 and SPE 164748.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below. This summary is not intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the subject matter claimed.
As now disclosed herein, a wellbore fluid comprises suspended solid objects which are made by an additive manufacturing process. This process may be a 3-D printing process. In another aspect there is disclosed here a method of making a wellbore fluid characterised by making solid objects by an additive manufacturing process and incorporating these objects into the wellbore fluid.
An additive manufacturing process may be implemented to construct an object in accordance with a design held in digital form. The process progressively creates an object by adding material at selected locations within a workspace, so that the added material joins on to material already present at one or more adjacent locations. Such a process is termed “additive” because more material is progressively added in order to arrive at the finished article, in contrast with traditional machining processes which remove material from a workpiece in order to create the desired shape. Several additive processes are known and are sometimes referred to as three-dimensional printing (3D-printing) although that term may also be reserved for one or only some of these additive manufacturing processes.
The term “3D printing” may be used for a process which uses a movable printing head to deliver a droplet of a polymerisable liquid composition to each selected location. The composition may for instance be photopolymerisable by ultraviolet or visible light, and the polymerisation is initiated by illuminating the work space with ultra-violet or visible light while the print head delivers droplets of composition to the selected locations. The photopolymerisation joins each droplet onto material which has already been delivered and polymerised. A process of this kind and apparatus for the purpose was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,435 although there have been numerous subsequent developments as for instance disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,314 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,641.
The array of locations in a workspace are sometimes referred to as voxels. Additive manufacturing processes may create the intended object in a succession of layers, adding material at selected locations in each layer and then moving on to the next layer. Each layer in a succession of layers may be considered as an array of uniformly sized voxels with the photopolymerisable material delivered to selected voxels in each layer. As polymerisable material which will eventually form the finished object is delivered to the selected locations (i.e. selected voxels) another material which acts as a temporary support may be delivered to the remaining voxels as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,314. This support material is subsequently removed after all the layers have been completed.
Some 3D-printing machines have the capability to deliver more than one polymerisable material at selected locations as disclosed in U.S. 66/584,314 as well as a temporary support material at other locations thus enabling an object to be made from two materials. The materials may also be mixed together, for instance by delivering them to alternate voxels in a sequence of adjoining voxels.
In another arrangement, the material delivered to the selected locations, which will eventually form the finished object, is provided as a filament which is heated and delivered in molten form so that it adheres to previously delivered material as it cools. A system of this kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,384,255 and references cited therein.
3D-printing can also be carried out with other materials. For metals it can be done using metal powder as the raw material and a laser beam to sinter the powder deposited at selected locations or using metal wire as the raw material and an electron beam to bring about melting at selected locations.
Other forms of additive manufacturing begin each layer by providing a layer of a powder and join the powder particles into a larger solid form at selected locations in each layer. This may be done by depositing a binder material at each selected location as in U.S. 60/073,128 or by heating with a laser to sinter the material at the selected locations as in U.S. Pat. No. 8,299,208. Selective laser melting is a process for making metal objects. The metal is supplied as layers of fine metal powder, and melted with a laser beam at selected locations.
Another additive process is stereolithography in which a volume of polymerisable liquid is selectively polymerised at selected locations by irradiating with a laser as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,567.
3D printing and other additive manufacturing processes are commonly regarded as appropriate when the number of articles to be produced is small. A 3D printer may be used to make a prototype article in a workspace which is not large enough to contain more one such article, so that the machine can only be used to make one article at a time. Additive manufacturing processes have thus been regarded as techniques for rapid prototyping.
By contrast, what is contemplated by the present disclosure is using an additive manufacturing process to make objects in large quantities. The objects may be small in relation to the workspace of the machine, so that a number of the objects can be made concurrently. One benefit of using an additive manufacturing process is that it is possible to make objects with shapes and/or properties that cannot be achieved easily, or even at all, by using particulate solids from natural sources or making objects by other manufacturing processes.
The objects which are suspended in a wellbore fluid, as disclosed herein, may serve various purposes. One possibility is that the objects are used to prevent or mitigate loss of the drilling fluid into fractures in the subterranean rock formation as the borehole is drilled. If a fracture is created in a formation during drilling or if a natural fracture is encountered, the fluid entering the fracture can carry some of the objects into the fracture, for them to block the fracture and reduce further leakage. So, in a further aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of inhibiting loss of wellbore fluid into apertures in formation bounding the wellbore, comprising making solid objects by an additive manufacturing process and suspending the objects in the wellbore fluid to obstruct flow into the apertures.
The wellbore fluid in which objects are suspended may contain other suspended solids and may be a drilling fluid or a cement or a fluid used for pre-treatment of a borehole prior to cementing.
The fluid may possibly contain objects made by an additive manufacturing process together with another lost circulation material of known type, such as graphite particles. This other lost circulation material may have a mean particle size of at least 0.3 mm and possibly a mean particle size in a range from 0.3 to 1.0 mm. The objects made by additive manufacturing may be used in an amount which is less, by weight and or by volume, than the amount of other lost circulation material(s). For instance the solids incorporated in a drilling fluid to mitigate lost circulation may comprise (i) objects made by additive manufacturing and having dimensions too large to fit within a 1 mm diameter sphere and (ii) other particulate solid particles having a mean particle size of in a range from 0.3 to 1.0 mm with a volume ratio of (i):(ii) in a range from 1:200 to 1:5 possibly from 1:200 to 1:10.
Objects made by an additive manufacturing process and suspended in a wellbore fluid, as disclosed herein, may all be manufactured with identical shape and size, or may be a mixture of a small number of shapes and sizes. For example a mixture of up to six kinds, where there are thousands of (i.e. more than a thousand) identical particles of each individual kind. By contrast, another lost circulation material of natural origin, such as graphite particles, will be a random distribution of shapes and sizes.
The circulating drilling fluid provides hydrostatic pressure to prevent the ingress of formation fluids into the borehole, cools and lubricate the drill string and bit and removes drill cuttings from the bottom of the hole to the surface. Drilling fluid compositions may be water-or oil-based and may include weighting agents, surfactants, polymeric thickeners and other materials.
If there is a fracture in the formation rock penetrated by the borehole, drilling fluid may leak into this fracture and be lost. In accordance with the present disclosure, objects made by an additive process as disclosed here may be suspended in drilling fluid as an expedient to block any such fractures and mitigate fluid loss. The objects may themselves block the fracture or they may act jointly with other solids in the fluid to form a plug which closes the fracture.
These objects made by an additive process may comprise an organic, i.e. carbon-based polymer. After printing, the material may be a thermoplastic polymer or a thermoset polymer and may incorporate filler as well as polymer. Specific gravity may range up to 2.5 or 3.0, especially if the composition includes a filler as well as polymer. In some embodiments the material from which the objects are made may have a specific gravity in a range from 0.7 to 1.3 and possibly in a narrower range from 0.8 to 1.0 or 1.2. It is also possible that the polymer is a polysiloxane which has a polymer chain of silicon and oxygen atoms. Polysiloxanes may have a specific gravity in a ranger from 0.9 or 1.0 up to 1.2 or 1.3. Such a specific gravity may be similar to the specific gravity of a wellbore fluid, so that the objects will be less prone to rapid settling out from such a fluid than particles of inorganic mineral of higher specific gravity but similar size. Settling out of particles can be problematic especially if the circulation of fluid is interrupted. In consequence, the objects according to this disclosure may be larger than would be acceptable for particles of higher specific gravity and by reason of larger size they may be suitable for blocking larger fractures.
It is possible that a polymer may be less dense than a borehole fluid. In some embodiments, to mitigate any problems caused by buoyancy of objects, the polymer may be mixed with a denser filler to raise its specific gravity towards neutral buoyancy in the borehole fluid.
In some embodiments objects are made from material of higher specific gravity. For instance, objects with an open cage structure may be made from a metal to give strength, whilst the open cage structure leads to overall lightness relative to size.
Solid objects of polymeric material may have a size chosen to be the maximum which can pass through the jets 20 of the drill bit which is in use. Alternatively, they may be smaller than this constraint. The objects may have dimensions such that they could fit inside a sphere of 10 mm diameter and possibly inside a sphere of 8, 6 or even 5 mm diameter. Such objects may be sufficiently large that they could not fit within a sphere of 1 mm diameter and possibly not within a sphere of 1.5 or 2 mm diameter.
In a 3-D printing process which relies on photopolymerisation after delivery of droplets to the required locations (voxels), the formulation which is delivered may contain a variety of materials with reactive groups, such as epoxy groups, acrylate groups and vinyl ether and other reactive olefinic groups, as for instance disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,183,335. The polymerisable formulation may comprise oligomers which incorporate reactive groups able to undergo further polymerisation so as to lengthen polymer chains or able to form cross links between chains. Polymerisation may be free radical polymerisation initiated by means of an initiator compound which is included in the formulation and which is decomposed to liberate free radicals by ultraviolet or visible light.
The objects may have a shape which is different from that of a particulate solid obtained from naturally occurring material. The objects may be shaped to assist them in lodging in the fracture by engaging with each other or by engaging with the formation rock. They may themselves block the fracture or they may interact with other solids in the fluid to form a blockage which closes the fracture.
One possibility is that objects will have a shape which is generally smooth, but is not spherical. Examples of such a shape include an ellipsoid and a rod with domed ends.
An object may have at least one edge where two surfaces intersect. Another possibility is that objects will have corners or points which will enhance ability to engage with a rock surface or with each other compared with particles with a smooth surface. A corner where three surfaces and three edges meet may be such that the angle included between surfaces at the corner in each of two planes intersecting at right angles is not more than 120° and possibly not more than 100°. Some forms of object may have a corner or a point shaped such that the angle included between surfaces at the corner in each of two planes intersecting at right angles is less than 90°. An alternative parameter for sharpness of a point or corner is that it may be such as to include a solid angle of less than π/2 (i.e 0.5π) steradians which is the solid angle subtended by a corner of a cube. The solid angle included by a corner or point may possibly lie in a range from 0.25 to 0.45 steradians.
Another possibility is that an object will have a plurality of projections which are spikes or fingers, being sufficiently long and sufficiently close together that the projections of one object can fit between projections of another. This will assist such objects to engage together and form a mass within the mouth of a fracture. An object with these characteristics may have at least 4 and possibly at least 8 projections from a core.
A further possibility is that an object may have a structure enclosing or partially enclosing a hollow interior accessible through apertures. This may comprise a cage structure made up from connected bars.
The objects shown in
Such a composition is deposited at each required location in each layer while the workspace is illuminated with ultraviolet light which cures the composition. Concurrently, a second material to act as a temporary support is deposited at points in the layer which will eventually become empty space around or within the object. This material solidifies as it is deposited, but has little structural strength and may be removed with a water jet after printing is complete.
As just mentioned, a range of compositions are available. For some embodiments of this invention the composition may comprise polyurethane oligomers with reactive groups attached. One example of such oligomers are polyurethanes with attached acrylate groups. The polyurethanes themselves can be formed from di-isocyanates and polymeric diols. The physical and mechanical properties of the eventual polymers can be regulated by the structures, chain lengths and proportions of the di-isocyanates (which can provide rigidity) and the polymeric diols (which provide flexibility) and the amount of cross-linking between polymer chains.
When carried into a fracture by drilling fluid these tetragons will snag on the rough surface of the rock and will interfere with each other to a greater extent than smooth particles. This assists them in forming a blockage more readily than particles of similar size but with a natural origin and a smoother approximately spheroidal shape. If a fracture opens slightly due to pressure fluctuations, any rolling action of a tetragon along the fracture wall is likely keep the tetragon stationary and jammed if the fracture expansion is less than 20%. The angular shape of a regular tetragon allows it to span two opposite surfaces within a 20% range depending on orientation.
A further possibility is to print the tetragons illustrated in
As mentioned above, some 3D-printing machines have the capability to deliver more than one polymerisable material at selected locations. A machine with such capability may be used to print the object of
As with the objects of
Another possibility for making these particles is that the outer material 30 is printed as molten polymer which solidifies to a flexible state after printing, so that no exposure to ultra-violet is required during the 3D printing process.
As diagrammatically indicated by
Although
The use of objects made by an additive process, as exemplified above is not confined to use in drilling fluid. The wellbore fluid may be a cement, or a pretreatment fluid used prior to cementing.
It will be appreciated that the example embodiments described above can be modified and varied within the scope of the concepts which they exemplify. Features referred to above or shown in individual embodiments above may be used together in any combination as well as those which have been shown and described specifically. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1317626.8 | Oct 2013 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2014/065049 | 10/3/2014 | WO | 00 |
